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Iraq accepts new UN resolution, Prince Saud says
Arab News

CAIRO/WASHINGTON, 10 November 2002 — Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said yesterday that Baghdad had accepted the United Nation’s new resolution on Iraqi disarmament after obtaining assurances from UN Security Council member Syria, that the resolution did not foresee automatic recourse to military action. “The Arab ministers welcomed Iraq’s acceptance of Resolution 1441, following assurances from Syria that this resolution does not provide for automatic military action (against Baghdad),” the minister told reporters in Cairo.

Hammud said earlier the two-day meeting at League headquarters in Cairo was taking place “because of a number of developments that require a position emphasizing Arab solidarity.” (Agencies)

Khalil Fleihan
Daily Star correspondent

US ambassadors are moving to sound out the positions of the region’s governments ahead of Sunday’s extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, which will be convened to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a possible American war against Iraq, diplomatic sources said Friday.
The two issues will also be the focus of bilateral talks between various Arab ministers at their hotel suites in Cairo and at the offices of Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. According to the sources, US ambassadors to leading Arab states have made urgent contacts with the area’s foreign ministries, giving the impression that Washington is very interested in the gathering’s outcome.
The United States hopes the ministers will not adopt a position hostile to it or take any extreme measures now that US President George W. Bush has set no time limit for Iraq’s disarmament. The move is believed to be an attempt to prompt Baghdad’s cooperation with the new arms inspection system.
The sources said America hoped that the ministers, along with Arab Follow-Up Committee members, convening in Cairo on the eve of the meeting, would refrain from indicating support for Iraq that would embarrass allied Arab states.
“The US is also interested in Arab ministers’ understanding the purpose of the road map pertaining to the Middle East and about which the ‘Quartet’ is holding consultations with the concerned countries preliminary to its approval next month,” the sources added.
They indicated that America and other members of the Quartet ­ Russia, the European Union and the UN ­ did not consider the road map to be a substitute for the Arab Peace Initiative or the relevant UN resolutions, but a means to achieve the desired goal.
The United States also believes the new ministers in Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government, particularly Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will not constitute an obstacle to the new initiative, the sources said.
Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud is due to hold talks with Maher and Moussa immediately after arriving in Cairo Saturday. He will later meet other foreign ministers in an effort to help coordinate various Arab positions.
l US Ambassador Vincent Battle said Friday that a large delegation from the US House of Representatives and Senate would visit Lebanon next week to meet with officials.
Speaking to reporters following talks with Hammoud, Battle said that among the topics earmarked for discussion by members of the delegation was economic cooperation between Lebanon and the United States.
“The Congress is extremely interested in all issues related to the Middle East,” he said.
Battle and hammoud also discussed the issue of the Wazzani Springs water dispute with Israel and what US water expert Charles Lawson did in Lebanon and Israel during his just-completed mission.

Missile attack angers Yemen opposition
By Nasser Arrabyee, Gulf News,  10-11-2002

The U.S. admission that it was behind the attack that killed six Al Qaida suspects in Yemen last Monday has provoked backlashes among many Yemenis, particularly the tribal areas.

The government tightened security measures around foreign embassies, especially the U.S. embassy as a precaution against  retaliatory strikes.

Though the government kept silent over the U.S. declaration that the CIA was behind the attack, the opposition expressed their displeasure and anger calling  the attack a "dangerous precedent" that violated Yemeni sovereignty.

"We are waiting for the government to present a complete clarification about what happened and any delay in revealing the truth will be considered lack of responsibility," said Abdul Wahab Al Ansi, assistant secretary general of Islah, the largest opposition party.

Al Ansi criticised the authorities for not being transparent enough.  He said: "The security bodies try to keep the public away from the issues that concern them. If they continue dealing with public issues this way, nobody will agree with them." 

Adul Ghani Adul Qader, chairman of the political circle of the socialist opposition party said "it is unfortunate that our sovereignty has been touched by military action of the first class, it should have been done by our government not by any other country."

"We are against despising the sovereignty of the country, and if this continues, the public opinion will have to determine its attitude," Abdul Qader said.

"If Marib incident is proved to have been carried out by American forces, then that will be flagrant violation of  Yemeni sovereignty," confirmed Abdul Malik Al Mekhlafi, secretary general of the Nasserite Unionist Party.

"The opposition will take a strong attitude towards this dangerous operation, and if the Yemeni-American military cooperation is harmful to the nation, then the electoral platforms of the opposition parties will, no doubt, be against this cooperation," Al Mekhlafi stressed.

Dr Faris Al Saqaff, chairman of the Future Studies Centre said "It seems the Americans have their own agenda and their own policy in dealing with such issues, they wanted to tell the American public and the regimes in the region they have achieved a triumph in the hunt of terrorists."

But, he added, the announcement of the operation without coordination with Yemen had caused embarrassment for Sanaa.

"It is clear that the U.S. coordination with Sanaa has not reached the degree that considers the Yemeni sovereignty or the system in Yemen," Al Saqaff said.

The Yemeni cabinet in its weekly meeting on Tuesday  neither confirmed nor denied the news that a U.S. Hellfire missile from CIA drone hit the car.

It said only it had listened to a clarification from minister of interior about the incident of the car in Marib in which six Al Qaida suspects were killed and that preliminary information suggest that Ali Qaed Senan Al Harithy, who is accused of having committed sabotage acts,was among them.

Later, senior security official were quoted as saying "the five men killed with the socalled Ali Qaed Senan Al Harithy, Abu Ali, in the incident of the car explosion in Marib, are from among the dangerous Al Qaida operatives and they are wanted by the security bodies."

Those elements have participated in planning and implementing sabotage acts, including Cole attack, which harmed the national interests of Yemen, the official said.

He made it clear that security forces are continuing their search for  Mohammed Hamdi Al Ahdal, Abu Assem key Al Qaida suspect, and the second man wanted by the authorities.

The official revealed the names of the five associates killed with Abu Ali, Saleh Abu Hamam, Al Keka, Abu Al Jarah, Munair and Jalal who is nicknamed as Ahmed Hejazi. "Ahmed Hejazi is believed to have had the American citizenship," the official said.

Meanwhile, the United States welcomed President Saleh's speech in which the president repeatedly rejected all forms of terror.

"The U.S. still believes that combating terrorism in Yemen is the responsibility of the Yemeni government and U.S. will keep supporting those efforts," says a press release issued by the U.S. embassy in Sanaa.

President Saleh had called the Yemeni involved in Al Qaida network to declare their repentance and give up their styles which greatly harm the national economy and undermine  security and stability and offend the reputation of the nation.

“We know it will be difficult to reach an agreement at the meeting’s onset but the current situation and the challenges we are facing are such that they justify this dialogue, which be a long one,” said he. “We need to be firm but we are going there with an open mind. Our brothers in Hamas told us they were in the same state of mind.” (The Independent)

Compiled by Daily Star staff

JERUSALEM: Israel and the United States plan a joint exercise in January on intercepting ballistic missiles, the Israeli Defense Ministry said Friday.
The Israeli daily Haaretz said the drill would take place in Israel unless the United States has attacked Iraq by then.
Israeli officials claim there is a high probability that Iraq will attack Israel with Scud missiles in response to a US strike.
Rachel Ashkenazi, spokeswoman for Israel’s Defense Ministry, said the exercise is part of cooperation between armed forces from both countries.
Haaretz said large air-defense units from both countries would participate in the war games, and that the United States would leave behind three upgraded Patriot missile batteries to help boost Israel’s anti-missile defenses.
Ashkenazi confirmed that Israel’s test-firing of two Patriots earlier this week was successful. On Thursday, the Israeli Air Force presented Arrow anti-missile batteries to reporters as part of a public relations blitz aimed at discouraging Saddam Hussein from firing his Scuds.
“The Arrow will intercept any missile that will threaten Israel or the borders of Israel,” Brigadier General Yair Dori, who heads Israel’s air-defense system, told reporters during the display.
“Since 1991 we have built a huge active defense system that will give Israel the ability to survive and make civilians feel safe in the next conflict,” he said at a rare demonstration of the Arrow system.
“The system can differentiate any kind of tactical ballistic missile and can intercept it,” he said. “We have all heard Saddam Hussein’s declarations about Israel and Zionism; I am sure he wants to bring Israel into the conflict,” Dori said. “We are sure we are better prepared.”
With the deployment of the first battery of Arrows in March 2000, Israel became the first country to have a purpose-built anti-ballistic missile capability.
The Arrow can fly at 50 kilometers and has a range of 100 kilometers, giving it a “footprint” which far outstrips the US Patriot missile, which was used with limited success during the 1991 Gulf War. The Patriot has since been significantly upgraded and improved.
According to senior air force sources, Israel successfully launched two Patriot missiles in its southern desert region earlier this week following a complex software upgrade that improves the link between the missile and the radar. And now, by interfacing the Arrow and Patriot missile systems and making them interoperable, Israel has constructed a multi-layer defense system, the general said.
“The Arrow is a system for weapons which come into the atmosphere. The Patriot is the second layer, which will deal with (ballistic missiles) that come into an altitude of 15 to 20 kilometers,” Dori said. “We’re talking about two layers … which is all the defense we need to confront the threat.”
Israel claims the system can knock out a missile two to three minutes after it is launched. A missile launched from western Iraq would take seven to eight minutes to reach Israel.
The Arrow is part of Israel’s Homa project, designed to counter missiles capable of striking Israel from Iran, Iraq and Syria. From its start in 1988 to its deployment in March 2000, the program has cost more than $2.2 billion, over half of which was paid for by the US.
The Arrow system, which is deployed at two locations in Israel, can be operated locally or remotely, and each launcher unit can hold up to six missiles, officials said, without specifying how many Israel has.
A senior air force source was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying Israel had improved its capability to detect incoming ballistic missiles by more than 70 percent since the Gulf War.
“In 1991 we had almost nothing, so we started building an active defense, and after 10 years we’re got a very robust two-layer defense,” he said. “I’m sure that less missiles will fall into Israel. I want to believe that nothing will fall here.”
Back then, there were problems with the early-warning system, which was slow because it was routed through US satellite systems. Now, with its own upgraded radar system, Israel does not have to rely on US satellites, which significantly cuts the early-warning time, he said. ­ Agencies

Shiite leader sees flaws in US peace proposal
The Daily Star

A leading Shiite cleric on Friday criticized the US road map for regional peace, saying it neglected UN resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative and Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people.
The vice-president of the Higher Shiite Council, Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan, made the comments during a Friday sermon at al-Imam Hussein Bin Ali Mosque in Bourj al-Barajneh.
Qabalan said those who lacked reason were “accusing us of terrorism, overlooking the one who occupies the land, violates a country’s airspace and territorial waters and steals its water resources,” a reference to the Wazzani Springs dispute.
The cleric also called on worshippers of all confessions to overcome hatred and work for love and unity during the holy month of Ramadan.

Khamenei representative lashes out at West
The Daily Star

A representative of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, says the West in general and the United States in particular are playing games with the Arabs.
“Conspiracies are increasing against us and they will not leave us alone,” Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek said Friday at a remembrance service in Baalbek.
He said moves associated with the “Paris II” donor conference and the frequent tours were pointless and would lead to nothing.
“What about the latest trip (by Prime Minister Rafik Hariri) to the United States? What was the response?” he asked.
He added that US President George W. Bush was disregarding the sovereignty of other countries “when he launches wars on Iraq and sends pilotless airplanes to assassinate people in Yemen.”

Badih Chayban
Special to The Daily Star, 11/10/02

A visiting French journalist told a Beirut audience Friday that he was blackballed by media outlets in France for his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government.
Speaking at a news conference at the Press Federation headquarters in Beirut, Alain Chevalerias described his unhappy experience as a journalist covering the Middle East, while facing what he described as “Zionist pressure.”
Chevalerias, who has worked as a freelance journalist for many French publications over the last 30 years, said he had been recently stringent in his criticism of Israel and the Sharon government.
In addition to his articles appearing in print in a variety of journals, Chevalerias has also made regular radio appearances and conducted university seminars. He said that while he was covering the Arab League summit in Beirut last March, he reported that Sharon’s policies were designed to undermine the summit’s decisions, including the Arab Peace Initiative.
Although editors changed his articles before they were printed, Chevalerias said that, at the time, he did not suspect a conspiracy. But then he added that, at the beginning of last summer, the leading French daily, Le Figaro, suddenly stopped publishing his articles.
“I thought it was normal, until a friend called me and said, ‘Don’t touch Israel, leave it for others. You are now punished,’” Chevalerias said.
The freeze on his work extended not only to the journals Chevalerias used to write for, but reached a group of lawyers he freelanced for.
“Suddenly, on June 26, I received a letter putting an end to (this business) relationship,” Chevalerias said.
In blaming supporters of Israel for his professional misfortunes, he said there was a difference between “Jews” and “Zionists. He said the “Zionists” were the ones trying to silence him, whereas many of his Jewish friends were helping him try to get his jobs back.
Chevalerias said that it was hard for a French national, who was raised on the logic of freedom of expression, to be ostracized for his opinions: “I felt abused and angry,” he said.
He added that he had applied on multiple occasions for reinstatement at Le Figaro, but that he has had no luck.
Frustrated in his efforts, Chevalerias began a hunger strike on Sept. 24.
“I used to sit on a public road in Paris every day,” he said, adding that the move garnered him public support.
He said that this public backing eventually led the editors at Le Figaro to invite him back.
Regarding the episode, he said he learned that, “even if saying the truth is hard and has severe consequences, every journalist has the duty to report not only what he sees, but also what he believes.”
Press Federation president Mohammed Baalbaki, who spoke during the news conference, said that Chevalerias’ case was of crucial local importance, because he shared the same enemy as the Lebanese public: the Zionists.
Baalbaki said that “Zionists” were active worldwide in “suppressing free media and covering the truth.”
He added that this was harming not only the Arab cause, but also international journalists seeking to report accurate information on the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

Palestinians to approve Mideast roadmap

RAMALLAH - The Palestinian cabinet met on Sunday to provisionally approve a peace "roadmap" drawn up by the top world officials, as Israel scaled back its operations in Jenin after killing one of the most wanted Palestinian men in the territories. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his cabinet were to approve the blueprint which provides for a Palestinian state by 2005 but were also to insist that January elections be presidential as well as legislative.

The cabinet was also set to reject US demands that Arafat appoint a prime minister. The outline, which would allow for a de facto Palestinian state to be established next year with temporary borders, says only that legislative elections should be held next January. The Palestinians insist that presidential elections, in which Arafat is tipped to be re-elected, be held at the same time. Israel and Washington want to see Arafat dumped, and fear early presidential polls could give him a new mandate.

The cabinet was also set to shun calls for a prime minister, a move aimed at circumscribing Arafat's presidential powers after Washington accused him of failing to prevent anti-Israeli attacks. "The issue of the prime minister is an internal issue which will be decided after a Palestinian state is established," said one Palestinian official who asked not to named. The Palestinians also want to see clearly set-out timetables and mechanisms allowing for a progression from one phase of the plan to the next, as well as for UN observers to be deployed to oversee the whole process.

The plan, based on a US blueprint, was drafted by the so-called Middle East "quartet" made up of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, and was presented last month to regional leaders by US envoy William Burns. Israel has expressed strong reservations about the plan, which it fears could establish a Palestinian state without the strict Palestinian security and administrative reforms it insists have to be carried out before any progress can be made on the peace front. Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will face off against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the right-wing Likud party's primary elections on November 28, has openly slammed the plan and said it will not be on the agenda until after an anticipated US war with Iraq.

Sharon has been more cautious in his criticism to avoid ruffling the feathers of Israel's key US ally, although even his aides have expressed strong concerns. Israel will hold its own general elections in January, in which right-wing parties are tipped to come out on top. - AFP

Iranian MPs approve bill to boost Khatami's powers

TEHRAN - Iran's reformist-held parliament on Sunday approved the outlines of a bill to boost President Mohammad Khatami's powers by giving him the right to suspend rulings by the judiciary, a conservative bastion that has blocked his reform programme so far. At the end of a debate carried live on state radio, deputies overwhelmingly approved steps that will empower Khatami to suspend decisions by the hardline judciary or any other institution as well as any "violation of the constitution".

It was approved four days after the adoption of a first bill that would stop a conservative-controlled oversight watchdog using a power that has resulted in hundreds of reformers being disqualified from standing for public office. However both are certain to be shot down by the same body, the Guardians Council, which rules if legislation complies with the constitution and Islamic sharia law, provoking a new crisis between the reformist and conservative camps. - AFP

Zardari may be sent to UK in 24 hours
By Abdullah Iqbal, Gulf News, 10-11-2002

There is growing speculation that following the arrival of Asif Ali Zardari, husband of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto in Karachi from Islamabad, he may be placed aboard a plane leaving for London  within 24 hours.

It is understood, that Zardari will be sent to the UK for "medical treatment" as part of a deal reached with the Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians.

With the Zardari 'deal' now being transformed into reality, it is however unclear what the entire package includes and how this will affect government formation.

Sources in Karachi say they have been "given to understand" that Zardari will "very soon, may be even on Sunday" need to travel abroad, and that  his medical reports, travel documents etc should be readily available.

Zaradri's move to Karachi took place according to reports after high-level meetings between government officials and Benazir's husband at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad.

It is learnt that two top officials and PPPP chief Makhdoom Amin Fahim held a two-hour meeting with Zardari in the hospital on Thursday.

It is also learnt that during the meeting, Zardari agreed to visit London for 15 days for a medical checkup, but "made it clear he would return to Pakistan within a month."

Previously, Zardari had insisted he be permitted to remain within the country and not be forced to go abroad. The new developments are said to have  come as a result of a breakthrough on this issue.

It is uncertain whether other key agreements form a part of this deal. Zardari, on Friday, sent an important message to ARD chief Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, saying, "The PPP will remain an integral part of Alliance  for Restoration of Democracy and the alliance will not be allowed to disintegrate."

This would appear to indicate that no PPP moves are afoot to join up with the PML-QA, despite the deal on Zardari, but sources say, "There may be far more going on than meets the eye, and nothing can be said yet."

PPP officials in Lahore, meanwhile, seemed surprised over Zardari's release, but stated "this shows the regime cannot ignore the party after it capture  so many votes."

PPP leaders now seem increasingly confident that the deal indicates that this would mean a PML-QA-PPP government  at the centre.

It is also understood the deal includes a dropping of cases against Benazir, a key PPP demand, although as a 'face saving' arrangement, this may  not happen immediately. Zardari is still reluctant to leave the country immediately, and wishes to do so after first visiting his home-town in rural Sindh.  

Speaking in Lahore, Faisel Saleh Hayat, a senior PPP leader who denied he was leading any forward bloc, said "We are willing to sit with the PMl-QA and cooperate with Musharraf. There should be no problem in this and it has been sorted out within the party."

Sanctions cost Iraq $222b in lost oil sales
By Nadim Kawach, Gulf News, 10-11-2002


A crippling Gulf war embargo imposed by the United Nations on Iraq more than 10 years ago has cost the Arab country a staggering $222 billion in loss of oil exports while it also suffered billions in damage to its crude facilities, according to a former Iraqi Oil Minister.

The oil export losses were calculated on the basis of Iraq's oil production before the 1990 Gulf war and average monthly crude prices since its oil supplies were cut off on August 5, Fadil Chalabi told Gulf News by telephone from London.

"From August 5, 1990, until the end of last October, we estimate that Iraq lost nearly $222 billion in oil exports because of the embargo," said Chalabi, executive director of the London-based Centre for Global Energy Studies (CGES), which is owned by former Saudi Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Al Yamani.

"Our assumptions are based on its oil production and exports before the Gulf war and average crude prices in each month during that period...just imagine how big is such a loss and what would have happened had these funds been channelled into development."

Iraq, the second biggest oil power in the world after Saudi Arabia, produced around 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) before the August 2 invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Its actual crude exports ranged between 2.6 and 2.8 million bpd.

Oil exports fetched the Arab country more than $20 billion annually in peak years before its crude supplies came to a standstill during the Gulf crisis.

It resumed crude supplies nearly five years ago under an oil-for-food programme signed with the United Nations to ensure food and medicine for the Iraqi people, pay war damages to Kuwait and compensate countries affected by the war.

Under such a programme, Iraq exported more than two million bpd but supplies have declined to around 1.5 million bpd due to political and technical reasons.

Chalabi said those losses do not include damage caused to Iraq's oil industry because of lack of maintenance and development due to the absence of spare parts.

"Iraq needs at least $5 billion to rehabilitate its oil sector and restore it to its state before the war," Chalabi said.

"As for development of oil fields, Iraq needs tens of billions of dollars to develop its fields and increase production capacity, which could reach eight million bpd."

He said the estimated losses covered only oil as economic damage also involved hundreds of billions of dollars. He mentioned direct and indirect damage, including inflation, unemployment, deterioration in the gross domestic product and in the currency, loss of investment, and a sharp decline in non-oil exports.

Iraq, a founding member of the 11-nation Opec, controls around 112 billion barrels in recoverable crude reserves, second only to Saudi Arabia's 261 billion barrels.

It also possesses a vast gas wealth, estimated at around 3.1 trillion cubic metres.

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