Iran, Syria come under attack at non-aligned conference as Tehran lashes out at West [BBC Arabic, UK]

Presenter, Female #1
The Syrian delegation participating in the summit of the Non-Alignment Movement held in the Iranian capital Tehran left the conference hall as soon as Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi began his speech, in which he attacked the Syrian government. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem accused the Egyptian president of inciting further bloodshed in Syria. As for the Iranian president, he accused the West of fabricating reasons to launch wars and crises to profit from the arms trade.

Reporter, Male #1
Amid concerns that it will turn into a political platform for different agendas, the 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement opened in Tehran. In attendance are the presidents of 29 countries and governments, as the ministerial-level meeting represented the remaining members of the movement. India's participation was notable, and was represented by its prime minister. The presidents of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Egypt were also present. And for the Gulf countries, only Qatar attended the summit and was represented by its prime minister. In addition, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Secretary-General of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi were present.

Reporter, Male #1
The Syrian crisis, the Iranian nuclear issue, and the Gulf-Iranian relations were the main topics discussed on the sidelines of the summit. The dispute over the means to solve these issues was clear, especially when it comes to the Syrian crisis. The Syrian delegation left the conference hall as soon as Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi started his speech, addressing what he called the revolutions of the Arab Spring and the situation in Syria.

Reporter, Male #1
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem confirmed that the delegation withdrew in opposition to Morsi's speech that incited further Syrian bloodshed. Morsi had attacked the regime in Damascus, and proposed his initiative again to solve the crisis.

Guest, Male #2 (Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian President)
We all have to announce our full solidarity with the struggle of those seeking freedom and justice in Syria, and translate this sympathy into a clear political vision that supports a peaceful transition to a democratic system of rule.

Reporter, Male #1
The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khamenei dedicated a large portion of his opening speech to discuss Iran's right to using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, saying that Tehran is not seeking to obtain nuclear weapons.

Guest, Male #3 (Ayatollah Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran)
We are committed to not seeking nuclear weapons, but this does not mean forgoing our right to peaceful use of nuclear power. The peaceful use of nuclear energy is a right of every country, without being subjected to pressure from other countries.

Reporter, Male #1
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not miss the opportunity to attack the West, and to accuse Western countries of fabricating crises and wars around the world, and of monopolizing the Security Council.

Guest, Male #4 (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President)
There is a monopoly over the Security Council that strengthens Israel's control of Palestinian land and justifies the killings in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. This monopoly does not lead to justice, because independent governments cannot refer to any authority to guarantee their rights.

Reporter, Male #2
On the other hand, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's speech sharply condemned Iran's denial of the Holocaust during WWII, and Israel's right to exist. Iranian leaders and media outlets are pointing to the summit as evidence that Westerners have failed to isolate Iran over its nuclear program that led to UN-imposed sanctions on the country.

Reporter, Male #2
Observers believe that Tehran's summit for the countries of Non-Aligned Movement will shape a diplomatic movement that may affect the path of the Syrian crisis, either negatively or positively, based on the outcome of meetings held at the sidelines of the summit. But, there is no doubt that it will constitute a platform dedicated to taking a stance on Israel and the Palestinian cause, and will work on easing Arab-Iranian relations. Alex Ayoub, BBC.

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Yemeni national dialogue threatened by Southern Movement's demand for secession [Dubai TV, UAE]

Presenter, Male #1
In Yemen, a security source announced today the killing of three al-Qaeda members in an air raid that targeted their vehicle in the southeastern Hadhramaut Province. The Yemeni Defense Ministry confirmed that the raid, which it described as a drone attack, took place last night in the Khashamir area in the Qatan district as the organization's members were headed to meet their colleagues. The source did not specify the origin of the plane that carried out the raid.

Presenter, Male #1
The Yemeni national dialogue is proceeding at a very slow pace due to several obstacles. Despite the many different contested issues such as the new constitution, the structure of the armed and security forces, the spread of armed groups and arms, the most difficult and most complex issue is the Southern Movement's attempt to secede from the north. Our correspondent in Sanaa, Abdel al-Rahman al-Shimiri, presents the leading obstacles and pressures facing the national dialogue committee.

Reporter, Male #2
Every time its scheduled date approaches, the scope of disagreements over its purpose and shape grow. Some elements of what is known as the Southern Movement are still refusing to participate in the national dialogue conference scheduled for the end of the year. Their reason is a demand for the south's secession from the north. They want to return the country to its previous stage, as in before unity was declared between the two Yemeni fronts in 1990.

Guest, Male #3 (Rudwan al-Salawi, Journalist and Writer)
There are difficult issues, and the state needs to be rebuilt. The national dialogue right now has the duty of reformulating the national project. The national project is absent from the scene, and that is very scary. We need to work on the Gulf initiative.

Reporter, Male #2
The determination of some southern forces to reject the dialogue based on Yemeni unity has probably pushed the sponsors of the Gulf initiative to put pressure on the secessionist movement that is headed by Ali Salem al-Baid. Al-Baid is the former president of what used to be known as South Yemen. He is being asked to give up his call for disengagement, and to commit to returning to the county to take part in a dialogue that is being considered as the most important requirement of the current transitional phase.

Guest, Male #3
A ceiling for the dialogue does not exist. Come to the dialogue table and propose what you have, but no one will respond to the demands of someone who is not at that table. People are no longer the way they used to; people now face international constraints.

Reporter, Male #2
Amid this heated debate, the national dialogue committee is intensifying its warnings to hold the meeting on its designated date in November. It is also working on convincing various organizations and political factions inside and outside the country to participate in this dialogue. According to observers, the dialogue constitutes the true gateway toward building a modern state.

Reporter, Male #2
Some are calling for holding this dialogue on the basis of clear lines and under the banner of Yemeni unity, capitalizing on the need to end the crises rocking the country. Abdel al-Rahman al-Shimiri, Dubai TV, Sanaa.

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Riot-hit Kenyan city accuses US of killing Muslim cleric [Press TV, Iran]

The killing of a Muslim cleric in Kenya has sparked deadly protests. Several people have been killed in two days of demonstrations in Mombasa. Aboud Rogo Mohamed was shot to death by unknown gunmen a few days ago, and his supporters are accusing the United States of involvement in his murder. Rogo was on the US sanctioned list for allegedly supporting al-Shabaab fighters in neighboring Somalia.

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Iraq's PM rejects military intervention as solution to Syrian crisis [Press TV, Iran]

Iraq says it opposes any kind of military intervention in Syria. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made the comments on the sidelines of the NAM summit, adding that military interference could trigger civil war in Syria as well as in other nearby countries, and slammed the ongoing flow of weapons to the insurgents.

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Scores killed across Syria as armed opposition claims downing of fighter jet [New TV, Lebanon]

Presenter, Female #1
The Syrian opposition confirmed it downed a MiG plane near the Turkish border, as clashes continue in different parts of Syria.

Reporter, Male #1
Members of the armed opposition announced they shot down a regime MiG 23 plane in Idlib Province in the northwestern part of the country near the Turkish border. They stated in a communique that they downed the plane near the town of al-Thahabiya. Video footage showed plumes of smoke in the sky and a person ejecting with a parachute.

Reporter, Male #1
The leader of the Free Army's revolutionary military council in Idlib Province, Afif Mahmoud Suleiman, said the plane was downed after takeoff from Abu al-Thuhur airfield during an assault on its grounds. The two pilots ejected with their parachutes and were captured. He revealed hundreds of rebels participated in what he described as a qualitative operation that resulted in the destruction of 11 MiG airplanes on airport grounds.

Reporter, Male #1
This comes after yet another bloody day, during which nearly 128 people were killed in the violence across Syria. Most of them were civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Reporter, Male #1
In another development, the Observatory said some neighborhoods in Aleppo, Homs, Idlib, Hama, Daraa, and Deir az-Zour were subjected to government shelling, and witnessed clashes between regime forces and opposition gunmen. For its part, the Syrian official news agency, SANA, announced that operations took place in Aleppo, Daraa, Idlib and the countryside of Damascus, where army soldiers clashed with gunmen. It reported that dozens of the gunmen were killed.

Reporter, Male #1
Meanwhile, official Syrian TV said that armed regime forces were able to retake control of the town of Zamlaka in the countryside of Damascus after expelling opposition gunmen who wreaked havoc there, according to the TV station. It also clarified that specialized parties are continuing to chase the remaining terrorists, and particularly in separate areas of the Damascus suburb of al-Ghouta, and in the city of Aleppo and its suburbs.

Reporter, Male #1
In another development, the Abu Dhabi-owned Etihad airline announced that it suspended its flights to Syria's capital Damascus until further notice due to the deteriorating security situation in the country. The airline said in a statement that taking such a decision was not easy, and that the safety of its passengers and crew are its priority.

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Kuwait parliament fails to convene again, amid calls for early elections [Al Jazeera, Qatar]

Presenter, Male #1
The future of the Kuwaiti parliament and the democratic process is somewhat ambiguous. The parliament that was reinstated by a court order in June was unable to hold a session that enables to government to take its required oath.

Presenter, Female #1
Some observers view this as not only pushing Kuwait into a constitutional vacuum, but also consider it a constitutional coup.

Reporter, Male #2
The government was unable to take the constitutional oath in parliament after its formation under the leadership of Jaber al-Mubarak. And while parliament was reinstated by a court ruling in June, its members refused to meet in its halls after it failed to hold a session on a number of occasions due to its inability to meet a quorum.

Reporter, Male #2
According to some observers, the confusion and imbalance in the relationship between the legislative and executive authorities created an unclear political scene in the country, and impacted the relationship between the government and the people.

Guest, Male #3 (Al-Humaidi al-Sebeiy, Lawyer and Activist)
The legislative and executive authorities are witnessing a state of imbalance and confusion. They are unable to identify their next steps and their future priorities. So this has impacted the Kuwaiti street, and in turn we do not have a real democracy. We call this a coup against the Kuwaiti constitution, and this is annuls the Kuwaiti constitutional contract between the ruler and the ruled.

Reporter, Male #2
So it is a deep crisis, and a dilemma that is viewed by the opposition and most political forces as solvable by dissolving the reinstated parliament, or what it is called here, the 2009 assembly, and calling for new parliamentary elections.

Guest, Male #4 (Abdulrahman Al-Anjari, Member of Reinstated Parliament)
I think we are now living in a constitutional and legislative vacuum. We are really suffering from a suffocating political crisis. I advocate for a clear and dignified solution, which is a call for general elections.

Reporter, Male #2
Since 2006, there have been 10 governments and four parliaments, one of which was invalidated by a court ruling. And according to some analysts, this proves that stability in the country is still unattainable. What has further entangled the situation is the combination of political and legal issues, which led to losing the right path.

Reporter, Male #2
No one here is able to speculate what the current issue will lead to in light of the government's silence and a suspended parliament. But what is certain is that the paths to the solution, whether they branch out or split up, will meet on the same road at the end, and that is new parliamentary elections. As for when this will happen, that is the question making the rounds in Kuwaiti councils. Saad al-Saeidi, Al Jazeera, Kuwait.

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IAEA to release latest report on Iranian nuclear program [IBA, Israel]

The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to release its latest report regarding Iran's nuclear program. The document is expected to provide details on how the country is continuing to expand its suspect nuclear activities despite increased sanctions and the threat of military action by Israel and the United States.

In a related development, the Wall Street Journal reported that Mohsin Fahrizadi, the "Father of Iran's nuclear program," has resumed his work in a lab near Tehran. His research program was on hold a few years ago; officials in the West claim that this is further proof that Iran is trying to speed up its drive to go nuclear.

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Israeli High Court orders Migron outpost settlers to evacuate [IBA, Israel]

The Israeli High Court ruled that all 50 families living in the West Bank settlement outpost of Migron must evacuate their homes no later than this upcoming Tuesday, and that the buildings there be razed by September 11. The court rejected the residents' petition to allow them to stay in the area, claiming they had illegally purchased portions of the land from the Palestinian owners. IBA discusses the Migron decision with Attorney Itzhak Bam of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel.

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Settlers' escalating attacks on Palestinians condoned by Israeli government [Saudi TV, Saudi Arabia]

Presenter, Male #1
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the French judiciary's decision to open an inquiry into the circumstances around the death of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. On the ground, Israeli occupation forces arrested three Palestinians from the city of Nablus this morning. The occupation forces raided a number of houses, indiscriminately searching them after forcing the residents to leave their homes.

Reporter, Male #2
From the southern part of the West Bank to its north, the homes and possessions of the Palestinians are prone to the violations of extremist settlers, who are intensifying their attacks. All signs indicate that they don't take any action without the protection of the occupation forces. In the town of Seir, near Hebron, settlers torched three cars and threw stones at cars along Hemless Street. In the Jalazoun refugee camp near Ramallah, they torched two cars in the early hours of the morning and tried to set on fire a nearby house but were prevented by the residents, who quickly extinguished the fire. The residents are aware that the aggressors coordinate their attacks with the occupation army that was deployed to the camp hours later.

Guest, Male #3 (Hathem Sabeh, Owner of Torched Car)
The settlement's security and the army are complicit in the acts of the settlers. The biggest proof is that for a long time these settlers have been slinging stones with slingshots at us every day. We notified the liaison office, and they know about it. They have cameras in all the areas, and they don't do anything.

Reporter, Male #2
The settlers are encouraged to commit these crimes by the Israeli government's reinforcement of its expansion and settlement construction policy while talking about peace.

Guest, Male #4 (Hani Masri, Political Analyst)
Israel cannot get everything it wants. It has to choose between peace and occupation, peace and settlements, security and settlements. It can't combine peace with settlements and occupation while Judaizing Jerusalem. This formula cannot be maintained even if it seems that the situation is calm right now. We are close to erupting, and it will happen sooner or later.

Reporter, Male #2
In other news, the Palestinian Authority welcomed France's decision to open an investigation into the death of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat after the poisonous plutonium material was found on his belongings. Arafat had died in a French hospital.

Guest, Male #5 (Tawfik Tirawi, Head of Palestinian Committee Investigating Arafat's death)
Its importance lies in that a European country is carrying out this work, and we are hoping that the French will continue this inquiry until the end. We are happy with their decision because we want to finalize this issue and its repercussions.

Reporter, Male #2
As the settlers' attacks increase, the Palestinians' conviction that settlers are part of the occupation's plan to displace them and seize their possessions and land only grows. From the Palestinian territories, Abdel Kareem Samara, Saudi TV.

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Five Australian NATO troops killed in Afghanistan [Al-Alam, Iran]

Presenter, Female #1
In Afghanistan, five Australian soldiers were killed in two separate incidents, described by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard as the bloodiest since the Vietnam War. Three soldiers were killed by an Afghan soldier who fired at them in Oruzgan State in the southern part of the country. Two other Australian Special Forces soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed in the southern Helmand Province.

Presenter, Female #1
NATO and the Australian Ministry of Defense confirmed the killing of the five soldiers. Gillard described the loss as the greatest since the Vietnam War. This incident is the third time Afghan soldiers have opened fire at Australian soldiers.

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Pakistani court postpones bail hearing for Christian girl accused of burning Quran [Al-Alam, Iran]

Presenter, Female #1
A Pakistani court postponed a bail hearing for a Christian girl accused of insulting Islam in a case that sparked fresh criticism of the country's blasphemy laws. The girl was arrested in the Christian majority area of Mihrab Abadi in Islamabad after her neighbors filed a police complaint against her for burning pages of the holy Quran. Rights activists are trying to secure the release of the girl, who is being tried under a law that criminalizes those who attack Islamic sanctities, a crime punishable by death in Pakistan.