Saturday, March 8, 2008
Mass Grave Containing 100 Bodies Found North of Baghdad (Washington Post)
Iraqi security forces have discovered a mass grave containing the skeletal remains of about 100 people in an area north of Baghdad once dominated by the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Saturday.
The grave was found Friday on the outskirts of a village northeast of Khalis, a predominantly Shiite town in Diyala province that is surrounded by Sunni villages. Some of the worst sectarian violence of the war has taken place in Diyala. Many of the bodies in the grave were decomposed and appeared to have been buried a long time, U.S. military officials said.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Rubaiee of the Diyala province operations center said that Iraqi security forces had recovered 13 of the bodies and that many others were still in the ground. (Link)
Labels: Iraq
Survey Says Iranians Favor Free Election Of Their Top Leader (Washington Post)
As Iran's brief election campaign for parliament heats up, a new public opinion poll shows that the vast majority of Iranians would like to directly elect their supreme leader in a free vote -- and be able to replace him.
The power of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has long been at the heart of political debate in Iran, because the supreme leader can veto legislation, presidential actions, judicial decisions and candidates for office. Iran's top political position has basically become a lifetime job, even though a panel of 86 religious scholars elected every eight years has the right to dismiss him. Khamenei has held the job since 1989.
But now, almost nine out of 10 voters surveyed want the top political position to be accountable to voters, the poll found.
The survey shows limited interest in the current political choices for parliament, with about one-third of voters preferring neither reformists nor hard-line conservatives. Among those polled, only 8 percent favor conservatives, and 22 percent want to vote for reformers. One out of four voters surveyed in all 30 provinces said they did not know who they would vote for in the election on March 14. (Link)
Labels: Iran
Mass protest over Basra insecurity (Al Jazeera)
Thousands of people took to the streets in southern Basra, protesting against deteriorating security in a city where Iraqi forces assumed responsibility for safety last December.
A long line of marchers - estimated to be as many as 5,000 people - demonstrated near the Basra police command headquarters on Saturday, demanding that Major General Abdul-Jalil Khalaf, the police chief and Lietenant General Mohan al-Fireji, the commander of joint military-police operation, resign.
Many carried banners, decrying the killing of women, workers, academics and scientists.
Different Shia groups have been wrestling for control of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city and the urban centre of an oil-rich region.
Residents are becoming increasingly alarmed about security, saying that killings, kidnappings and other crimes have increased significantly since British forces turned over responsibility for the city at the end of last year. (Link)
Labels: Iraq
Saudi's top cleric warns against giving to al-Qaida linked charities (AP)
Saudi Arabia's top religious authority warned Saudis against giving money to charities and organizations financing evil groups, a top local daily reported Saturday.
The warning by Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Abdullah al-Sheikh comes just days after police found an audio from al-Qaida No.2 Ayman al-Zawahri, exhorting his followers to collect money for needy families in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"It is bad to give funds to just anyone who asks, and to parties with shabby reputations or unknown backing," the mufti said in a statement published in the daily al-Okaz, which is deemed close to the government.
"It's even worse to give it to an organization that's known for its evil and for hurting Islam and its followers," he added in an apparent reference to al-Qaida, which has carried out attacks on foreigners in Saudi Arabia.
Though the Saudi government has waged a crackdown on the group since 2003, individual citizens are widely believed to support the terror network and allied organizations through private donations to Islamic charities. (Link)
Labels: Al Qaeda, Saudi Arabia
Bush vetoes waterboarding ban (Al Jazeera)
The US president has vetoed legislation passed by congress that would have banned the CIA from using waterboarding and other interrogation techniques.
George Bush announced his decision to quash the planned anti-torture measures, included in a broader bill authorising US intelligence activities, in his weekly radio address on Saturday.
"Because the danger remains, we need to ensure our intelligence officials have all the tools they need to stop the terrorists," Bush said, adding the vetoed legislation "would diminish these vital tools."
The House of Representatives approved the legislation in December and the Senate passed it in February, despite White House warnings it would be vetoed.
The simulated drowning technique has been condemned by many members of congress, human rights groups and other countries as a form of illegal torture. (Link)
Saudis offer pioneering therapy for ex-jihadists (Guardian)
Tomorrow a young man in traditional white robe and headdress will walk out through the iron gates of an anonymous low-rise compound down a gravel lane behind a Lebanese restaurant, 30 minutes' drive from the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.
Ali Saeed al-Ghatani, 17, will head home to the resort town of Abha - four months after he was arrested making an attempt to join Iraqi militants fighting American forces. His incarceration may have been brief, but it will have been long enough for him to realise he had 'taken the wrong path'. 'I was angry and I was seeking adventure,' he said. 'Now all I want is to study and get married.'
In a few weeks or so it should be the turn of Hizam al-Ghatani to walk through the gates. Hizam, who has spent three years in prison and three months in the compound, went much further than Saeed, spending months fighting American forces near the Iraqi town of Falluja. Yet he too now insists he is reformed. 'I am a very emotional man and I did not have a good understanding of Islam,' he said. 'Now I realise the wrong I did to my country and my family.' (Link)
Labels: Saudi Arabia
Settlers vow revenge over Jerusalem massacre (Guardian)
Israel's far-right settler movement has set itself on a renewed collision course with the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, declaring that last week's massacre in a Jewish religious school had targeted them directly and vowing to build a new illegal outpost in the West Bank for every one of the killed students.
Amid a sense of spiralling crisis in Israeli and the Occupied Territories - which has stemmed from the impression that both Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are rudderless amid the climbing violence - Abbas performed yet another policy U-turn, calling for new talks with Israel after having earlier appeared to back away from peace talks.
The latest moves follow the killing on Thursday by a Palestinian gunmen of eight Jewish seminary students, the bloodiest attack in Israel in two years. Hamas, which had vowed to avenge the more than 125 Palestinians killed in a recent Gaza offensive by Israel, at first claimed responsibility, then backtracked. (Link)
Report: Peres says Israel will not act alone to halt Iran nuke program - Haaretz
Israel will not consider unilateral action to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, President Shimon Peres was quoted as saying on Saturday.
In an interview with France's Le Figaro newspaper ahead of a trip to Paris next week, Peres said, however, if economic sanctions failed to persuade Iran to stop its contested nuclear program then "non-military options would be used up."
The United Nations recently approved a third round of sanctions against Iran to pressure it to suspend uranium enrichment.
The United States and other major powers suspect Iran is enriching uranium as part of a covert effort to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran says it is only interested in civilian nuclear energy.
"I would prefer to stop the development of the bomb without recourse to war. Sanctions have proved their efficacy in the past," Peres said, citing decisions by Libya, South Africa and North Korea to renounce nuclear plans. (Link)
US and Iraq negotiate military ties (Al Jazeera)
The US and Iraq are to start negotiations on a plan for a long-term relationship, as well as an agreement to define a legal basis for a continued military presence in the country, according to US defence officials.
Geoff Morrell, the US defence department's press secretary, said the talks would start in Baghdad on Saturday.
Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, will lead the US negotiating team.
He will be assisted by senior officials from the Pentagon, the state department and the National Security Council.
A lengthy negotiating process is expected, with a goal of completing a deal by December, when a UN Security Council resolution currently governing the US presence in Iraq expires. (Link)
Arab Human Rights Fund launched in Beirut (Daily Star)
Friday witnessed the formal launch of the Arab Human Rights Fund (AHRF) during a news conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Beirut. The inauguration of AHRF represents the culmination of a six-year effort to establish a "sustainable funding agency" with the capacity of supporting human rights efforts throughout the Arab world.
While AHRF's vision is clearly based on addressing the problem of human rights in the region, the specific mission adopted by the organization stems from the conclusion that some of the problems facing human-rights non-governmental organizations (NGO) and associations in the Arab region can be linked to restrictive state laws, a dearth of domestic funding, and a less than ideal orientation of philanthropic activity. (Link)
Labels: misc
Iranian cleric says sanctions aimed to disrupt polls - AFP
An Iranian cleric said on Friday that a new set of UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program was aimed at undermining next week's legislative elections. "They adopted a hasty resolution in order to influence the elections, so that people would not go and vote," Ahmad Khatami, a middle ranking cleric, said in a sermon at Friday prayers in Tehran broadcast by state radio. "But with the help of God, Iranians will surprise them, and both the US and the Security Council will be blinded" by the turnout, said Khatami. The Security Council on Monday imposed its third set of sanctions against Iran in the space of 15 months to punish Tehran's repeated refusal to suspend the process of uranium enrichment. Resolution 1803 gives Iran three months to comply with demands by the UN and its nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make nuclear fuel and, enriched much farther, atomic weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is solely aimed at generating energy. Iranian conservative leaders have charged that the West, led by the United States, adopted the resolution ahead of the March 14 vote to discourage people from casting their ballots and thus weakening Tehran Islamic regime. (Link)
Labels: IAEA, Iran, U.N., U.S.
Slaughtering civilians does nothing to serve the Palestinian cause - Daily Star
The general right of Palestinians to resist occupation is enshrined in international law, and the specific impulse to avenge the past week's atrocities in the Gaza Strip is perfectly understandable, but those who exercise these prerogatives have a responsibility to choose targets that will not undermine their cause. Thursday night's shooting attack on a Jewish seminary in West Jerusalem, which killed eight young civilians, did not meet that standard. Its effect will be to damage the interests of the Palestinian people, including those who, like the gunman, hold Israeli identification documents.
There are contrary arguments, but none are very realistic. Some will argue that because military service is mandatory for virtually all Jewish citizens of Israel, all of them are legitimate targets. But this approach ignores the fact that the civilians in question were in a library, not waging war for the Jewish state. Others will point out that while yeshiva students like those who were killed on Thursday are commonly granted exemptions from conscription, they contribute heavily to the conflict by helping to drive the so-called "settler movement" which protects and expands Israel's illegal colonization of occupied land. But killing them only causes more Israelis to acquiesce in the evil settlement project itself - and to demand that their government refuse to accept the compromises required if peace is ever to be achieved. (Link)
Two Israeli warplanes fly over Beirut in violation of Resolution 1701 - Daily Star
Israeli warplanes flew over the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday, a day after an attack by a Palestinian gunman killed eight Jewish seminary students in Jerusalem, raising tensions in the volatile region. "Two Israeli warplanes violated Lebanese airspace and flew over Beirut briefly before leaving the area," a senior Lebanese security official said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give official statements, he said the planes flew at a "medium altitude." The official did not elaborate and the Israeli military said it knew of no activity in Beirut.
Israeli warplanes frequently fly over South Lebanon in violation of UN Resolution 1701, which brought about a cessation of hostilities after the 2006 war with Israel.
The overflights have drawn ground fire from Lebanese troops on at least two occasions since the UN resolution was adopted on August 14, 2006. (Link)
US to place ships stopping in Syria on watch list - Daily Star
The US has put ships making port calls in Syria on a watch list, an official said late on Thursday, as Washington ratcheted up the pressure on Damascus over its alleged links with terrorism. The decision, which could put pressure on businesses trading or shipping through Syria, was a further blow to long-strained ties that had held out brief hopes of improvement last November when the United States courted Syria for the launch of new Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
Syria was placed on the "Port Security Advisory List" amid "concerns about the connections between Syria and international terrorist organizations," the State Department's deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.
The move allows the Coast Guard "to impose some additional port security measures to ships traveling to or arriving in US ports that have previously been either departing from Syria or have called on Syrian ports," he said. (Link)
Talabani calls PKK 'common problem' (Al Jazeera)
Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, has pledged his country's support for Turkey in its fight against Kurdish fighters, during his first visit to Ankara as head of state.
Turkey ended just days ago a major army ground offensive against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PP) in northern Iraq.
The visit by Talabani, himself a Kurd, has been described by Iraqi officials as aimed at boosting political, trade and security ties.
At a joint news conference on Friday in Ankara with Abdullah Gul, his Turkish counterpart, Talabani said: "Iraq wants strategic and solid relations with Turkey.
"We have exerted pressure. Either they should lay down arms or they should leave the area." (Link)
Friday, March 7, 2008
Israel on high alert after attack (Al Jazeera)
A security lockdown has been placed across Jerusalem as crowds of mourners gathered for the funerals of eight students killed by an armed Palestinian man.
The gunman, identified as an East Jerusalem resident, was shot dead after opening fire with an automatic weapon at students in the library of the Merkaz Harav Jewish religious school.
There has been no credible claim of responsibility and the motive for Thursday's attack remains unclear.
In Gaza, where recent Isaeli military operations have left more than 120 Palestinians dead, Hamas praised the "heroic operation" while thousands of people poured onto the streets to celebrate. (Link)
Cairo Gaza talks make no progress (BBC)
A Hamas delegation has returned to Gaza after talks with Egyptian mediators about a possible truce with Israel.
A Hamas official, Ahmed Youssef, said on Thursday his group could not consider a ceasefire while Palestinians were being attacked on a daily basis.
Egypt had hoped to broker an agreement under which Palestinian militants halted rocket attacks on Israel.
The US had sent top state department official David Welch to Cairo to support the Egyptian mediation.
"[A truce is possible] if the siege is lifted and the almost daily assaults are stopped and the Rafah crossing is reopened," Hamas' Ahmed Youssef said. (Link)
Labels: Egypt, Israel, Palestine
Iraqi cleric Sadr explains long absence to followers (Reuters)
Powerful Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has not been seen in public for months, issued an unusual statement on Friday explaining his absence to his followers and admitting splits in his movement.
"I swear that I live with you and among you. I am a part of you. I will not change this unless death separates us," he said in a two-page statement bearing his personal stamp.
Sadr, who rarely issues statements, acknowledged that his followers were wondering where he was and that his absence "could be a reason for depressing them". He did not say though when he might return to public view.
His absence comes at a time when his movement is locked in a battle with rival Shi'ite factions for political control of oil -producing provinces in southern Iraq. Scores of his followers have also been arrested by U.S. and Iraqi forces. (Link)
Labels: Iraq
Iranian cleric urges high turnout to beat foes (Reuters)
A hardline senior cleric urged Iranians on Friday to turn out in force for a parliamentary election next week and frustrate the United States and its allies who he said wanted a low turnout.
Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Experts Assembly with the power to appoint or dismiss Iran's supreme leader, called on people to disappoint Iran's "enemies" by ensuring a high turnout in the March 14 poll.
"Our enemies, especially America, have been trying to discourage Iranian voters," Khatami told worshippers at Friday prayers at Tehran University.
"They hastily issued a third (U.N.) resolution against Iran to influence the turnout," Khatami said in comments broadcast live on state radio. "But your votes next week will disappoint our enemies and especially America. (Link)
Labels: Iran
Twin Baghdad blasts kill 68 (AFP)
A twin attack in central Baghdad's commercial district on Thursday killed at least 68 people, a security source said, making it the second deadliest assault in Iraq this year.
The roadside bomb, followed by a suicide attack, ripped through Al-Atar Street in the Karada neighbourhood.
In addition to the dead, 154 others were wounded, an interior ministry official said on Friday, adding that among the casualties were several women and children who had gone out shopping.
On Friday, relatives carried the bodies of loved ones killed in the attack to be buried in Najaf, an AFP photographer said.
A number of roadside stalls had been destroyed, and windows of nearby shops and homes were broken.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered security forces to "chase and arrest the criminals" who committed the attack, a statement from his office said.
"He blamed the terrorists and condemned the latest barbaric crime against the civilians," the statement added. (Link)
Labels: Iraq
US Army unit leaves Baghdad - Los Angeles Times
The U.S. military said Thursday that 2,000 soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division were pulling out of the Iraqi capital, part of a long-planned withdrawal of forces deployed to Baghdad last year.
The troops are members of the division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team.
An additional four brigades are to leave Iraq after their 15-month tours of duty end in coming months.
The units' personnel were among 28,500 additional U.S. troops sent to Iraq last year to help stabilize the capital and stem the rise of sectarian violence between Sunni Arabs and Shiite Muslims. The Pentagon had announced earlier that the troops would leave the country this year. (Link)
Hamas not claiming responsibility 'yet' for Israel killings (Guardian)
Confusion today surrounded claims of responsibility for the shooting at a Jerusalem rabbinical seminary that killed eight Israelis.
Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas's military wing who normally provides details of the group's attacks, said Hamas Islamists were not taking credit for the deadliest attack in Jerusalem for years - at least yet.
The initial claim of the group's responsibility came when a person describing himself as a Hamas official telephoned Reuters.
The shooting attack had been greeted with celebrations in Gaza, controlled by Hamas, where an Israeli offensive in recent days killed more than 120 Palestinians, about half of whom were identified as civilians.
"There may be a later announcement ... But we don't claim this honour yet," the Associated Press reported Obeida as saying. (Link)
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Leading Kuwaiti liberal politician dies at 59 (AFP)
Former Kuwaiti Education Monister Ahmad al-Rubaie, a writer and prominent liberal, has died after a two-year battle with cancer, official media said on Thursday. He was 59. Rabei, a former three-time MP, died late on Wednesday. He was elected to Parliament for the first time in 1985 as one of the leading opposition figures. After winning a second term in Parliament in 1992, the Harvard-educated Rabei was appointed education minister until 1996. He served his third and final term in Parliament between 1999 and 2003. He was also a regular writer in leading Arabic newspapers, including Kuwait's Al-Qabas and Saudi-owned pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat. (Link)
Labels: Kuwait
UNIFIL dispels rumors of Blue Line violation by Israeli Army (Daily Star)
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon's (UNIFIL) spokeswoman denied on Thursday rumors that the Israeli Army crossed the Blue Line, established by the UN to demarcate the border with Israel after the latter withdrew from most of the South in 2000.
In a press release, Yasmina Bouzianne said the Israeli Army did not cut across the Blue Line through the town of Ghajar, nor was the army lined up along the Wazzani River, contrary to information that was circulated by the press earlier Thursday.
"The Israeli Army did not extend past its area of operations. They are working in the area under their control," Bouzianne added.
Separately, Japanese Ambassador Yoshihisa Kurodam, UNICEF representative Roberto Laurenti, and South Lebanon Water Authority Director Ahmad Nizam inaugurated a new water reservoir in the Southern village of Khiyam Thursday. The tank has a capacity of 1,000 cubic meters and provides daily water provisions to approximately 30,000 inhabitants.
This project is one of many the Japanese government has financed within its $1 million support projects to UNICEF assisted undertakings in areas affected by the summer war of 2006. (Link)
7 Die in Shooting at Jerusalem Seminary (AP)
Two gunmen infiltrated a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem and opened fire in a dining hall Thursday night, killing at least seven people, police and rescue workers said.
Israeli media said about 35 people were wounded.
Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby said one of the infiltrators was wearing an explosive belt. He said students were being evacuated from the building.
Labels: Israel
UN Rights Council Condemns Israel (AP)
The U.N. Human Rights Council has condemned Israel's offensive in Gaza and called on Palestinians to stop rocket fire into Israel.
The resolution passed Thursday said Israeli incursions into the Palestinian territory inflicted collective punishment on the civilian population.
Israel launched the offensive last week in response to Palestinian militants barraging southern Israel with rockets. More than 120 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza officials say. Four Israeli have also been killed.
The 47-member rights body approved the resolution 33-1 after a debate on the situation in Gaza. Thirteen countries abstained. The resolution was sponsored by Pakistan and Muslim countries. Russia, China and India support it, European countries abstained, and Canada voted against it. (Link)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, U.N.
Deadly bombs hit central Baghdad (BBC)
At least 15 people have been killed by two bomb attacks in a shopping area in the centre of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, police and medics say.
The blasts in the Karada district left at least 35 people injured.
A witness at the scene described people holding body parts and a woman crying as rescuers searched for her sons.
Iraqi government figures this week showed that the number of Iraqi civilians killed in February was a third higher than in January. (Link)
Labels: Iraq
'National crisis' for Iraqi women (BBC)
The situation for women in Iraq has become a "national crisis" since the US-led invasion in 2003, a report by an international women's group has warned.
Women for Women International said they had had relative autonomy and security, but now faced violence, controversial leadership and poor infrastructure.
Almost two-thirds of the 1,500 women questioned for the national survey said violence against them had increased.
The report was issued ahead of International Women's Day on Saturday.
According to Women for Women's 2008 Iraq Report, shortly before the US-led invasion, "women's rights and gender equity were mentioned as symbolic issues for Iraq's new national agenda". (Link)
Labels: Iraq, Womens Rights
Hamas: Cease-fire deal must include West Bank (Haaretz)
Hamas said Thursday that any Gaza Strip cease-fire with Israel must include an end to Israel Defense Forces operations in the West Bank, as Egypt launched talks with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in a bid to secure a truce.
Hamas spokesman in Gaza Ayman Taha told A-Shams Radio that the Hamas delegation dispatched to the Egyptian city of El-Arish on the Sinai Peninsula had returned to the Strip.
"We spoke about general issues relating to calm and a cease-fire," he said. "Hamas' conditions are clear: We will halt our fire in exchange for a complete end to Israeli military operations in Gaza and in the West Bank, and a lifting of the blockade on Gaza."
"Otherwise, we have no intention of halting our activities against Israel," he said.
Taha said the issue of a prisoner exchange that would secure the release of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was not discussed at the meeting. According to Taha, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman will visit Israel in the coming days in order to update Jerusalem on the developments. (Link)
Settlers 'to leave' some outposts (BBC)
Israel's defence minister is reported to have reached agreement with Jewish settlers to evacuate 26 outposts in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Inhabitants will be moved to existing settlement blocs, where Israel allows Jewish settlement in defiance of most interpretations of international law.
The first four outposts are expected to be moved in the coming days.
Palestinian officials often criticise Israel for ignoring its peace process commitments to remove such outposts.
Israeli army radio reported the agreement but there has been no confirmation of the plan from the minister himself, former PM Ehud Barak. (Link)
Gaza ambush kills Israeli soldier (Al Jazeera)
An Israeli soldier has been killed and near the separation wall between Israel and the Gaza Strip, despite efforts to broker a truce after a week of Israeli military action.
Three other soldiers were injured when a bomb detonated in the path of an Israeli patrol near the Kissufim crossing on Thursday, an Israeli military spokesman said.
Al Jazeera received a statement from the Ahmed Abu al-Rish Brigades, a Fatah-aligned armed group, claiming to have planted explosive devices near the border overnight.
Israeli helicopters landed at the scene and ambulances rushed to evacuate casualties.
After the explosion, tanks stormed into Gaza near the town of Deir Al-Balah, with an exchange of gunfire erupting between the soldiers and Palestinian fighters, witnesses said.
Israeli military jets were also reported to have fired on the area indiscriminately. (Link)
UN alarm at Gaza-Israel violence (BBC)
A senior UN official, Louise Arbour, has expressed alarm at the magnitude of violence committed by both sides in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights also criticised Israel's "disproportionate use of force".
She said the protection of civilian lives and human rights "cannot await the outcome of a political process".
On Monday Israel ended a major offensive in which more than 120 Palestinians were killed.
The Israelis say the incursion was aimed at stopping rocket fire into Israel by Palestinian militants.
Two Israeli soldiers and an Israeli civilian were also killed over roughly the same period. (Link)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, U.N.
Official: Iraq, China Nearing Oil Deal (AP)
Iraq and China are close to re-signing a $1.2 billion oil deal that was called off after the 2003 U.S. invasion, an Iraqi Oil Ministry official said Thursday.
Iraq sits on more than 115 billion barrels of oil, the world's third-largest reserves, but violence and sabotage have crippled efforts to use the resource to fund the country's reconstruction.
As security improves, Iraq is trying to bring in foreign companies to help increase crude output from the current 2.5 million barrels a day to 3 million barrels a day by the end of 2008, and 4.5 million barrels a day by the end of 2013.
Saddam Hussein's government signed a deal with the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. to develop the billion-barrel al-Ahdab oil field, despite U.N. sanctions that barred direct dealings with Iraq's oil industry. (Link)
Labels: Iraq
US/Iraqi Raid Kills 11 in Northern Iraq (AP)
U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 11 suspected insurgents and detained 44 others in raids targeting al-Qaida in central and northern Iraq, the U.S. military said Thursday. Three Iraqi troops were killed in one of the operations.
The Tal Afar Special Weapons and Tactics team, made up of U.S. forces and Iraqi SWAT teams, on Sunday targeted a cell responsible for assassinations and bombing attacks in the Tal Afar area in Iraq's Ninevah province, the military said in a statement.
During the raid, several fighters opened fire on the Iraqi and U.S. troops, killing the three Iraqi soldiers and wounding three others. (Link)
US Embassy in Lebanon Warns of Threat (AP)
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut said Thursday that it is concerned that militant groups may be planning attacks against American citizens and interests in Lebanon.
The statement was the latest in a series of messages urging U.S. citizens to be vigilant. It called on Americans visiting or living in Lebanon to "maintain a low profile in public" and avoid predictable behavior.
"There is a general concern that extremist groups may be planning to attack U.S. citizens and interests in Lebanon. The U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens who live, work, or are traveling in Lebanon to exercise responsible security practices," it said. (Link)
Olmert: IDF will halt ops if Hamas does (JPost)
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made clear Wednesday, a day after he met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, that quiet in Sderot would bring quiet in Gaza - a clear indication that the current IDF operations are not intended to topple Hamas.
"Our forces are not operating because we want to, but because we have to," Olmert said at Wednesday's security cabinet meeting, called to define Israel's goals in the Gaza Strip. "If they stop shooting at our civilian population, we would not have to respond."
Meanwhile, the focus of efforts to bring about quiet in the South moved to Egypt, as Rice dispatched Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch to Cairo, in what officials in Jerusalem said was an attempt to cobble together a package that would include intensified Egyptian actions against arms smuggling, a Palestinian Authority presence at the Rafah border crossing between Sinai and Gaza and increased Israeli and Egyptian humanitarian aid into the Strip. (Link)
The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion
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Oxfam press release and original PDF (Link)
UK Rights Groups: Gaza in Severe Crisis (AP)
A human rights coalition charged Thursday that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has reached its worst point since Israel captured the territory in 1967.
In a scathing report, eight British-based rights organizations said that more than 1.1 million people, about 80 percent of Gaza's residents, are now dependent on food aid, as opposed to 63 percent in 2006. It said that overall unemployment is close to 40 percent.
It also said that hospitals are suffering from power cuts of up to 12 hours a day, and the water and sewage systems were close to collapse.
The report follows strident international condemnation of Israel after it struck hard against Palestinian militants in Gaza, killing more than 120 in the past week, including many civilians, after Palestinians militants escalated their daily rocket fire at Israel.
The Palestinian rockets have killed 13 people, wounded dozens more, traumatized thousands and caused millions of dollars in damage.
Israel's Defense Ministry rejected the report, blaming the militant Hamas rulers of Gaza for the hardships. (Link)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, U.K.
Hizbullah: We won't start war, but are 'well prepared' (Daily Star)
Hizbullah is prepared for a new war with Israel, but it will not start one, deputy leader Naim Qassem said in remarks published on Wednesday. The Shiite group also issued a statement criticizing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's reaction to recent statements from Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Qaasem also warned that Israel would pay "a high price" in any future war. His comments, published in the daily Al-Akhbar, followed last month's threat by Nasrallah to retaliate with "open war" against Israel for the assassination of one of his top commanders, Imad Mughniyeh.
Mughniyeh was killed February 12 in a car bomb in Damascus. Hizbullah and Iran, its main backer, blamed the assassination on Israel, which denied any role in killing Mughniyeh, who was on the US most-wanted list for a string of anti-Western and anti-Israeli attacks. (Link)
Labels: Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon
Arab foreign ministers grapple with Lebanon, Gaza (Daily Star)
Arab foreign ministers kicked off a meeting in Cairo on Wednesday with Arab League chief Amr Moussa calling for unity to end the Lebanese political crisis. "Solidarity, in the form of national reconciliation, is our only way out of the current crisis and future crises," Moussa said in his opening speech.
Ministers from the 22-member league met in Cairo to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and to prepare for this month's summit in Damascus, which could see some leaders not attend if the Lebanese crisis is not resolved.
Lebanon has been without a president since November amid feuding between the Saudi- and Western-backed ruling parliamentary majority and the opposition, backed by Syria and Iran. (Link)
Labels: Arab Leauge, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine
No Need for Lawmakers' Approval of Iraq Pact, U.S. Reasserts (Washington Post)
The Bush administration yesterday advanced a new argument for why it does not require congressional approval to strike a long-term security agreement with Iraq, stating that Congress had already endorsed such an initiative through its 2002 resolution authorizing the use of force against Saddam Hussein.
The 2002 measure, along with the congressional resolution passed one week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks authorizing military action "to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States," permits indefinite combat operations in Iraq, according to a statement by the State Department's Bureau of Legislative Affairs.
The statement came in response to lawmakers' demands that the administration submit to Congress for approval any agreement with Iraq. U.S. officials are traveling to Baghdad this week with drafts of two documents -- a status-of-forces agreement and a separate "strategic framework" -- that they expect to sign with the Iraqi government by the end of July. It is to go into effect when the current U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31. (Link)
West Bank Barriers Keep Rising Despite Promises of Relief (Washington Post)
Karim Edwan's skepticism about the U.S.-backed Middle East peace process is rooted in his morning commute.
To travel from his home in this West Bank village to his job as an emergency room doctor, the 35-year-old must take at least two cabs, skirt a barbed-wire fence, climb a dirt mound, talk his way through multiple Israeli checkpoints and remove his shoes for a full-body security check.
Before the obstacles were imposed, the trip to his hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus took 30 minutes. Now it takes two hours.
"It's my daily humiliation," he said.
It's also part of the explanation for why there is little enthusiasm in the West Bank for negotiations with Israel, and why Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is in a bind over how to proceed. (Link)
U.S. Universities Join Saudis in Partnerships (NY Times)
Three prominent American universities — the University of Texas at Austin, the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University — are starting five-year partnerships, worth $25 million or more, with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, a graduate-level research university being built in Saudi Arabia.
Under the agreements, the mechanical engineering department at Berkeley, the computer-science department and Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering at Stanford, and the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas will help pick the faculty and develop the curriculum for the new university, known by the acronym Kaust, which is scheduled to open next year with a $10 billion endowment.
Over the five years, each university will receive a $10 million gift, $10 million for research on their home campus and $5 million for research at Kaust, as well as administrative costs.
“The agreement will allow us to improve our facilities here in California, and fund a stream of graduate students, without taxing our existing infrastructure,” said Albert Pisano, the chairman of Berkeley’s mechanical engineering department, which he said had voted 34 to 2 to proceed with the agreement. “We’re going to work on projects that are good for the Middle East and for California, like energy sources beyond petroleum, improved water desalination, and solar energy in the desert.” (Link)
Labels: Saudi Arabia, U.S.
Arab League vows to drop out of NPT if Israel admits it has nuclear weapons (AP)
Arab countries will walk away from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if Israel ever officially acknowledges it has nuclear weapons, the Arab League announced in a statement Wednesday.
As Arab foreign ministers met at the Cairo headquarters of the Arab League to prepare for their annual summit at the end of the month, they also issued a series of statements on regional issues, including extremely sensitive matter of Israel's refusal to join the NPT.
As soon as Israel announces it has nuclear weapons, the Arabs will announce their withdrawal from the Nonproliferation Treaty, the statement said.
Israel is widely believed to be the only country in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons, though it maintains a policy of ambiguity, insisting it will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the region, without confirming or denying their existence. (Link)
Labels: Arab Leauge, Israel
Fight Over Chemical Ali's Execution (AP)
The Iraqi government is refusing to execute the Saddam Hussein henchman and cousin known as "Chemical Ali" unless the death sentences of two other Saddam-era officials also are approved.
The dispute pits the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki against the three-member presidential council, which moved last week to block the two other executions in what was seen as a possible attempt to appease minority Sunni Arabs.
The standoff underscores the often unclear lines of authority in Iraq and is another blow to Iraq's beleaguered judicial system.
Already on Wednesday, two former Health Ministry officials were released after being cleared on charges that they helped Shiite death squads operate by giving them access to hospitals and ambulances. There are widespread allegations of witness intimidation in those proceedings. (Link)
Labels: Iraq
Eitam: Banish traitors from Knesset and Israel (JPost)
Arabs who support terror against Israel ought to be banished from the Knesset and from the country, MK Effi Eitam (National Union-National Religious Party) said Wednesday, during a fiery plenum debate between the Arab and right-wing factions.
"Treacherous MKs who take refuge in the shadow of Israeli democracy tell the 'martyrs' in Gaza that [they] will continue their war. I think that no sane democracy can ignore this severe incitement, this treason in time of war," Eitam said. "I am telling you that the day will come when we expel you from this house [the Knesset] and when we expel you from this national home."
"We have to drive you out, as well as everyone else who took part in yesterday's unruly, reckless and treacherous anti-Israel diatribe," Eitam said.
Eitam's word were directed at the nine Arab MKs from the Balad, United Arab List-Ta'al and Hadash parties who took part in demonstrations on Tuesday against Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Link)