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January 31, 2003 News http://www.aljazeerah.info |
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Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
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Europeans break rank over Iraq Arab News
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BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON, 31 January 2003 — America’s closest friends in
Europe urged those opposed to invading Iraq to line up behind George W.
Bush yesterday, formalizing a split in the continent over Iraq. Bush said he will give diplomacy “weeks not months” and that the
United States would welcome President Saddam Hussein going into exile. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and seven others including the
leaders of Italy, Poland and Spain signed an open letter calling on the
peace camp — implicitly Germany, France and Russia — to rally to the
US standard against Iraq. “The trans-Atlantic relationship must not become a casualty of the
current Iraqi regime’s attempts to threaten world security,” they
wrote in a letter printed in several newspapers. The letter was signed by Britain’s Tony Blair, Spain’s Jose Maria
Aznar, Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, Portugal’s Jose Manuel Barroso,
Hungary’s Peter Medgyessy, Poland’s Leszek Miller, Denmark’s Anders
Fogh Rasmussen and President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. There was no sign of a change of heart, however. Public opinion in
France, Germany and elsewhere remains firmly opposed to an American-run
war and Greece, the European Union president, slammed the letter for
undermining efforts at EU unity. The European Parliament warned against unilateral military action
against Iraq, and also agreed that preemptive military strikes could be
illegal. But reflecting deep divisions within Europe over the issue, the
warning received far from overwhelming support, with 287 deputies voting
for and 209 against. President Pat Cox reiterated that Europe wants the issue dealt with
through the UN Security Council, but also reiterated that the onus remains
on Saddam Hussein. “For the sake of peace, this issue must be resolved,” Bush said
after meeting with Berlusconi. In the Oval Office session with Berlusconi,
Bush put allies on notice that he will not wait long to act against
Saddam, even if the United Nations refuses to back his actions. “This is
a matter of weeks not months,” Bush said. Bush said he was open to the idea of Saddam going into exile. “Should
he choose to leave the country, along with other henchmen who have
tortured...Iraqi people, we will welcome that, of course,” Bush said. He
said, however, that the US would continue to insist that Iraq disarm,
regardless of who governs the nation. Bush was to meet later with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud
Al-Faisal. Another ally — Canada — objected to any unilateral action by the
United States against Iraq. “If one state acts by itself it risks
consequences,” said Bill Graham, the foreign minister of Canada. Graham
met with Secretary of State Colin Powell and said afterward that the
United Nations had a responsibility to force Iraq to disarm. British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon announced the mobilization of up
to 6,000 military reservists for a possible war with Iraq, four times the
number previously announced. In a written statement to the House of
Commons, Hoon said callout notices would be sent “over the coming
weeks.” Britain already has ordered 35,000 troops — including a quarter of
the army — to head to the Gulf for possible military action. The
deployment includes Britain’s biggest naval task group in 20 years, made
up of warships, an aircraft carrier, a helicopter carrier and a submarine,
and carrying 3,000 Royal Marines and some 5,000 sailors. Some 48,000 British troops participated in the 1991 Gulf War. The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said arms inspectors had not
found a gross violation of a UN resolution on disarmament in Iraq as yet
but urged Baghdad to do more to cooperate with the UN mission. Mohamed El Baradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
told BBC Radio his inspectors would only report Iraq to be in breach if
there were a “gross violation” of the UN resolution, not for sluggish
cooperation. Asked on BBC Radio whether non-cooperation constituted a material
breach, El Baradei said: “If they (the Security Council) decide that
this is a material breach, then that is their prerogative.” “We are not going to say that this is a material breach unless
obviously we see a gross violation of the resolution. But even then it is
for the Security Council to pronounce itself on this issue,” he said. Two more Iraqi scientists refused to be interviewed in private by UN
arms experts yesterday, the inspectors’ spokesman Hiro Ueki said in his
daily report. Iraqi officials said Baghdad has invited UN disarmament chiefs Hans
Blix and El Baradei to return to Baghdad before Feb. 10 to hold fresh
talks on cooperation with the UN mission. (Agencies)
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Sharon rebuffs Arafat, sends
tanks into WB Arab News
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TULKARM, West Bank, 31 January 2003 — Israeli soldiers killed two
Palestinians in a major West Bank raid yesterday after Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon rebuffed a post-election olive branch extended by Yasser
Arafat. Launching the first major incursion in the West Bank since Sharon’s
tough security stance earned his Likud party a resounding win in
Tuesday’s election, an Israeli armored force swept into the
Palestinian-controlled sector of Hebron. Soldiers entered private homes, stormed Palestinian Authority offices
and blocked major roads in the city, where violence has frequently raged
in a 28-month-old Palestinian uprising for statehood. Around 600 hard-line Jewish settlers live under massive Israeli army
protection in Hebron, surrounded by about 120,000 Palestinians. In Tulkarm, soldiers shot dead two Palestinians who the army said
belonged to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group of the Fatah.
Palestinian officials said only one of the men was a Brigades member. The army said the troops had tried to take the two into custody but
opened fire when they tried to flee. The Hebron operation came hours after Arafat, the Palestinian
president, said he was willing to hold immediate talks with the Israeli
leader and call a cease-fire. Sharon’s spokesman dismissed the offer as “duplicity and
deception”. Responding to the snub, Arafat told reporters: “We are committed to
the peace of the brave...This is the Holy Land, and peace has to be a
priority.” Sharon swept to victory on his uncompromising refusal to open talks
with the Palestinians until they surrender their weapons and drop Arafat
as their leader. The steel-edged position inflicted a historic defeat on
the center-left Labour, which promised to renew peace talks. Despite his resounding win, snatching 37 out of 120 parliamentary
seats, Sharon has to build a stable coalition to steer the country out of
the bloody conflict and the worst economic crisis in its 54-year history.
His goal is to lure Labour into a national unity government, together with
the secular center-right Shinui party which made massive gains in
Tuesday’s vote with a campaign against the privileges enjoyed by the
country’s ultra-Orthodox Jews. But Labour’s dovish leader Amram Mitzna has refused to join any
coalition headed by his hard-line rival, refusing to repeat the party’s
22-month cohabitation which ended in last October’s Labour walkout and
precipitated the early elections. If Sharon fails to woo Labour, he will
have to base his government on Shiunui and tougher right-wing factions, as
Shinui has refused to join any long-term government with the extremely
religious Shas party, a traditional kingmaker in Israeli
coalition-building. Sharon fears a far-right government could limit his room for maneuver
if the United States exerts pressure on Israel to tackle the crisis after
an expected confrontation with Iraq, in particular forcing Israel to
dismantle some settlements in the occupied territories. A far-right coalition with a small majority of fractious minor parties
would make for a bumpy ride for the 74-year-old former general, and could
plunge the country into new elections, analysts predict. Press reports yesterday said Sharon planned to “corner” Labour by
raising the specter of a new vote shortly after elections which opinion
polls showed were not welcomed by the majority of Israelis, who want to
see a united front in the drawn-out crisis. He also intends to use the looming threat of war with Iraq, and the
risk of Scud missiles hitting Israel as they did in the 1991 Gulf War, to
turn up the heat on Labour. Analysts say Labour, shocked by the collapse of the peace process and
deeply divided by its former cohabitation with Sharon, could split over
whether to join the government. (Agencies)
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Bush aims to weaken Iraq:
Experts -
WASHINGTON, 31 January 2003 — President Bush delivered one of the most important speeches of his political career this week when he delivered his State of the Union speech Tuesday night. The president’s speech took 60 minutes to deliver and was 5,400 words long, but many experts remained unconvinced. Bush’s speech “defies logic,” said Dr. James E. Jennings, president of Conscience International, and co-coordinator of US Academics Against the War, based in Atlanta, Georgia. “It flies in the face of the CIA’s report, which stated that Iraq could have a nuclear weapon in the next eight years, if a series of contingent events should occur,” said Jennings, who last month led a delegation of academics from 28 universities to a conference in Baghdad. President Bush’s statement that he will prove Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein are working together has Jennings concerned: “I’ve been warning for several months that the US was protecting a 600-man contingent of Islamic militants in the no-fly zone in northern Iraq, in the Kurdish zone. It’s very curious that although the CIA and the US government have known about the operations of these militants for nearly a year, that they have not attacked them, as they promised to do worldwide. This may be because they are saving them to use as a casus belli (legal case for war).” The president’s focus on Iraq, Jennings said, is because “the president is a captive of the ideological right, and firmly believes in the joint Israeli-American dominance of the Middle East. The one phrase that was very telling in his speech last night was about the ‘great potential wealth of Iraq.’ In fact, this is what this war is all about.” Jennings said it was also an “attempt to surpass Arabism. And the only party that is standing for a complete Arab renaissance in the tradition of Nasser, for example, are the Iraqi Baaths The ideology of the Baaths is that there should be an Arab renaissance, and an Arab coalition of nations would be immensely powerful. For that reason, the US is supporting the Israeli strategic goals in the Middle East, which is to break the Middle East into smaller parts, under the principle for ‘divide and rule.’ “So when the American administration is installed in Baghdad there will be effectively three Iraqis, not one. A federation of Iraqi states will weaken Iraq, scatter its wealth and reduce the threat to Israel,” said Jennings. Regarding Bush’s statement that US policy “is for a secure Israel and democratic Palestine,” Jennings said: “I think that the president is reading off the same page as Sharon. He said the minimum, which is what they wanted,” said Jennings. “I’m not terribly optimistic.” Another scholar outlined his concern that war against Iraq has “a tremendous potential to destabilize the entire region, and will serve as a recruiting poster for Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda,” said Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president for foreign policy and defense studies at the Washington-based Cato Institute, “People throughout the Arab world will regard it as aggressive imperialism.” Bush’s comments on Afghanistan were “very strange characterizations,” said Carpenter. “I was under the impression that the US went into Afghanistan to destroy Al-Qaeda and the Taleban. But if you believe President Bush, apparently we went in as a great humanitarian and nation-building mission. I think that would come as a surprise to most people in Afghanistan.” Regarding Israel and Palestine, Carpenter said Bush’s short sentence “probably reflects the administration’s view that prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinians are not good, and that there is very little the US can do to advance the prospects at this point.” Unlike Jennings, Carpenter believes the administration is not especially happy with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. “They are unhappy with both Arafat and Sharon. I don’t think Israel’s security is the main factor in US policy towards Iraq.” Ominously, Carpenter said: “I think that if the Iraq intervention is successful, within 2-3 years we will be in the same kind of confrontation with Iran because many people in the Bush Administration regard Iran as an even more serious threat than Iraq.”
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Kharrazi
Rejects Bush's "Baseless" Accusations Against Iran -
"America continues its wrong approach toward Iran," the Iranian foreign minister told reporters after a cabinet session, according to IRNA. Bush said during his policy address, "In Iran, we continue to see a government that represses its people, pursues weapons of mass destruction, and supports terror." Kharrazi also condemned another part of Bush's statements that "Iranians, like all people, have a right to choose their own government and determine their own destiny, and the United States supports their aspirations to live in freedom." "What Bush has said in connection with the Iranian people amounts to interference in our country's affairs and is naturally condemned," he said. "The Iranian nation is mature itself and does not need somebody from outside to advise them and Iranians will do whatever they think befits the interests of the country, the system and the revolution," the minister added. Kharrazi said the U.S., seeking to expand its hegemony over the world, had launched a propaganda campaign against its perceived adversaries. "America, by manipulating security (issues) inside the U.S. and outside, especially in the Middle East, seeks to expand its domination at the international relations level," he said. Kharrazi reiterated Iran's opposition to "any unilateral action against Iraq" which is threatened by a looming American attack. He also brushed off American threats in the region, saying the Islamic Republic's growing relations with world countries, including Europe, and its dependence on the country's national unity would guarantee Iran's security. "The Iranian nation has shown how to defend its interests. Thus, we have no special worry about these threats. "The Islamic Republic of Iran's cooperation with other countries and Europe helps us not remain alone in the world," Kharrazi said, adding "Our ties with the whole world are rapidly growing and this will guarantee Iran's security." Government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh also said Wednesday that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not let any one, in whatever rank or position, to interfere in its domestic affairs. Ramezanzadeh said the Iranians are a courageous, freedom seeking, and cultured nation with historical civilization who can determine their own destiny. Foreign Minister Kharrazi rejected questions that the presence of Iraqi opposition groups in Iran could contravene Tehran's asserted neutral stance toward Baghdad, saying "We will maintain our neutral position, but this does not mean we remain indifferent." The mainstream dissident groups met in Tehran earlier this month ahead of a much-anticipated meeting in northern Iraq in order to discuss Iraq's future. "This is a normal procedure that they (the Iraqi opposition) want to consult with us either in Iran or while crossing Iran," Kharrazi said. The meeting has been delayed several times amid official reports about the difficulties which the exiled opposition groups were faced with during their travels to Iraq. As both Syria and Turkey have closed their borders with Iraq, the Iranian border is currently the only route into dissident-held northern Iraq where the opposition groups are scheduled to meet. Kharrazi also said that there was no plan on Iran's agenda to resume ties with Egypt which has held no relations with Tehran since 1980 shortly after the Islamic Revolution. "Ties with Egypt is not on our agenda at all," he told reporters after a cabinet session in reaction to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's remarks that Cairo would not establish ties with Tehran as long as it did not change the name of a street in the capital, called after the assassin of Anwar Sadat. "The Egyptians themselves know better what steps they have to take before the issue of establishing ties is put on the agenda and becomes realized," Kharrazi said. His statements were echoed Ramezanzadeh who said Iran "Cannot negotiate about the establishment of ties with a government which permits the travel of the Iranian nation's biggest enemies on its territory". The Islamic Republic severed its ties with Egypt after its former president Anwar Sadat signed the Camp David Peace Treaty with the Zionist Israeli regime and harbored defunct shah. Tehran and Cairo broke ice in June 2000 after President Mohammad Khatami spoke over phone with Mubarak in the first such conversation by their presidents. The two countries now run interest sections through the Swiss embassies in Cairo and Tehran, operated by Iranian and Egyptian diplomats. Tehran City Council, which was dissolved only earlier this month because of internal disputes, once took an unusual step of changing the name of the street, but the move was put on freeze later.
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Latin
Americans Line Up For Spanish Citizenship -
Even Cuban President Fidel Castro meets the criteria for gaining Spanish citizenship. Although Latin America's most famous leftist is unlikely to apply, many of his people are hoping to use their ancestry to gain the coveted European passport. Cuban descendants of Spanish immigrants are not the only ones dusting off the birth certificates and baptism records of their parents and grandparents to lay claim to this new right. Thousands of people have been lining up in Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela and other countries, a reflection of the hard times the region is going through. Spain's nationality law was amended effective from January 9 to allow people of all ages to become citizens if one of their parents was a Spaniard born in Spain, when before only those under 20 could apply. The grandchildren of Spaniards born in Spain also will have the opportunity to become citizens, but they must first obtain visas to live in Spain for a year. Spanish officials have estimated that close to one million people would be eligible to apply, although they do not expect all of them to do so. Castro, at 76, would have no problem under the new law gaining citizenship. The Cuban leader's father left Ancara, in the Spanish Province of Lugo, at the end of the 19th century to seek his fortune on the Caribbean island, a colony of Spain for hundreds of years. ---Escape From Nations in Turmoil--- Like Castro's father, millions of Spaniards at the end of the 19th century and during the first half of the 20th century crossed the Atlantic in search of a better life in Spain's former American colonies. "This new law was born out of the recognition of Spanish immigration to Latin America" said a Spanish consul official, asking that his name not be used. Some commentators have also suggested the law is intended to improve the chances that future immigrants to Spain, which has experienced an influx from North Africa, share its language and culture. It could also help address the wrongs suffered by Spaniards forced into exile by the dictator General Francisco Franco, who ruled the country from 1936 until 1975. Many Spanish immigrants went to prosperous Argentina in the first half of 20th century. Now an estimated 400,000 of their offspring and grandchildren, spurred by the crisis there, could cross the Atlantic in the opposite direction. More than 50 percent of Argentina's 36 million inhabitants live in poverty and the unemployment rate is 17.8 percent. The Spanish government estimates that in addition to the 400,000 potential candidates in Argentina, there are 100,000 in Mexico, the majority relatives of exiles from the Spanish civil war of the late 1930s. An estimated 100,000 Venezuelans are also eligible, along with 80,000 in Brazil, a similar number in Cuba, 60,000 in Chile and 50,000 in Uruguay. The news has been received with enthusiasm in these countries, where long queues have formed outside Spain's consular offices to seek more information or apply for citizenship. Space and staff were added in some countries to handle the expected avalanche of applications. In the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, where an opposition strike against President Hugo Chavez has dragged on for two months, hundreds, and at times thousands, have come knocking daily on Spain's doors. "The political, economic and security situation in the country is unbearable ... if the situation was not as it is, I would not be in line. It is a reflection of the country," said Venezuelan businessman Julio Lopez, whose father came from Spain, as he waited with documents in hand. --- European Union's Doors Open Too --- The doors not only of Spain, but all of the European Union countries will be open for those eligible under the new law, once they obtain their citizenship, a process that takes several months. A passport from any European Union country gives the holder access to the others. Spanish authorities believe that not all the country's new citizens will move to Spain or other parts of Europe. "People are going to seek citizenship because it includes some economic aid if they stay where they are," the consul official said. For example, Spanish citizens living in Cuba may be eligible for up to $200 a year. That is no small sum in a country where the average monthly wage is around $15, not including free health care and education and subsidized housing and food. Long queues have formed at Spain's Embassy in Havana, a busy place even before this year. To leave the Caribbean Island, Cuban citizens must seek the government's permission. The Cuban government has made no comment on the program. "Having another nationality makes things easier here, you have more possibilities to come and go as you please," said Juana Suarez, the daughter of a Spaniard who arrived in Cuba in the 1920s. (Reuter)
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Amid
Deep Crisis, Venezuela's Neighborhoods Set Up Vigilante Groups -
In a 104-apartment complex near the city center, residents were recently given a nine page document outlining what they should do in case of teargas attacks, explosions, shots and injuries. The document was distributed on the eve of a major rally in support of embattled President Hugo Chavez last week, according to a resident of the Condo in the middle-class La Florida neighborhood who asked to be identified only as Patricia. The Condo Association then called a meeting at which "security teams" were formed and residents' weapons were registered. Anyone who did not have a gun was told one could be procured for them. The document stresses that "the use of firearms will have to remain within legal norms of self defense and circumstances of extreme urgency." That same night, the alert level in the building was upped from yellow to red, and no one was allowed to leave or enter between 9 P.M. and 7 A.M., said Patricia. after eight weeks of strike and often violent clashes, no political solution to Venezuela's turmoil is in sight. Residents of the capital often live in fear of further violence, a fear that is sometimes justified. "Some of the measures in this booklet may seem extreme, but it is preferable to be alarmist than naive," the authors of the document said. The guidelines notably describe how to organize an evacuation, how to deal with fire, and how to treat someone who has been wounded. They describe three alert levels and ask residents to establish a security zone in their apartments. But they also indicate how to deal with stress, notably by attending "dance therapy" or prayer sessions organized by neighborhood groups. Similar documents were distributed and "security teams" formed in other middle-class and largely anti-Chavez neighborhoods of Caracas. The security teams are seen as a response to the pro-government "Bolivarian circles" vigilante groups. The contingency plan Patricia received leaves little doubt as to the political convictions of its writers. The first telephone numbers listed in case of problems are those of the radio and television stations that have openly sided with the anti-Chavez campaign. Emergency services are listed lower down. "Whether you think differently or do not participate actively, the security measures must all be followed without exception," the document says. (AFP)
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More
Than 765,000 Pilgrims Have Arrived in Saudi Arabia for Hajj -
Up until Tuesday, 719,000 pilgrims arrived by plane, 35,300 by land and 10,800 by sea, according to Major-General Abdul Aziz Sajini, head of the kingdom's passports department, quoted by the official SPA news agency. Among the arrivals are 5,000 Iraqi pilgrims who crossed the Arar border post in northern Saudi Arabia. Some 17,000 Iraqi pilgrims are expected to perform the Hajj this year, AFP reported. At least 600,000 more pilgrims are expected to arrive from all over the world before the arrival cutoff date of February 5, six days ahead of the Hajj climax, which is expected to fall this year on February 11. These will be joined by at least half a million pilgrims from across Saudi Arabia and another 200,000 to 300,000 faithful from Mecca itself. In the shadow of a possible U.S.-led war on neighboring Iraq, the Saudi cabinet on Monday called for a peaceful Hajj, advising hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to stay away from trouble. Last year, Saudi authorities deployed tens of thousands of police, soldiers, national guards and special forces for an incident-free pilgrimage attended by some 2.5 million people. Gatherings, slogans and movements which are not part of the traditional rites of the pilgrimage are totally banned. All Muslims are required to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime, provided they have the means to do so. Saudi authorities have stepped up preparations for the pilgrimage. The Health Ministry has prepared some 21 hospitals and 300 medical centers, with a capacity of 7,000 beds, in Mecca, the surrounding sites and the city of Medina, some 450 km (275 miles) to the north. An extra 9,500 medical staff including 115 specialists from the United States, Britain and Malaysia have been brought in. The Saudi Red Crescent Society set up 115 centers with 314 ambulances. Saudi telecom boosted phone circuits to 40,000 from last year's 35,000 and the mobile network has been expanded for more than 1.5 million lines.
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First
Female Judge Appointed in Egypt -
As well as appointing a female judge, Mubarak appointed two more women to court posts. "This is an historical turning point for the women of Egypt," said the General Secretary of the National Women's Council, Farchonda Hassan. The council will celebrate the appointment with the president's wife, Suzanne Mubarak.(DPA)
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Israeli occupation army kills 2
Palestinians, destroys Hebron market Jordan Times, 1/31/03
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OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli occupation undercover troops killed two Palestinians, including an activist leader, after a car chase Thursday through the West Bank town of Tulkarem, and army bulldozers flattened more than 100 stalls in a Palestinian market in the city of Hebron. The highly visible military operations in the West Bank followed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's sweeping victory in Tuesday's election, interpreted as voter endorsement of his policy of cracking down on the Palestinians after more than two years of uprising. Final election tabulations, including soldiers' votes, gave one more seat each to two hardline parties — Sharon's Likud and the National Religious Party — at the expense of the centrist Am Echad and Arab Jewish Hadash factions, Israeli media reported. The totals give hawkish parties a clear majority of 69 in the 120-seat parliament. Though the Likud is by far the largest in the new parliament, Sharon still has to put together a coalition to win a majority in the house. Sharon has said he prefers a broad-based team including the dovish Labour Party, soundly defeated in the election, but he also has an option of setting up a hawkish team without Labour. Labour Party leader Amram Mitzna set conditions for entering Sharon's government, amounting to accepting the Labour platform. “If Sharon will evacuate the Gaza Strip, evacuate the isolated (Jewish) settlements (in the West Bank), transfer the billions (of shekels) from the territories, and of course begin immediate negotiations with the Palestinians,” then he would reconsider his refusal to join, he said. Sharon opposes all of those points, directing an escalating military campaign against Palestinian activists, while ruling out any peace talks until the uprising stops and rejecting the unilateral pullbacks Mitzna favours. In military operations Thursday, undercover Israeli soldiers, disguised as Palestinians, chased a car with four members of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade across the West Bank town of Tulkarem. The car stopped in the centre of town, Palestinians said, and the four ran toward a candy store. The soldiers followed them and opened fire, killing Fayez Jaber, 32, local leader of the group, linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. A Palestinian working in the store was also killed. The Israeli military confirmed that only one of the two men was armed, adding that 10 others were arrested. In Hebron, soldiers with bulldozers flattened about 100 stalls in the vegetable market, the largest operation in the divided city for months. The makeshift market was set up in an empty field several years ago after Israel closed the market in the Old City because it is next to an enclave of Jewish settlers. Israeli tanks and bulldozers moved in and levelled stall after stall, soldiers firing machine guns to keep Palestinians away. As an Israeli tank rolled in front of a three-story building, Palestinian youths threw heavy objects at it, including several toilets that smashed into hundreds of pieces as they crashed off the tank's turret. Soldiers also closed two local TV stations and a radio studio, arresting a worker at one of the TV studios, broadcasters said. Khaled Masade, director of Nauras TV, said his station only broadcast music shows and films. “We don't know why they are closing us,” he said. In its statement, the Israeli army made no reference to the closing of TV stations. Hebron is a focus of constant tension because about 450 Jewish settlers, many among the most militant in the West Bank, live in three enclaves in the centre of the city, surrounded by about 130,000 Palestinians. Israeli forces control the section where the settlers live. After a Dec. 12 ambush in which 12 Israeli soldiers and guards were killed on a path from Hebron to a nearby Jewish settlement, Israeli soldiers moved into the Palestinian sections of the city and took control.
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Sharon turns up heat on Labour; Shinui to
join unity government Jordan Times, 1/31/03
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TEL AVIV (AFP) — Newly reelected Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has set his sights on convincing the centre-left Labour Party to join his new coalition to avoid having to steer a narrow right-wing government through the country's security and economic crises. In his victory speech just hours after his Likud Party won a major victory in Tuesday's general elections, Sharon made it clear exactly what type of government he wanted to lead. "I have no intention of forming a narrow far-right government," he said, calling on all parties to enter a unity government which will be "as broad as possible." Labour's participation is central to Sharon's idea of a broad-based coalition. He is also counting on the participation of Tommy Lapid's secular centre-right Shinui Party, the new kingmaker of Israeli politics. But Sharon faces a difficult task: Labour chief Amram Mitzna has made clear he will try to rebuild his party, which has suffered its worst election defeat, in opposition and will not be wooed into a new Sharon government. And Shinui, which chalked up major gains in the election, has steadfastly refused to join a coalition which includes religious parties. "Putting together the coalition is not a simple thing, but I am certain I will succeed in forming a unity government," the daily Yediot Ahronot quoted Sharon as saying. Described as the "master artisan of the tactical trap" Sharon is relying on a combination of factors to provoke both parties to change their positions: Emerging internal tensions, the deteriorating political situation and the imminent war in the Gulf. "Sharon plans to let time and circumstances do the work for him," said Haaretz analyst Yossi Verter. "He believes the public pressure, (former Labour foreign minister) Shimon Peres, the economy, the approaching war in Iraq, will all combine to soften Labour's resistance or alternatively, Shinui's veto of a government with it and the ultra-Orthodox." The morning after the election, Sharon aides were already confident Labour would give in and join a unity government, portraying it as "the responsible approach." "We are in a war with the Palestinians, on the eve of a war with Iraq, and in the midst of an economic war that is worsening," Sharon's senior political strategist Eyal Arad told army radio. "It is irresponsible today to stand on the sidelines and busy oneself with all sorts of political interests." Internal tensions within Labour were also being stoked serruptitiously by Sharon aides. The press reported that both Peres and former Labour defence minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the decision on whether to join a unity government should depend on what Sharon offered. Another major pressure is the imminence of a US strike against Iraq, which could trigger calls for an emergency cabinet. The war argument may work on Shinui. On Wednesday, Lapid relaxed his conditions for joining a coalition, saying he was prepared to sit temporarily with the ultra-Orthodox in an emergency cabinet. Political analyst Zeev Maoz of Tel Aviv University said it unlikely Sharon would encounter too many problems recruiting Shinui, charging that the problem lay squarely with Labour. "I don't think Mitzna will be affected by (the war argument) because there was no national unity government in the 1991 Gulf War. Labour supported the government from the outside but did not join the coalition," he said. More likely to cause Mitzna to concede was the possibility of a split in his party, brought about by those less enthusiastic about his leadership, he said. "One thing that might convince Mitzna to give in is the threat of a split in the party, then for the sake of the party, he might be forced to enter a national unity government. Or if he loses in the central committee," Maoz said. Despite Sharon's confidence that Labour would eventually fold, it was not a fait accompli, he said. "It's not as certain an outcome (as Sharon is making out). I wouldn't eliminate the possibility that there will be no national unity government," he said. "It seems more likely there will be some sort of centre-right coalition rather than one made up of Likud, Labour and Shinui."
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Mubarak reactivates contacts with Sharon Jordan Times, 1/31/03
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CAIRO (AFP) — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak phoned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after his resounding electoral victory in a move to relaunch the Arab-Israeli peace process, analysts said Thursday. Egypt's official MENA news agency said the two spoke on the phone Wednesday, "stressing the importance of continuing contacts" and "the need for continuing the Middle East peace process." Israeli government officials also said the two had agreed to meet after Sharon forms his new cabinet. Such an encounter would be the first for Sharon with an Arab leader since being elected premier in Febuary 2001. MENA and Egyptian officials did not mention plans for a meeting, but the fact that they did not deny it credits the Israeli government report. "It is clear that Sharon is here to stay for a long period of time and there is no other option but to deal with him," said Mohammad Sid Ahmed, a political analyst in Egypt's leading government newspaper Al Ahram. In fact, Mubarak's phonecall falls in line with his country's policy since the Palestinian uprising or Intifada erupted in September 2000. Egypt in November 2000 called back its ambassador in Israel to protest "the excessive use of force" against the Palestinians, but kept phone lines and doors open to Israeli ministers. "The situation has become so bad since that it is to avoid the worse" that Mubarak had taken this initiative, said Sid Ahmed. But he added that Egypt "does not pin great hopes" on the hardline Israeli Prime Minister. An Egyptian official who requested anonymity argued that "experience has proven that the absence of relations" with Israeli officials "did not solve the problem; on the contrary, violence has worsened." "President Mubarak hopes to resume contact with the Israelis to relaunch the peace process," he said. Mubarak told Al Ittihad newspaper in Dubai on Tuesday that he felt Arab governments had to "deal with the Israeli prime minister in a new way" in order to relaunch the Middle East peace process. Mubarak's comments were in marked contrast to previous comments during the 28-month-old Palestinian uprising or Intifada. Last July, he accused Sharon of deliberately "torpedoing all initiatives." In parallel to its overture towards Sharon, Cairo has undertaken efforts to make the Palestinian factions agree on a truce in attacks against Israeli civilians in order to allow a resumption of peace talks. But talks held here by the 12 main Palestinian factions from January 24 to 27 ended with no agreement, as Hamas and Islamic Jihad stuck to their vow to continue suicide bombings. Inter-Palestinian talks are set to resume on Feb. 4 in Cairo, but Sid Ahmad said it would be hard to convince the hardliners to halt attacks if Israel does not take a similar commitment.
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Dissident Iran cleric freed from house
arrest, says will not be silenced Jordan Times, 1/31/03
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QOM, Iran (AFP) — Dissident Iranian cleric Hossein Ali Montazeri, freed from five years of house arrest for his criticisms of the regime, said Tuesday he will continue to speak out in defence of justice and freedom. He also made an implicit swipe at Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for whom he was passed over in the succession to the founder of the Islamic regime, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and who had him confined to his home in 1998. “God, who is the master, gave all believers a power of religious authority. But this power is not absolute, it is limited,” he said. “Just as I did during my detention, I will continue to talk about issues and to act. It is my religious duty,” Montazeri, 80, told a crowd of some 600 supporters outside his home in the holy city of Qom. Dressed in clerical robes with a white turban, smiling broadly and appearing healthy, although supported by a cane, he joked with the supporters and allies who came to see him. “I am very well and I have not lost my memory as some have hinted,” he said, apparently unfazed by the continued presence of the elite Revolutionary Guards who penned him up. One of his first actions on being freed was to go by car with family and friends to a mosque in Qom and then to the tomb of his son Mohammad, a “martyr” of the country's Islamic revolution. “My freedom is unconditional, and we have not accepted any condition on my release, as has been falsely reported. I ask nothing of anyone except God,” Montazeri said. The decision to free him was taken days earlier by the conservative-dominated Supreme Council of National Security, chaired by reformist President Mohammad Khatami. The council groups Iran's top leaders, senior army officials and the ministers of intelligence, foreign affairs, interior and defence. Replying to conservative criticism that he was speaking to foreign radio stations broadcasting to Iran, he said, “When our radio will not transmit our words, we are obliged to talk to foreign radios. “At the time of the revolution, Imam Khomeini spoke to foreign radios and no one dared criticise him. “Our slogan at the time of the revolution was independence, freedom, Islamic republic. Freedom means that anyone can speak freely. “No one can trample justice and freedom with insults and physical attacks. If they have criticism, let them answer with arguments.” His first visitors included cleric Mohsen Kadivar, who was jailed three years ago for criticising the regime; pro-reform ayatollahs Yussef Sanei and Abdulkarim Mussavi Ardebili and Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, who recently resigned in protest as Friday prayer leader in Isfahan, Montazeri's birthplace. In 1989, Montazeri, considered by his supporters as the highest living authority of Shiite Islam in Iran, was set to succeed Khomeini. He was passed over in favour of Khamenei for his sharp criticisms of the regime. Notably, he had complained about the fate of arrested members of opposition groups and the brutal 1980-1988 war with Iraq. Months before Khomeini's death in 1989, Montazeri resigned, and was advised by Khomeini, who accused him of political blunders, to stay out of politics and focus on teaching in Qom. However, he continued to speak out. His questioning Khamenei's religious credentials, branded “treason” by the supreme leader, landed him in house arrest. His seminaries in Qom and Mashhad were also sacked. Despite his lack of contact with the outside world, Montazeri remained an inspiration to reformists, who continued to seek his opinions on political and religious matters through written exchanges. His supporters include several ministers close to Khatami. Last July, Montazeri denounced the concentration of power in the hands of one individual, and called for a reform of the constitution to limit the powers of the supreme leader. His backing could be of key support to Khatami, who has been seeking to push through bills to reduce the power of conservatives in prominent state institutions, such as the judiciary, in order to push forward economic and political reforms. In an interview with the BBC's Farsi service after announcements he would be freed, Montazeri urged Khatami to “show more firmness and not disappoint those who voted for him,” a clear call to the president not to back down in his confrontation with conservatives. His release was signalled when Revolutionary Guards began taking down barriers overnight. But the guards have yet to hand back the next door house where Montazeri used to teach. “They told us that they were going to carry out work there before giving it back,” one of the cleric's grandsons said.
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Sharon's ascendancy alarms Palestinian
refugees Jordan Times, 1/31/03
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AL AMARI REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (R) — Palestinian refugee Ahmad Hammad held his breath when he heard Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his right-wing Likud Party swept to re-election this week. “The minute I heard the news, I was afraid that he might revive his expulsion dogma,” said the frail 83-year-old man in his tiny house at the Al Amari refugee camp in the West Bank city of Ramallah. He was referring to the support Sharon used to give to calls to drive Palestinians into neighbouring Jordan. He no longer holds these views but opposes giving Palestinian refugees the right to return to their former homes in Israel. The refugees now fear that Sharon might eventually eject them from the West Bank in response to a 28-month-old uprising for an independent Palestinian state, perhaps when the world's eyes are turned to any war that erupts in Iraq. Palestinians left or were driven out of Israel at its founding in 1948. More were displaced during Israel's capture of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. Some four million Palestinian refugees and their descendants are registered with the United Nations. Many live in West Bank and Gaza refugee camps and elsewhere in the Arab world. Their plight was a stumbling block at Palestinian-Israeli peace talks that stalled two years ago. Israel fears allowing them the right to return would upset its demographic balance and Jews would eventually become a minority in their own state. Sharon, who has presided over Israel's military reoccupation or blockade of Palestinian-administered areas in response to attacks by militants waging the uprising, has given no indication he plans to drive out Palestinian inhabitants. Israeli officials have said nothing will happen to Palestinians during any Iraqi conflict as long as militants do not exploit it to escalate attacks. But the refugees' fears show how deeply they mistrust the retired army general whose harsh measures against Palestinian violence swelled popular support for Israel's right wing in its general election on Tuesday. “No one can be sure what this man is going to do with us,” Hammad said of Sharon, whose party doubled its parliamentary seat total in a voter backlash against left-wing parties that struck interim peace deals with Palestinians during the 1990s.
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Turkish military gears up for possible Iraq
war Jordan Times, 1/31/03
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ANKARA (AFP) — Turkey is rushing reinforcements and supplies to its border with Iraq amid reports that US technical experts will shortly start to upgrade military airfields that could be used in case of war with Baghdad. The Turkish general staff said Wednesday it was sending extra equipment to the 2nd Army, based in the southeast of the country, as a “precautionary measure.” The Turkish government and parliament have still to officially decide whether to join in a possible US-led military operation to disarm Iraq. With one newspaper proclaiming “War's at out doorstep,” the press Thursday suggested the army was sending reinforcements to units near the border which are currently at 70 per cent strength, while extra ammunition and equipment was also to be moved to the border area. Turkey shares a 330-kilometre border with northern Iraq, a region controlled by Iraqi Kurds who have broken away from Baghdad's control. Several thousand Turkish soldiers are also based in northern Iraq, where they have been joined by a small number of US soldiers, acccording to US commander-in-chief, General Richard Myers. The Zaman newspaper on Thursday published a front-page photograph of military trucks crossing the border from Turkey to Iraq, saying its photographer counted 110 trucks at the Harbur border crossing on Tuesday. The Turkish army said reinforcements sent to the region should not be viewed as part of an operation against Iraq. Meanwhile, Radikal newspaper reported Thursday that US and Turkish construction engineers might start work soon on upgrading the Diyarbakir and Batman military airports, in the southeast of the country. US specialists recently visited the two airports which could be used to launch strikes into Iraq in case of war. Turkey has still not officially said whether it would provide assistance to the United States in case of a military operation, but parliament could be called on to debate the issue next week, according to observers here. The country's national security council (MGK), a top civil and military advisory board, was to meet on Friday to discuss US requests for aid. “This week is very important ... After this week, after the MGK meeting a result will emerge,” the country's ruling party leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told NTV television. Leaders of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) were also due to meet this weekend to review the situation. Hurriyet newspaper suggested the MGK would examine a variety of options, from active intervention in northern Iraq alongside thousands of US troops to limited aid, such as allowing US planes to operate out of just one airfield, at Incirlik, in the south of the country. US and British warplanes currently fly out of Incirlik for their patrols over the “no-fly” zone of northern Iraq. Turkish authorities have repeatedly said they want the UN Security Council to sanction any military moves against Iraq, saying it would otherwise be very difficult for parliament to approve such action. Turkish public opinion resolutely opposes war while the government has expressed concern military action would lead to the desintegration of Iraq and would hurt the country's already suffering economy. No need for war, opposition leader says ANKARA (AFP) — Turkey's main opposition leader Deniz Baykal argued on Thursday that there was no legitimate reason to wage war on neighbouring Iraq as the Arab country did not pose an immediate threat to the region. “It is becoming a widely-accepted fact in the world that there is no legal, political or moral grounds for a war, and that there is no imminent threat to justify such a war,” Baykal, who heads the Republican People's Party (CHP), told NTV news channel. Iraq has been subject to tight controls since the end of the Gulf war, the CHP leader said. UN weapons inspectors, meanwhile, have been working in government-controlled territory for the past two months, he added. “How could there be a threat from Iraq? It cannot even stand on its own feet. It has been torn to pieces,” Baykal said. One way to resolve the armament crisis over Iraq was to prolong the tight “containment” policy now in place, he added. “It is possible to take effective measures to wipe out any threat without causing a big war, leading to the deaths of tens of thousands and throwing the region into political and economic chaos,” the CHP leader said. He called on the government to resist pressure from the country's key ally, the United States, to support a possible military operation to topple the Baghdad regime. “The only way for Turkey to benefit is for war not to break out,” Baykal said. “If we need to upset our friends a little to avert war, then let us upset them. By upsetting them now, we will help both ourselves and the region,” he added. Ankara has not decided whether to give military and logistic support to the United States in case of a war, much to the consternation of the Washington administration. Turkey fears that turmoil in the region would hurt its economy and spark unrest among Kurds on both sides of the Turkish-Iraqi border.
Fleeing Thais recall Cambodian night of terror BANGKOK - Thais fleeing overnight riots in the Cambodian capital arrived in Bangkok on Thursday visibly shaken and recalling tales of mayhem and terror. Supachai Veeraputchong, owner of the 75-room Royal Phnom Penh Hotel which was destroyed by looters, said he and his foreign hotel workers and Thai embassy staff seeking shelter had escaped only by lying about their nationalities. "The mob were forcing one of the embassy staff to take off her shirt and skirt, attempting to rape her, but we said we were tourists and not Thais," Supachai told local television. He said the woman escaped unscathed. "They broke glass doors, knocked down hotel room doors and took our belongings and those of other tourists and hotel guests." Thai military aircraft evacuated hundreds of frightened civilians from Phnom Penh on Thursday after a night of anti-Thai riots in which their embassy and businesses were torched. Supachai said his hotel was "totally ransacked" and most rooms set ablaze with gasoline. Supachai, who also has a joint-venture operating the Cambodian defence ministry's Channel Five television station, said "80 percent" of the station compound was damaged by rioters, despite 20 fully armed soldiers guarding it. A 40-year-old female survivor, who worked for the Thai-owned Juliana Hotel, said guests and staff escaped the mob by hiding in a nearby government hospital and with locals. "People in the neighbourhood were kind. They knew we were Thai, but they allowed us to hide in their homes." Alpha Phia Zamora, a management assistant for a Thai-owned Samart Communication Co, said she had to lock herself in an apartment in the office while rioters looted the five-storey building. "When I heard the noise, I put the cabinets, the shelves and everything in front of the door and locked myself in the toilet," Zamora told Reuters. "I was very scared. I didn't know what to do. I waited until it was quiet and called for my friends." - Reuters
Eight European nations threw their support behind US war plans for Iraq
on Thursday, leaving Europe divided as the United States warned there were
“weeks, not months” left to find a diplomatic solution.
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