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October 27, 2006 |
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***** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has received a number of cables of congratulations on the blessed Eid Al-Fitr. The cables are from: Sultan of Oman; the Presidents of Uzbekistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Sudan, Somalia, Lebanon and Egypt; Premier of Lebanon; Governor of Ras Al-Khaimah Emirate; Oman's Deputy Premier and Secretary General of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In reply cables, the Monarch thanked them for their best wishes on this occasion, wishing them permanent good health and happiness. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received at Al Safa palace in Makkah President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and accompanying delegation. He also received Secretary General of the Organization Of Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanuglu. The monarch also received Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs Mohammed Maftouh Basyouni who delivered a message to him from President Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia. The minister conveyed to the monarch the greetings of President Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. In turn, King Abdullah sent his greetings to the president. During the meeting with the Senegalese President, the overall developments at the Islamic and international arenas in addition to aspects of cooperation between the two countries were discussed. The Senegalese President, OIC Secretary General and the Indonesian minister, then had Iftar with the king. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received telephone calls from Egypt's President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak, President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayid Al Nahayan and Oman's Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed. During the calls, they exchanged congratulations on the occasion of the blessed Eid Al-Fitr, wishing their countries and Muslim nations progress and prosperity. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz also congratulated the King of Bahrain and the Emir of Kuwait over the phone. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has sent a number of cables of congratulations to leaders of Arab and Islamic countries on the advent of the blessed Eid Al-Fitr. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, sent a number of cables of congratulations to leaders of Arab and Islamic countries on the advent of the blessed Eid Al-Fitr. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, made telephone calls to Morocco's King Mohammed VI, Tunisia's President Zine Al-Abedine Bin Ali and Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, congratulating them on the advent of the blessed Eid Al-Fitr. During the calls, they thanked the crown prince for his noble feelings, wishing Arab and Muslim nations steady progress, prosperity and glory. Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received a telephone call from Jordan's King Abdullah II Bin Al-Hussein. During the call, they exchanged congratulations on the advent of the blessed Eid Al-Fitr. The Crown Prince thanked the Jordanian monarch for his noble feelings, wishing Muslim nations steady progress and prosperity. Interior Minister Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz commended the efforts of police officers in protecting the security of more than three million pilgrims who came for Umrah during Ramadan. He also praised their role in foiling attempts to carry out terrorist attacks in the country. "Preventing and uncovering crimes are the basic duties of a policeman," he said while receiving top security officers who came to greet him on the occasion of Eid Al-Fitr. Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Interior Minister, received a message from the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora thanking him for all the help provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, its leadership and people to Lebanon and its people. Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Interior Minister, received the Secretary General of the commission of the Iraqi Muslim scholars Sheikh Harith Al-Dhari and the accompanying delegation. They exchanged views on the developments of the situation in Iraq. Speaking on the occasion, Prince Naif reiterated the keenness of Saudi Arabia on enhancing the pillars of security and stability in Iraq. The meeting was attended by Prince Meqrin Ibn Abdul Aziz, the President of the General Intelligence. President Ali Abdullah Saleh received a letter from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz. The letter, extended by Saudi Assistant Minister of Interior Prince Mohammed Ibn Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz during his meeting with the president, dealt with the current developments at regional and international levels as well as bilateral relations between the two countries. President Saleh asked him to convey his greetings to king Abdullah, wishing him good health and further progress and prosperity for Saudi people. The Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has received a telephone call from Kofi Annan in which they discussed the implementation of UNSC R 1701. Siniora confirmed that Annan would exert utmost efforts during his remaining period as UNSG to solve the Shabaa farms problems. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Najeeb Miqati continued his visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He also performed Umrah and was received by Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, at his palace at Al Azizia district in Makkah. The audience was attended by senior protocol officials at the Crown Prince's Court. The fifth Saudi relief convoy arrived in Beirut. More than 60 trucks carried over 38,000 food baskets that will be distributed throughout southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Including the current shipment, Saudi Arabia has delivered more than 500,000 food baskets to Lebanon. The aid is in line with the Kingdom's ongoing humanitarian assistance to Lebanon. The Saudi Red Crescent Society has been setting up ready-made houses in Lebanese villages affected by the most recent Israeli attacks. On September 14, the Saudi Red Crescent Society announced that it was sending 1,000 ready-made housing units to Lebanon as part of the Kingdom's ongoing humanitarian aid to the Lebanese people. General Supervisor Ahmad Salamah said that the Society has built 50 houses in Bint Jubail and an additional 30 houses in Marjayoun. In addition, 9 trucks carrying 30 houses are currently en route to Kafra and Bint Jubail. Salamah added that the Kingdom has sent 250 trucks loaded with foodstuffs and medical supplies. The Saudi Red Crescent Society has distributed humanitarian aid and gifts in Lebanon in honor of the Eid Al-Fitr. General Coordinator Ahmad Al-Salamah said yesterday that 25,000 gifts were distributed to Lebanese children, including school bags and clothes. The aid is in line with the Kingdom's ongoing humanitarian assistance to Lebanon. The commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that force could be used to stop Israel's continued violations of Lebanese airspace. Maj. Gen. Alain Pelligrini said France deployed anti-aircraft missiles to southern Lebanon but noted that the missiles can only be used for self-defense to protect French soldiers serving in the UN force. He said new rules of engagement would be needed to use force to stop Israel's repeated air incursions because the UN peacekeeping force can only react by using diplomatic means. "If the diplomatic means should not be enough, maybe it could be considered other means," Gen Pellegrini told a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York. He also stressed that the Israeli overflights were a "clear violation" of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which imposed a ceasefire on August 14 to end the month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. "They won't be accepted. Every time these occur, we report them first to the [UN] secretary general immediately and we protest to the Israelis"," Gen Pellegrini said. Israel claims that the overflights are aimed at ensuring that arms supplies do not reach Hezbollah. Lebanese and UNIFIL officials have frequently complained about the Israeli air incursions, saying that they violate Lebanese sovereignty. But Israel insists that the overflights would continue, claiming that they're aimed at ensuring that arms supplies do not reach Hezbollah and that they don't violate UN Resolution 1701, which calls for both sides to respect the Blue Line, a boundary demarcated by the UN after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. But Pelligrini said that UNIFIL had no evidence of illegal arms being smuggled in from Syria, insisting that the air incursions violate the UN resolution. "They are violations because you have a foreign jet crossing first the Blue Line and entering the national Lebanese airspace," he said. Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Al Siniora received the Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohyeddin Khoja. During the meeting, developments of situations in the region and Lebanon as well as bilateral relations binding the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon and ways of enhancing them in all fields were discussed. A mission of the International Federation for Human Rights was in Israel and in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) between 25 June and 2 July 2006. The mission was set up to examine the situation of economic and social rights in Gaza and the West Bank, almost one year after Israel 'disengaged' from the Gaza strip, and three months after Israel and the international community decided to suspend all contacts with the government of the Palestinian Authority and to interrupt all aid channelled to and via that government. FIDH launched an immediate appeal and expressed its fear that the strategy of financial sanctions imposed on the PA since the taking of office of the Hamas government on 29 March 2006. Olivier De Schutter, FIDH General Secretary, expressed his discontent especially from the EU policy towards the Palestinians aiming at strangling their economy. At the International Parliamentary Union Assembly which opened in Geneva, legislators from 127 countries adopted an emergency agenda item entitled The announcement by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea of its nuclear weapons test and the strengthening of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The item was submitted by the delegation of Japan and received a two thirds majority of the votes (773 votes in favour). An item entitled The role of parliaments in further mobilizing the international community in efforts to rebuild Lebanon, support its development and its war-ravaged economy, and pursue just and lasting peace in the Middle East, was submitted by the delegation of Jordan on behalf of the Arab Group, with the support of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and was defeated (668 votes in favour). Tens of thousands of Muslims prayed at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan amid a heavy Israeli police presence to prevent any disturbances. In his sermon, preacher Yussef Abu Sneineh called on Palestinians to stand united and guard against any backlash from disputes between President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party and the ruling Islamist movement Hamas. "This people cannot split into two camps, one fighting the other, because we risk falling, may God prevent it, into the woes of a civil war," he said. Denouncing the Israeli occupation and international pressures, he said the Palestinians were facing a "serious plot, against the people and their land". Israeli police were deployed in force in occupied East Jerusalem to prevent any disturbances after the prayers at Islam's third holiest site but worshippers dispersed without incident. At the Bethlehem checkpoint to the south, clashes broke out between Israeli soldiers and hundreds of Palestinians who demonstrated after being prevented from getting to Jerusalem in order to pray at the mosque. Seven Palestinians were wounded when Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up the protest, witnesses and emergency workers said. President Ali Abdullah Saleh received congratulations cables on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr from,Sultan of Oman Qaboos Bin Saeed, Emir of Kuwait Sabah al-Ahmad al- Jaber al- Sabah, Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani , President of Egypt Mohammed Hosni Mubarak , Syrian President Bashar al-Assad , Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali , Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, President of Lebanon Emile Lahoud, President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani , Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev , Malian President Amadou Toumani. Lebanese and Iraqis fleeing the scourge of war have exacerbated the refugees crisis and opened new challenge fronts. More than 900,000 people have been displaced by the five-week Israeli bombardments, which also killed up to 1,200 civilians, a third of whom were children. Thousands of homes, dozens of bridges and hundreds of kilometers of roads were also destroyed in the Israeli blitz. Iraq is also another challenge front for the refugee agency in the Islamic world, with the continuous exodus of more than 40,000 people a month fleeing violence and bloodshed in the war-ravaged country. "Many of them are moving on to other countries in what could be termed a steady, silent exodus," Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the UNHCR told AFP. More than 754,000 people have fled their homes in Iraqi since sectarian violence intensified in February, the United Nations said this week. Afghan police killed 12 Taliban insurgents and injured 20 others in the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan, the provincial police chief said. Some Taliban militants attacked a police checkpoint in Garmser district, said Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhil, adding the police fought back, killing 12 enemies and injuring 20 others. He said there were no casualties of the police. However, a purported Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi, said 10 policemen were killed in the conflict, and there were no casualties on Taliban side. Helmand has been a hotbed of Taliban insurgents, who clash with Afghan and NATO troops frequently. Due to rising Taliban-linked violence this year, Afghanistan has plunged into the worst spate of bloodshed since the Taliban regime was toppled down nearly five years ago. Over 2,400 people, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed in this volatile country this year. Lebanon approved a long-delayed plan to place closed circuit cameras on all roads in Beirut to tighten security after a wave of bombings and political killings. "The aim is specific ... to try and use all means to follow and contain the security situation," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said following a cabinet meeting. Aridi said the cameras would be attached to telephone lines in all of greater Beirut but would for now exclude the southern suburbs of the capital. Aridi said these areas would get closed circuit cameras when reconstruction work was completed there. Sporadic bomb explosions have continued since the war with Israel. President George W. Bush met with top U.S. military commanders to discuss the Iraq war and said he would "make every necessary change" in tactics to try to control spiralling violence there. Despite growing election-year pressure from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers for an overhaul of his Iraq strategy, Bush insisted he would not abandon his goal of building a self-sustaining democratic government in Iraq. The president, however, acknowledged in his weekly radio address the violence has risen sharply. In October, nearly 80 U.S. troops have been killed, a pace that if continued could make it one of the deadliest months for American forces since the war began in 2003. While Bush has emphasized lately that he is flexible on tactics in Iraq, the White House has drawn a distinction between that and a big overhaul of the strategy in Iraq, and officials have suggested such a broad revamp was not imminent. Bush, in his radio address, said, "We will continue to be flexible, and make every necessary change to prevail in this struggle." He added, "Our goal in Iraq is clear and unchanging." Bush held a 90-minute videoconference on Saturday involving Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, top White House officials and U.S. military officials in Iraq. Gen. John Abizaid, who oversees the Iraq war as head of the U.S. Central Command, is in Washington and was a key presenter at the videoconference. "The participants focused on the nature of the enemy, the challenges in Iraq, how to better pursue our strategy, and the stakes of succeeding for the region and the security of the American people," Guillemard said, adding there would be a similar forum in coming weeks. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the concept of a timetable for the Iraqi government did not come up at the meeting. A NATO intelligence centre collating information about terrorism and weapons of mass destruction has been opened on the Northamptonshire border. The Intelligence Fusion Centre is at RAF Molesworth, east of Thrapston, which is an airbase used by the Americans during the Second World War. Now it is the base for intelligence analysts and senior Nato personnel who will be passing information to troops in places like Afghanistan. It is the first intelligence centre of its kind for Nato. Supreme Allied Commander Europe General James Jones said at the official opening ceremony today: "This centre will be able to anticipate emerging threats, paying particular attention to terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. "Robust operations such as Afghanistan demand more tactical support to allow more real-time support and I am happy to say the Intelligence Fusion Centre already lends substantial support to our efforts in Afghanistan. "Wherever terrorism rears its head we can focus the analytical aspects of this centre." Adam Ingram, British minister of state for the armed forces, said: "Knowledge is power. What we see here is Nato transforming itself and rising to the demands of the modern world." Nato (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) is an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe created to protect the security of member countries through political and military means. It plays an increasing role in crisis management and peacekeeping. The Intelligence Fusion Centre will be looking at military operations, counter-terrorism, air defence and terrain analysis. It employs specialists from 17 member countries and is looking to recruit more. Currently based in the existing RAF buildings, work on a designated intelligence centre will begin next year. Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said Lebanon is "committed to 1701" and all the violations have been by Israel. "Israel continues to violate, defy the international community and cause tension in the area but accuses Lebanon of violations," he said. Israel continued to carry out flights over Lebanese territory on Sunday, with reports of "heavy" activity over the towns of Nabatieh, Marjayoun and Khiam.The flights have been increasingly criticized by the international community, with France, which currently heads the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, warning last Friday that it might use force the violations. The European Parliament has voted to allow Bulgaria and Romania to join the European Union in 2007. Their eventual membership still depends on both countries reforming areas such as farming and security, as well as making efforts to fight corruption. The vote opens the way for an accession treaty to be signed later this month. Some MEPs tried to postpone the vote until after the next European Commission report on the two countries' progress, which is due in November. A disagreement over how much money is to be given to the countries was also resolved last minute, allowing for the vote to take place. Romania and Bulgaria are both are poorer than all 25 existing EU member states. The two Balkan countries missed the first round of EU expansion into Eastern Europe because they had failed to implement democratic and market reforms. Opponents of the accession cited Romania's lack of press freedom as well as corruption as obstacles. Bulgaria has been criticised for failing to adopt a new anti-corruption penal code and insufficient efforts in combating organised crime. |