Two former heads of U.S. diplomatic security in Libya said that requests for additional security were denied as a hearing over the September attack on the Benghazi consulate became political. Speaking in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday, former head of embassy security in Libya, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Wood, said that diplomatic security remained weak in Benghazi and claimed that, "The RSO (regional security officer) struggled to obtain additional personnel there, but was never able to attain the numbers he felt comfortable with." The RSO, Eric A. Nordstrom, said he was told in July during a phone call that a 16-member U.S. military unit based in Tripoli would not be extended, despite security concerns. The State Department's Patrick Kennedy, under secretary for management, countered the claims, asserting that fulfilling the security requests would not have changed the outcome of the September 11 attack which was perpetrated by "dozens of heavily armed men," and resulted in the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens, and three other diplomatic staff. The State Department's Charlene Lamb, who was responsible for handling the request for additional security personnel, said such measures wouldn't have helped as they would have been placed in Tripoli, rather than Benghazi. Weeks ahead of the U.S. presidential election, the hearing was dominated by partisan politics with the Republicans pushing to frame the attack as the fault of an irresponsible state department under the Obama administration. 

Syria

Turkey intercepted a passenger plane flying from Moscow to Damascus over suspicions it was carrying military equipment. Russian and Syrian officials accused Turkey of "air piracy" and claimed it endangered the passengers and crew on the plane which was comprised of 17 Russians. Conversely, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there was "objectionable" cargo found on the plane that should have been reported. It is unclear whether any arms were discovered, but Turkish media said there were boxes of military communication equipment, according to unverified reports. After confiscating materials, Turkey allowed the flight to depart. Davutoglu has warned that Turkey will prevent any weapons transfer to Syria through its airspace. Tensions have recently increased between the neighbors over cross border attacks that spurred Turkish retaliation last week, as well as a Turkish plane that was shot down in June. Additionally, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told reporters that last week Syria had stopped purchasing power from Turkey, which had supplied 20 percent of its electricity. Meanwhile, 70 people died across Syria on Wednesday according to the London based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Most of the casualties were in fighting in Idlib Province, including the strategic town of Maaret al-Numan along the highway linking Damascus to Aleppo.

Headlines  

• Egypt acquitted 24 former Mubarak regime officials accused of organizing an attack on protesters in Cairo 2011. The incident is now known as the "Battle of the Camels."
• A U.S. embassy security official, Qassem Aqlani, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Sanaa, Yemen's capital, on Thursday.
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According to the activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, two simultaneous suicide bombs killed dozens of people at a Syrian military base -- the air force intelligence complex in Harasta, northeast of Damascus. One of the suicide bombers was driving an ambulance laced with bombs. Al-Nusra Front, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attacks. It is unclear what has happened to the hundreds of prisoners help captive in the basement of the base. Meanwhile, the Syrian army has continued to aggressively bombard rebel neighborhoods of Homs. "The army is in the midst of trying to cleanse the last rebel districts of the city of Homs," said a Syrian army commander to the AFP. The Syrian National Council fears the entire city is on the verge of falling to the regime.

Regional Spillover

Members of the Syrian opposition have threatened to attack southern suburbs of Beirut if Hezbollah continues to support the Syrian regime's efforts. An associate of the FSA Joint Command, Fahd al-Masri, said that opposition fighters have "13 Hezbollah hostages" near Homs. Meanwhile, a defector from the Syrian army claims that Assad is supported by at least 1,500 Hezbollah fighters. According to documents obtained by the Financial Times, Iraq has been secretly supplying fuel oil to Syria. As part of a one-year contract, Nouri al-Maliki agreed to send Syria 720,000 tons of fuel oil in monthly installments. The fuel, sold at a heavy discount, is not permitted to be used in tanks. Meanwhile, Turkey has reinforced its air base in southeast Turkey, sending at least 25 additional F-16 fighter jets. The move comes amid sustained clashes between Syria and Turkey, but is also seen as a way for Turkey to bolster its forces along the Iraq border near PKK installations. Meanwhile, three crates of weapons addressed to the Saudi military were apparently diverted to opposition fighters. The crates were discovered by the BBC in an opposition base in Aleppo. Saudi Arabia has declined to comment.  

Headlines

• Iraq signed contracts to purchase $4.2 billion dollars worth of weapons from Russia, making Baghdad one of Russia's biggest weapons buyers.
• President Morsi issued a pardon for people charged with or convicted of supporting the revolution. This could affect more than 1,000 protesters on trial and also those already convicted.
• The International Criminal court held its first public hearing in the case against Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, a son of former Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi. The younger Gaddafi is accused of war crimes against rebels during last year's uprising in Libya.
• According to Israeli defense sources, Iran has diverted its enriched uranium to scientific purposes, slowing progress on its nuclear program by eight months.
• Jordan has appointed an Ambassador to Israel. The position has been vacant for two years.
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After the recent unrest at embassies in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Tunisia and the killing of U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, there may be mounting pressure in upcoming weeks or months to permanently shut down embassies or rupture diplomatic relations. Already, there have been significant diplomatic staff withdrawals from many of the embassies. While the security situation may undoubtedly warrant temporary reductions in diplomatic presences overseas, countries should be extremely wary of using long-standing diplomatic sanctions as a way to condemn a regime's behavior or as a foreign policy tool of coercion. Historically, security reductions and closures in the name of security can lead to more entrenched policies of diplomatic disengagement. In light of recent events, policymakers should be cognizant of some of the dangers of diplomatic disengagement as they face decisions about if and when to resume normal embassy operations or shut embassy doors for the long haul.   

Why is it crucial to remain diplomatically engaged particularly in the most dangerous parts of the world that may pose a security threat? Lost in the recent debate on embassy security is a clear articulation of the specific logic and empirical evidence to illustrate why a diplomatic presence is so important in the pursuit of foreign policy goals. Secretary of State Dean Acheson put it quite simply in September 1949:

"We maintain diplomatic relations with other countries primarily because we are all on the same planet and must do business with each other. We do not establish an embassy in a foreign country to show approval of its government. We do so to have a channel through which to conduct essential government relations and to protect legitimate United States' interests."

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In a recent video entitled "Days with the Imam" in which he recalls Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri declares that the founder of al Qaeda had been a "member of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arabian Peninsula" before he was evicted in the 1980s. He was expelled because of his insistence on fighting alongside the mujahidin in Afghanistan while the Brotherhood allowed him to bring aid to Pakistan but didn't want him to go any further. Zawahiri's claims seem to have caused some embarrassment among the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), judging from how quick MB spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan was to refute them.

One reason for the embarrassment may be that, with a Muslim Brotherhood president recently elected in Egypt, the organization is eager to reassure the West of its moderate Islamist orientation and is therefore afraid of anything associating it with al Qaeda or jihadism. Yet Zawahiri's declarations shouldn't be seen as too problematic in this respect, since they portray the MB as an organization unwilling to let its members take part in physical jihad, even against the Soviets in Afghanistan at a time when the issue was far less controversial than it would later become. A more likely reason for the Brotherhood's distress, however, is that Zawahiri reveals what among Saudi Islamist insiders is an open secret but remains little known outside those circles: that there exists a Saudi Arabian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. 

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Battered by international sanctions over its nuclear development program and domestic instability, the Iranian rial plunged to a new low on Monday. After a dramatic decline last week, the rial fell between 13 and 18 percent on Monday, to as low as 33,500 rials to the U.S. dollar. The rial is not traded on the global currency markets, so an accurate value can't be determined). It fell a further nine percent on Tuesday. According to some Iranian traders, the sharp decline was due, in part, to firm statements from the United States and Israel at the United Nations General Assembly as well as the Iranian central bank's implementation of a new currency exchange on September 24. According to the chairman of financial trading house Pakzad Consulting Corp, "The sharpening of the rhetoric could lead some to think we're closer to a military strike." He continued that for speculators, "this is a perfect opportunity to make money." Iran's worsening financial situation has sparked divisions in the Iranian government. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the crisis on financial authorities for mismanaging currency in a news conference in New York last week. Conversely, on Sunday, a member of the Iranian Parliament's economic commission accused Ahmadenijad of mismanaging the currency market. Iran's currency has reportedly lost over 80 percent of its value since 2011. Expanded U.S. and EU trade sanctions have resulted in an estimate 45 percent decline in Iranian income from oil exports.

Syria

Addressing the U.N. General Assembly Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem accused world powers, particularly the United States, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabic, and Qatar, of supporting terrorists, interfering in Syria, and pursuing "new colonial policies." The United States is providing the Syrian opposition with $45 million of "nonlethal aid" including communications equipment. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been accused of supplying weapons to the opposition. While officials have said the opposition should be armed, the countries have not admitted to providing weapons. Additionally, Moallem called for refugees to return to Syria saying foreign entities have fabricated a refugee crisis. The U.N Refugee Agency announced Tuesday that the number of Syrians registered, or awaiting registration, as refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq has reached 311,500. Meanwhile, fierce clashes have continued across Syria. Opposition forces reportedly killed 18 Syrian soldiers in an ambush in the northwestern town of Salqeen, where government air strikes killed an estimated 30 people. Fighting has spread in Aleppo. Opposition fighters fired rockets at the municipality building on Monday attempting to keep civil servants from going to work. Conditions in the city have declined dramatically with public services largely collapsed, police offices abandoned, and many neighborhoods without water and electricity. President Bashar al-Assad was in Aleppo on Tuesday, according to Lebanese pro-regime newspaper Al-Diyar, and ordered an estimated 30,000 soldiers to move into the city from Hama. However, the report could not be verified. 

Headlines  

• Anti-Christian graffiti was spray-painted in Hebrew on the gate of the Christian Monastery of Saint Francis on Mount Zion in an apparent pro-settler extremist "price tag" attack.
• A cameraman who accompanied Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to New York for the U.N. General Assembly, Hassan Gol Khanban, has defected and applied for asylum.
• Swedish furniture giant IKEA has apologized for releasing a special catalogue in Saudi Arabia with women removed from some of the photos.
• Turkey is exhuming the body of former President Turgut Ozal in Istanbul on Tuesday over suspicions that his 1993 death while he was in office was due to poisoning.
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Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke in front of the United Nations General Assembly and appealed for a "clear, red line" on Iranian nuclear development. Netanyahu illustrated his point with a cartoon bomb and demonstrated the point at which the program should not pass -- the 90 percent mark. Netanyahu claimed Iran has already reached 70 percent enrichment, and would hit 90 percent by spring or summer at the latest. However he maintained if a red line were to be set, "Iran will back down." There has been much speculation about an imminent Israeli attack on Iran, but the prime minister implied it wouldn't be considered at least until the spring. Netanyahu's speech elicited mixed reactions. Many mocked the presentation and the drawing. Atlantic magazine's Jeffrey Goldberg likened the speech to Clint Eastwood's awkward speech at the Republican National Convention in August. Others such as U.S. presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, and former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer praised the Israeli prime minister. Relations between the United States and Israel have grown tense as Netanyahu has repeatedly called for the Obama administration to commit to a red line. The Iranian mission at the United Nations was angered by the speech claiming they were "baseless and absurd allegations against [its] exclusively peaceful nuclear program." They said Iran reserved the right to retaliate to any attack.

Syria

The opposition Free Syrian Army has launched what it has called a "decisive" battle in the northwestern city of Aleppo. According to a YouTube video, the offensive, coordinated days before by several militant groups, began with an announcement from Abdulqadir al-Saleh, head of the largest opposition force in Aleppo, the Tawheed Brigade. Activists and residents have said that the fighting is "unprecedented" with opposition attacks on several government positions in about 12 districts in the city. Commander of the Tawheed Brigade, Bashir al-Haji said, "We are not aiming to liberate the whole of Aleppo with this battle but to regain control of most of the city and get back as many neighborhoods as we can." Meanwhile, government troops have attacked several opposition positions in the north of Damascus. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syrian troops have raided the neighborhoods of Barzeh, Juban, and Qaboon. On Friday, the United Nations human rights council condemned violations by Syrian government forces and extended the mandate for its inquiry by six months. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is hosting talks on Syria on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly with the "Friends of Syria," which includes the United States, European Union, and Arab League.

Headlines  

• Armed militants attacked a prison in the Iraqi city of Tikrit killing at least 12 police officers and setting about 90 inmates free, some of whom are reportedly members of al Qaeda.
• The United States has kept F.B.I. agents from visiting the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi to investigate an attack that resulted in the deaths of four U.S. diplomats.
• The man allegedly behind the making of an anti-Islam video that sparked widespread protests, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, is being held without bail on probation violations.
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Historically, Washington has been more comfortable extolling democracy than accepting its consequences, particularly in the strategically important Middle East. Algerian democracy had no place in the "new world order" of former President George H.W. Bush. His administration backed a military coup against an elected Islamist parliament in Algeria. Palestinian democracy did not fit in the "Freedom Agenda" of George W. Bush, who refused to deal with the Hamas-led government Palestinian voters elected in 2006. Now, as Egyptians build their own democracy, the Obama administration is struggling to synch its policies with its early hopes for "A New Beginning" in U.S.-Muslim relations, particularly evident in this week's New York visit by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi for the U.N. General Assembly.

Morsi's predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, was elected in 2005 with 6.3 million votes. No independent observers considered the contest free or fair, and Mubarak's landslide 88 percent victory said more about his iron-fisted rule than his popularity. Prior to being ousted in February 2011, Mubarak met multiple times with U.S. President Barack Obama: in Egypt, before Obama delivered his speech at Cairo University, as well as at the White House for bilateral and multilateral discussions.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will face off at the U.N. General Assembly. Abbas will appeal for an elevated non-member observer status at the United Nations, a year after a bid for statehood stalled. A U.S. State Department official said, "We have made very clear that our goal is to resume direct talks and that the idea of going to the U.N. is not the road that takes us there." Shortly afterward, Netanyahu will focus his speech on "red lines" on Iran's nuclear development program. Israel has long been pushing the United States to impose an ultimatum on Iran to address suspicions it is seeking weaponization of its nuclear program. According to an Israeli official, "The prime minister will set a clear red line in his speech that will not contradict Obama's remarks. Obama said Iran won't have nuclear weapons. The prime minister will clarify the way in which Iran won't have nuclear arms." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also addressed the assembly on Wednesday in an atypical toned-down speech. However, he did slam capitalist policies and accused world powers of holding a double standard in pursing an arms race. In a news conference following the speech, he expressed internal political divisions citing disapproval of the Iranian government's economic policies.

Syria

The United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, has warned that up to 700,000 refugees might flee Syria by the end of the year. This number is dramatically larger than the previously estimated 100,000, which has already been surpassed. About 294,000 Syrians have already left. According to the agency, between 2,000 and 3,000 people a day are fleeing the civil war in Syria, seeking refuge in neighboring countries. Meanwhile the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has estimated more than 305 people died in clashes on Wednesday in one of the deadliest days in the 18 month conflict. The group estimates more than 27,000 people have died since fighting began in March 2011. In rural areas outside of Damascus, 55 people were reported killed, 40 who appeared to have been shot in cold blood in the town of al-Dhiyabia. Opposition forces have made gains in the two month long battle for Aleppo, forcing Syrian forces to curtail flights to and from the Abu Duhur Air Base after they shot down at least two MIG attack jets.

Headlines  

• At the U.N. General Assembly, new Egyptian and Yemeni presidents countered President Obama's address and urged restrictions on free speech.
• Iran jailed Ali Akbar Javanfekr, top press advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for publishing "offensive" material, in a political feud between the president and the Supreme Leader.
• Turkey's Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan said he might be open to talks with the Kurdish militant group, PKK, as the southeast has seen a spike in violence.
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U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, briefed the United Nations Security Council on Monday offering a grim outlook for the war torn country. Brahimi said "There is a stalemate; there is no prospect for today or tomorrow to move forward," and said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is not committed to reform, but said that resolving the conflict is not impossible. Additionally, he appealed to what has been a divided U.N. Security Council for united support on his efforts. The conflict in Syria is expected to dominate discussion at the U.N. General Assembly, lead by U.S. President Barack Obama, on Tuesday morning. The British charity Save the Children released a report citing "appalling" torture, imprisonment, and abduction of children in Syria and called for a greater U.N. presence on the ground. Meanwhile violence continued across the country on Monday. In southern Damascus, several improvised devices exploded at a school that activists claim has been used as a security headquarters, by Syrian security officers and shabbiha militia forces for meetings. There has been no report at this point on casualties. Additionally, Damascus residents reported heavy fighting on Baghdad Street, just north of the Old City and clashes continued in the northern city of Aleppo. Shelling on the Syrian border city of Jubta al-Hashab has crossed over the Israeli border, heightening concerns for nearby village residents and the Israeli Defense Forces.

Headlines  

• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad spoke to CNN in New York defending Iran's nuclear program and explaining comments on Israel as Iran censors Google and Gmail.  
• Jordanian police clashed with dozens of Syrian refugees over conditions in a camp, which houses around 30,000 people.
• Kuwait's top civilian court has rejected a government request to rewrite election laws in a victory for opposition parties.
• After last year's statehood bid at the United Nations, which has remained stalled, the Palestinians will ask for U.N. non-member state status.
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Interviews with survivors of the attack on the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi and witnesses have provided new details into what U.S. President Barack Obama declared, for the first time, a terrorist attack. The compound was hit by two assaults, the first by an unorganized mob, and the second described as a more complex and sophisticated ambush. Officials are investigating into the possibility that attackers were associated with the militant group, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The White House referred to the events as a terrorist attack, but mentioned there is not yet enough intelligence to determine whether it was planned in advance. Meanwhile, fresh protests over the anti-Islamic video that spurred violence in Libya and throughout the Muslim world, as well as a French cartoon that mocks Muhammad, have taken place in Pakistan on Friday, which the government declared the holiday a "Day of Love for the Prophet Muhammad." Protesters set two cinemas ablaze and clashed with riot police, resulting in at least one death. About 10,000 demonstrators have gathered in Bangladesh's capitol, Dhaka, and 2,000 in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Tunisia has banned Friday protests. France has closed its embassies for the day in 20 countries across the Muslim world over fears of violence.

Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad spoke with Egyptian news outlet, al-Ahram al-Arabi, in a rare interview. He said that armed groups are exercising terrorism and are not popular with Syrians, and that his regime would not fall like that of Libyan, Muammar al-Qaddafi. Of the regional overthrow of Arab regimes, Assad asserted it had "not worked in the interest of freedom, democracy, or ending social injustice as much as helped create chaos." The opposition Syrian National Council has continued to call for intervention in the civil war in Syria that increasingly appears to be moving toward stalemate. A Syrian warplane hit a fuel station killing an estimated 54 people after opposition forces overtook an area on the fringes of al-Raqqa province on the border with Turkey, which has long been a government stronghold. Raqqah province, in north central Syria, sits strategically between the heavily contested and embattled Aleppo and Deir al-Zour provinces. The gas station is south of the border crossing of Tal Abyad, which the opposition reportedly gained control of after days of fighting. Tal Abyad is at least the third border crossing between Syria and Turkey overtaken by the opposition. Fighting additionally continued in Aleppo and across Syria with at least 225 people reported killed on Thursday.

Headlines  

• Iraq has denied requests from North Korea to fly shipments of weapons to Syria. Iraq maintains it has not allowed Iran to use its airspace to funnel wepons and personnell to Syria.
• Iran and Israel faced off at the annual meeting of the U.N. atomic agency over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons development program and Israel's failure to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
• Israeli soldiers killed three armed gunmen who entered southern Israel from Egypt and ambushed the Israeli troops.
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European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, met with Iran's head nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, in Istanbul on Wednesday in efforts to end a standoff over Iran's nuclear development program. The meeting came days after the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a report expressing "serious concern" that Iran is increasing uranium enrichment for nuclear weapons capability. Iran has consistently maintained its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes. After the meeting, an EU spokesman said that it had been "a useful and constructive meeting and an important opportunity to stress once again to Iran the urgent need to make progress." Jaliili said, "We evaluated the common points and what we could do for further cooperation and future meetings." He added the next talks wouldn't be held until after Ashton meets with the six world powers (the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China, and Germany), which is planned during the United Nations General Assembly meetings next week in New York.

Syria

The conflict in Syria has again spilled over the border with opposition fighters reportedly pushing government troops into Turkey in efforts to control the border crossing and supply routes. Opposition forces advanced on the post at Tal Abyad overnight, which is less than a mile from Turkey's Akcakale crossing. Three people in Turkey were reported injured from stray fire. As the opposition took control, Syrians who had until then been trapped by fighting, fled into Turkey, bringing the total refugee count up to an estimated quarter of a million, according to the United Nations. Amnesty International released a report Wednesday saying that indiscriminate air and artillery strikes in the Idlib, Jabal al-Zawiya, and Hama regions are causing a dramatic increase in civilian casualties. According to the report, "Such indiscriminate attacks violate fundamental provisions of international humanitarian law, as they fail to distinguish between military targets and civilian objects." Opposition activists reported the Syrian military attacked several southwestern, northwestern, and southern suburbs of Damascus, forcing opposition forces to pull out of three southern districts. The Syrian army additionally bombarded many central areas around the Old City of Aleppo. Defected ex-head of Syria's chemical arsenal, Major General Adnan Sillu, warned that the Syrian government might use chemical weapons, or transfer them to the Lebanese-based militant group, Hezbollah. He said he had been involved in "serious discussion about the use of chemical weapons, including how we would use them and in what areas." Meanwhile, in further efforts to resolve the deadly civil war, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi traveled to Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after taking part in a meeting in Cairo of the "contact group" on Syria, composed of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran. Salehi called for an end to violence on all sides of the conflict and proposed sending observers from the four countries.

Headlines  

• France has amped up security for its embassies after the Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad.
• Egypt has issued arrest warrants for seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a U.S. pastor for alleged ties to an anti-Islamic video produced in the U.S. that sparked violent protests throughout the Muslim world.
• The World Bank has released a report warning that the Palestinian Authority faces a "deepening fiscal crisis" and appealed to donors to meet their pledges.
• In a video released by Mother Jones, U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Palestinians do not want peace and are "committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel."
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The Lebanese militant Shiite group, Hezbollah, took to the Beirut streets en masse on Monday to condemn the trailer of anti-Islamic video produced in the United States. They were joined by other groups in what was a peaceful protest. Hezbollah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah who made a rare appearance, spoke in front of tens of thousands of supporters and called for a week of protests. He insisted that America pull the trailer from YouTube and threatened the United States if it allows the full film to be posted saying, "the distribution of this entire film must be banned by the Americans." Protests against the video continued in many parts of the Muslim world. In Pakistan, demonstrators set fire to a press club and government building, and other protesters clashed in the southern city of Karachi. Clashes continued outside the U.S. embassy in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, injuring eleven police officers and one protester. Several hundred Palestinians held a peaceful protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah. 

Syria

Clashes continued throughout Syria on Monday with an estimated 131 people killed by Syrian forces according to the Local Coordination Committees. Shelling by government forces was reported in Homs as well as the predominantly opposition held Damascus district of al-Hajar al-Aswad. The army reported it had taken control of Midan, a statement that was corroborated by a correspondent on the ground. Der Spiegel has reported that the Syrian army is believed to have tested chemical weapons delivery systems at a "scientific research center" at Safira, east of Aleppo. According to witness accounts, tanks and aircraft fired five to six empty shells developed for delivering chemical agents. Syria is thought to have one of the largest chemical weapons arsenals in the world, including sarin, tabun, and mustard gas. Foreign ministers of the regional "contact group" on Syria, or "Islamic Quartet," agreed to hold talks in New York during the U.N. General Assembly meeting later in September, after an initial meeting on Monday in Cairo. Representatives from Egypt, Turkey, and Iran gathered for this initiative by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, but Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, whose participation is crucial according to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, was missing from the meeting. During the discussion, Iran proposed the "contact group" countries send observers to Syria to "monitor the process of stopping the violence in Syria." Morsi reportedly offered incentives to push Iran to drop its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad including easing regional isolation.

Headlines

• A Bahraini court has charged seven police officers over the torture and mistreatment of mostly medics detained during the 2011 anti-government protests.
• Iran's top atomic energy official, Fereydoon Abbasi has accused the I.A.E.A. of being infiltrated by "terrorists and saboteurs" and claimed two of the country's uranium enrichment sites had been targeted by explosions.
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Violent protests over an amateur video produced in the United States deemed insulting to Islam have continued into Monday. Protesters started fires around Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, and threw stones at U.S. military base, Camp Phoenix, injuring more than 20 police officers. On Saturday, the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack on a base which killed two U.S. Marines. Violence erupted in several Indonesian cities, including outside the U.S. embassy in the capital, Jakarta. In Pakistan, an estimated 3,000 students and teachers demonstrated against the video in the town of Chaman in southwestern Baluchistan province. The Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim group, Hezbollah, has called for new protests against the video. Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah appeared on the group's al-Manar TV station calling the video "the worst attack ever on Islam," urging for a week of protests and pushing Muslim governments to express their anger towards the United States. Hundreds of students demonstrated in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, calling for the expulsion of the U.S. ambassador. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the militant group based in Yemen, has called the week's unrest a "great event," and called for attacks against Western embassies. The United States deployed a platoon of Marines to the country to protect the U.S. embassy in response to last week's storming of the compound by demonstrators. Yemeni's Interior Ministry has claimed to have arrested 13 suspects allegedly involved in the attack. Protests in Egypt, Libya, Tunisian, and Sudan have waned.

Syria

U.N. human rights investigators have urged the U.N. Security Council to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) after adding to a confidential list of Syrians and military units suspected of committing war crimes. The head of the investigation team, Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro said, "gross human rights violations have grown in number, in pace and in scale." The report shows an increase in indiscriminate assaults by government forces on civilians in what appears to be a state-directed policy. He did not say if Syrian opposition members were on the list. However, he reported an "increasing and alarming presence" of Islamist militants operating independently as well as joining opposition forces. On Monday, Human Rights Watch said opposition groups have tortured detainees and committed extrajudicial or summary executions. Meanwhile, Syrian warplanes fired missiles that hit Lebanese territory on Monday in one of the worst cross-border violations since the beginning of the uprising in March 2011. In efforts to end fighting in Syria, foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey met in Cairo to discuss a regional solution to the conflict.

Headlines  

• Four Palestinians have been convicted by a Hamas-run military court in the Gaza Strip of murdering an Italian activist in April 2011.
• A Baghdad suicide car bombing killed an estimated seven people and wounded an Iraqi member of parliament in the deadliest attack on the Green Zone since the December 2011 U.S. troop withdrawal.
• Islamic militants attacked an Egyptian security headquarters in the Sinai Peninsula, killing one soldier in what appears to be a response to early morning police raids.
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The Libyan government has arrested four people suspected to be connected with Tuesday night's attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The attack resulted in the death of four U.S. diplomats. U.S. and Libyan officials continue to search for others who might have been involved, and are  investigating the militant fundamentalist group Ansar al Sharia. New information has led U.S. officials to doubt initial assessments that the attack was planned in advance, but rather an opportunistic assault. Authorities released the names of the two people killed in addition to Ambassador Christopher Stevens and Sean Smith. They are Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Doherty, both former Navy Seals. Meanwhile, four people were reported killed and an estimated 34 injured in clashes between protesters and police near the U.S. embassy in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Thursday. In Iran, protests outside the Swiss embassy, which handles U.S. interests,  lasted for about two hours and peacefully dispersed. Protests continued in Cairo where demonstrators clashed with Egyptian police, injuring 224 people between the U.S. embassy and Tahrir Square. U.S. President Barack Obama called for Egypt to honor its commitments to protect U.S. diplomats and facilities. Relations between the United States and Egypt have become increasingly tense, and Obama in an interview with Telemundo, "I don't think that we would consider [Egypt] an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy." The United States has put embassies across the Arab world on high alert bracing for demonstrations expected after Friday prayers.

Syria

U.N. and Arab League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Damascus Thursday saying the conflict is worsening. He stated, "We came to Syria to consult with our Syrian brothers. There is a crisis in Syria, and I believe it is getting worse." Brahimi is set to meet with President Bashar al-Assad and opposition representatives on Friday. He is scheduled to meet with a delegation from the opposition National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change (NCCDC), a group of leftists, Kurds, and independent political activists. Meanwhile, heavy clashes were reported in the western and southern regions of Aleppo and outside Damascus. According to an activist, "There is a fresh campaign on the eastern parts of Damascus." Residents of the southern district of Tadamon said the opposition Free Syria Army (FSA) has pulled out of the neighborhood. One resident said, "Any house that had any link to the Free Syrian Army has been destroyed." And residents said the army threatened to destroy the remaining houses if the FSA is allowed to reenter. Increased sectarian violence is being reported between Shiite and Sunni communities, and the conflict is causing regional divisions along sectarian lines.

Headlines  

• The United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency has passed a resolution rebuking Iran for its nuclear development program.
• Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Lebanon's capital Beirut on Friday amid regional unrest.
• Turkish forces have reportedly killed 75 Kurdish militants in weeklong clashes along the Iraqi and Iranian borders in Hakkari province.
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