Merkel tells Abbas Germany to keep up aid to Palestinians

Source : Trend.Az

Berlin will keep up its aid to the Palestinian Territories when Germany forms a new cross-party government, Chancellor Angela Merkel told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, dpa reported.

Abbas, who spent an hour at the chancellor's office, is on a swing through Europe to seek backing as the tempo of Palestinian meetings with the Israelis picks up under prodding from the United States.

Merkel, who has invited the opposition Social Democrats to join her in a government that may take until December to form, said, "Continuity in German foreign policy has been very, very preponderant.

"We have always advocated a two-state solution. We have always advocated aiding and supporting the Palestinian Territories, advancing the peace process, advancing economic development and I am pretty sure we will conduct our foreign policy with this continuity."

Construction of Jewish settlements in West Bank areas has cast a cloud over the direct peace negotiations which resumed in July after three years of no progress.

"I stress the Palestinian side is very earnestly trying to conduct these talks despite the challenge of settlements. We should accept this historic opportunity. We appeal to the Israeli side to seize this chance," Abbas told reporters with Merkel at his side.

"That the Palestinians have halted their attempts to join further United Nations bodies is an up-front concession for these talks, and in the same measure we have appealed to Israel to restrain itself in extending settlements," said Merkel.

"I have repeatedly said that to Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, since we ought not to imperil this consultation process."

Merkel also discussed the conflict in Syria with Abbas. She urged that a fresh conference in Geneva among the Syrian parties be held "as soon as possible."

German Jobless Claims Rise by 21,000 in May

Source : Fars News

TEHRAN (FNA)- The number of unemployed people in Germany rose for the third consecutive month in May, while the country's jobless rate held steady, official data showed.

In a report, Germany's Federal Statistics Office said the number of unemployed people seasonally adjusted 21,000 in May, significantly above expectations for an increase of 5 Investing.com reported Wednesday.

Jobless claims for April were revised to an increase of 6,000 people from a previously re 4,000.

The report showed that Germany's unemployment rate held steady at 6.9% this month expectations.

Following the release of the data, the euro trimmed gains to trade little changed agains dollar, with EUR/USD adding 0.03% to trade at 1.2859.

Meanwhile, European stock markets held on to losses. The EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.9%, Fr declined 0.9%, Germany's DAX dropped 0.9%, while London's FTSE 100 retreated 1.1%

Germany urges Israel-Palestinian peace talks

Source : Maan News Agency

RAMALLAH (AFP) -- Germany's foreign minister said on Saturday his country was prepared to help create conditions for a resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Guido Westerwelle, on a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, was quoted by a foreign ministry statement as saying "Germany is ready to help create a climate of confidence" that would permit talks to resume.

"The most important thing is that direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians can take place again," said Westerwelle, who met with outgoing premier Salam Fayyad in Ramallah.

The German minister also stressed the importance for a peaceful outcome o economic development in the Palestinian territories.

And he called for an international conference to be held on the civil war i Syria, as has been proposed by Russia and the United States.

A political solution is the "only thing, given the current state of affairs, that ca bring stability and peace" and "a democratic outcome in Syria."

German foreign minister reaffirms Israel 'friendship'

Source : Maan News Agency

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Visiting German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Friday reaffirmed his country's friendship for Israel in "challenging times" for the region, as tensions mount over the Syrian conflict.

"I want to underline that in these challenging times Germany stands alongside its Israeli partners," Westerwelle said at the start of talks in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling his host a "dear friend."

"We want to work together, we want to support you and this is what our friendship is about," he added, speaking in English.

"I'm using the word friendship, which is from our understanding more than a partnership. This is not only a strategic alliance; this is a friendship between societies, between peoples and between governments."

Netanyahu said that the current upheaval in the Middle East was more acute than for many decades.

"Today the Middle East is undergoing a period of tremendous and unprecedented instability," he said.

"We have not seen such an upheaval in this region for many decades. I follow closely the rapidly changing situation around us. I follow closely the very real challenges that this rapidly changing situation poses for the security of Israel," said the prime minister.

"I will travel to wherever needed," Netanyahu added. "I will meet with whoever is needed and I'm doing whatever is needed to protect the security of the citizens of Israel, and I will continue to do so."

Westerwelle also said that Germany was fully behind US efforts to revive dormant peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

"We believe that the Middle East peace process and the work on a two-state solution should be revived now and we will do what we can to support security and a peaceful and sustainable development for Israel and the whole region."

At a meeting earlier with Westerwelle in Tel Aviv, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni slammed Russian arms deals with Syria, after US media reported further weapons shipments to the Damascus regime.

"The transfer of arms to Syria is clearly not positive and does not contribute to the stability of the region," Livni said. "Israel has the right to defend itself."

German Bundeswehr soldiers ‘for hire as mercenaries'

Source : StratRisks

German soldiers are moonlighting illegally at private security firms while off-duty, a newspaper revealed on Monday. Working as heavily armed guards on freighters or in war-zones, some do it for the cash and others for the adrenaline kick.

As members of the German army, Bundeswehr, soldiers are not allowed to work as mercenaries for private companies – yet many are doing it, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) found out.

Exact figures on how many of Germany’s soldiers, or former soldiers, work the private security circuit are unknown. According to the FAZ’s research, the field is growing and critics are warning of a “mercenary renaissance”.

In response to a written request for information from the Green Party last year, the government revealed that there were at least a dozen registered mercenary companies in the country alone.

One such firm told the paper that although they did not advertise jobs, it received three applications each day – mostly from soldiers. Those given a job are often sent to guard ships or to pick up the slack in combat zones.

The paper said guarding German freighters off Africa, where piracy is rife, was a common gig. Last spring the government passed a law saying its country’s ships were allowed to have armed protection – but the idea was not that German soldiers should do it in their spare time.

And though ships can be owned by German companies, many fly under a different national flag – largely Liberia, Antigua or Barbuda, which have different laws on what weapons guards can use.

Identified only as Till, an ex-Bundeswehr soldier turned ship security guard told the FAZ that when working at sea he worked with automatic weapons that are banned from German- flagged ships.

“With an AK47 and a PKM you are the king of the sea,” he told the paper.

Till, like others working the ship scene, earns around €6,000 for a six-week trip – far more than he would have for the same tour of duty with the Bundeswehr. He is no longer in active service due to post traumatic stress syndrome, but by law soldiers have to tell the army if they are working for a private security firm for five years after leaving.

An army paramedic identified as Marcel K., told the FAZ that when working on ships his colleagues had included soldiers, police officers and customs workers. Most were, he said, looking to make extra money. He soon found that he could earn more money working freelance on land – being a “combat medic” in a war zone could get him €8,000 per month.

He added that in his experience, mercenary soldiers did not fill the testosterone-fuelled, trigger-happy image portrayed in the media. Rather, most tended to be family men out to earn extra money, or adventurous types in it for the experience.

Outside of Germany, security firms in Britain and the US are said to be fond of hiring German military personnel – particularly elite soldiers – although the country’s defence ministry denied knowledge of this.

A spokesman from the ministry contradicted the newspaper, saying it knew of “no active soldiers working for private firms.” But while soldiers are well-informed of what they may and may not do, the army does not keep tabs on them during leave.

Soldiers wishing to work elsewhere may only do so with permission from their superiors, but since the defence ministry said there were none registered this suggests that the “dozens” cited by the FAZ were doing so illegally.

German Interior Minister: German "Jihadists" Are Fighting in Syria

Source : SANA

BERLIN, (SANA)- German Interior Minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, revealed that Islamist extremists from Germany are fighting alongside the armed terrorist groups in Syria.

In an interview with the German Spiegel magazine published Thursday, Friedrich said the German intelligence are concerned that those extremists could pose a threat to Germany's security after they return from Syria.

He affirmed that German "jihadists" who were under surveillance in the country are now operating in Syria and fighting within the ranks of "the armed opposition" groups.

The German Minister stopped short of clarifying how the German "jihadists" were able to move to Syria while they were under surveillance.

He said Germany is following with deep concern the developments of the situation and the calls for Europeans who participated in the fighting in Syria to return home and continue "jihad" back in their countries.

The EU Counter Terrorism Coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, revealed Wednesday that hundreds of Europeans have joined the ranks of the armed terrorist groups fighting in Syria.

H. Said

The German parliament is debating the existing rules and proposed changes in the visa legislation

Source : Vesti Kavkaza

The Green party is against the planned easing of the visa regime between Germany and Russia, persistently trying to link the issue with political freedoms and human rights in Russia. According to the bilateral agreements reached between Moscow and Berlin, Russian official passport holders and entrepreneurs may no longer need a visa to enter Germany in the near future.

"These are passports which are distributed by the Russian government to all the friends of the nomenclature" a deputy from the Green Party, Marie-Louise Beck, said about the official Russian passports. "At the same time, students and representatives of civil society have to stand in line in front of the consulate," Beck said, Die Welt writes.