November 3, 2006

IN BRIEF ***** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has received a message from US President George W. Bush. The message was delivered by visiting director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Michael V. Hayden during an audience at the royal court at Al Salam palace in Jeddah. During the audience, Hayden conveyed to the monarch the greetings of President Bush. In turn, the king sent his greetings to the president. The audience was attended by Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, chief of general intelligence; Prince Abdul Aziz Bin abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, advisor to the king. Prince Dr. Bandar Bin Salman Bin Mohammed Al Saud, advisor to the king; Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, minister of state, member of the cabinet and chief of the court of the cabinet's presidency; Adel Bin Ahmed Al Jubeir, advisor at the royal court and US ambassador to the kingdom James Oberwetter. ********** Dr. Abdul Aziz Bin Mohyeddin Khoja, the current Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, has been appointed to occupy ambassadorial portfolio no. 2 in the excellent rank at the ministry of foreign affairs, a royal order said. The order, issued by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, is to be carried out by the authorities concerned. ********** Sultan Qaboos has sent a cable of greetings to President Vaclav Klaus of Czech Republic on the occasion of his country"s National Day. ********** Prince Abdul Rahman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Minister of Defence and Aviation and Inspecto General has donated for the establishment of a desalination water station in Al Rahmania 2, north of Wadi Al Dawasser, with a capacity of 300 cubic meter per day. The Prince had previously donated for digging 12 wells in the desert. ********** The Saudi Armed Forces with the presence of Chief of Staff Saleh Al Mohaya held an Eid celebration party in which members of the the Armed Forces took part. A speech ceremony was held on the occasion. ********** A Yemeni official at Al-Salam hospital in Saadah said that Yemenis have expressed their gratitude for the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz and the Saudi people for the hospital which was built and operated in 1982. In a statement published in Yemen's Al-Thourah official newspaper, Arif Qaid Showeet, one of the hospital's officials said that the hospital is one of the fruits of brotherly and strong relations between the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen, commending the distinguished medical role and services provided by the hospital in Yemen. ********** Tunisia closed its embassy in Doha in protest at what it called a "hostile campaign" against it by the Qatar-based satellite channel Al-Jazeera, the Tunisian foreign ministry said. "Tunisia has decided to end its diplomatic representation in Qatar and close its embassy in Doha, despite the esteem and respect in which it holds this brother country," the ministry said. The move follows the transmission by Al-Jazeera of interviews with an opponent of the authoritarian regime of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Moncef Marzouki, calling for "civil resistance." Al-Jazeera "ignores truth and objectivity every time that it deals with current affairs in Tunisia ... apparently waging a hostile campaign aimed at harming Tunisia," the foreign ministry said. In its statement, the Tunisian foreign ministry charged that "in its deliberately malevolent attitude towards Tunisia, Al-Jazeera has gone beyond every limit and broken the moral rules on which journalistic practice is based." It added, "Such stances are also in contradiction with the principle of free expression, because they incite disorder and sedition, violating international laws and usage and the values which underpin relations between states." The foreign ministry said that "Tunisia, which respects and exercises freedom of opinion and expression and appreciates all honest information to its full value, has made these noble values its own and a fundamental part of its political policies." ********** Turkey threw its weight in favor of the so-called `Mecca Document' signed by Iraqi Shiite and Sunni religious leaders to end sectarian bloodshed. A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement, reads: "Turkey welcomes the outcome of a meeting of Iraqi Shiite and Sunni leaders on the initiative of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)." The statement added, "Turkey will support any attempt aiming to guarantee Iraq's territorial integrity and stability." Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that the Middle East region would be unable to bear the problems the division of Iraq might cause. Pointing to the prominent problems in the Middle East, including Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine, Gul also noted that any new problems the division might create would simply be unbearable. ********** French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin condemned an attack by vandals on a bus in the southern city of Marseille, which left a young woman severely burned and in a critical condition. The attack sparked fears of more violence in French cities, coming as France marks the anniversary of riots that scarred the nation's poor, largely immigrant suburbs. "Everything is being done to arrest those behind this crime as quickly as possible," Villepin said in a statement, adding he would organize a meeting on the safety of the country's public transport. Police said an unknown number of people forced their way onto the bus in the evening and torched it before the 26-year-old woman could escape. ********** Terming the American entry into Iraq as "invasion" and a "terrible mistake", former US President Jimmy Carter said his country's troops should be withdrawn completely in a "year or so", reports PTI. Carter, who is on a visit here after 28 years, suggested that a conference of nations concerned with the future of the Arab country be called to discuss the matter. "It was a terrible mistake," he told a select group of reporters here when referred to the US action in Iraq. "I would personally like to see the US troops out of Iraq in a year or so," he said. He, however, did not favour pullout immediately in view of the prevailing security situation there. The "invasion" on Iraq interrupted the global campaign against terrorism started rightly in Afghanistan, said the former President and Nobel Peace Prize winner who is in India in connection with a project to build houses for poor in Maharashtra. The "erroneous" decision to go into Iraq had made the US allies to say that threat to them has increased and not decreased after the action in Iraq, he said. "I would like to see commitment made to total withdrawal," he said. After 9/11, he said the US did the right thing by getting into Afghanistan to root out Al Qaeda and Taliban, in an effort to address the international community's concerns with regard to global terrorism. ********** The Secretary General of the Islamic Spiritual Council in Lebanon Mr. Mohammad Sammak issued a press release about Makkah Al-Mukarramah Document which called for putting an end to the blood-spilling conflict in Iraq. The press release has been approved by the Lebanese Prime Minister Mr. Fouad Siniora, the Mufti of the Republic of Lebanon Shaikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani and the Deputy President of the High Shi'a Islamic Council Sheikh Abdul Amir Qablan. The core of the press release reads as follows: "Mr. Mohammad Sammak and Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani in consultation with the Speaker of Lebanese Parliament Mr. Nabih Berri and Mr. Fouad Siniora have held a special meeting at Dar al-Fatwa in which they issued a collective call for Iraqi religious and national leaders to meet in Beirut to agree on a document that puts an end to the bloody conflict and consolidates the Iraqi society in general and Muslims in Iraq in particular. However, the war against Lebanon prevented holding such a meeting which was supposed to take place during the same day during which the aggression on Lebanon started. Therefore, our concentration in Lebanon was on how to confront the aggression and alleviate its devastating impact. The bloody and horrible events in Iraq have made us feel sad over the days and made us also worry about the future and destiny of Iraq until the meeting which was held in Makkah under the high patronage and by the blessing of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. The Makkah Al-Mukarramah Document was, therefore, the result of that meeting. We pray to Almighty God that this Document would be a good opener for a new phase of fraternity, solidarity and collective action for a better future for Iraq and its brotherly people. We, in extending our sincere appreciation to King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz for his encouragement, patronage and blessing for the Makkah Meeting, and in supporting the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference for his concrete efforts towards the success of this meeting, call upon Muslims in general, and Muslims, Sunnah and Shi'a, in Iraq in particular to religiously, nationally and ethically adhere to the content of the Document in order to prevent more killing of Muslims, preserving their unity and enhancing this stand in facing up the great challenges facing the Muslim World in the Twenty First Century. We record our support and blessing for the ten items stated in the Makkah Al-Mukarramah Document and we adhere to them". ********** Israel's attorney-general is investigating allegations that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert accepted bribes as acting finance minister last year. The allegations say he took the bribes during a major bank privatisation deal. Mr Olmert denies any wrongdoing. He has faced other corruption inquiries but no formal charges have been filed. "At this stage no decisions have been taken, no criminal procedure is being taken [against Mr Olmert] and Israel's police is not involved in the issue," the justice ministry said in a statement. The latest investigation into Mr Olmert's dealings centres on the privatisation in 2005 of Bank Leumi, Israel's second largest. ********** Egypt has stressed the importance of developing the roadmap. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul -Gheit said that Egyptian contacts were underway with Palestinian, Israeli and European parties for reactivating peace process. In statements to reporters before flying for Spain, to take part in the Mediterranean States Forum, he said underway Egyptian-Palestinian contacts are focused on the formation of the Palestinian government which could contribute to making a take-off and the exchange of prisoners between the Palestinians and Israelis. He said Egyptian contacts with the Israeli and European sides stress the importance of reopening crossing points and implementing the agreements organizing their opening and closure in the presence of European observers. ********** At the United Nations, the majority of the world's governments took the first step towards a global Arms Trade Treaty to prevent international arms transfers that fuel conflict, poverty and serious human rights violations. The vote comes three years after the launch of a campaign which has seen over a million people in 170 countries calling for a Treaty. The vote in the UN General Assembly's First Committee is the first time that governments have voted on the proposal to develop an Arms Trade Treaty, and support was overwhelming: 139 voted yes, with only the United States voting against. Support was particularly strong in Africa, Latin America and Europe. Work on the Treaty will begin in early 2007 when the new UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, will begin to canvass the views of all member states to establish the foundations of the Treaty. Going into the vote, the resolution was co-sponsored by 116 governments; a huge number for such a bold initiative.15 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates supported the call for an Arms Trade Treaty this week in a statement issued by the Arias Foundation and the Control Arms Campaign. ********** Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of greetings to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer of Turkey on the occasion of his country's National Day. The Sultan wished President Sezer good health and happiness and the friendly people of Turkey further progress and prosperity. ********** Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League met with members of the Youth International leaders and explained to the them the role the Arab League plays especially concerning the Arab Israeli conflict and the referral of the file to the UNSC in light of the failure of the Middle East peace process. He discussed with them the situation in Iraq, Lebanon, Darfour, Somalia and the nuclear situation in the Middle East. ********** Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Dr. Abdul-Kareem al-Arhabi said that Yemen will renew its request to join membership of the Millennium Challenge Fund. In a press conference, Dr. Al-Arhabi said that his talks with officials of the fund in Washington were positive. He said that Yemen needs for $ 48 billion to fulfill Millennium Development Goals and the financial gap to reach those goals is $ 17 billion. Asked about participation of donor countries in the consultative group meeting for Yemen's development partners, Dr. al-Arhabi said that donors expressed their active participation in the meeting. He said that the recent elections reflected positive on reputation of Yemen among donors, saying that Yemen is going ahead in its reform agenda. ********** Palestinian Chief Negotiator, Saeb Erekat warned that the Palestinian economy is on the brink of collapsing and urged the Hamas-led government to deal with the crisis immediately. The comments by Erekat, who is also a Fatah member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, came amid a growing Palestinian internal crisis and a power struggle between the rival Palestinian groups. Tension has been exacerbated by the economic crisis since Western powers cut aid to the Palestinian Authority to push Hamas to accept the international terms; to recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and accept past peace accords. Erekat said evidence for the scale of the problems came from research by his own office, the Negotiations Affairs Department. "This economy is on the verge of collapse," Erekat told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "The figures are extremely critical. The government must move to deal with this unprecedented crisis." Erekat said Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was projected to fall to $2.9 billion in 2006 from $4.04 billion in 2005. "We are revealing these figures on how the economy is collapsing not to score points but to deal with the crisis," he said. ********** Eight foreigners with alleged links to al-Qaeda have been arrested in Yemen on suspicion of trying to smuggle weapons to Somalia, the interior ministry says. An official said the alleged smugglers included three Australians, one Danish national, a Briton and a German, but gave no details on the identities of the two others. "The eight foreigners were arrested because they smuggled weapons to Somalia from Yemen," the official said in a statement posted on the state-run news agency Saba. "Preliminary investigations indicate that they are members of al-Qaeda." A Danish foreign ministry official confirmed the arrest of the Dane, but refused to identify him. "All I can say is that a Danish national has been arrested according to our information," said Uffe Wolffheckel of the foreign ministry's consular service. ********** The moment for "a new effort" to resume the dialogue on the Middle Eastern crisis and move towards a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue has come. The appeal was launched by the foreign ministers of Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Portugal, Malta, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey and Libya in the role of observer, on the second and final day of the Mediterranean Forum in Alicante. Italy was represented by Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema on Friday and by Deputy Foreign Minister Ugo Intini. The Middle East is facing "the worst crisis in the last years" and the international community's initiatives and peace plans "have reached a state of stagnation", the foreign ministers said in a document entitled the "Declaration of Alicante." The participants in the Mediterranean Forum underlined that the Israeli-Palestinian issue needs "urgent attention" and all involved parties including Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but also Syria and Lebanon, must be part of the new dialogue. On the other hand, a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict is "essential for the security and stability" of the Mediterranean region and the foreign ministers expressed their "deep concern" about the deadlock of the peace process and the return of violence in the region. The Declaration of Alicante claims that the "step-by-step" approach to the region's problems is no longer adequate and underlines the advantages of an approach based on multilateralism. The ministers call for an approach including all open issues of the Israeli-Palestinian and other regional problems. A strong appeal to "put an end to violence", to preserve the "channels of dialogue" and to renew the support for the work of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) in the formation of a new government of national unity, has come from Alicante. In the long term, the ministers call for broader participation in the activities of the Quartet (the U.S., the EU, the UN and Russia) including all interested countries from the region. ********** The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories - B'Tselem's - new report details Israel's severe restrictions on family visits with Palestinian prisoners. Israel holds the prisoners inside its territory, in violation of international humanitarian law. Israel's visitation policy violates the right of thousands of families to visit their imprisoned relatives. The report says Israel holds in prison more than 9,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The vast majority are held in prisons situated inside Israel 's sovereign territory, and not in the Occupied Territories . Holding these prisoners and detainees in Israel flagrantly breaches international humanitarian law, which prohibits the transfer of civilians, including detainees and prisoners, from the occupied territory to the territory of the occupying state. Israel 's disregard for this prohibition is one of the main reasons that the prisoners and their families are unable to exercise their right to visits in a reasonable manner. This report sheds light on the many difficulties and the suffering faced by the prisoners' families, residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in their efforts to visit their relatives imprisoned in Israel. Although Israel has the obligation to enable residents of the Occupied Territories to exercise their right to visit their relatives imprisoned in Israel , the task has been performed, since 1969, by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Relatives from the Occupied Territories who want to visit can do so only on the designated visiting days and on the transportation that the ICRC organizes, provided they received the relevant permit from the Israeli military authorities. Because of the obstacles entailed in obtaining a permit to enter Israel, many Palestinians are able to visit their imprisoned relatives only once every few months. Many others are denied a permit and are thus unable to visit at all. In addition, the visit itself entails a gruelling journey that can take almost 24 hours because of the checks and delays. ********** UK's The Independent published a report accusing Israeli forces of dropping uranium-enriched phosphorous bombs on Lebanon during the recent war that came to an end with the issuance of UN Resolution 1701 that demanded warring parties to ceasefire. "We know that they drenched southern Lebanon with cluster bombs in the last 72 hours of the war, leaving tens of thousands of bomblets which are still killing Lebanese civilians every week," The Independent said in its report. "And we now know -- after it first categorically denied using such munitions -- that the Israeli army also used phosphorous bombs, weapons which are supposed to be restricted under the third protocol of the Geneva Conventions, which neither Israel nor the United States have signed," the article said. According to the report, Dr. Chris Busby, the British Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, said laboratory tests of soil taken from bomb craters in the southern Lebanese towns of Khiam and At-Tiri, near Nabatiye, suggest that bombs containing Uranium had been used. Dr Busby added that there are two reasons for the contamination; "The first is that the weapon was some novel small experimental nuclear fission device or other experimental weapon (eg, a thermobaric weapon) based on the high temperature of a uranium oxidation flash." "The second is that the weapon was a bunker-busting conventional uranium penetrator weapon employing enriched uranium rather than depleted uranium." ********** Israel's top law enforcement official called on President Moshe Katsav to yield power while he is being investigated on criminal allegations. Attorney General Meni Mazuz told the Israeli Supreme Court in a legal opinion Sunday that Katsav should temporarily suspend himself pending resolution of the investigations. ********** Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has decided not to attend an international conference in Qatar Sunday due to the expected participation of a Hamas delegation in the event. Livni was invited to represent Israel at the UN-sponsored sixth International Conference on New or Restored Democracies in Doha. ********** The Jordanian government has postponed its project for extracting Uranium due to the lack of proposals from international companies specialized in the field. Two companies from Canada and Panama had offered proposals to invest in the field but sources said that both companies do not have the required qualifications. **********