Iranian nuclear scientist? never heard of him.

1. Riyadh refutes allegations by Tehran

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday denied Tehran’s charges that it had handed over an Iranian nuclear scientist to the United States.

Saudi Foreign Ministry spokesman Osama Nugali said he was stunned by the Iranian allegations. In denouncing the Iranian allegations, Nugali said the Saudi government had conducted an extensive investigation after the scientist, Shahram Amiri, disappeared in May this year.

“After having been informed of his disappearance by the Iranian delegation (in Makkah), Saudi authorities undertook an intensive search in Madinah as well as in all the hospitals and hotels in the region of Makkah and even at his residence in the Kingdom,” Nugali said.

“This has raised a lot of questions about the circumstances that led to Amiri’s disappearance and his contacts,” the spokesman said, adding that the Saudi government had raised those issues with the Iranian delegation as well as with the Iranian Embassy in Riyadh. “But we have not yet received any official reply from Tehran.”

He said Saudi Arabia receives a million Iranian pilgrims every year who come for Haj and Umrah. “As with other countries these pilgrims are under the supervision of their own national delegations,” he said.

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2. Spain to take over UNIFIL in January. hissy fit by Israel didn't work.


General Asarta will replace Italy's Claudio Graziano at helm of UNIFIL from January 28.

MADRID - A Spanish general will next month take charge of the 12,000-strong United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the defence ministry said Wednesday. General Alberto Asarta Cuevas was nominated by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, it said in a statement. He will replace Italy's Claudio Graziano who has held the post for the past three years.

...UNIFIL now has 12,341 soldiers from 29 nations. It was set up in 1978 to monitor the border between Israel and southern Lebanon and considerably beefed up in the wake of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Spain has 1,100 soldiers in the force, making it the fourth largest UNIFIL troop contingent. France is the largest single contributor.

Spain will hold the rotating presidency of the European Union during the first half of 2010, and political analysts say Madrid is keen to take control of UNIFIL in order to raise its Middle East profile during this time.

source: middle east online