The material in the course, which officers could elect to take but was not obligatory, flew in the face of repeated assertions by the Obama administration that the war on terrorism is just that and should under no circumstances be read as an assault on a religion observed by 1.4 billion people around the world.

Details of the course were obtained by a blog on Wired.com, drawn from a presentation given by the teacher, Lt. Col. Matthew Dooley, in July last year.  He suggested that destroying Islamic holy sites would follow the precedents of the nuclear strike by the allies on Hiroshima in World War II and the firebombing of Dresden. His course was called ‘Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism’.

It was suspended in April after the Pentagon received a complaint from a student and Lt. Col. Dooley, while still at the College, no longer has any teaching duties.  The FBI, meanwhile, has revealed that it too has recently been forced to revise some of its instructional materials to excise references that could have been insulting to Islam.

“It was just totally objectionable, against our values, and it wasn’t academically sound,” the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Martin Dempsey, said at a press conference at the Pentagon. “This wasn’t about … pushing back on liberal thought; this was objectionable, academically irresponsible.”

Dooley offered a theoretical war plan based on the need for “a direct ideological and philosophical confrontation with Islam”. In his presentation, he said: “They hate everything you stand for and will never coexist with you, unless you submit”. He added that as America waged that war it would be free to ignore provisions of the Geneva Convention that sets the rules for armed conflict as “no longer relevant”.

“This would leave open the option once again of taking war to a civilian population wherever necessary (the historical precedents of Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki being applicable…).”  Saying Islam has already declared war on the US, Dooley called the current American stance of seeking common ground with Islamic leaders around the world as “illogical” and the better option was “waging ‘near total war’”.

“We have now come to understand that there is no such thing as ‘moderate Islam’,” Dooley said in the July presentation. “It is therefore time for the United States to make our true intentions clear. This barbaric ideology will no longer be tolerated. Islam must change or we will facilitate its self-destruction.”

Offered five times a year for groups of 20 at a time, the course may have been taught to as many as 800 mid-level and senior US military officers before the Pentagon closed it down.  Lt. Col. Dooley was himself a highly decorated officer who had served in Iraq, Bosnia and Kuwait among others. By David Usborne, The Independent

The bombings were the deadliest attacks in the Syrian capital, Damascus, since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began 14 months ago.

“The United States condemns in the strongest terms the attacks that took place today in Damascus,” the U.S. embassy said in statements posted on Twitter.

“The indiscriminate targeting and killing of civilians is reprehensible and unacceptable in any context,” it said.

The U.S. embassy in Damascus was closed earlier this year when tensions between the two countries rose as Washington voiced support for the revolt against Assad’s rule.

The United States has criticized Assad for not sticking to a ceasefire deal and peace plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan. International observers say both rebels and the government have violated the agreement as violence continued.

“We continue to call on the Syrian regime to fully and immediately implement the Annan plan,” the U.S. embassy in Lebanon said. Yahoo Daily News

Mrs Clinton said Pakistan’s government needed to ensure that its territory was not used for launching attacks anywhere, including inside Pakistan.

Addressing reporters with Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna, she added that India was critical in efforts to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

She was at the end of an Asian tour.

Talks between Mrs Clinton and Indian officials ranged from India’s imports of Iranian oil to foreign investment.

‘Scourge’

But on Tuesday Mrs Clinton stressed that Pakistan should do more to crack down on violent extremism.

“Terrorists in Pakistan have killed more than 30,000 Pakistanis. We need stronger, more concerted efforts against the scourge of terrorism,” she said.

The comments come just one day after she said Pakistan should act against Hafiz Saeed, founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Ten gunmen killed 165 people in a three-day rampage that targeted luxury hotels, a train station and a Jewish centre in India’s commercial capital. Only one gunman, Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, was captured alive.

After initial denials, Pakistan acknowledged that the assault had been partially planned on its territory and that Qasab was a Pakistani citizen. He is appealing against a death sentence in India.

Mrs Clinton also said the US looked to India as a partner in the international effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The US has been putting pressure on nations to stop importing Iranian oil, an important source of revenue for Tehran.

“We commend India for the steps steps it is taking to reduce imports [of oil] from Iran. We are working with India on alternative sources of supply.”

She said US will be sending an energy envoy to India next week for discussions with Indian officials on alternative sources of fuel.

Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna said Iran was “an important source of oil for us” given India’s growing energy needs.

But, he said, India also had “a strong interest in peaceful and negotiated settlement of issues relating to Iran’s nuclear programme”.

Mrs Clinton’s visit to India is the final stop on a three-nation tour which also took her to China and Bangladesh. BBC News

Although these events occurred in the midst of a China-Russian naval drill, one shouldn’t be too concerned about how the mainstream press is misrepresenting China’s navy. The China-Russian naval drill, including the South China Sea standoff and possible Chinese base in the Gulf of Aden, are all primarily China’s desire to again be acknowledged, especially by Western imperial powers that have maintained dozens of colonies and protectorates throughout the Pacific and sea and military bases. China is also wanting to uphold regional peace alliances and provide stability for its own shipping commerce.

The pride of China’s maritime trade and exchanges actually started centuries before Western kingdoms sought to explore and exploit the world. Still, the rise of Westernized war ships and sea power was made possible only because of Chinese navigational innovations. As early as the 1st century, Chinese ships were making a long coastwise journey with luxury items, like silk and spices and gems, around Siam and India and Arabia, through the African-Mediterranean region, to Rome. The sea routes were much cheaper and faster and safer than overland routes.(1)

These maritime ventures were symbolic of China’s trade and commerce and helped develop navigational equipment that benefited much of the world. By the early 15th century, Emperor Zhu Di had employed Zheng He to command China’s treasure fleets. Zheng He was born to a Muslim family and became one of the greatest skilled navigators in the history of sea travel. Seven major voyages were undertaken with hundreds of ships, some three-to four-hundred-foot-long. They were multiple nail-bound with watertight hull compartments, up to nine masts, and with dozens of spacious cabins.

Chinese treasure ships also had sophisticated stern-post rudders of a type that would not be seen in Europe until the early modern period.(2) The maritime ventures stabilized the critical Strait of Malacca, ruled by renegade pirates, and increased trade and commerce. They also spread new ideas and innovations. China shared the magnetic compass and introduced improved navigational techniques to Arab and European kingdoms, like fore-and-aft rigging that sailed into the wind, paddle wheels, and the sleek caravels.(3)

But foremost in China’s Eastern philosophies, its rich cultural heritages, and its technological inventions, was the need to be acknowledged and to be recognized by other countries, specifically of its importance and place in the “Western Ocean.”(4) This was the real purpose for large-scale maritime and diplomatic-motivated explorations. (According to some naval historians, one expedition, a detachment from Zheng He’s sixth expedition, visited America in 1421, along with Australia, New Zealand, the Atlantic coast of Brazil, and the Cape Verde Islands. Such a voyage would be seventy-five years before that of Christopher Columbus.)(5)

As the U.S. and other Western nations, including the Philippines and Japan, appear overly fearful of China’s naval activities, they may instead want to learn several valuable lessons from China’s maritime history. Emperor Zheng earned little economic reward from his massive treasure trips, but they did consume much of the nation’s timber and other valuable resources for shipbuilding.(6) And within a few generations, reactionary and fearful Chinese isolationists allowed their merchant fleets to wither.

As a new dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, retreated from maritime trade and commerce, Japanese wako marauders so terrorized China’s coastline that to this day women in Fuian province hide their faces with blue scarves originally designed to shield the wearer from the lecherous gaze of foreign bandits.(7) Britain and France would later force the Qing Dynasty to trade in opium currency, which devastated China. Other imperial powers, like the U.S., Japan, and Russia, militarily carved China into economic spheres, resulting in numerous Chinese rebellions and resistance movements.

Neither has China forgotten World War I and World War II, both of which were considered European Civil Wars by Chinese officials, and both of which forced China to take sides. A U.S.-led war against communist forces, the Japanese invasion of China and War of Resistance, and numerous Western military engagements and preemptive wars with China’s neighbors, have adversely impacted China. Perhaps it is time to allow China to pursue a kind of self-strengthening movement, so as to equalize the balance of power in the Pacific region, helping to bring stability and innovations once again to the world. Dallas Darling

The commentary in China’s Liberation Army Daily falls short of a formal government statement, but marks the harshest high-level warning yet from Beijing about tensions with the Philippines over disputed seas where both countries have recently sent ships to assert their claims.

This week American and Filipino troops launched a fortnight of annual naval drills amid the stand-off between Beijing and Manila, who have accused each other of encroaching on sovereign seas near the Scarborough Shoal, west of a former U.S. navy base at Subic Bay.

The joint exercises are held in different seas around the Philippines; the leg that takes place in the South China Sea area starts on Monday.

“Anyone with clear eyes saw long ago that behind these drills is reflected a mentality that will lead the South China Sea issue down a fork in the road towards military confrontation and resolution through armed force,” said the commentary in the Chinese paper, which is the chief mouthpiece of the People’s Liberation Army.

“Through this kind of meddling and intervention, the United States will only stir up the entire South China Sea situation towards increasing chaos, and this will inevitably have a massive impact on regional peace and stability.”

Up to now, China has chided the Philippines over the dispute about the uninhabited shoal known in the Philippines as the Panatag Shoal and which China calls Huangyan, about 124 nautical miles off the main Philippine island of Luzon.

China has territorial disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan in the South China Sea, which could be rich in oil and gas and is spanned by busy shipping lanes.

REGIONAL TENSIONS

Beijing has sought to resolve the disputes one-on-one but there is worry among its neighbours over what some see as growing Chinese assertiveness in staking claims over the seas and various islands, reefs and shoals.

In past patches of regional tension over disputed seas, hawkish Chinese military voices have also emerged, only to be later reined in by the government, and the same could be true this time.

Since late 2010, China has sought to cool tensions with the United States over regional disputes, trade and currency policies, human rights and other contentious issues. Especially with the ruling Chinese Party preoccupied with a leadership succession late in 2012, Beijing has stressed its hopes for steady relations throughout this year.

Nonetheless, experts have said that China remains wary of U.S. military intentions across the Asia-Pacific, especially in the wake of the Obama administration’s vows to “pivot” to the region, reinvigorating diplomatic and security ties with allies.

The Liberation Army Daily commentary echoed that wariness.

“The U.S. strategy of returning to the Asia-Pacific carries the implication of a shift in military focus, and there is no better strategic opening than China’s sovereignty disputes with the Philippines and other countries in the South China Sea,” said the newspaper.

“The United States’ intention of trying to draw more countries into stirring up the situation in the South China Sea is being brandished to the full,” it said. By Chris Buckley, Euronews

As the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK) heralds an imminent rocket launch from the Tongchang-ri site, its neighbours anxiously await the fallout.

While the North says the send-off is merely to put a civilian satellite into space, the country’s adversaries have denounced what they describe as provocation by Pyongyang.

The reclusive communist site has for years been planning festivities – including the missile test – surrounding the 100th birthday on April 15, 2012, of founding president Kim Il-sung. Other activities for the centenary include: an Arirang mass games spectacle in which more than 100,000 people perform a highly co-ordinated gymnastic and theatrical show; dedication of construction projects such as the 330-metre-high Ryugyong Hotel, which was begun in 1987; and the completion of the country’s largest-ever hydroelectric dam.

Meanwhile, the DPRK recently finished commemorating the death of the “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-il while transitioning rule to his young son Kim Jong-un.

Juche, meaning “self-reliance” in Korean, is the name of the country’s official ideology, which combines Stalinist political principles, Confucian social values and ethnic Korean nationalism.

North Korea uses a Juche calendar whose year one is 1912, when Kim Il-sung was born. So, 2012 is considered Juche 101.

To understand the motivating factors behind North Korea’s celebrations, Al Jazeera’s Ben Piven spoke with Charles Armstrong, a history professor and Director of the Centre for Korean Research at Columbia University, Leon Sigal, Director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project, and Thomas Gold, a sociology professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of East Asian Studies.

Ben Piven: What can the new leader of North Korea achieve by following through with highly anticipated birthday celebrations for his grandfather, Kim Il-sung?

Charles Armstrong: This has been in the works for a while and it would have been impossible for North Korea not to hold the launch after building up the event for so long. They are very proud of the 1998 “satellite” that celebrated Kim Jong-il’s accession to the throne, even though most outside observers believe the launch failed. This [2012 launch] signifies Kim Jong-un’s accession to power and his loyalty to the memory of his father and grandfather.

Leon Sigal: He will be carrying out the wishes of his late father. If the test-launch and nuclear test succeed, he’ll improve North Korea’s capabilities.

Thomas Gold: We need to ask first who the intended audience is. For the local elite, it is to stress the continuation of the Kim Il-sung bloodline and all that that implies, especially the continuation of privileges.

For the rest, probably same old same old – don’t get your hopes up, if you ever did. For foreign audiences, it is also a statement of continuation of the line, and don’t think because he studied abroad as a youth his thinking deviates from his predecessors’. His focus is showing that the DPRK is resolute in maintaining the Juche line and all that that implies. Kim Jung-un can achieve the sense at home and abroad that things are under control.

BP: You’ve visited North Korea in your capacity as academics. What will be the single most impressive aspect of the massive centenary festivities – Ryugyong Hotel, Arirang Games, Huichon Power Station, or something else entirely?

Armstrong: The near-completion of Ryugyong [a 105-story hotel whose construction was halted in the mid-90's] is impressive. When I last went in June 2011, there was a lot of construction in the Mansudae area near Kim Il-sung’s giant bronze statue. In general, the appearance of construction and traffic was striking and something not seen at this scale in Pyongyang for two decades.

Sigal: The obvious signs of economic revival from the low-point of the mid-nineties, at least in Pyongyang.

Gold: For all of the planned hoopla and mass events, I think the most impressive aspect is the fact that this regime has survived this long and continues to attract the world’s attention. That is the message. Local people will be told that this is because of its strength and the resolute determination of its unified leadership and citizens to maintain the Juche line and not be beholden to or at the beck and call of outsiders, even if the reality – which most of them are unaware of – is very different.

This message is especially aimed at the US and Japan but China as well. The message shows that the DPRK enjoys great leverage, presented as “prestige” or “respect”, around the region and world, and must be consulted on important issues of the day (without indicating the real reasons). The events will demonstrate that the sacrifices that the Korean people make are well worth it. And the whole world, friends and enemies alike, are paying attention to what is going on in the DPRK, and are impressed with the continuity.

For students of social psychology, the DPRK’s sense of “presentation of self” is endlessly fascinating. What its leaders think is the impression they are giving versus what observers take away, and do the leaders care that there is such a large gap?

BP: For political analysts, there is a lot of debate about whether the North will successfully push the West to send promised food aid. Is this international drama a distraction during the Juche 101 party?

Armstrong: The North Koreans would like food aid of course but they will have the party regardless. It’s unfortunate that the US has cut off food aid because of the announced rocket launch, as the US has long said humanitarian assistance should not be linked to politics.

Sigal: For the North this has never been about food aid, but about the relationship with the US. That may be changing.

Gold: I think it is part and parcel of it – another display of the North’s leverage. But how it is actually presented to the citizens? [It's unlikely average North Koreans will think] the elite is starving you into submission to preserve its privileges which are inextricably linked to the survival of the Kim dynasty. But that is a different matter. I can’t see the West not sending some aid.

BP: As Americans who have cultivated decent relations with various people in Pyongyang, do you think there is increased scope for understanding and outreach during the April 2012 period?

Armstrong: I believe it’s critical that we try but things are going to be rocky for the next little while. Once the excitement over the 100th anniversary dies down we can hopefully return to constructive dialogue.

Sigal: Absolutely not. The test-launch undercuts all those in United States who sought an improvement in relations.

Gold: I wouldn’t bet on it. Foreigners who attend these events may try to probe what “people” think of KJU or the DPRK itself – even though the only ones they meet will be officials, overt or covert, and carefully vetted citizens. But the Koreans won’t reveal their true thoughts, which might actually not differ from the official line at all.

I think the official handlers will be very preachy and arrogant. On the other hand, visitors who are capable of keeping a cool head and are willing to say what they honestly think about the place  – will certainly be listened to, even if not responded to with anything but dogma.

BP: Since you also have a keen awareness of how the Chinese government plays a role in Northeast Asia, will Beijing be as happy to honour this Communist legend’s birth anniversary?

Armstrong: The Chinese are concerned but there’s not much they can do about it. Publicly they praise Kim Il-sung and his achievements. Privately they are unhappy with the direction his son took the country and are waiting to see how the grandson does.

Sigal: The leadership in Beijing must be very unhappy with the test-launch and will respond in a measured way to show its unhappiness.

Gold: “As happy” as what? Beijing sees DPRK as a throwback to its own lawless Mao era, a wild card and unnecessary nuisance on its border. But nonetheless it does provide leverage to the Chinese and is a buffer against US forces in the South.

So there will be the usual verbiage about “lips and teeth” but a lot of nose-holding and eye-rolling behind the scenes. The Chinese have been trying to cultivate a more “rational” successor generation for years, and this will not stop. They don’t want people who see China as a model to get in trouble for being seen as too close to Beijing – and therefore as “iffy” by Pyongyang.

BP: Once the fireworks are over, how will the North Korean people appraise the three-generation legacy of the Kim dynasty?

Armstrong: It’s always hard to say what ordinary Koreans are really thinking, but I imagine they will be impressed by their country’s display of technological prowess and military strength, while wondering when they will see the promised prosperity of the slogan “Powerful and Prosperous Country 2012″.

Sigal: There is no way of knowing.

Gold:  Let’s not forget that the North Korean people are not a monolith. The regime divides them into three groups based on how trustworthy they are perceived to be. The “privileged” group living in Pyongyang and rewarded by the regime will thank their stars that the young Kim seems committed to carrying on life as they have known it, so their bets are as secure as possible in such a random and arbitrary place.

Those labelled “hostile”, if they are treated to extra rations and a bit of time off for the celebrations, won’t see much change on the horizon. Those in the middle will soldier on, tying to prove their fealty.

We have very little knowledge of what North Koreans think in any case, particularly outside of the capital. No one has spotted DPRK’s Gorbachev yet, have they? Al Jazeera

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Kofi Annan represented the last chance for avoiding a civil war in Syria and offered the UN-Arab League envoy Moscow’s full support.

“This may be the last chance for Syria to avoid a protracted and bloody civil war,” Russian agencies quoted Medvedev as telling Annan at a meeting on Sunday, adding that Russia would provide “full support at any level” for his mission.

Medvedev’s warning came as US President Barack Obama pledged to send “non-lethal” aid to the Syrian rebels in the most overt show of US support for the rebels to date.

The decision seems certain to irritate Russia following its fierce condemnation of the West’s calls on President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

Obama said at talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of a nuclear security summit in Seoul that they agreed “there should be a process” of transition to a “legitimate government” in Syria.

A top US national security official said the delivery of medical aid and other urgent supplies would top the agenda of a “Friends of Syria” meeting scheduled for April 1 in Istanbul.

Both Russia and China have used their veto rights as permanent members of the UN Security Council to block efforts to condemn Assad.

Annan, the former UN chief, will be carrying with him Assad’s answer to a peace plan under which Syria could begin a “political transition” to a representative government, with no specifically defined role for Assad.

The initiative calls for Assad to withdraw troops and heavy weapons from protest hubs, a daily two-hour humanitarian ceasefire, access to all areas affected by the fighting and a UN-supervised halt to all clashes.

Homs targeted

Blasts meanwhile once again rocked Syria’s flashpoint city of Homs as the regime pressed on with its assault on protest hubs while the rebels countered by attacking a military base in Damascus province.

Opposition activists said at least 21 people were killed in several districts in Syria on Sunday morning.

Activists in Homs reported heavy shelling of al-Khaldiyeh, al-Hamidiyeh and other old neighbourhoods in the city in an attempt by the government to regain control of pockets of armed resistance.

A large number of  al-Qusair residents in Homs reportedly fled their homes into neighbouring villages after their town was heavily bombarded by artillery fire.

In the southern town of Nawa, the Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC) activist network said “tanks have entered the main streets, and heavy gunfire by regime forces is reported”.

Nawa is in Deraa province, where the popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s rule erupted in March 2011.

Elsewhere in the country on Sunday, near the northern border with Turkey, rockets were fired into the town of Aazaz as helicopters flew overhead, according to activists.

LCC said opposition fighters of the Free Syrian Army blocked a highway used by the military for reinforcements and supplies to Aazaz, which has been the scene of fierce clashes for the past few weeks.

The state news agency SANA said an “armed terrorist group” attacked a gas pipeline in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor. Several such attacks have caused explosions in Deir ez-Zor and Homs provinces.

At least eight people were reportedly killed across Syria on Sunday, activist said.

‘Human shield’

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said government forces in Idlib had resorted to using civilians as human shields to protect themselves from attacks by opposition fighters.

Citing witnesses and YouTube videos, the US-based rights group accused the army and pro-government militia known as shabiha of forcing people to march in front of them as they advanced on opposition-controlled towns in the province.

“By using civilians as human shields, the Syrian army is showing blatant disregard for their safety,” Ole Solvang, HRW emergencies researcher, said in a statement.

“The Syrian army should immediately stop this abhorrent practice.”

The tactic had reportedly been used in the towns of Al-Janudyah, Kafr Nabl, Kafr Ruma and Ayn Laruz. Al Jazeera

After depleting his ammunitions, the pilot flew to Turkey, a country that already hosts Syrian army defectors. Head of the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA), Colonel Riad al-Asaad, is currently residing in Turkey.

A member of the Syrian National Council (SNC) confirmed that the defected pilot has reached Turkey, and said that President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has become incapable in controlling the army. Fearing an attack against the presidential palace, the army is sending military pilots without ammunitions, the SNC member added.

Friday clashes, demos

Meanwhile, Syrian forces bombed towns and clashed with rebels in several regions as activists said thousands staged anti-regime protests.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators turned out Friday in the hot spots of anti-regime revolt across Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

At least 33 people were killed in violence nationwide, the Britain-based group said: 17 civilians, 13 soldiers and three army deserters.

Nine civilians died in districts in Homs hit by gunfire and rockets, it reported.

At least three deserters and a civilians were reported killed in fighting between regime forces and army deserters in Aazaz in the northern province of Aleppo near the Turkish border, the Observatory and activists said.

“Troops are bombing and helicopters flying overhead,” activist Mohammed Halabi told AFP in Beirut by telephone from the province. The fighting had been going on since midday Thursday, he said.

Aazaz, strategically positioned on the road to neighboring Turkey, is a supply route for FSA rebels.

Fierce clashes also erupted mid-afternoon between soldiers and deserters in the villages of Haritan and Anadan, between Aleppo and Aazaz, Halabi said. The Observatory said two civilians were killed in Anadan.

Troops shelled the two villages after deserters attacked a convoy of tanks headed for Aazaz, the activist said.

U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan was to travel this weekend to Moscow and Beijing, the two countries that have blocked Security Council action against Syria over the crackdown.

But he had no immediate plans to return to Damascus.

In related story, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano moved Friday to allow Syrians in the United States to stay beyond their visas and avoid the risk of returning to their violence-torn country.

Napolitano said in a statement that, “in light of deteriorating conditions in Syria,” the Department of Homeland Security will be designating Syria temporary protected status (TPS) for Syrians currently in the United States. Al Arabiya News

The files provide an insight into President Bashar al-Assad’s strategy to suppress anti-government protests, including the lengths the government went to for protecting its strongholds.

The documents, running into hundreds of pages, pointed to a government that was desperate to keep control of the capital Damascus and included clear orders to stop protesters from getting into the city.

They also revealed detailed security plans for crushing protests in the cities of Aleppo and Idlib.

One leaked paper spelt out clear orders to top officials to give financial and moral support to Assad’s supporters in Aleppo, the second major city.

Whistleblower

The documents were passed on to Al Jazeera by Abdel Majid Barakat, who until recently was one of the government’s most trusted officials.

The former Baath party member, who was in charge of collating information from across Syria at the secret joint crisis management cell in Damascus, has fled to Turkey.

“For months, the opposition had a mole at the heart of Assad’s security apparatus working in this joint co-ordination cell that co-ordinates the work of all the intelligence agencies across the country, “ Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from Turkey, said.

In one leaked cable marked confidential, the government cautioned the Syrian foreign minister about countries trying to influence Syrian diplomats to defect.

“Every evening at 7:00 pm Damascus time, there is a meeting of all the intelligence and security chiefs looking back at what happened across the country during the day, making their plans, making their orders for the next day,” Bays said.

“These orders then go to the office of the president the next morning and he himself signs all the orders, the final go ahead,“ he said.

The documents indicate that the government spied on the Arab League monitoring mission, which was in Syria at the end of last year.

They also spell out where protests have been taking place, and how many people were involved. They show that some of the biggest rallies have been in the province of Idlib.

Barakat, the whistleblower, told Al Jazeera “any person reading these reports will be shocked, will realise that Syria is living a true crisis: killings, criminality and suppression of protesters”.

“However security chiefs paint [a] beautiful picture in their reports. They ignore many substantial facts on the ground, simply to boost the president’s morale,” he said. Al Jazeera

North Korea will launch the rocket to mark the 100th birthday of its late Great Leader Kim Il-sung in April, state media reported.

Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua said deputy foreign minister Zhang Zhijun met Pyongyang’s ambassador to express Beijing’s “worry”.

Any launch would be seen as violating UN Security Council resolutions.

Mr Zhang said all sides were obliged to maintain peace on the Korean peninsula.

“We sincerely hope parties concerned stay calm and exercise restraint and avoid escalation of tension that may lead to a more complicated situation,” Zhang was quoted as saying, in a report released on Saturday.

Earlier the US said the launch would threaten regional security and Russia described the plan as a “serious concern”.

A spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology said that the launch would take place between 12 and 16 April.

Call for restraint

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called North Korea’s announcement “highly provocative” and urged the country to abide by its international obligations.

“Such a missile launch would pose a threat to regional security and would also be inconsistent with North Korea’s recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches,” she said in a statement.

A US state department spokesperson said it would be “hard to imagine” giving food aid to North Korea, as previously agreed, if Pyongyang went ahead with the rocket launch.

Neighbour South Korea said such a move would be a “clear violation” of UN Security Council Resolutions passed after a similar launch in 2009.

“It would be a grave provocation threatening the peace and security of the Korean peninsula and north-east Asia,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Japan is particularly concerned as North Korea’s April 2009 rocket was launched over the country.

The country’s chief cabinet secretary, Osamu Fujimura, told a news conference on Friday that Japan had set up a crisis management taskforce to monitor the situation and was co-operating with the US and South Korea.

“We believe a launch would be a move to interfere with our effort toward a dialogue, and we strongly urge North Korea not to carry out a satellite launch,” he said.

‘Peaceful purposes’

Last month, Pyongyang agreed to suspend long-range missile tests.

The agreement was part of a deal for the United States to supply 240,000 tonnes of food aid to North Korea.

It also agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and to allow back UN weapons inspectors as part of the deal.

In the launch three years ago, Pyongyang said the satellite made it into orbit and characterised it as a test of its satellite technology.

The move drew condemnation from the US and South Korea and led to the UN resolutions prohibiting the North from nuclear and ballistic missile activity.

Foreign officials said there were no indications that a satellite had reached space and that the launch was a cover for Pyongyang to test long-range missile technology.

The launch next month of a ”working satellite”, the Kwangmyongsong-3, is an opportunity for ”putting the country’s technology of space use for peaceful purposes on a higher stage”, said a North Korean spokesman.

The rocket would be launched from the Solace Satellite Launching Station in Cholsan county, North Pyongan province on the country’s west coast.

State media also reported that the North has already launched two experimental satellites. BBC