March 10, 2006

IN BRIEF ***** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received a message from King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein of Jordan. The message was delivered to the Monarch by Prince Ali bin Naif, the Private Secretary of the Jordanian king, during an audience. Prince Ali also conveyed to the Monarch the greetings of the Jordanian king. In turn, the King sent his greetings to the king of Jordan. The audience was attended by Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence, other princes and officials. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received her today Uruguay's Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Jose Luis Bruno on the occasion of the end of his term of office in the country. The ambassador conveyed to the Monarch the greetings of Uruguay's president Tabare Vazquez . In turn, the King sent his greetings to the president. The audience was attended by Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence, other princes and officials. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received her today Philippines' Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Bahnarnm A. Gunnomla on the occasion of the end of his term of office in the country. The ambassador conveyed to the Monarch the greetings of Philippines' president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In turn, the King sent his greetings to the president. The audience was attended by Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence, other princes and officials. ********** Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspector General and Chairman of the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development NCWCD has approved the formation of Committee for Human and Environment program in coordination with the ministry of education under the chairmanship of Prince Saud Al-Faisal. The committee will be responsible for completing the procedures while NCWCD will coordinate with the UNESCO's programme on human and the environment. ********** Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Governor of Riyadh Region held a dinner party in honor of French President Jacques Chirac and the accompanying delegation. The party was attended by Prince Abdullah Ibn Mohammed Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud; Prince Khalid Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Rahman; Prince Mohammed Ibn Saad Ibn Abdul Aziz, Advisor to Interior Minister; a number of princes; ministers; members of Shoura Council and senior officials. ********** Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal received Uruguay's Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Jose Luis Bruno on the occasion of the end of his term of office in the country. Prince Saud also received Pakistani Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Shahid Karimullah who presented to him his credentials. ********** Presided over by its Chairman Sheikh Dr. Salih Ibn Abdullah Ibn Homaid, the Shoura Council approved in its session here today the Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation for Damage Resulting from Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal and resolution number 3/1 concerning the amendment of the Basel protocol. In a press statement to the Saudi Press Agency, the Council's Secretary General Dr. Salih Al-Malik said that also during today's session, the council discussed reports on performance of some governmental departments and made recommendations to enhance their performance. Dr. Al-Malik added that also during today's session, the chairman of the council briefed the members on his meeting here on Wednesday with the Danish ambassador to the kingdom Hans Klingenberg who expressed his government's apology over a Danish newspaper-published cartoons blasphemous to the Prophet Mohammad peace be upon him. During the meeting, the chairman reiterated Muslims' denunciation of this insult and demanded form the Danish side to contain the crisis and clarify the apology by the newspaper. Presided over by its Chairman Sheikh Dr. Salih Ibn Abdullah Ibn Homaid, the Shoura Council approved in its session here today the economic framework draft agreement between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and MERCSUR Group. In a press statement to the Saudi Press Agency, the Council's Secretary General Salih Al-Malik said that the council completed its discussion of a draft regulation on time participation in tourist real estate units submitted by the Committee of Economic and Energy Affairs. The council also started discussion of the law of a regulation on fertilizers and agricultural soil improvement in GCC states. ********** The General Congress for Arab Parties called to clarify dimensions and aims of pressures that Syria is exposed to due to her just stances on national and pan-Arab issues as well to explain their aim of foreign interferences in the interior Lebanese affaires. The recommendations that recited by chairman of the congress Dr. Ishak al-Farhan at the end of the three day meetings held in Damascus to Support Syria and Lebanon, addressed a message to the upcoming Arab summit in Sudan to work as to improve the Syrian-Lebanese ties and to stand by Syria and Lebanon in facing pressures and challenges they are confronting. The final proposals demanded the immediate withdrawal of the occupation forces from Iraq and the assertion on his Arab identity as well the preservation of his unity in addition to the condemnation of terrorist acts targeting innocents and holy sits as well as instigating sectarian sedition urging rather to contribute to reconstructing Iraq. They confirmed the right to return of Palestinian refugees and sticking to the occupation resistance in addition to condemnation of the separation wall building and settlement. The recommendations called to make the Middle East region free from weapons of mass destruction WMD and the rejection of foreign interference in Darfour case. They underlined the necessity of popularizing the resistance culture and rejecting the logic of aggression, injustice and occupation. ********** The World Bank announced that it was issuing a 42-million-dollar grant to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to help ensure it can continue providing basic services. David Craig, the World Bank's director for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said the cash would tide over the Ramallah-based government at a time when Israel has frozen payments of customs duties it collects for the Palestinians. "The release of this tranche will allow the PA to maintain economic and social stability in the short-term by covering urgent expenditures such as salaries of civil servants," Craig said in a statement. "But it remains a critical priority for the PA to undertake comprehensive reforms to bring down the deficit to sustainable levels." The Washington-based institution said in a recent report that the Palestinian Authority's budget deficit reached 800 million in 2005, threatening to destablise government operations. Nearly half the deficit was financed by donors, according to the report. Both the United States and European Union have threatened to cut their funding if the radical Islamist movement Hamas does not commit itself to non-violence and recognise Israel's right to exist before it forms a new government following its recent election victory. Hamas has brushed off the threats of a cut in funding, saying it will look to other Arab and Muslim countries to meet any shortfall. Israel's decision to freeze the customs duties, worth around 50 million dollars a month, has already led to a delay in payments to government employees. ********** Adam Ereli deputy spokesman of the state department denied The existence of any links between Hamas and Iran that there was, a recognition by Egypt, by Saudi Arabia, by the GCC that there's only one acceptable solution to the plight of the Palestinians and the conflict with the Israelis and that is a negotiated solution based on a mutual respect and recognition and the creation of a Palestinian state. Ereli said "we're all looking for ways we can support the interim government of the Palestinian Authority, as it bridges this period between the elections and between the new government. Once a new government comes in, we are all going to be looking at what makes sense in terms of supporting the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people, which we all want to do and in which we're all committed to doing. And at the same time, not supporting groups that advocate the destruction of another state and practice terror. And those are the guidelines that we're all very much committed to and continuing to follow." Asked whether the US agrees with the Egyptian suggestion that Hamas needs more time and if it is ready to give Hamas more time to consider these demands, Ereli said: "we've made it clear that Hamas has a choice and now having been elected democratically it must govern responsibly. "Responsibly" means not practicing terror, recognizing Israel and accepting its existence and, accepting previous agreements. That is a choice that Hamas must make and we are going to do everything we can to work with our partners in the international community, including Egypt, to get it to make the right choice. ********** America's ambassador in Baghdad has grimly acknowledged that the US invasion of Iraq three years ago had opened a "Pandora's box" that could see the country descend into full-scale civil war. That point had not yet been reached, Zalmay Khalilzad, the envoy, told the Los Angeles Times. But "the potential is there." All it might take, he warned, was an incident similar to last month's bombing of the Shi'ite Muslim shrine in Samarra, that unleashed a wave of sectarian killings. "Right now there's a vacuum of authority, and there's a lot of distrust," said Mr Khalilzad. He insisted that the only way forward was to continue efforts to form a government of national unity. In the meantime there was no option but for the US to keep its troops in Iraq. ********** The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Angel Moratinos stopped at Damascus airport where he held a meeting with the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallem. Both ministers did not disclose news about their talks. Moratinos is the first high level western official to visit Syria after the assassination of the late Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri. Moratinos stopped in Syria on his way back home from Islamabad. ********** Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri announced last Tuesday that top leaders participating at a national dialogue meeting have suspended their talks over the country's most contentious issues but will resume their roundtable discussions on Monday. "Most participants belong to political groups and parties," Berri told reporters. "And we have reached the final stage of the dialogue and need to make decisions. That's why some participants have asked to discuss matters with their leaderships before such decisions are reached," he said. Berri denied that comments made Monday by Walid Jumblat in Washington undermined the dialogue. Shortly before Berri's statement, legislator Elie Skaff said the conference will resume its sessions after the return of Jumblat from his one-week trip to the U.S. ********** British troops could start leaving Iraq within weeks, the army's most senior officer in the country said. In an interview with the Telegraph, Lieutenant General Nick Houghton said a gradual withdrawal needed to begin soon in order to reassure Iraqis that British troops would not become a resident force. Lt Gen Houghton said most UK personnel should be home by summer 2008, adding that the process of reducing Britain's 8,000-strong force in Iraq would happen in four stages, due to begin in the spring or by the end of the summer. However, he admitted that withdrawal depended on the formation of a national unity government in Iraq and sectarian tensions not worsening further. The prime minister's official spokesman stressed that there were "all sorts of possible scenarios", adding: "The important thing ... is it is all condition based. "Its is based first and foremost on the quality, as well as the quantity, of Iraqi troops. It is based on the view of the Iraqi government, and it is based on the situation on the ground. All of these are factors which have to be taken into account, so there is no strict timetable." Lt Gen Houghton told the Telegraph there was "a fine line between staying too long and leaving too soon". "A military transition over two years has a reasonable chance of avoiding the pitfalls of overstaying our welcome, but gives us the best opportunity of consolidating the Iraqi security forces," he said. Lt Gen Houghton, whose five-month tour of duty in Iraq is about to end, said the recent bombing of a golden-domed Shia shrine in Samarra "has not in any way altered the plan and its potential timescale". He said the first stage of withdrawal would be the handover of security control to the Iraqis in Maysan and Muthanna provinces. British troops will increasingly stay in barracks, emerging to provide support and training when necessary. The plan - which Lt Gen Houghton stressed was flexible - envisages a similar handover taking place in Basra and Dhiqar provinces in spring 2007, paving the way for all but a few hundred British troops to leave Iraq by mid-2008. "It is reversible to an extent as there will be residual coalition forces present who can maintain a low profile," he told the Telegraph. "There may be a need to go back in somewhere. I hope not." ********** Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he was hopeful after talks with Hamas in Moscow this week that the militant Palestinian group would endorse the Israeli-Palestinian "roadmap" peace accord. "We also heard from them that they would be ready to express their position on the roadmap and to hopefully endorse the roadmap as drafted by the quartet without any reservations," said Lavrov after meeting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington. **********