Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Iraqi artifacts return to Baghdad
The Iraqi antiquities department has taken delivery of 11 ancient ceremonial seals that were looted after the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.
Originally from the national museum, the artifacts, some of which date from 3,000BC, were seized by US customs officials in the city of Philadelphia.
The circumstances of their discovery have not been made public.
Iraq has previously blamed the looting of thousands of artifacts on organised smugglers and occupying foreign troops.
The country has been carrying out a worldwide campaign to get the objects back.
In April, 700 stolen pieces - including gold coins and jewellery - were seized by customs officials in Syria and returned to Iraq.
Officials say a further 1,600 items are awaiting return from Jordan. (BBC)
Monday, June 9, 2008
Syrian anthem played for Lebanese
Saudi Arabian football authorities are investigating an error that led to the Syrian national anthem being played before a match against Lebanon.
Several Lebanese players were visibly angry when the wrong anthem was played before Saturday's game, reports say.
Officials at the stadium quickly realised their mistake, and eventually played the correct national anthem before the World Cup qualifying clash.
Lebanon went on to lose the match in the Saudi capital Riyadh, 2-1.
Syrian influence in Lebanon remains one of the most divisive issues there. (BBC)
Labels: Lebanon, misc, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Friday, June 6, 2008
Water crucial to Golan talks
Israel recently confirmed that it was in talks with Syria, mediated by Turkey, over the thorny issue of the Golan Heights. The prospect of progress on the Syrian-Israeli front comes as Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is weakened by allegations of corruption at home.
Although Steve Applebaum does not think that talks over the Golan will ever get anywhere, precisely because of Mr Olmert's domestic "issues", he is nonetheless unimpressed by the prime minister's intentions.
Known as "Apple Steve" for more than just the obvious reason, Mr Applebaum moved to the Ortal Kibbutz, at the northern end of the Golan plateau 25 years ago.
The kibbutz grows some of the best, most desirable fruit you can find. Crunchy apples, sweet cherries and apricots.
Mr Applebaum, who is in charge of irrigation and water supplies on this huge communal farm, knows how important water is to the kibbutz and to Israel.
Golan, added to natural spring-water, ultimately provides Israel with about one-third of its fresh water. (BBC)
Justice Dept. Investigating Deportation to Syria
The Justice Department’s ethics office is reviewing a decision in 2002 by department officials to send a Canadian citizen to Syria, where he was tortured, American officials said Thursday.
A Justice Department spokesman, Peter A. Carr, said that its inquiry, by the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, was begun in March 2007 and was examining the role of department lawyers in expelling Maher Arar to Syria, which has long been identified by the State Department as habitually using torture on prisoners.
The existence of the Justice inquiry was disclosed at a Congressional hearing on Thursday by Richard L. Skinner, the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. Skinner told two House subcommittees that the Arar case involved “very questionable” actions by United States government officials and that he “could not rule out” that Mr. Arar was sent to Syria with the intention of having him questioned under torture about possible connections to terrorists. (NY Times)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Iran's Lebanese 'aircraft carrier'
Indirect negotiations between Israel and Syria over a possible return of the Golan Heights have major implications for the Lebanese political and militant organisation Hezbollah.
A peace deal with Israel is likely to be conditional on Syria severing its connections with Hezbollah, but it would also remove Syria as the bridge to the group's other state backer, Iran.
In Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut, Alam Shourab, a young manager of a mobile phone shop, is very happy with the movement's dependence on Iran.
Here dozens of buildings and bridges that were bombed by Israel during the summer war in 2006 are are being rapidly and impressively rebuilt mostly with funding from Iran.
"I think this is a good thing," he told me, "Israel is supported by America, so there's nothing wrong with Hezbollah being supported by Iran."
The support is considerable. At the Carnegie Endowment independent think tank in Beirut, Paul Salem put it in a nutshell: "Hezbollah was set up, established, trained, armed, financed... wholly by Iran."
He says Hezbollah has about 50,000 salaried employees and "a large modern army" - most of whom are paid with money from Tehran. (BBC)
Labels: Hezbollah, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Syria
Syria will let IAEA visit only one suspected nuclear site
Syria told United Nations nuclear watchdog governors on Thursday it would cooperate with an inquiry into U.S. intelligence alleging it secretly built an atomic reactor with North Korean help, diplomats said.
Ibrahim Othman, Syria's atomic energy agency director, told a 35-nation meeting Thursday that it would limit what UN nuclear inspectors can see.
The United States and Europe had called on Syria to let UN investigators go wherever and check whatever they wanted after Damascus signalled it would, however, bar access to other sites Washington believes could have been nuclear-related.
It was the first exchange on the Syrian nuclear issue by the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, ahead of a IAEA inspector mission to Syria from June 22 to 24.
Damascus has denied any clandestine nuclear activity. The United States says the reactor was designed to yield plutonium for bombs.
Syria, a U.S. adversary and ally of Iran whose secretive uranium enrichment programme has been under IAEA investigation since 2003, has made no public comment on the inspector mission but confirmed its acquiescence to the closed governors' meeting. (Haaretz)
Iran fumes as Syria nods to Arab world
The strings pulled by Qatar, which helped end the stand-off in Lebanon last May, are now working to orchestrate a rapprochement between Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who meet King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia last weekend in Jeddah, told the Qataris he does not mind mending relations with Damascus, but wants first to see a soothing of tension between the Syrians and Riyadh.
Tension between Damascus and Cairo, after all, had stemmed from sour relations between the Syrians and Riyadh, with regard to Lebanon, and led to the no-show of both Mubarak and Abdullah at the Arab summit in Damascus held in March. Both countries accused the Syrians of prolonging the presidential crisis in Beirut and preventing the election of Michel Suleiman as president. That is now history.
The prime minister of Qatar, Hamad Bin Jassem al-Thani, recently visited Riyadh, while Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifeh al-Thani visited Damascus, carrying a positive message from the Syrians. President Bashar al-Assad's visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and then to Kuwait, is also a step towards rapprochement with the Saudis, and there is talk in Damascus of an upcoming summit in Doha to bring together presidents Assad and Mubarak, Sheikh Hamad and King Abdullah. (Asia Times)
Syria says Israel terms signal not serious on peace
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said if Israel keeps insisting that peace talks resume from scratch it would show the Jewish state was not serious about reaching a deal with Syria.
Israel and Syria said last month they had launched indirect peace talks mediated by Turkish officials, the first negotiations between the two sides in eight years.
The last peace talks came close to a deal over the Golan Heights but broke down in 2000 over control of the shore of Sea of Galilee, from which Israel takes much of its water.
Syria wants the full return of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.
Assad said during a visit to Kuwait that the Israelis were insisting that negotiations restart from scratch and that the progress made in the earlier talks in the 1990s be cancelled.
"This signals that Israel does not desire peace and is not willing to reach it," he said in comments carried by Kuwait's state news agency KUNA. (Reuters)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Diplomats: Syria won't let IAEA visit 3 suspected nuclear sites
Syria has told fellow Arab countries that it will not permit an International Atomic Energy Agency probe to extend beyond a site bombed by Israel, despite agency interest in three other suspect locations, diplomats told The Associated Press Tuesday.
The agency's main focus on its planned June 22-24 visit to Syria is a building in the country's remote eastern desert that was destroyed in September by Israeli jets.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei announced Monday that Syria had agreed to an agency check of U.S. assertions that the target was a plutonium-producing reactor that was near completion, and thus at the stage where it could generate the fissile material for nuclear arms.
But the agency is also interested in following up on information that Syria may have three other undeclared atomic facilities. Diplomats and a nuclear expert told the AP Monday that at least one of the sites may have equipment that can reprocess nuclear material into the fissile core of warheads.
Gregory Schulte, U.S. ambassador to the IAEA, demanded Syria not hinder agency investigators in any way.
"The United States welcomes the announcement that the IAEA will visit Syria and stands ready to support a rigorous IAEA investigation into Syria's clandestine nuclear activities," Schulte said in a statement sent to Reuters. (AP)
Assad rules out direct talks with Israel until 2009
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said direct peace talks with Israel are unlikely before 2009, adding they also depended on the stability of Israel's government, an Emirati newspaper reported on Tuesday. "The date to begin direct talks depends on Israel itself. There is a crisis related to [Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert," Al-Khaleej daily quoted Assad as telling local newspaper editors during a visit to the United Arab Emirates.
Olmert has been dogged by a corruption scandal in recent weeks, and many analysts believe he may be forced to resign or call early elections.
Direct talks would not start before next year and "depend on the stability of the Israeli government, and the seriousness of the other party," Assad said, ac-cording to the newspaper, which paraphrased his remarks.
Assad, who concluded a visit to the UAE on Tuesday, said that the Turkish-brokered indirect talks with Israel would eventually need "international sponsorship" from the United States.
Israel and Syria confirmed last month that they had resumed peace negotiations after an eight-year break. Israel said that they began through Turkish go-betweens in February 2007.
The last round of peace talks broke down in 2000 over the fate of the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war. (AFP)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Report: Assad says talks with Israel need US sponsor
Syria's president said he was willing to hold direct peace talks with Israel in the future under U.S. sponsorship, laying out his vision of how negotiations could progress.
President Bashar Assad said the preliminary stages of negotiations will be conducted indirectly - both countries recently confirmed that they are holding peace talks through Turkish mediators - and that they don't need a sponsor.
"We believe indirect negotiations are sufficient at this stage as we are still negotiating to find a common ground," he said, according to United Arab Emirates newspaper interviews published Tuesday. He is on a trip to Gulf states to discuss regional issues.
"(But) we are willing to move to direct negotiations once this is reached," he said. "In later stages, they would require international sponsorship especially from the United States, a superpower that has special ties with Israel."
The Syrian leader has previously said direct talks with Israel will probably not begin until a new U.S. administration takes office. His latest comments further clarified what role he hopes the U.S. will play in the negotiations.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said neither country has asked Washington to play a role in the talks. He indicated that the U.S. wants to focus for now on the Palestinian-Israeli track which the Bush administration helped relaunch last year. (AP)
Syria says it wants nuclear energy under Arab umbrella
Syria is not seeking nuclear weapons, but wants to have access to atomic energy for peaceful purposes through a collective Arab project, President Bashar Assad said in remarks published on Tuesday.
The Dubai-based Gulf News also quoted Assad as saying that the United States should have sought an investigation of a Syrian facility suspected of housing a secret nuclear plant before it was destroyed in an Israeli air raid last September.
"Acquiring nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is an international trend that all countries are rightfully pursuing. In Syria, we want this to be done within an Arab context, which was discussed and agreed during the Arab Summit in Riyadh," he said during a visit to the United Arab Emirates.
Gulf Arabs have announced their own plans to develop nuclear energy for civilian purposes following a 2007 Arab summit that called on Arabs to develop atomic power.
U.S. intelligence officials in April said they believed Syria had built the suspected reactor with the assistance of North Korea, which later also helped in cleaning up the site after the Israeli strike.
"If anyone had a secret dossier on nuclear facilities in Syria with a Korean role, as they claim, then why did they wait for seven months before destroying a normal military facility by the Israeli raid? Why did they not resort to the UN nuclear energy organisation to carry out an inspection?" (Reuters)
Labels: Nuclear Power, Syria
Israel: Report peace talks with Syria set to resume Thursday not true
The Prime Minister's Office denied on Tuesday reports by the Syrian news agency Sham Press saying that indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria were set to resume in two days in Turkey.
According to the report, quoted from the Jordanian magazine "A Liwa", the two sides were preparing to discuss the establishment of negotiation teams as well as other issues on the negotiation agenda.
The Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying that the officials leading the negotiations were in the United States together with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and will still be there in two days.
Syrian sources told "A Liwa" that Syria is demanding mutual security agreements in talks. The sources stressed that Syria was demanding that Israel return the Golan Heights, the territory that Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War, and that its sovereignty over the territory would be modeled after Israel return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in 1982. The Sinai agreement stipulates that Egypt receive complete sovereignty over the territory while maintaining special security arrangements with Israel and arrangements regarding the entry of Israelis into its territory.
Turkish sources told "A Liwa" that during the previous round of negotiations between Israel and Syria, the sides discussed Israeli withdrawal from the Golan, commercial ties between the two nations, division of the water reserves from Israel's Sea of Galilee and diplomatic relations. (Haaretz)
Syria to let in U.N. nuclear investigators: ElBaradei
The U.N. atomic watchdog chief said on Monday Syria would let in top inspectors to examine allegations of a secret nuclear reactor, and demanded "full disclosure" by Iran over reports of covert atom bomb research.
The International Atomic Energy Agency added Syria to a growing list of nuclear proliferation worries after Washington in April turned over intelligence suggesting Damascus built a nuclear reactor at a site bombed by Israel last September.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei announced the June 22-24 trip by top aides to Syria after months of what Western diplomats said was Syrian stonewalling on IAEA requests for access.
The trip was expected to include inspector visits to the remote al-Kabir site targeted by Israel "and other places", a senior diplomat familiar with the matter told Reuters. Other diplomats said 2-3 sites beyond al-Kabir were under scrutiny.
Syria has said the accusations against it are "ridiculous", while Iran has dismissed as bogus the intelligence indicating it combined programs to process uranium, test high explosives and modify a missile cone in a way suitable for a nuclear bomb. (Reuters)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Syrian talks offer more than hot air
Observers of the Middle East peace process since 1990 are divided on what to make of the current stage of indirect talks between Syria and Israel, carried out through Turkish mediation.
Some claim these talks are sincere, stemming from a mutual desire for peace on behalf of both President Bashar al-Assad and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The fact that indirect messages were being sent back and forth between April 2007 and April 2008 is ample testimony to their seriousness.
Optimists have high hopes that a peace treaty can be signed before the end of 2008. Others argue that regardless of how sincere all parties are, peace is impossible as long as US President George W Bush is not interested in a Syrian-Israeli peace treaty. A third group argues that regardless of how involved the Americans are, neither Assad nor Olmert really wants peace at this stage, but are killing time, talking indirectly through the Turks, in order to downplay domestic problems in both Syria and Israel.
Ibrahim Hamidi, a well-informed Damascus correspondent for the Saudi pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, wrote a feature on May 28 saying that perhaps direct peace talks are on the horizon without having to wait until Bush leaves the White House. He claimed the Syrians no longer link direct talks to a new US administration, adding that the Syrians will engage in direct talks when they receive guarantees that the entire Golan Heights, occupied by Israel in 1967, will be restored to Syria. (Asia Times)
Report: U.S. urges UN to find secret nuclear facilities in Syria
The United States is pressing United Nations inspectors to broaden the scope of a search in Syria to include possible secret nuclear facilities, The Washington Post reported in Thursday editions, citing U.S. government officials and Western diplomats.
At least three sites have been identified by U.S. officials and passed along to UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the newspaper reported.
U.S. government officials declined to describe the specific sites that have drawn interest or to discuss how they were identified, it said.
Citing unnamed sources, the Post said U.S. officials want to know if the suspected sites may have been support facilities for the alleged Al Kibar reactor destroyed in an Israel Air Force strike last September.
Syria maintains the facility targeted by the IAF was a disused military building in its eastern desert that had no nuclear link. It has yet to accept a request from the IAEA to visit the site.
Israel is believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal. (Haaretz)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Syrian minister reaches defense deal with Iran during Tehran visit
Syria and Iran on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding regarding defense issues, as Syrian Defense Minister Hassan Turkmani wrapped up a three-day visit to Tehran.
The memorandum contained an agreement that the two countries would cement their "defense relations," a process that will include reciprocal visits by military officials, joint military training and cooperation on technical advancements.
During Turkmani's visit, Syrian and Iranian military cooperation committees met three times. The committees are headed by Turkmani and his Iranian counterpart Mostafa Mohammed Najjar.
Turkmani visited Iranian industrial sites during his trip and met with the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and senior military advisors.
The memorandum signed by both sides includes the understanding that all foreign occupying forces must retreat from the region because they are "creating tensions." This clause can be interpreted in several ways, but likely refers to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the Israeli presence in the Palestinian Authority. (Haaretz)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Ahmadinejad stands by Damascus, says Golan talks won't erode alliance
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday that he remains confident Iran's close ally Syria will keep up the struggle against Israel despite its announcement of renewed peace negotiations. "I am sure that the Syrian leadership will manage the situation with wisdom and will not abandon the front line until the complete removal of the Zionist threats," Ahmadinejad told visiting Syrian Defense Minister Hassan Turkmani.
"So far the cooperation between Iran and Syria in different areas has been beneficial for both sides and our defense ties should be expanded as far as possible," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted the president as saying.
Turkmani's visit is the first to Iran by a Syrian official since Syria and Israel announced last Wednesday that they had resumed indirect peace negotiations through Turkish mediators, ending an eight-year freeze. He held talks on Sunday with his Iranian counterpart Mustafa Mohammad Najjar, during which the Iranian side underlined the importance of collective security.
The Iranian president also stressed that Iran would continue its longstanding policy of supporting "the oppressed Palestinian people."
"Supporting the Palestinian people means supporting regional security, as the Palestinians are in the front line of the Zionists' aggression," he said. (AFP)
MIDEAST: A Quick Guide to Some Stumbling Blocks
Israel and Syria recently announced the renewal of talks, with the aim of reaching a comprehensive peace agreement. For now, the talks, which are being mediated by Turkey, are indirect and are aimed at preparing the groundwork for full and direct negotiations. For a peace treaty to be reached, the sides will have to successfully negotiate a series of issues.
Here are the main ones:
THE GOLAN HEIGHTS: Syria has always demanded the full return of the Golan Heights, which were captured by Israel in the 1967 war, as a pre-condition for any peace agreement with Israel. The Golan is a strategic plateau of about 1,200 square kilometres, which overlooks much of north-eastern Israel.
In 1981, the Israeli parliament voted to extend Israeli law and jurisdiction to the Golan, although this has never been internationally recognised. This annexation could make it more difficult for any Israeli leader wanting to persuade parliament to ratify a peace treaty with Syria. Former prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak said they would hold a national referendum on any deal with Syria, which would enable them to circumvent parliament.
Opponents of ceding the Golan Heights argue that Syria cannot be trusted and that it would be suicidal to forego such a vital strategic asset, which enables Israel to peer deep into Syrian territory and so acts as an essential early-warning system against a surprise attack. The topography of the Golan also provides Israel with a physical buffer against any Syrian offensive.
But supporters of a deal with Syria counter that in an age of missiles, territory has become less important. Once a deal is signed with Syria, they add, the strategic situation in the region will change fundamentally, making the Golan Heights a far less vital strategic asset. (IPS)
Monday, May 26, 2008
Iran wants closer Syria defense ties
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Monday for closer defense ties with Syria, the official IRNA news agency reported, a few days after Israel urged Damascus to distance itself from Tehran.
"So far Iran's and Syria's joint and mutual relations in various fields have been of utmost usefulness and defense relations must expand to the extent possible," he told visiting Syrian defense Minister Hassan Turkmani.
The IRNA report gave no further details on military cooperation between the two Middle East countries, which the United States accuses of sponsoring terrorism.
Iranian defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar described Syria on Sunday as a strategic ally.
Pieter Wezeman, a researcher on conventional arms transfers at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), said Syria and Iran had military relations but their secretive nature made it difficult to say how substantial they were. (Reuters)
MIDEAST: Israel Targets Iran Through Syrian Friendship
"Spin" was the chorus that predictably emanated from Israel's parliament when the office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced last week that Israel and Syria had initiated talks ultimately aimed at reaching a peace agreement. But to reduce the renewal of peace talks between Jerusalem and Damascus, after an eight-year hiatus, to mere "spin" is to underestimate how it currently serves the strategic interests of both countries.
That doesn't mean Olmert didn't benefit from the timing of the announcement, with headlines about talks with Syria nudging aside headlines about a police investigation into suspicions of corruption against the prime minister, regarding large sums of cash he received from a U.S. businessman. But the contacts with Syria began already a year ago, long before Olmert's latest legal woes, and they have the strong backing of many in Israel's defence establishment.
Security officials are convinced that the chances of doing a deal with Damascus are greater than the likelihood of reaching an agreement with the Palestinians. The Syrian track is less complicated. Israel knows what Syria wants: the return of the Golan Heights, the strategic mountain range that Israel captured during the 1967 war. Syria knows what Israel wants: an end to its strategic relationship with Iran, an end to its backing of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, and normal relations.
There are other issues that will need to be settled, like the fate of some 20,000 Jewish settlers living on the Golan Heights, water arrangements, and the depth of demilitarised zones, especially on the Syrian side of the border. But these appear infinitely more soluble than the raft of differences between Israel and the Palestinians -- the right of return for Palestinian refugees, the future of Jerusalem, borders, and the fate of over a quarter of a million Jewish settlers in the West Bank. (IPS)
Olmert: Only delusional people think we'll keep post-'67 borders
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday said that only people suffering from delusions believe it is possible to realize the dream of holding onto the greater Land of Israel, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War.
Olmert's comments came amid negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and indirect Israeli peace talks with Syria.
Palestinian officials said the negotiations over reaching a final status deal involved an Israeli offer of 91.5 percent of West Bank. He made the remarks speaking at a Knesset Foreign Affairs Committee meeting.
In response, MK Limor Livnat (Likud) charged that what was actually delusional was that a prime minister at the end of his political career can receive envelops of cash and hold talks on the return of the Golan Heights.
The former cabinet minister was referring to the ongoing corruption investigation against Olmert in which he is suspected of receiving illicit funds from an American businessman over a number of years.
Later on in the committee session, Olmert denied holding talks with Hamas despite Vice Premier Haim Ramon's claim of the opposite last week. (Haaretz)
Labels: Israel, Palestine, Syria
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Brief Roundup of Reactions to Golan Heights Return
Iran
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says Israel should return the Golan Heights unconditionally to the Syrians. (VOA) This is likely in response to Israeli Foreign Minister Livini's demands that Syria cut off ties with Iran and militant groups, which Syria reportedly rejected.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad on the other hand, expressed his displeasure that Syria was conducting any sort of talks with Israel.
Talks are being mediated through Turkey, though according to an official Turkish radio station, Israel has expressed the desire to hold direct talks with Damascus, while the latter has been hesitant to take that step. (JPost)
Apparently in response to these "shock" revelations (regardless of their being confirmed for weeks, the Syrian Defense Minister is visiting Iran to "follow up on joint defense agreements, ways to boost defense ties and (talks) on the latest regional and international developments."
Domestically, Iran is being accused of issuing a media black out, by asking newspapers and web sites to "ignore" coverage of talks between the two countries. (Haaretz)
Israel
In Israel, Netenyahu has issued a statement saying the Knesset and the majority of Israeli citizens would reject Olmert signing any release of the Golan Heights from Israeli control. (JPost)
Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit on Sunday suggested the disputed region could be leased from Syria for 25 years as part of a future peace deal. Arguing that the move would allow for a gradual removal of Jewish settlers living in the area. Former army chief Dan Halutz offered a different outlook, arguing that Israel did not need the Golan Heights for defensive purposes. Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, defended the negotiations. (AFP)
Syria
Haaretz writers argue that the Syrian regime is split into two camps, 'moderates', that support closer ties with the US, and 'hawks' who 'attribute supreme importance to ties with Iran,' thanks in prime, to Iran's strategic interests in Lebanon, being tied closely to Syria's. (Haaretz)
Militant Groups
There is some indication that Hamas and Islamic Jihad may be considering moving their offices from Damascus to Tehran, in the event that the talks reach more advanced levels. After the targeted assassination of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyah on Syrian soil, and with allegations of Saudi Arabian or Syrian involvement, militant groups may be viewing their offices in Syria, as increasingly under security risk.
We thought we would try something new today and conduct a round up of news and summaries, rather then directly posting six articles of reactions to the same topic. Comments, Complaints, or Suggestions? Email us or comment directly.
Labels: Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Israel, Syria
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Iran and Syria to attend Iraq meeting in Sweden: U.N.
Iran's foreign minister and Syria's ambassador to Sweden are among the officials expected to attend next week's ministerial meeting of the Iraq Compact Annual Review, U.N. officials said on Friday.
The talks in Stockholm will focus on assessing progress in implementing a peace and development plan to help rebuild the Iraq more than five years after the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
U.N. officials told Reuters that Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is among participants who have confirmed that they will attend. Syria, which is sending its envoy to Sweden, will be represented at a much lower level.
Washington accuses Iran of arming and training insurgents in Iraq in an attempt to destabilize the government. It says Syria allows arms and militants to cross its border into Iraq, fueling the anti-U.S. insurgency.
Tehran and Damascus deny the U.S. accusations. (Reuters)
Labels: Iran, Iraq, Syria, U.N.
Syria hesitant to let IAEA inspect alleged nuke site hit by IAF
Syria has yet to accept a request from the UN nuclear watchdog to visit a site where Washington says Damascus covertly built an atomic reactor, and has demanded more details about the proposed trip, diplomats said.
The head of the UN body, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on May 7 that he hoped to be able to shed light "in the next few weeks" on whether a Syrian facility, bombed by Israel last year, was an undeclared nuclear reactor.
Syria, an ally of Iran whose secretive nuclear program is under UN sanctions and IAEA investigation, has rejected as fabricated U.S. intelligence pointing to an almost completed graphite reactor erected with North Korean help.
Damascus, whose only declared nuclear facility is an old research reactor under IAEA inspection, has said Israel's target was only a disused military building in its eastern desert that had no nuclear link.
At the start of May, the IAEA wrote to Syria asking to see the targeted area. Syrian atomic energy chief Ibrahim Othman visited Vienna on May 9 for talks with the agency's chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, diplomats familiar with the matter said.
Those talks did not produce any agreement on the timing and nature of a trip by senior inspectors, they added. (Haaretz)
Labels: IAEA, Israel, Syria, U.N.
Friday, May 23, 2008
New momentum for law meant to block Golan deal
MK Eli Gabai (National Union-National Religious Party) promised Thursday that by the time he places his proposed law on the Knesset table next Monday requiring a special Knesset majority to endorse territorial concessions on the Golan, there will be surprise names among the bill's backers.
Thus far, MKs from all of the right-wing opposition parties, but also from coalition members Shas, Labor and Kadima were among the 57 who signed on to the proposed law, which would require a Knesset majority of 80 - or two-thirds - in order to give up any territory from the Golan Heights as part of negotiations.
"By Monday, I hope to have 61 signatures on the proposal in order to demonstrate the seriousness of the bill," said Gabai, adding that the additional four signatures that he hopes to collect will also be from "senior" members of the coalition.
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Tzahi Hanegbi (Kadima) as well as his fellow party members MKs Ronit Tirosh, David Tal, Marina Solodkin and Ze'ev Elkin have already signed on, as has Labor MK Yoram Marciano. (JPost)
65-70% of Israelis against ceding Golan
65 percent of Israelis are against a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, even if this would bring true peace with Syria, a poll published by the Geo-Cartographic Institute revealed Thursday.
64% of respondents were also against partial withdrawal from the Heights and a similar percentage said it was inappropriate that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was holding negotiations with Syria at a time when his political future was uncertain.
Geo-Cartographic Institute president, professor Avi Dgani, told Army Radio on Thursday that "the people are with the Golan and not with Olmert. A big part of the public is against withdrawing from even a part of the Golan Heights." Dgani was paraphrasing a bumper sticker with the text "The people are with the Golan," distributed during Israeli-Syrian talks in the 1990s.
A telephone poll conducted by Channel 2 Wednesday evening showed similar results, with 70 percent against relinquishing the Golan Heights for peace with Syria, compared to 22% in favor of such a move. (JPost)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Israelis express skepticism on Syria peace talks
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's dramatic announcement that he is negotiating a peace deal with Syria was greeted Thursday with overwhelming skepticism in Israel.
Many Israelis appear to believe the embattled leader made the declaration to divert attention from the corruption allegations that threaten to end his term in office, and opinion polls showed Israelis remained wary of withdrawing from the strategic Golan Heights - even in return for peace with one of Israel's most bitter enemies.
The announcement that peace talks had resumed eight years after they broke down came on the same day a court-issued gag order on the new Olmert case was lifted, allowing the publication of new details of the charges that Olmert took money in cash from a Jewish-American businessman. It also came two days before Olmert was set to be questioned again by police.
In a published interview Thursday, Olmert tried to focus attention on the historic talks. "The peace negotiations with Syria are more important than all the rumor and investigations," he told the Yediot Ahronot daily.
Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said Thursday that talks, which are indirect and mediated by Turkey, are moving ahead, with another round of discussions "in the near future."
In a poll published in Yediot Thursday, only 36 percent said the negotiations are meant to promote peace, while 49 percent of Israelis said they believe Olmert is trying to draw attention away from the new police investigation. (AP)
U.S. on the Outside in Peace Efforts
Just days after President Bush returned from the Middle East, the Middle East is moving beyond the Bush administration.
Two major peace efforts -- a surprise announcement of indirect talks between Israel and Syria brokered by Turkey and an eleventh-hour deal to prevent a new Lebanese war brokered by Qatar -- were launched without an American role, and both counter U.S. strategy in the region.
For years, the Bush administration has resisted overtures from Jerusalem and Damascus to participate in revived peace efforts over the Golan Heights. The administration balked at including Syria in the Annapolis conference on Middle East peace last year, relenting only under pressure from allies, according to Western officials.
At his Senate confirmation hearing on May 1, James B. Cunningham, the ambassador-designate to Israel, said expanding peace talks to include Syria would be difficult. "We have taken the position that it is not very useful right now for us to be talking to Syria," he said. As a result, over the past year Turkey has taken the initiative to launch shuttle diplomacy, a role once reserved for U.S. secretaries of state. (Washington Post)
Labels: Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, U.S.
Monday, May 19, 2008
US-Syrian trade on rise despite tensions
Despite American sanctions, in 2007 trade between the US and Syria increased 7.7 percent, mostly as a result of the rise in cereal exports to Syria (from $146m. in 2006 to $256m. the following year).
Syria has had a prominent place on the US State Sponsors of Terrorism List since its inception in 1979. The Syria Accountability Act (SAA) of 2004 and the recent US allegations regarding a secret Syrian nuclear reactor, have certainly not improved diplomatic relations between the US and Syria.
On the other hand, Syria and Iran are increasingly improving their relations in all fields, much to the dismay of the United States.
Interestingly, a glance at the 2007 trade figures between Syria and the US on the one hand, and Syria and Iran on the other, reveals an unexpected reality: while the volume of US-Syrian trade stood at $472 million last year, Syria's trade with Iran in high technology products, is the main concern of the US, simply because we were not in the market for this; whatever we needed was obtainable from other sources," Dr. Rateb Shallah, chairman of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce, told The Media Line. (MLNA)
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Iraq's Slow Refugee Funding Has Ripple Effect
Despite U.S. pressure over the past month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has yet to provide significant financial support for the nearly 2 million Iraqi refugees in Syria and Lebanon, according to administration and congressional sources, even as the United Nations has told donors that it may scale back its assistance to the effort because of insufficient funds.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees -- whose programs for Iraqi refugees and displaced people are projected to cost over $800 million this year, according to the State Department -- informed a meeting of donor nations last week that it may need to slash support for Iraqis in Syria and Jordan because the agency has received only 60 percent of the funds it needs to help Iraqi refugees the rest of this year.
Last month, State Department officials told Congress that many countries have held back funds for refugees because the Iraqi government has delivered only $15 million to Syria, where there are about 1 million refugees, and $2 million to Lebanon, where there are 200,000; and it has pledged $8 million to Jordan, where there are some 500,000. Ambassador James B. Foley, the State Department coordinator for Iraq refugees, said at the time that the United States would press the Maliki government to increase its support.
"They are going to have to find a way to say yes," said a senior State Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly. The official added that Ryan C. Crocker, the ambassador to Iraq, is providing the Iraqi government with data on the types of assistance needed. "We by no means consider this over," the official said. "We are determined to get a yes, and high-level discussions continue." (Washington Post)
Labels: Iraq, Jordan, Refugees, Syria, U.N., U.S.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Report: U.S. asks Turkey to push harder for Israel-Syria talks
The U.S. government has asked Turkey to increase efforts to advance negotiations between Israel and Syria, according to a report published by the London Arabic daily Al-Hayat on Saturday.
According to the report, the U.S. request comes in light of the recent political crisis in Lebanon, and U.S. assessments that peace between Israel and Syria will help distance the country from Hezbollah.
The report quoted a source as saying that Washington has hinted to Israel more than once the importance of progress in talks with Syria. The source added that the U.S. said they are ready to participate in talks between the countries if Turkey is able to achieve a breakthrough between them.
Last week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he was prepared to bring about a peace agreement between Israel and Syria during his term in office, according to a report in the magazine Paris Match.
Olmert told the French weekly that his top priority was reaching peace with Syria and the Palestinians, adding that no other matter was as important or urgent for the future of Israel.
Also last week, the pan-Arab London-based daily newspaper Al Hayat reported that Turkish officials are moving to convene a three-way meeting between Israeli and Syrian representatives. The meeting would likely take place in Istabul, as Turkey continues its efforts to jump-start peace negotiations between the two countries. (Haaretz)
Labels: Israel, Syria, Turkey, U.S.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Experience With Syria Exemplifies Challenge That Detection Presents
Syria went to extraordinary lengths to conceal its undeclared construction of a plutonium-producing nuclear reactor from spies in the sky and on the ground in recent years, according to a draft report by independent nuclear experts briefed by Bush administration officials.
The effectiveness of the camouflage effort raises new doubts about the prospects for certain detection of future clandestine nuclear weapons-related activities, the Institute for Science and International Security concluded in its report on the Syrian facility. "This case serves as a sobering reminder of the difficulty of identifying secret nuclear activities," the report said.
U.S. intelligence officials last month released images of the Syrian facility before it was bombed by Israel last September and bulldozed by the Syrian government once the raid became public. U.S. and Israeli officials have said the facility was a nearly completed nuclear reactor built with North Korean help and fitted with a false roof and walls that altered its shape when viewed from above. (Washington Post)
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Arab countries discuss nuclear cooperation
Representatives of seven Arab states are currently meeting to discuss how to enhance nuclear cooperation in order to set up peaceful atomic programs, according to news reports.
Experts from Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen are participating in the meeting.
The delegates are discussing mechanisms for cooperation among various Arab countries for peaceful nuclear projects.
Several Arab countries have expressed their desire to set up nuclear programs with the stated aim of using nuclear energy for generating electricity, desalinating water and using the facilities for research.
However, there are concerns that these programs will be used for manufacturing nuclear weapons.
The specter of a nuclear Iran is a notion that does not sit well with Arab countries in the Middle East and it is most likely that fears of a nuclear-armed Iran are behind recent moves in these countries towards setting up nuclear programs of their own. (Media Line)
Labels: Iraq, Jordan, Nuclear Power, Saudi Arabia, Syria, U.A.E., Yemen
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Assad: 'We won't cut Iran or Hizbullah ties'
Syrian President Bashar Assad rejected Israel's demand that Syria cut its ties with Iran and Hizbullah.
He said that detaching his country from the two was "irrelevant" to reviving peace talks.
In an interview published Friday with the Italian magazine L'Espresso, Assad went on to emphasize that his country was offering peace in return for the Golan Heights - captured from Syria in 1967 and then again in 1973 after recurrent Syrian cross-border attacks.
The Syrian president said it would be possible to advance the peace process when the new US president was elected.
Syria maintains ties with both Hizbullah and Iran, an extremist Shi'ite terror organization and a dominantly-Shi'ite state respectively, which both seek Israel's destruction. (JPost)
Labels: Hezbollah, Iran, Syria
Friday, May 9, 2008
Peres to Lebanese: Avoid civil war; Abbas: Palestinians must be neutral
President Shimon Peres played down Israeli concerns at Hezbollah's move to expand its control, but said he hoped the Lebanese people would step back from the brink of civil war.
Peres called the latest round of violence a "tragedy," but classified it as an "internal split" having nothing to do with Israel.
"It's not a total surprise. We knew that Hezbollah is going to divide the country and lead it to the verge of a civil war," Peres told reporters.
"It has nothing to do with Israel. It's an internal split," Peres said. "It's a tragedy for them. It's a tragedy for all of us. And I hope that at the last moment they will save themselves from a bloody civil war."
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the some 400,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon to stay out of the current conflict between the Western-backed government and the Iranian and Syrian-backed opposition.
Abbas also warned against attempts to drag the Palestinians into the ongoing fighting between Hezbollah and forces loyal to the government.
...... Syrian and Qatari leaders said Friday that the current crisis in Lebanon is an "internal affair," while Egypt and Saudi Arabia called for an emergency Arab foreign ministers' meeting to discuss the situation, media reports said. (DPA)
Labels: Egypt, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Olmert said ready to bring about peace agreement with Syria
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday he was prepared to bring about a peace agreement between Israel and Syria during his term in office, according to a report in the magazine Paris Match.
Olmert told the French weekly that his top priority was reaching peace with Syria and the Palestinians, adding that no other matter was as important or urgent for the future of Israel.
He also said that if Israel and its enemies were to cease fighting and work together to build a common future, the Middle East could be turned into a paradise.
Earlier Thursday, the pan-Arab London-based daily newspaper Al Hayat reported that Turkish officials are moving to convene a three-way meeting between Israeli and Syrian representatives. The meeting would likely take place in Istabul, as Turkey continues its efforts to jump-start peace negotiations between the two countries.
Ankara would like both sides to commit to a signed declaration as a starting point for talks. According to the report, Turkey decided to postpone the proposed sit-down after the Syrians revealed Jerusalem's stated willingness to withdraw from the Golan Heights in exchange for peace. The newspaper added that the Syrian leadership was assuaged by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's refusal to deny or backtrack from the claims when word reached the news media in Israel. (Haaretz)
Bush extends Syria sanctions
George Bush, the US president, has said he is extending sanctions against Syria following Washington's charge that Damascus has been building a nuclear reactor with North Korea's help.
Bush announced his decision on Wednesday to continue a one-year freeze on Syrian assets as well as a ban on exporting certain goods to Syria.
"I took these actions to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and the economy of the United States constituted by the actions of the government of Syria," Bush said in a message to the US congress.
He accused Syria of "supporting terrorism ... pursuing weapons of mass destruction and missile programmes, including the recent revelation of illicit nuclear co-operation with North Korea".
The president also said Syria was "undermining US and international efforts with respect to the stabilisation and reconstruction of Iraq". (Al Jazeera)
Labels: Sanctions, Syria, U.S.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
IAEA chief hopes to shed light on alleged Syrian reactor soon
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday he hoped his agency would be able to shed light in the next few weeks on whether a Syrian facility bombed by Israel last September was an undeclared atomic reactor.
The United States released intelligence last month that it said showed Syria built a reactor with North Korean help before Israeli warplanes destroyed it. Damascus has denied the accusations.
Mohammed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said his agency was in contact with Syria to verify the U.S. intelligence and recalled Damascus's obligation to report any nuclear activities to the agency.
"I hope that in the next few weeks we will be able to shed some light on the nature of the facility that was destroyed," he told reporters after talks with EU officials in Brussels.
"Syria has an obligation to notify the agency if they are, if they were, building any nuclear reactors," he said. Damascus has not granted UN inspectors access to the area despite several requests since September, diplomats say.
The U.S. material included photos and other information the CIA said prove the facility's potential for nuclear weapons purposes. (Haaretz)
Labels: IAEA, Syria, U.N., U.S.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Accusations and Counteraccusations about Interference in Lebanon
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch, said on Monday that Iranian ally Syria represented a threat to Lebanon. (Daily Star)
Former Lebanese Minister accuses US ally Saudi Arabia for interference in Lebanon. (Daily Star)
Labels: Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, U.S.