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February 23, 2007 |
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***** The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz issued a royal order in which he extends the service duration of his eminence Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al Al-Sheikh, the Kingdom's Grand Mufti, Chairman of the Committee of Senior Ulema and Chairman of the Department of Scientific Research and Ifta, for additional four years in the ministerial rank starting from February 17th 2007. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received a telephone call from united state of America President George W. Bush. During the call, they discussed regional and international developments especially in the Middle East. They also discussed ways of boosting bilateral relations. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received at his office at the royal court at Al Yamamah palace in Riyadh Lebanon's Former Prime Minister Dr. Saleem Al Hoss. The audience was attended by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Minister of foreign affairs; Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence; Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, 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; and Abdul Mohsen Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Tuwaijri, Advisor to the King. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received at his office at the royal court at Al Yamamah palace in Riyadh the British Ambassador to the kingdom Sherard Cowper-Coles who came to bid the Monarch farewell at the end of his tenure as Ambassador of the United Kingdom and Ireland to the Kingdom. During the audience, the ambassador conveyed to the king the greetings of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Tony Blair, the Prime Minister. The audience was attended by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Minister of Foreign Affairs; Prince Miqren Ibn Abdul Aziz, Chief of General Intelligence; Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Advisor to the King; and Abdul Mohsen Ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Tuwaijri, Advisor to the king. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received a telephone call from Turkey's Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan. During the conversation, they discussed bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries, ways of their enhancement, and the latest developments at the regional and international arenas particularly the situations in the Middle East. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz received at his palace in Riyadh the Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister of Turkey Abdullah Gul and accompanying delegation. During the audience, the Turkish senior official conveyed to the King the greetings of Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In turn, the king sent his greetings to them. Then the overall incidents and developments in the region were reviewed. The audience was attended by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, and Turkish ambassador-designate to the kingdom Ali Naji Kurdo. Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of condolences to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia on the death of Prince Mitab bin Bandar bin Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud. In his cable, The Sultan expressed his sincere condolences and sympathy to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the bereaved family and to the Saudi brotherly people. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz has sent a cable of congratulations to Gambia's President Dr. Hajj Yahya Jammeh on the anniversary of his country's independence day. The King wished the President permanent good health and happiness and his brotherly people steady progress and prosperity. A similar cable of congratulations was also sent to the Gambian President on this occasion by Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation, and Inspector General. Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Minister of the Interior and General Supervisor of the popular campaign for the Saudi Relief to the Lebanese people received letters of thanks from Beqaa Judge Antoine Suleiman, and the Mufti of Zahle and Beqaa Sheikh Khalil Al Meis for the support extended by Saudi leadership to the Lebanese people all levels following the recent Israeli aggression against Lebanon. In their messages they stressed the effects of the Saudi support in alleviating the suffering of the Lebanese people. Prince Abdul Majeed Ibn Abdul Aziz, Governor of Makkah region, arrived in Jeddah coming from Riyadh after having greeted the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation, and Inspector General. At King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Prince Abdul Majeed was received by a number of princes and senior officials. He left Riyadh where he was seen off by a number of princes and senior officials. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, received separately the Omani Foreign Affairs Minister Abdullah Bin Alawi and Turkish Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. At the two meetings issues of mutual interest were reviewed. Oman's Minister of Foreign Affairs Yousif bin Alawi arrived in Riyadh on an official visit to the Kingdom. At Riyadh airbase airport, the Omani minister was received by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, the Omani ambassador to the Kingdom Saeed bin Ali Al-Kalbani and a number of senior officials. The General Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques, Al Masjid Al Haram in Makkah and the Prophet's mosque in Madinah will implement a number of projects in both mosques within the framework of the 1427 H 1428 H budget. Amongst these projects are the improvement of technical services. French Ambassador to the Kingdom De M. Charles-Henri d'Aragon delivered a speech at the Foreign Ministry Pavilion in Janadriya, lauding the great role played by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in addressing the region's issues. "The Kingdom's political substantial status and wisdom are respected and admired by the region and the world," the ambassador said. He pointed out that the recent accord signed in Makkah between the Palestinian Leaders came as a result of the Kingdom's efforts, describing the invitation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as reflecting the genuine image of Saudi wisdom. The Ambassador praised the Saudi-French bilateral relations, saying "we in France are looking forward to enhance ties with the Kingdom in economic and cultural fields. After his speech, the Ambassador toured a number of pavilions participating in the National Festival of Heritage and Culture being held currently in Janadriya, 50 kilometers North Eastern Riyadh. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has appointed new five members as its representatives to the consultative commission of the supreme council of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister sent to GCC Secretary General Abdul Rahman Bin Hamad Al-Atiyyah a cable including the new members, Dr. Mohammed Bin Ahmed Al-Rashid, Dr. Mahmoud Bin Mohammed Al-Sufiani, Dr. Abdul Aziz Bin Naif Al-Uraier, Ismael Bin Ibrahim Al-Shoura and Dr. Mohammed Ihsan Bin Ali Bu Hulaiqah. Welcoming the new members, Al-Atiyyah commended their experience in various fields particularly GCC affairs. He thanked former members who represented the kingdom for nine years in three former sessions, wishing them all success. It is noteworthy that the commission has thirty members and each state of the council has five members. The Ministry of Defence represented by branches of the Saudi Armed Forces takes part in this years' Janadriyah festival with an exhibition in which sections of the land, air, naval and air defense forces exhibits a number of weapons and equipment and development techniques reached by these sections in all areas. The Shoura Council held an ordinary session under the chairmanship of its Chairman Dr. Salih Bin Abdullah Bin Humaid. Addressing the Council, Dr. Bin Humaid commended King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz project for development of public education approved by the Cabinet. The Council's Assistant Secretary General Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz Al Yahya said the Council approved the kingdom's joining non-material cultural heritage protection agreement and a memorandum of understanding on health cooperation between the Kingdom and China. Sultan Qaboos has received a written message from Nuri al Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq. The message was delivered to the Sultan Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmood al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, by Dr Safaudeen Mohammed al Safi, Minister of State for the House of Representatives Affairs and envoy of the prime minister. The envoy also conveyed Al Maliki's greetings and best wishes to the Sultan, the government and the Omani people. Sayyid Fahd welcomed the guest. Sayyid Fahd and Dr Safaudeen discussed the Iraqi situation and its regional and international impacts. They also reviewed the ongoing efforts for peace in the country and the current regional issues. Sayyid Fahd expressed the Omani government's keenness to maintain stability and peace in the region, besides unity in Iraq. The guest expressed Iraq's confidence in Oman's noble stand and its pioneering role in handling issues of the region. He also praised Oman's wise leadership. The meeting was attended by Sayyid Badr bin Hamad al Busaidy, Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary, and Abdul- Rasoul Khadhim Allaush, Iraqi Ambassador to the Sultanate. The Saudi Shoura Council will participate in the meetings of the ninth session of the Council of Arab Parliaments which, will be held in the city of Aqaba, in Jordan from 8 to the 9th / 2/1428 H. The session will discuss several topics relating to economic, cultural and social affairs as well as support to the Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation and support to the Iraqi people in their struggle against occupation and solidarity with the Lebanese people in preserving the unity and stability of Lebanon. The meeting will also discuss the role of Arab parliaments in combating corruption and a number of other important topics. Sultan Qaboos has sent a cable of congratulations to President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia on the independence anniversary of his country. The Sultan expressed his best wishes of good health and happiness to the president and wished the friendly people of Gambia progress and prosperity. Meanwhile, the Sultan sent a cable of greetings to President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov of Turkmenistan congratulating him on his election as the president. Sultan Qaboos wished him success in leading his people to further progress and prosperity. The British Ambassador to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia Sherard Cowper-Coles has highlighted the importance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and said it has significant cultural, historical, social and tourism components. Speaking at a seminar organized at the pavilion of the foreign ministry at the national festival for heritage and culture, the Ambassador underscored the importance of projecting these components to the world so as to enable le the other nations get acquainted with the kingdom. He shed light on Saudi British relations in the economic, and security domains and their future horizons. The Ambassador hailed the achievement attained by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia in fighting terrorism, and said the phenomenon of terrorism is not confined to a certain country, and added Saudi Arabia has a rich experience for solving this problem. The Ambassador expressed pride over the various heritage exhibits at the national festival for heritage and culture, inaugurated. Moroccan King Mohammad VI, Chairman of Al-Quds Committee, called on the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to put an immediate end for the Israeli digging works in the vicinity of the Muslim holy shrine of Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. In urgent messages to leaders of the United States of America, China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom, the Moroccan monarch urged the five statesmen to use their good offices in convincing the Israeli authorities halt the "illegitimate" excavations in the Maghareba Gate, one of the entrances leading to the mosque. King Mohammad VI expressed confidence that efforts of the dignitary leaders would be of positive response in bringing an end to the Israeli action which drew wide Muslim criticism. King Mohammad VI expressed belief that the five permanent member countries of the Security Council enjoyed an active presence in world peace and profound keenness on promoting world stability in general and the Middle East in particular. The Quds committee, is an offshoot of the Organization of Islamic Conference, groups more than 150 member countries. King Mohammad VI voiced Morocco's anxiety for the continuous Israeli actions, which would escalate tension in the region and abort the ongoing efforts to find a solid ground for the Palestinian-Palestinian conciliation. The Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Mohammad Mohammad Rasheed Dr. Qabbani, received the Chinese Ambassador in Beirut Liu Ziming, who said after the meeting : I was pleased to meet his eminence because of the important role he plays on the political arena. We discussed the strengthening of bilateral relations between both countries and we wish from the bottom of our hearts that stability will prevail in Lebanon, and all parties will resolve their problems through dialogue. We believe that there is a climate of optimism and we wish to see that in the near future. For his part, Qabbani wished the Chinese Ambassador success in his mission. "The newly-launched United Nations Counter-Terrorism Online Handbook showcases United Nations' system-wide resources and activities in the field of counter-terrorism. The handbook is a collaborative effort of the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), which brings together 24 UN departments, programmes, funds, offices and agencies that have a counter-terrorism related mandate as well as outside partner organizations. The Handbook may be searched according to broad themes such as preventing a terrorist attack, technical assistance, mitigation and response. Other searches allow users to focus on areas such as financing of terrorism; promoting education, tolerance and dialogue; protecting nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological materials; assisting victims; preventing travel by terrorists; providing training to law enforcement entities; assisting with drafting of anti-terrorism legislation; defending human rights; or dealing with hostage situations; and protecting key infrastructure. The Online Handbook is one initiative that arose from the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which was adopted by the General Assembly in September 2006." Permanent representatives to the Arab League met in Cairo to discuss agenda of the meeting of the foreign ministers' meetings, slated for March 3-4. Ambassador Ahmad bin Hilli, Arab League assistant secretary general for political affairs, said the diplomats discussed assessment of relations between Arab countries and some Western states, which "started to change their positions vis-a-vis Arab causes." He told reporters secretary general Amr Moussa informed the representatives about the developments of the Palestinian cause following a meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. Bin Hilli brushed aside reports about changes to the Arab peace initiative, approved in Beirut in 2000, which offers peace for Israel in return of end of occupation to all Arab territories. Moussa also spoke about the situation in Iraq, Darfur, Lebanon and Somalia, added the Arab League official. Other items on the agenda include positions of Arab countries regarding the financial contribution to the Palestinian Authority's (PA) budget, Jewish settlements, the Israeli separation barrier, the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and refugees. Iran's occupation of three UAE islands, the Lockerbie and the rejection of the unilateral US sanctions against Syria are also on the agenda, in addition to the Israeli weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and the peaceful usage of nuclear energy in the Arab countries. The Israeli forces last Tuesday opened fire at a number of Lebanese media reporters on duty in the eastern sector of South Lebanon, the Lebanese National News Agency said. The News Agency added that the Israeli occupation forces opened fired at the media reporters while in a media tour in Kfershouba Hills about 250m from the blue line and were obliged to retreat to the post of the India unit. Arab 48 website inside the Israel-Arab occupied lands of 1948, disclosed that the official purpose of the excavations around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound has been beyond reconstruction, unlike what the Israeli decision-makers state. The excavations, according the website, are intended at inflicting a great transformation of the Harm Al Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) compound, for the purpose of creating new facts on the ground by allowing more Jews to flow into the Al Haram Al Sharif compound, while hundreds of security can enter at once. The website revealed that a bridge is being built to remove a small sandy hilltop to widen the site of the Buraq Wall (the so-called Wailing Wall). The website added that the planned bridge will reinforce the impression that the Israeli government has been seeking since 1967 to transform facts on the ground at the political and religious levels, by constructing a new passage, intended at allowing larger flows of Jews into the Haram Al Sharif compound. Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with three Government agencies and a semi-governmental organisation to provide financial support for four separate social investment projects. The projects include: the development of the Al-Hujira craft centre in Al Suwaiq, the provision of entrepreneur training in Dhofar, funding of an awareness campaign for the Environment Society of Oman (ESO) and the carrying out of a Palaeolithic survey in central Oman. The MoU signing took place at a ceremony held at PDO's Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre in the presence of PDO Managing Director John Malcolm and His Excellency Sayyed Mahmoud bin Hilal bin Saud al Busaidi, Deputy President of the Public Authority for Craft Industries, Her Highness Sayyedh Tania Al Said, President of the Environment Society of Oman, H.E. Youcef Fartas, Honorary Consul General for Switzerland. and Mr. Khamis bin Zahar Al Fahadi, Director General of Social Development of the Dhofar Governorate. The Al-Hujira Craft centre will create jobs for women and help to create new markets for regional Omani handicrafts. The small-business training PDO is supporting is being organised by the Dhofar Governorate. The intention is to teach a total of 50 people how to set up and run small businesses. PDO's support of the ESO will allow the society to hire an "champion" to undertake environmental awareness work in Muscat. Finally, the support for the palaeolithic survey of central Oman will help deepen the understanding of Oman's early history. The project will involve a systematic survey of the Huqf area with the aim of producing an archaeological map of this region. "Today's social investment MoUs are another example of PDO's ongoing commitment to supporting vocational, environmental and cultural projects in the Sultanate," Mr Malcolm said. The Egyptian Shoura Council denounced the Israeli violations against Al Aqsa Mosque, destruction of the historic road of Bab al Magharba and depriving Palestinians from entering the mosque. In a session chaired by Speaker Safwat el Sherif, Shura Council members said these transgressions are a continuation of attempts by extremist Jews and the Israeli army to demolish the mosque ever since the occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967. They called on Israeli authorities to immediately stop any activities or construction in the area and to abide by the Geneva Convention and protocols that ban any hostile acts against places of worship. They further called on all countries to adopt an effective unified stance towards the Israeli arrogance that blows up any chance for peace and on Parliaments of Islamic countries to hold an emergency meeting to define their stances in the face of this escalation. Prime Minister Tony Blair said he bore no responsibility for the violence in Iraq and rejected allegations from Britain's former ambassador to Iraq that he failed to focus on stabilizing the country immediately after the invasion. Blair blamed Iraqi insurgents who he said are working with al-Qaida and other outside groups for the violence in Iraq. "I agree it is very difficult, but I can't take responsibility myself for people who are sending car bombs into a marketplace," Blair said in a British Broadcasting Corp. radio interview. "I don't think we should be apologizing at all for what we are doing in Iraq. We're trying to support the democrats against the terrorists." Former Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Britain's representative in Baghdad until 2004, said Blair had wanted an Iraqi police force established within months of the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion and was "tearing his hair" at the slow progress. But he didn't focus enough on the means of delivering what he wanted. He didn't perhaps quite concentrate enough on the instruments for delivering the final result that was needed in Iraq, and that's perhaps where he took his eye off the ball," Greenstock said in excerpts released of an interview for an upcoming BBC television documentary. "No American general ... was given the accountable responsibility to make sure that the first duty of any government and we were the government was to keep law and order on the streets," Greenstock said. "There was a vacuum from the beginning into which the looters, the saboteurs, the criminals, the insurgents, moved very quickly." But in his BBC radio interview, Blair rejected suggestions that U.S.-led coalition forces were unprepared for the invasion's aftermath, particularly the sectarian violence. "When we removed Saddam and his police and army, of course part of the establishment of repression, then we had to rebuild it," Blair said. "Where I don't agree with Jeremy is that no one was thinking about rebuilding it. We actually were." "You were always going to have to build the Iraqi police and army from scratch," he said. Blair laid out a proposal to withdraw about 1,600 troops from southern Iraq over the coming months and said he hoped to reduce Britain's 7,100-strong contingent further by late summer. House of Commons Leader Jack Straw said the government will hold an inquiry into the decisions surrounding the war at an "appropriate moment." Straw, who was foreign secretary in the lead-up to the war, said he did not regret any decisions. "That goes for the whole of the government, including the prime minister as he has made clear," Straw said. The US House of Representatives has denounced a plan by George W. Bush to build-up the number of troops in Iraq, in a symbolic and non-binding challenge to the president's unpopular war strategy. The Democrat-controlled House passed a resolution voicing support for US soldiers, but opposed the Bush's decision to send nearly 22,000 more troops to Iraq. The resolution has no direct effect on the war, but supporters hope the resolution will convince Bush to completely reverse his Iraq policy. Congressional opponents of the resolution say a US pullout would leave Iraq open to "radical Islamic terrorists". The vote followed three days of debate. It put the House on record for the first time as rejecting Bush's conduct of the nearly four-year-old war. President George W. Bush said that the six-party agreement on North Korea's nuclear program is a victory for multilateral diplomacy: "North Korea agreed to specific actions that will bring us closer to a Korea Peninsula that is free of nuclear weapons. Specifically, North Korea agreed that within sixty days it will shut down and seal all operations at the primary nuclear facilities it has used to produce weapons-grade plutonium. It has agreed to allow international inspectors to verify and monitor this progress. It is committed to disclosing all of its nuclear programs as an initial step toward abandoning these programs." As part of the agreement, the United States, China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea made commitments to North Korea, said President Bush: "We will meet those commitments as this agreement is honored. Those commitments include economic, humanitarian, and energy assistance to the people of North Korea." As North Korea shuts down and seals its plutonium production and reprocessing activities and discusses with the other five parties a list of all its nuclear programs, it will receive emergency energy assistance equivalent to fifty-thousand tons of heavy fuel oil. And as North Korea completely declares all of its nuclear programs and disables all of its existing nuclear facilities, it will receive economic, energy, and humanitarian assistance up to the equivalent of one-million tons of heavy fuel oil. The agreement on North Korea's nuclear program marks "progress," said President Bush. "There's a lot of work to be done to make sure that the commitments made in this agreement become reality," he said, "but I believe it's an important step in the right direction." Tunisian President Zein al-Abidin Bin Ali has called for revitalizing the Arab Maghreb Union. This was expressed in messages he addressed to heads of the Arab Maghreb states. Bin Ali called in his messages to continue joint work in order to "preserve the Arab - Maghreb unity" through the same political will which was available when the birth of the union was announced. In his messages, the Tunisian president asserted that the Arab Maghreb Union will be always a "historical achievement." He stressed the need to study the future of this union in a way that "complies with major changes taking place in the world." Armed Forces are pillar of security and stability of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and would continue to play this crucial role, said General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. In a statement to the UAE NEWS Agency (WAM), Sheikh Mohammed said ambitious plans are underway to modernise these armies and keep them abreast with the latest technological advances. These armies, he said, are an integral part of the strategy to build modern states in a manner that responds to the needs of the GCC people. "If you see the socio-economic policy trends in the Gulf countries, you will realise that there is a greater emphasis to shift away from consumption to production", said Sheikh Mohammed, adding that most of the development projects are geared towards this goal. On IDEX 2007, Sheikh Mohammed said that the exhibition has proved to be an invaluable forum for defense and security experts to converge and exchange views and expertise on a number of issues. The latest burning security issues, he said, include terrorism, organised crimes, protection of national borders from terrorists, illegal immigration, human trafficking and possession of weapons of mass destruction. Other relevant issues include peace keeping, land mines and relief aid to disaster-hit areas. The exhibition provides a forum to share ideas on all these issues, he concluded. US House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., opened his latest hearing into the troubled Iraq reconstruction program by declaring that a government auditor had discovered $10 billion in "questioned and unsupported costs" and that the potential total waste, fraud and abuse could be much higher. But the committee's witnesses -- three of the top government fiscal watchdogs -- deflated Waxman's $10 billion number and refused to endorse his projection of "tens of billions more in waste." The heads of the Government Accountability Office, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction and the Defense Contract Audit Agency did provide ample evidence of reconstruction contracts that were poorly managed, wasteful and, in some cases, fraudulent, with the amounts of possibly misused funds mounting into the billions. And Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Tom Davis, R-Va., while noting that the reconstruction efforts were burdened by a deadly lack of security and the inefficiencies typical of war, agreed that "an arcane, ill-suited management structure and frequent management changes have produced a succession of troubled acquisitions." Waxman started the committee's third hearing into the reconstruction problems by noting its previous disclosure of $12 billion in cash payments for which government auditors had trouble accounting. Then he said the contract audit agency director, William Reed, would testify about $10 billion in questionable or unsupported spending in the $57 billion in contracts audited so far. And, because there is another $300 billion in unaudited contracts, "the total amount of waste, fraud and abuse could be astronomical," the chairman said. But Reed explained that much of the $4.9 billion in "questioned" contract awards had not been paid and some of the challenged amounts were reduced after DCAA audits. And he noted that the $5.1 billion in "unsupported" costs "were usually resolved through contractor submission of additional supporting information." Stuart Bowen, the special IG whose office was saved from closure by Democrats' pressure last year, said his agency's efforts had resulted in more than 300 criminal and civil investigations of reconstruction contracts, leading to four convictions and 23 cases still being prosecuted. But, he said, "fraud has not been a significant component of the U.S. experience" with Iraq contracts. "Waste is another issue." And Comptroller General David Walker said GAO's review of the reconstruction and troop support contracts in Iraq "often reflects systemic and long-standing shortcomings" in the Pentagon's ability to manage contractors. The problems of poor business practices, poorly defined requirements and absence of senior U.S. leadership have been aggravated by the deteriorating security situation and the corruption and mismanagement in the Iraqi government, Walker said. When Waxman tried to get the witnesses to agree with his projection that the total amount of waste would be much higher than $10 billion, all three declined to speculate without complete accounting data to support their estimates. "Just because there's not enough evidence" to support a contract account "doesn't mean that it's waste," Walker said. Lebanese Army commander General Michel Suleiman said that while the conflict in Lebanon is sectarian, the military is not divided, and declared that his mission is to salvage the country. In an interview published by the An Nahar daily, Suleiman said that 'the soldier from Akkar and the soldier from Hermel carry out one order from one command, and sit together shoulder to shoulder to safeguard the country.' He added 'The military carries out the wish of the Lebanese, and is the tool that can implement the citizens' choice if they want one, free, independent and sovereign country.' Suleiman stressed that his plane 'is to salvage the country and the army; then the peaceful, democratic presidential elections.' He said that once that is done he will resign as army command. The U.S. Department of Defense is ordering 1,000 soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart in Georgia, to head to Iraq three months earlier than they had been told previously. The unit was notified in November that it would deploy in June 2007, however now the Pentagon says the soldiers will reach the Iraqi capital by March. Pentagon spokesman Army Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros says, the headquarters will provide command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in support of Baghdad security operations. |