Egypt on Verge of Civil War – Putin | World

Source : RIA Novosti

ASTANA, July 7 (RIA Novosti) – Egypt is on the verge of a civil war, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday as tensions continued to escalate in the North African country between the supporters and opponents of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

“Syria is already engulfed in a civil war and, no matter how sad it may sound, Egypt is also moving in the same direction. It would be good, if the Egyptian people avoided this fate,” Putin said during his working visit to Kazakhstan.

The Egyptian armed forces on Wednesday deposed Morsi and suspended the country’s constitution, Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said in a televised address to the nation. He said the head of Egypt’s Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, would lead the country during the transition period until an early presidential election is held.

Dozens have reportedly been killed and hundreds injured in clashes between Morsi supporters and opponents across the country since Morsi’s ouste from power.

Hungary To Sell Soviet Military Hardware

Source : defensenews.com

BUDAPEST — Hungary announced Monday plans to sell off its old Soviet-made tanks and fighter planes, saying they were in “very good condition” but expensive to maintain.

Zoltan Borbiro, state secretary for the defense ministry, said MIG 29 fighter jets and T-72 tanks, military equipment and clothing would all be up for sale later this year.

“Since Hungary’s transition from communism in 1990, the army has been organized on a professional and modern basis, and a part of our military inventory is no longer compatible with NATO requirements,” he said.

“It won’t be an easy sale,” he admitted.

Hungary scrapped conscription in 2004 and now maintains an army of some 19,000 soldiers, down from around 140,000 during the Warsaw Pact era.

Hungary sold 77 of its stock of 180 T-72 tanks to the newly formed Iraqi army in 2005.

Venezuela Awaits Snowden’s Reply to Asylum Offer – Ministry

Source : RIA Novosti

MEXICO CITY, July 7 (RIA Novosti) – Venezuela, which has offered asylum to former CIA employee Edward Snowden, will wait for the fugitive intelligence expert’s reply on Monday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said on Sunday.

“We are waiting for Monday, first of all, to learn whether he [Snowden] confirms his intention to get asylum in Venezuela,” Jaua was quoted as saying by Venezuela-based Globovision TV channel.

Snowden, who is believed to be hiding in a Moscow airport, has not held any contacts with Venezuelan officials so far, Jaua said.

Snowden, who is wanted by the US for leaking details of secret state surveillance programs, has submitted more than 20 requests for asylum. Most have been rejected, or countries have told the former National Security Agency contractor that he must be present on their soil to submit such an application.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Saturday that Caracas would be willing to grant Snowden asylum. "In the name of America's dignity ... I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to Edward Snowden," Maduro said during a military parade marking Venezuela's independence day, Reuters reported.

On Friday Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega said his country would “receive Snowden with pleasure,” according to Sky News.

Also on Saturday, Bolivia became the third country to say that it would be prepared to offer political asylum to the fugitive intelligence expert, according to media reports.

Snowden arrived in Russia on a flight to Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23. The United States has revoked Snowden’s passport, and he is now believed to be holed up in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

Russia was one of the countries to which Snowden submitted an asylum application, but he withdrew his request after President Vladimir Putin said Monday that Snowden would only be able to stay if he “stopped his work aimed at harming our US partners.”

Venezuela Leader Claims CIA Behind Morales Plane Incident

Source : RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, July 6 (RIA Novosti) - The recent decision by a number of European countries to close their airspace to Bolivian President Evo Morales’s plane was made on an order from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), media quoted the Venezuelan president as saying.

“A very important minister told us that it was the CIA that contacted the authorities of Portugal, Italy and France to have their airspace closed to President Morales,” President Nicolas Maduro was quoted as saying by Venezuelan national news agency AVN.

Bolivia accused France, Italy, Spain and Portugal of violating international law after a plane carrying Morales was diverted Tuesday and searched Wednesday over suspicions that it might have fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden on board.

Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said Morales’ plane taking him home after an energy meeting in Moscow had been forced to land in Austria after France and Portugal revoked permission for the plane to enter their airspace.

The incident provoked a diplomatic scandal: the leaders of Bolivia and other South American nations demanded explanations.

France later apologized to Bolivia for closing its airspace to Morales.

Snowden is believed to be holed up in the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. A former contractor for the US National Security Agency, he is wanted by the United States for disclosing a top-secret surveillance program that allegedly targeted millions of Americans.