ISRAEL
SAUDI ARABIA WILL JOIN WTO
JEDDAH, 9 August 2003 - Saudi Arabia will not join the World
Trade Organization before 2005, Al-Watan reported yesterday quoting
a WTO official. "Documents for the accession will be signed
by the beginning of 2006 at the earliest," the official
added. But he said the Kingdom's negotiations with the WTO were
making steady
progress in a generally encouraging climate. Deputy Commerce
Minister Fawaz Al-Alami, who is chairman of the Saudi negotiating
team, refused to comment on the WTO statement. "I don't
have any information in this respect," the Arabic daily
quoted Al-Alami as saying.
- The WTO official said the Kingdom had yet to hold between
three to six meetings with the working group, with a gap of three
to four months between them. He expressed his hope that the number
of meetings could be limited to four... .
- He said progress in solving outstanding issues with the WTO
was needed, as was the finalization of trade accords with WTO
member countries, especially major trading partners.
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- IDF: WEAPONS TUNNELS TO GAZA STRIP DUG FROM EGYPTIAN BASES
- Jonathan Lis Haaretz 11 August 2003 Page 4A [Translated by
IMRA] The Palestinian Authority smuggled weapons from Egypt via
tunnels dug from Egyptian army bases to the southern Gaza Strip,
Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon revealed yesterday at
a cabinet meeting. Ya'alon told the ministers that the IDF has
been taking action for a long time to locate and explode the
tunnels for smuggling weapons in the southern Gaza Strip. After
the declaration of the hudna it became clear that the southern
Gaza Strip was the only place in the Gaza Strip were the attacks
continued, this because the terror cells in the area continue
to receive regular weapons supplies via the tunnels that were
dug on the border with Egypt. According to Ya'alon, in many cases
it was found that the openings of the tunnels were located within
private Egyptian homes near the border.
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U.S. AGAIN ASSURES HAMAS OF A FUTURE
- WASHINGTON [MENL] -- August 13, 2003 - The Bush administration
has again assured Hamas that it would not be targeted for elimination
in the U.S.-led war against terrorism. Secretary of State Colin
Powell said the United States would continue to seek dialogue
to persuade Hamas and other Palestinian insurgency groups to
end their attacks on Israel. Powell said such an approach has
been part of the U.S.-led war against terrorism and efforts to
reach peace between Israel and the Palestinians. "I didn't
call for an all-out war against [Hamas]," Powell said. "I'm
asking Hamas [to stop attacks against Israel]." In an interview
with Egypt's Nile Television on Tuesday, Powell rejected the
prospect of a crackdown on Hamas or Islamic Jihad. Instead, he
stressed dialogue with Hamas in an effort to persuade the group
to end attacks against Israel
- POWELL ON TERROR
- "I didn't call for an all-out war against Hamas",
consequence of terror only concern IMRA: Why is terror bad? Once
again, Mr.Powell embraces the Palestinian approach: he doesn't
say that terror against Israel is itself unacceptable, just that
from a practical standpoint terror won't pay off for the Palestinians.
And what is Israel to do in the face of terror? Mr. Powell drags
up the old worn phrases about stopping the "cycle of violence".
How about the growing terror infrastructure? How about mentioning
on Egyptian TV his concern about the terror smuggling tunnels
to the Gaza Strip that start at Egyptian military outposts? Nothing
beyond a vague line that "nothing is more important than
cracking down on those who would use terror to kill innocent
people." Does "cracking down" mean collecting
illegal weapons now and removing them from the region? Does "cracking
down" mean putting the terrorists behind bars rather than
recruiting them in the PA security forces? Does "cracking
down" mean closing down the terror tunnels? Or does "cracking
down" mean making a deal that there aren't too many Israelis
murdered to interfere with the Roadmap? Mr. Powell, who has no
problem coming up with quite specific marching orders for Israel,
prefers to keep things fuzzy when it comes to the Palestinians.]
Powell Interview on Egypt's Nile Television With Mohammed El
Setohi. Secretary Colin L. Powell Washington, DC August 12, 2003
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2003/23226.htm
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- AL-AQSA MARTYRS BRIGADES CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR TEL AVIV
RESTAURANT BOMBING
- (Internet) Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades WWW-Text in Arabic -18
Aug 2003 [With thanks to www.mideastweb. org/mewnews1.htm ] ["Military
communiqué" dated 18 August 203] [FBIS Translated
Text] Fight them, and God will punish them by your hands, cover
them with shame, help you to victory over them, and heal the
breasts
of believers. [Koranic verse]. In response to the ongoing Zionist
aggression our land and people and in
retaliation for the policy of demolishing houses of martyrdom-seekers,
our groups have carried out a series of heroic operations:
- 1. One of our groups planted an explosive charge in the Ahim
steak restaurant in central Tel Aviv, killing a Zionist settler
and wounding others as enemy sources admitted.
- 2. The group of martyr Khamis Jarwan fired at settlers' car
near the Yitzhar settlement, wounding a female Zionist settler.
- 3. Another group attacked settlers' car and a military patrol
near the Silat al-Dahir village, south of Janin, leaving casualties.
- We vow to continue resistance and operations until the occupation
is expelled from our land and until our prisoners are released.
- Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades does what it says and delivers on
its promises.
- [Signed] Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
- [Dated] Palestine, 18 August 2003 [Description of Source:
(Internet) Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades WWW-Text in Arabic -- Web
site of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades , reportedly associated with
Fatah; URL: http://www.kataebalaqsa.org/]
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- A GENERAL CLOSURE IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP
IDF Spokesperson 20 August 2003 - In accordance with security
assessments, and in light of the murderous
terrorist attack last night in Jerusalem, a general closure in
the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was decided upon. As part of
the closure, Palestinians will not be allowed to enter or exit
Israel. The cities in the West Bank will be tightly encircled.
Passage will be permitted only in humanitarian cases, in coordination
with the Liaison offices. President Bush said that there can
be no compromise on terror and that we are obliged to pursue
people who murder women and children. The President said that
those organizations whose raison d'etre is to murder innocent
people and to destroy the peace process must themselves be eliminated.
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US PRESIDENT BUSH'S TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH PM SHARON
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser) August 20,
2003 [IMRA: Is the "cost" to the Palestinians limited
to "no progress in the diplomatic arena" until there
are some PA photo opportunities and then back
to rushing to the creation of a Palestinian state "as quickly
as possible"?]
- US President George Bush telephoned Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon today, 20.8.2003, and sent his condolences to the families
of those murdered in last night's terror attack.
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- NEW BOEING MIDEAST CHIEF WILL FOCUS ON GULF
ABU DHABI [MENL] -- 8.23.03 - The Boeing Co. has named a new
marketing chief for the Middle East.
- John Craig was named vice president for the Middle East.
Executives said Craig has been directed to focus his activities
in the Gulf Cooperation Council states.
- "The Middle East, and particularly the Arab Gulf region,
is a dynamic economic power and home to an increasing number
of important customers and partners," Boeing chairman and
chief executive officer Phil Condit. "John
will help us further develop these relationships with his vast
experience and knowledge of the region."
- Boeing manages a range of programs in GCC states. They include
the Apache AH-64A programs in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates,
the F-15 fighter-jet project in Saudi Arabia, and the F/A-18
fighter-jet in Kuwait.
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- UN'S K. ANNAN CALLS FOR THE RESTORATION OF SELF-RULE TO THE
IRAQIS WHICH SELF-RULE?
- IMRA: 8.24.03 - "... Arabs are once again at loggerheads
on how to deal with Iraq. On 5 August the League's Follow-Up
Committee -- which can only make non-binding recommendations
to the leaders -- suggested that Arab countries do not recognise
the US-appointed IGC as an interim government, saying Iraqis
should elect their own leaders. A week later ... Egypt, Saudi
Arabia and Syria jointly reiterated the proposal, ... . The Arab
League itself has insisted that it will not invite any official
representative of the council to its headquarters, though it
would allow members to come in their personal capacity. The move
leaves Iraq's seat ... vacant for the first time since Iraq co-founded
the League in 1945.
- The Arab League's decision was criticised by former Iraqi
foreign minister and member of the nine person IGC presidency,
Adnan Pachachi, who wondered if the League's aim was either to
sanctify the US occupation or aid the return of Saddam. Pachachi
said "The Iraqi people, more than anyone else, wanted elections
so that a legitimate government could be formed." But he
wondered how this was possible in the absence of a constitution
or election procedures.
- "Should we leave it to the Americans to draw up the
constitution and prepare for the elections, or is it better to
have a Governing Council?" Pachachi asked. He ... added
that the Arab League should shoulder some of the
responsibility for the occupation ..., having failed to act on
the suggestion of UAE.
- Matters were made worse for the IGC when Syria abstained
in a 14-0 vote in the Security Council over a resolution that
"welcomes the establishment of the broadly representative
Governing Council of Iraq ... as an important step towards the
formation by the people of Iraq of an internationally recognised
representative government that will exercise the sovereignty
of Iraq". Syria's UN envoy said his country's abstention
was in line with the Arab League's refusal to recognise the interim
authority.
- While the Follow-Up Committee's proposal was only a recommendation,
the passage of the resolution has posed a dilemma ...-- Morocco,
Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain welcomed the resolution,
thus showing willingness to work with the IGC. The conflicting
positions may lead to a fierce clash of wills between the Arab
foreign ministers meeting in Cairo next month.
- Those Arab states which have so far insisted on not recognising
the Council did so on the grounds that its members were unelected,
but rather appointed by foreign authorities ... . Critics say
this is an invalid, hypocritical
argument, pointing out that democracy has never been a pressing
concern of the Arab League. ...Some analysts have argued that
there is deep fear among Arab leaders and intellectuals that
the current tumultuous situation in Iraq will continue to deteriorate
and might even lead to the country's disintegration, with destabilising
repercussions throughout the region. As long as it is unclear
how Iraq will come out from the American occupation, many Arabs
will remain sceptical ... .
- Slow progress in the US-backed Middle East peace process
and what is perceived as Israel's procrastination to implement
the roadmap is also a factor behind the lack of enthusiasm to
support the Iraqi Governing Council,
considered a proxy of Washington. Many Arab governments remain
suspicious whether the administration is willing and ready to
carry out its promises to help create a viable Palestinian state
as pledged in the roadmap.
- Despite the fact that no Arab official has yet talked in
public about a linkage between Iraq and progress in the Israeli-Palestinian
peace talks, the disparities in how seriously Washington is being
seen as committed to its own roadmap could be key in understanding
why some major Arab capitals still decline to recognise Iraq's
Governing Council -- a move described by the Washington Post
as "throwing down the gauntlet to the American occupation"
of Iraq.
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- BARAK SUPPORT SHARON'S ATTACKS, OPPOSES "DANGEROUS"
ROADMAP
- IMRA: by Aaron Lerner - 25 August 2003 - Former prime minister
Ehud Barak supported the Sharon Administration's operations against
terrorists in a live interview broadcast on Israel Radio this
morning. Barak said that the PA is not fighting terror. Barak
then said that "Netanyahu and Lieberman are correct in opposing
the Roadmap". He called the Roadmap a "dangerous program"
that creates a sovereign Palestinian state without resolving
key issues. Barak noted that the sovereign Palestinian state
provided by the Roadmap in Stage II - before the end of 2003
and before the issues of Jerusalem, settlements, refugees, etc.
are resolved, is within "temporary boundaries" much
as Israel has been within "temporary boundaries' for over
half a century. Barak warned that if this dangerous program of
creating a "temporary" Palestinian state, that he identified
with Peres and Sharon, is implemented, Israel will find itself
without any negotiating assets before any of the key issues have
been resolved and facing a sovereign state against whom security
operations will be considerably more costly because it is a sovereign
state.
- Barak recommended that Israel unilaterally withdraw from
most of the territories and build a fence. MK Yuval Steinmetz
(Likud), head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee,
warned that if Israel were to implement Barak's recommendation
to repeat Barak's retreat from Lebanon in the territories that
this will lead to a situation that Israel's heavily populated
coastal plain and Jerusalem will be within range of Palestinian
rockets and missiles just as all of northern Israel is now threatened
by many thousands of Katyushas since Barak 's retreat from Lebanon.
Steinmetz proposed that the "Tunis leadership" running
the PA be expelled to Tunis and new elections be held to create
a PA leadership of local Palestinians who will operate with the
knowledge of the consequences of noncompliance as demonstrated
by the expulsion of the Tunis leadership. Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis) (mail POB 982
Kfar Sava) Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730 INTERNET ADDRESS:
imra@netvision.net.il pager 03-6106666 subscriber 4811 Website:
http://www.imra.org.il
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- THE BATTLE 2 MILITANT GROUPS ABANDON PROMISE OF MIDEAST TRUCE
The New York Times - by James Bennet - GAZA, Aug. 21, 2003 —
Hamas and Islamic Jihad formally abandoned their declared cease-fire
with Israel today, after the Israelis used missiles fired from
a helicopter gunship to kill a top political leader of Hamas
on a busy street here.As the Bush administration faced the possible
disintegration of its peace plan, called the road map, Secretary
of State Colin L. Powell warned both sides of the consequences
of failure. "The end of the road map is a cliff that both
sides will fall off," he told reporters at the United Nations.
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- COLLAPSE OF JERUSALEM WALL COULD INFLAME MUSLIM WORLD
August 30, 2002 - www.CNSNews.com - Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) -
The collapse a bulging wall surrounding Jerusalem's Old City
could spark Islamic violence from Cameroon to Indonesia, an Israeli
expert said here on Friday. Israeli archaeologists and Jerusalem's
mayor warned this week that the giant stones in the upper portion
of the wall are in imminent danger of toppling and crushing worshippers
below if the wall is not repaired soon. But Muslim authorities
are refusing to allow any work to be done.
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ISRAEL
From the Palestinian Authority the following comments were made
in Washington DC: The Roadmap has 3 stages leading to independence:
three independent states by 2005. The Roadmap is not about power
or military might. Israel has nuclear weapons. What it applies
to is two international, independent states capable of living
together. What is Israel's mistake, contend the Palestinians,
they want to keep their land forever and have peace. The sooner
they understand it is about international legitimacy. George
Bush's vision is a carrot. After using the stick on Iraq, you
are the defeated party.
- Yasser Arafat reportedly has suffered three heart attacks
since late August and his latest attack on September 27! Since
the Palestinian "Hudna" ceasefire ended officially
on September 29, on the third day of the Jewish New Year (Read
Cuttingedge.org - NEWS1849 for significance of this timing),
we expected some significant event to occur on that day. However,
the only newsworthy story of that day was that Arafat had been
suffering from the flu since Saturday, 9/27, and had sent for
his personal physician. However, DEBKAfile Intelligence is now
reporting that Arafat is suffering serious health problems, having
suffered three heart attacks in one month! DEBKAfile Intelligence,
2 October 2003 http://www.cuttingedge.org/newsletters/
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