Tehran (AFP) - Iran will not give UN nuclear inspectors access to a military base outside Tehran that they have been seeking to visit since 2005, Defence Minister Hossein Dehgan said on Saturday.

Dehgan's comments come just two days before a deadline for Iran to give its response to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over historic allegations of a military dimension to its nuclear research.

"The agency carried out several visits to Parchin (before 2005), took samples and found nothing untoward," Dehgan told the ISNA news agency.

"There is therefore no reason for new access to Parchin as nothing new has come up since the last inspections."

IAEA inspectors have been given access to a string of declared nuclear sites as part of an interim nuclear deal reached with the major powers last November.

Access to Parchin was not agreed under the terms of that accord but the IAEA has been seeking to visit the base as part of its mission to answer all concerns about Iran's nuclear programme, past and present.

Addressing the allegations, long denied by Tehran, would be an important element in the comprehensive deal on Iran's nuclear programme that world powers are seeking to reach by November 24.

IAEA director Yukiya Amano, who visited Tehran earlier this month, said in June that access to Parchin was essential for the watchog to be able to certify Iran's nuclear programme as peaceful.

The base lies at the centre of allegations of past Iranian research into sophisticated explosives that can be used to detonate a nuclear warhead.

In his June report, Amano said satellite photographs suggested there had been fresh activity at the base this year.

"Since February this year, we again start to observe activities... these activities continue," he said.

Iran has repeatedly refused the IAEA access to the base but "we keep on insisting to have access to that particular site in Parchin, to the people and to their documents," Amano said in the report.

Dehgan also said that his country refused to give the agency information on its scientists in the defence industry.

Iran denies U.N. access to military base

Defense Minister Hossein Dehgan says Tehran will not allow nuclear inspectors to enter the Parchin facility.
No visits since 2005

TouchVision
ESCAPE FROM HELL: THE KOCHO MASSACRE SURVIVORS

Paris (AFP) - From the rescue plane which took them on a one-way journey to France, two Iraqi refugees revealed tales of rape and fear at the hands of Islamic State that forced them to flee their homeland with nothing.

Rene, who did not want to give his last name, said the Islamic extremists currently rampaging through Syria and Iraq were as terrifying as they were sophisticated in their communication methods.

He was one of 40 refugees who landed Thursday in Paris after being flown out of Arbil along with Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who indicated that France was prepared to take in more people in "extreme cases."

"The jihadists raped women and girls, kidnapped people," Rene said.

"It was very hard. We have friends that are Muslims, who are very nice. But these people? I don't know why they do that. Because we're Christians, that's all."

He added that the militants from IS, a group born out of the ashes of the 2003 US-led invasion in Iraq that gained strength when it spread into neighbouring Syria, had pre-warned residents in Mosul of their imminent arrival in June.

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Iraqi Christian refugees board a plane bound for Paris from Arbil in northern Iraq as they flee viol …

The group then known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), now known as IS, seized the city of some two million people, prompting hundreds of thousands of its citizens to flee.

"Even before they arrived, I got three direct messages on my mobile" from the jihadists, Rene said.

"There are a lot of Christians that want to come to France or to Europe because it is impossible to live with people that hate us. We are humiliated, persecuted. We cannot live like that," he added.

- 'Now I'm nothing' -

Fabius told BFM television earlier Friday that Paris would give priority to those who had a link with France.

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French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (C) greets Iraqi Christian refugees upon their arrival in Par …

He stressed that if all the refugees left Iraq, this would in effect hand victory to the extremists, but Western countries had to act to save the "extreme cases."

"That could be several hundred, maybe a few thousand people in our case," he added.

After their high-profile seizure of Mosul in June, IS militants went back on the offensive earlier this month.

They attacked mainly Christian and Yazidi Kurdish areas east and west of the city, sparking a fresh exodus of civilians and prompting the United States to launch air strikes to halt the extremists' charge.

"We'll have to start again from zero," admitted Rene.

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Iraqi Christians take shelter inside a building under construction in Arbil,Iraq on August 22, 2014, …

"It's hard but it will be better for us than to live under threats and insecurity."

Rajhad, a 31-year-old English teacher, also fled in panic from the Islamic State threat after having lived in fear of jihadists for years.

"In 2005 they made me wear the veil because it was Ramadan ... if I didn't wear it they would kill me.

"They are horrific. They want to force us to convert, make us Muslim. They want to kill us just because we are Christian."

If she had stayed, Rajhad, who also declined to give her second name, would have faced a stark choice: convert or pay a monthly 'tax'. She chose another path -- "We left everything in a few hours. It was horrible."

"France is our last chance. We have nothing. No house, no job. We have lost everything. I used to be an English teacher. Now I'm nothing."

Tripoli (AFP) - Islamist fighters in the Fajr Libya (Libyan Dawn) coalition said on Saturday they have captured Tripoli's battered international airport after many days of clashes with nationalist militiamen.

The claim followed a setback the previous night when a warplane raided Islamist positions, killing 13 fighters, a Fajr Libya spokesman said.

If independent sources confirm the airport has changed hands, it would be a major defeat for the nationalist fighters from Zintan west of Tripoli who have held the airport since the fall of long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

A statement shown on screen on An-Nabaa television, regarded as close to the Islamists, said: "Fajr Libya announces that it totally controls Tripoli international airport."

Later a spokesman for the Islamist coalition, partly comprising men from Misrata, east of Tripoli, said its fighters "have entered the airport and are mopping up pockets of resistance".

On the political front, Libya's outgoing provisional General National Congress (GNC), which was dominated by Islamists, will resume operations despite being superseded by an elected national parliament, its spokesman said on Saturday.

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Bullet shells litter the ground as a member of the Islamist-linked militia of Misrata walks past fol …

The strategic airport 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the Libyan capital, has been shut since July 13 amid clashes between the Islamists and the Zintan force, allies of rogue general Khalifa Haftar, based at Benghazi in eastern Libya and hostile to the Islamists.

The Islamist coalition, which repeatedly claims successes against the nationalists, on Thursday organised a visit by Libyan journalists to an army base on the way to the airport, to prove they had taken it.

- Congress to meet again -

Fajr Libya on Saturday accused the United Arab Emirates and Egypt of involvement in the Friday night air raid and an earlier strike when two unidentified aircraft bombarded Islamist positions on Monday night.

"The Emirates and Egypt are involved in this cowardly aggression," the coalition said in a statement read out to Libyan journalists in Tripoli.

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Mohammed Hadia, spokesman for Islamist Fajr Libya operation (Dawn of Libya), gives a press conferenc …

In the wake of the raids, the GNC will convene again despite being a national parliament being elected in June, its spokesman said.

Friday night's air strike killed 13 Islamists and left 20 wounded, Ahmed Hadia, a Fajr Libya spokesman, said, updating an earlier toll.

"We reserve the right to respond at the opportune moment," Hadia said.

The Islamist fighters believe Libya's provisional government and newly elected parliament "are accomplices to these raids and in doing so have committed an act of treason that removes their legitimacy to govern the people", he said.

The spokesman called on the GNC, whose mandate expired when the new parliament was sworn in earlier this month, to meet again to "defend the sovereignty of the Libyan state".

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A picture taken on August 17, 2014 shows a man using a machine gun mounted on a truck during fightin …

The Islamists were well represented in the GNC but non-Islamist blocs dominate the new parliament, which is holed up along with the provisional government in Tobruk 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) east of Tripoli, to avoid the violence in the capital.

GNC spokesman Omar Ahmidan said on a local television station: "The General National Congress will hold an emergency meeting in Tripoli to save the country's sovereignty."

The latest deadly air strike targeted an army base to the south of Tripoli and a nearby warehouse, Fajr Libya said earlier.

The drawn-out battle for the airport has sparked the worst violence in the Libyan capital since the 2011 uprising.

Fajr Libya's allegation that the UAE and Egypt were behind the raids followed days of wild speculation about the provenance of the warplanes that swooped over the airport on Monday.

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A picture taken on August 17, 2014 shows a tank during fighting between rival militias around Tripol …

Haftar claimed to be behind the first raid, but specialists doubted his ability to carry out such an attack.

The Islamists suspected foreign aircraft acting at the behest of the Libyan government after the new parliament elected on June 25 called for foreign intervention to protect civilians.

In neighbouring Egypt, new President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is hostile towards Islamists, though authorities in Cairo have refused to comment.

On their way to the airport, Fajr Libya fighters seized from Zintan militiamen a Tiger armoured car developed by the UAE, television pictures showed.

The Islamists claimed the vehicle was proof of UAE support for the Zintan fighters.

Battered Libyan airport captured, extremists say

If Islamist militants' claims are confirmed, it would be a major defeat for nationalist fighters.
'Mopping up' resistance

Wochit
Obama Orders Review Of U.S. Police Use Of Military Hardware: Official

A riot police officer aims his weapon while demonstrators protest the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri in this file photo taken August 13, 2014. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

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Police officers react at the scene of a looting at the Dellwood Market after protests against the sh …

EDGARTOWN Mass. (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered a review of the distribution of military hardware to state and local police out of concern at how such equipment has been used during racial unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.

A senior Obama administration official said on Saturday the president has ordered a review of federal programs and funding that enable state and local law enforcement to purchase military equipment.

Images of police wielding military-style guns and armor have alarmed many Americans following violence that was triggered by the fatal shooting of an African-American teenager, Michael Brown, by a white police officer in Ferguson.

Obama wants to know whether the programs, begun after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, are appropriate and whether state and local law enforcement are given proper training, the official said.

The review will be led by White House staff including the Domestic Policy Council, the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, and relevant U.S. agencies including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice and Treasury, and it will be carried out in coordination with Congress.

Obama signaled that he would review the programs on Monday at a White House news conference when he said he wanted to make sure police were purchasing equipment that they actually need because there is "a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement and we don't want those lines blurred."

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Bombings in Baghdad and the northern city of Kirkuk killed at least 42 people in Iraq on Saturday as the government investigated a deadly attack on a Sunni mosque the day before that has heightened sectarian tensions amid a fragile political transition.

In oil-rich Kirkuk, long disputed by Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government, three bombs went off in a crowded commercial district, killing 31 people and wounding dozens, Kirkuk deputy police chief Tarhan Abdel-Rahman said.

One witness said he heard "an explosion between the cars, and then we started carrying out the dead bodies from there while people were burning inside the shops and cars." The witness asked not to be named for fear of retribution.

In Baghdad, a suicide bomber had earlier driven an explosives-laden car into the gate of the intelligence headquarters in Karrada district, killing six civilians and five security personnel, a police officer said. He said 24 other people were wounded.

A medical official confirmed causality figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief the media.

The attacks came after parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri said that a committee of security officials and lawmakers were probing Friday's attack against a village mosque in Diyala province, northeast of the capital, which killed more than 60 people. The results of the investigation are expected in two days' time.

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Iraq's Sunni parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri speaks about Musab bin Omair Mosque, where Frid …

It remained unclear whether the attack in the village of Imam Wais was carried out by Shiite militiamen or insurgents from the Islamic State group who have been advancing into mixed Sunni-Shiite areas in Diyala and have been known to kill fellow Sunni Muslims who refuse to submit to their harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

Since early this year, Iraq has faced an onslaught by the Islamic State extremist group and allied Sunni militants, who have seized large areas in the country's west and north. The group took over Iraq's second-largest city Mosul in June, and has since declared an Islamic state, or caliphate, in territory under its control in both Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Local security officials in Diyala said Friday's attack began with a suicide bombing near the mosque entrance. Gunmen then stormed the building and opened fire on worshippers. At least 64 people were killed, including four Shiite militiamen who stumbled upon bombs planted by the militants as they rushed to the scene with security forces.

Sunni lawmakers offered a different account, saying Shiite militiamen had launched a reprisal attack on the mosque after their convoy was bombed.

The attack led two major Sunni parliamentary blocs to pull out of talks on forming a new government. The move creates a major hurdle for Shiite prime minister-designate Haider al-Abadi as he struggles to reach out to Sunnis to form a government by Sept. 10 that can confront the Islamic State extremists.

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Iraqi parliament speaker, Salim al-Jabouri, a Sunni, speaks about the Friday attack on the Musab bin …

In a press conference, al-Jabouri did not say who might have been behind the attack, saying only that such violence was "carried out by the same hands (of those) who want to derail the process of building the government."

Al-Jabouri heads one of the blocs that suspended talks, but he declined to comment on the move at the press conference, saying he was there in his capacity as parliament speaker. Al-Abadi issued a statement late Saturday calling upon all political blocs to submit their nominations for ministerial positions in the new government.

Imam Wais village is located about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad in the ethnically and religiously mixed Diyala province, which saw heavy fighting at the height of Iraq's sectarian conflict in 2006 and 2007.

Firat al-Tamimi, a Diyala lawmaker, said there are conflicting accounts surrounding Friday's events. He confirmed, however, that there was a bombing near the mosque prior to the assault on worshippers.

The leader of one of the country's largest Shiite militias on Saturday denied any role in the attack.

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Iraq's Sunni parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri speaks about Musab bin Omair Mosque, where Frid …

"What happened yesterday is a crime that we cannot turn a blind eye to," said Qais al-Khazali of the Iranian-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, which has been accused of attacks on Sunnis in the past.

Al-Khazali described the killing as "barbaric," adding: "It is something we do not accept and we categorically condemn."

Iraqi President Fouad Massoum, a Kurd, condemned Friday's attack and appealed "to all for self-restraint and to act wisely." He promised the incident would be "properly investigated and its perpetrators held to account."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he's "deeply concerned about the impact such acts of sectarian violence will have on the already grave security situation and on the political process." The European Union said the "heinous crime" should not stand in the way of government formation and urged Iraqis to unite against violence.

Also Saturday an explosion in the Kurdish capital, Irbil, injured three people, according to military officials who declined to be named because they are not authorized to speak with journalists. It remains unclear what caused the explosion, however one military official said it may have involved a sticky bomb.

____

Associated Press writer Murtada Faraj in Baghdad and Bram Janssen in Irbil contributed to this report.