VOA NEWS

March 6, 2014

From Washington, this is VOA news. U.N. envoy forced to leave Crimea. Israeli navy seizes Gaza-bound Iranian weapons. I'm Ray Kouguell reporting from Washington.



The United Nations special envoy on Ukraine was forced to leave Crimea after being stopped by gunmen and surrounded by a crowd.

VOA's Elizabeth Arrott reports from the Crimean capital, Simferopol.

U.N. envoy Robert Serry agreed to cut short his diplomatic efforts in Crimea after a group of armed men harassed, followed, then trapped him in a coffee shop in Simferopol.

Crowds shouted pro-Russian slogans as Serry headed to the airport.

U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, on a mission in Kyiv, says Serry is in "good shape physically" and denied initial reports that he had been kidnapped.

The men appeared to be part of the irregular, pro-Russian armed volunteer forces, whose numbers have increased since the appearance of unidentified soldiers in the Ukrainian region over the past week. Those troops are widely believed to be Russian.

Elizabeth Arrott, VOA news, Simferopol.



The United States, Britain and Ukraine have called for direct talks between Ukraine and Russia, saying they are crucial to resolving the conflict in Ukraine's Crimean region.

The foreign ministers of those three countries, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, issued a joint statement Wednesday following talks in Paris.

Washington, London and Kyiv also called for international observers to be deployed in Ukraine immediately.

Ukraine's new Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the Associated Press that he would like a special task force established to discuss Crimea's status.

"Crimea was, is, and will be an integral part of the state of Ukraine. We believe that we need to establish a task force which is to consider what kind of additional autonomy Crimea republic could get."

Mr. Yatsenyuk blamed Mr. Putin for the region's current unrest by sending Russian troops into Crimea.



Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the United States is stepping up measures to support its European allies during this crisis.

Secretary Hagel says the United States is increasing joint training through the U.S. aviation detachment in Poland, and augmenting U.S. participation in NATO's air policing on the Baltic peninsula.



The Israeli military says it seized a ship in the Red Sea Wednesday that was carrying dozens of advanced Iranian-supplied rockets destined for Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

The Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel was boarded in international waters off the coasts of Sudan and Eritrea without resistance, and will be escorted to the Israeli port of Eilat.

Here is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "Israel captured a ship on the high seas, stocked with weapons destined for terrorist groups. These weapons were going to be used against Israel. This entire operation, this clandestine operation was organized by Iran. While Iran is conducting these talks, smiling to the international community, it continues to arm terrorist groups, continues to perpetrate terrorism around the world."

The French news agency quoted an unnamed Iranian military official as denying the report.



Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates say they have recalled their ambassadors from Qatar because of a failure to implement a security agreement among the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The three nations say Qatar signed the agreement more than three months ago, but has taken "no necessary actions."



U.N. human rights investigators say chemical weapons used in three attacks in Syria last year appear to come from Syrian military stockpiles.

The team of independent experts say the deadly nerve agent sarin was used. Up to 20 incidents in which chemical weapons were used in Syria are under investigation.



A new report about the Syrian conflict accuses all armed groups of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Lisa Schlein has details in Geneva.

The U.N. Commission of Inquiry says it sees no end in sight to the three-year-old war in Syria. It says it also sees no end in sight to the massacres and brutal violations being committed by all armed groups in this war.

The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 130,000. It has created nine million refugees and internally displaced people. The investigators, who have just returned from visiting refugee camps in neighboring countries of asylum, say many of the victims feel abandoned and hopeless.

Lisa Schlein, for VOA news, Geneva.



There were parades and protests in Caracas Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Hundreds of demonstrators blocked streets in the capital.



I'm Ray Kouguell, VOA news. Details on these and other stories at voanews.com.