News - Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine / Israel

Conflict..

GAZA - December 12, Israeli tanks stationed near the illegitimate Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim, west of Khan Younis City, fired guns and tank shells at the Al Nemsawi neighborhood, wounding five Palestinian citizens, including three children and a woman. IPC photo

Jenin wakes to latest Israeli raid
Al-Jazeera 1/9/2004
The Israeli army has raided the northern West Bank town of Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp. Several dozen jeeps and Israeli armoured vehicles entered the area before dawn on Friday and troops have imposed a curfew on the camp, Palestinian security sources said. An Israeli army spokesman told AFP the operation was aimed at capturing suspected Palestinian resistance fighters.

Israel torments Palestinian town
Al-Jazeera 1/9/2004
The Israeli army has destroyed the basic water and electricity infrastructure of a small Palestinian town in north Hebron, leaving parts of it in huge piles of rubble. Speaking from the town on Thursday, Aljazeera.net's correspondent said the destructive effects of the latest Israeli incursion were visible everywhere. "The main power transformer was badly damaged and so was the town’s water grid, leaving the town’s 15,000 inhabitants without electricity or water....Bait Umar is bound by three Jewish settlements - Karmi Tsur, Itzion and Ifrat - all inhabited by ultra-orthodox Jewish settlers.

19 left dead in failed hunt for master bomber
The Guardian 1/9/2004
In a three-week occupation of the biggest Palestinian city the Israeli army has killed 19 people, wrecked dozens of buildings and confined tens of thousands to their homes in a futile search for the leader of "the heart of the terror networks". Before Christmas soldiers flooded Nablus and the neighbouring refugee camp of Balata in pursuit of the leaders of al-Aqsa martyrs brigades responsible for organising dozens of suicide bombings. Top of their list was Naif Sharekh, the brigades commander in the city.

IDF arrests 15 Palestinians in Jenin area operations
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
Israel Defense Forces troops swept into the West Bank city of Jenin early Friday morning, arresting at least 15 Palestinians and trading gunfire with militants, witnesses said. The IDF said its troops were conducting routine patrols in the city, and said that it had arrested six militants there....Among those detained were Attar Abu Remeli, a local leader from Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's Fatah party and two militants from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a Fatah-affiliated militia.

Occupation authorities to confiscate 1,549 dunums of Beitonia lands
Palestinian Information Center 1/9/2004
Ramallah - Zionist occupation authorities have issued orders for the confiscation of 1,549 dunums of lands in the town of Beitonia to the west of Ramallah city for the sake of building the separation fence. A responsible source in the Beitonia municipality said that the Zionist notification was handed to the Palestinian liaison office in Ramallah last Monday, which in turn delivered it to the municipality.

Inhabitants of Silwad detained in their village for third day
Palestinian Information Center 1/9/2004
Ramallah - Zionist terrorist forces are closing all entrances to the town of Silwad to the northeast of Ramallah city for the third day running blocking traffic in and out of the village practically detaining its 8,000 inhabitants in their own homes. Silwad municipality sources said that the occupation troops blocked even patients from heading to Ramallah hospitals for necessary periodical treatment.

IDF moving sections of separation fence westward
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
The Israel Defense Forces are continuing to make changes in the portion of the separation fence that has already been built in order to remove Palestinian villages from the area between the fence and the Green Line....Two weeks ago, Haaretz's Ze'ev Schiff reported two changes in the fence's route: the paving of a new road south of Qalqilyah, from Alfei Menashe to Nirit, to eliminate the need to close the fence's gates east of the West Bank city, and moving the fence east of Baka al-Sharkiyeh to the west of the village, so that it will now run on the Green Line, between Baka al-Sharkiyeh and Baka al-Garbiyeh. Now two other major changes, moving the fence west of the villages of Hirbat Jabar and Azzoun, have been approved.

Zionist forces arrest three Palestinians in El-Bireh
Palestinian Information Center 1/9/2004
El-Bireh - Zionist occupation forces arrested three Palestinian citizens at dawn yesterday in the West Bank city of El-Bireh claiming one of them was a wanted activist. Local sources said that the Zionist forces stormed one of the buildings in downtown and arrested three citizens including Emad Saleh Al-Refai, 31, who is affiliated with the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah Movement.

IDF war game to simulate escalation on Palestinian front
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
Members of the Israel Defense Forces' General Staff will soon take part in a war game based on the assumption that the Palestinian front is likely to heat up in the coming months. The exercise will be strictly a thought experiment, involving no movement of troops on the ground. The goal is to consider diplomatic, political and public relations responses to a Palestinian escalation, should one occur after January 20, the eighth anniversary of Yasser Arafat's election as chairman of the Palestinian Authority.

Relative Ease of Closure, Escalation in Military Attacks
International Middle East Media Center 1/8/2004
The Palestinian Council for Peace and Justice issued Wednesday its monthly report concerning the army activities inside the Palestinian territories during December 2003. The report claims that 56 residents were killed, including 11 children. According to the research findings, 12 residents were assassinated, 634 were wounded to various degrees, and 709 were arrested. As well, 609 homes and 141 industrial buildings were damaged to various degrees, 278 vehicles were destroyed, and 10,781 trees were uprooted.

News Briefs: Al-Aqsa leader survives IOF assassination attempt, 15 arrested in Jenin, village attacked near Hebron
International Middle East Media Center 1/9/2004
Leader of Al-Aqsa Matyrs brigades in Jenin survives from an assassination attempt: The army conducted an assassination attempt against Zakaria Al-Zubeidi, leader of Al-Aqsa Brigades, the attack occurred in Jenin refuge camp when the military ambushed him and shot towards him. / Troops invade Jenin and arrest fifteen Palestinians: Army invaded Jenin this dawn and arrested fourteen Palestinians, in a new militray attack over that area. / The military attacks a village near Hebron: Yesterday afternoon, the army arrested five Palestinians and caused damages to a number of houses in a village north Hebron. Residents in the village said that the attacks, which have been conducted by several military vehicles and huge number of forces, continued for more than three hours, during which, houses were attacked and searched and at least five Palestinians arrested.

Soldier claims driver with Arab accent attempted to kidnap him near Rosh Pina
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
A soldier said yesterday that a driver with an Arabic accent attacked him and then attempted to kidnap him while he was hitchhiking in the north of the country. The soldier said he had left a military training area near Tel Hatzor and was hitchhiking on Highway 90 in the area of Kibbutz Ayelet Hashahar when a vehicle stopped and offered him a ride. The soldier declined upon detecting the driver's Arabic accent. The driver then attacked him, and attempted to pull him into the vehicle, he said.

Diplomacy..

Yasir Arafat nominated Ahmed Qurei, right, speaker of the Palestinian parliament, to succeed Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister - New York Times

J'lem sources: PMO officials leaked news of Israel-Libya talks
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
Sources in Jerusalem said on Friday that officials in the Prime Minister's Office apparently leaked details of secret contacts between Israel and Libya in a deliberate effort to sabotage attempts to establish diplomatic ties between the two nations. The initiative to explore prospects for forging ties with Libya was being pursued by Israel's Foreign Ministry despite opposition from some Sharon aides, one Israeli official said. Meanwhile, In Paris on Friday, Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Abderrhmane Chalgam denied any talks had taken place with Israel.

J'lem official dismisses Qureia's remarks on one-state solution
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
An adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Friday dismissed statements by Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia that raised the possibility of a single Arab-Jewish state in Israel and the Palestinian territories, in the event that no progress is made by the two sides. The Israeli official, Zalman Shoval, called the remarks by Qureia, also known as Abu Ala, an "empty threat." "Mr. Abu Ala has threatened to call for a bi-national state, but he may just as well call for a Palestinian state on the moon," Shoval said. "This is an empty threat that Israel is obviously not going to think seriously about."

Two-state Mideast solution only way forward-Powell
Reuters 1/8/2004
WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday dismissed Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie's suggestion the Palestinians may seek equal rights with Israelis in one state if Israel absorbs some West Bank areas. At a news conference, Powell reiterated the U.S. view that a two-state solution is the only way forward in the Middle East and said the sole way to achieve that was for Qurie to crack down on Palestinian militants. Powell said his point man on the Middle East, Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, was going to Egypt next week in part to try to get the Egyptian government to pressure Qurie to start dismantling Palestinian groups that attack Israel.

Hamas would weigh `temporary peace'
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
Hamas would agree to a "temporary peace" with Israel in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state "on the basis of the 1967 borders," the evacuation of the settlements and the resettlement of all the Palestinian refugees inside Israel, movement leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said Wednesday night. "The rest of the land, within Israel, we will leave to history," he added, speaking to the German news agency, DPA. However, Yassin added, "this does not mean recognition of the State of Israel, but rather a cessation of the violence for a number of years."

United States leaving Syrian track to Israel's discretion
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
The United States does not intend to push for or sponsor any resumption of Syrian-Israeli talks, but will not object should Israel choose to take up Syrian President Bashar Assad's offer to resume negotiations, senior American officials told Jerusalem this week. The officials expressed skepticism about Assad's intentions, arguing that had he been serious, he would have used diplomatic back channels rather than calling for new talks in a newspaper interview.

'Bi-national talk a threat to Israel'
Al-Jazeera 1/9/2004
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Quraya's suggestion that the Palestinians could call for a bi-national state should current negotiations fail is a threat to the very existence of Israel, an Israeli official has said. "This is nothing less that a threat to put an end to the state of Israel as a Jewish state, and we categorically reject it," the high-ranking official told AFP on Firday on condition of anonymity.

UN envoy urges Israel to exploit Syrian peace moves
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
The United Nations' Middle East envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, has urged Israel to respond to overtures by Syrian President Bashar Assad on the renewal of peace talks, Army Radio reported Friday. Speaking in an interview to the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, Larsen said that based his own conversations with Assad, he believes that the Syrian leader is honest in his intentions, and that Israel must take advantage of this. He reiterated the UN stance that Israel's presence on the Golan Heights is not a legitimate one.

Israeli PM faces pressure to resume talks with Syria
Daily Star 1/9/2004
2 Cabinet ministers, UN Mideast envoy push PM to mull Assad’s offer -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was under pressure Thursday from two of his senior Cabinet ministers and the UN’s Middle East envoy to open talks with Syria. Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Sharon to go back on his refusal to resume peace negotiations with Syria. "Bearing in mind Syria’s very precarious position, it’s in our interest to exploit recent overtures for contacts” with Syria, the former premier told public radio.

Sharon sets conditions for talks with Syria
Middle East Online 1/9/2004
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon responded to growing calls for resuming peace talks with Syria by insisting Damascus stop supporting armed militant groups, sources in his office said Friday. "We want peace ... but the Syrians must stop supporting terror, end aid to Hezbollah and close down the headquarters of the terrorist organisations in Damascus," he told a US congressional delegation on Thursday.

Separation wall causes security fears in Amman
Daily Star 1/9/2004
AMMAN: Worried Israel’s construction of a controversial separation barrier in the West Bank will endanger its national security, Jordan said Thursday it will seek the dismantling of the wall when it takes its argument before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) later this month. Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher whose country ruled the West Bank from 1950 until 1967 when it lost it to Israel during the 1967 war said Jordan’s arguments would help the court take a “sound judgement” on the legal consequences of the barrier when it starts hearings on the issue on Feb. 23.

Yassin: No new truce without Israeli guarantees
Middle East Online 1/9/2004
DUBAI - Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin said in remarks published Friday that his movement would not agree to a new truce that is not be respected by Israel and that it would not cease attacks on Israeli civilians as long as the Jewish state targets Palestinian civilians. "Hamas will not commit the same mistake in agreeing on a new truce with Israel which will not be respected by the latter," Yassin told Saudi magazine Al-Majallah, published in London.

Analysis / Making threats, cultivating an image
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
Two prominent Palestinians, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala) and Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, gave expression last night to the prevalent mood that the frozen peace process has created among the Palestinian public. Qureia's words in favor of establishing a single binational state echo statements that have recently been made in the Palestinian media by political activists and academics. Many Palestinians have come to understand that for Israel, the threat of a binational state is the greatest threat of all.

Palestinian PM's 'one state' call
BBC 1/9/2004
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei says he will push for a single Arab-Jewish state if Israel carries through a threat to draw up its own borders. "We will go for a one-state solution... there's no other solution," he told news agencies on Thursday. Israel has promised to take unilateral steps to redefine borders if the Palestinians fail to end violence.

Likud MK: Hamas statement on temporary peace is 'tactical'
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
Likud MK Yuval Steinitz, the chairman of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Comittee, said Friday that a Hamas statement that it could accept a temporary peace with Israel was "interesting," Israel Radio reported. But, Steinitz added, until Hamas halts its terror activities, the statement is merely "a tactical declaration." Steinitz responded to a Wednesday night statement by Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, saying that the movement would agree to a "temporary peace" with Israel in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state "on the basis of the 1967 borders," the evacuation of the settlements and the resettlement of all the Palestinian refugees inside Israel.

Palestinians say see EU as their 'ally of choice'
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
DUBLIN - Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath described the European Union as "the ally of choice" on Friday and urged Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen to do all he could to rekindle a peace process when he visits the Middle East next week.Cowen said inaction in the region was "simply not an option" during Ireland's six-month presidency of the EU, which started on January 1.

Mid-East awash with diplomatic moves
BBC 1/9/2004
The Middle East is awash with diplomatic initiatives. Libya is talking to Israel. Egypt is talking to Iran. Turkey is passing messages from Israel to Syria. In fact, almost the only people who are not talking to each other are Israel and the Palestinians. This is big picture diplomacy. The discussions are not about this settlement or that road, but about and between states not on speaking terms for a generation.

Video: "Israel may try to negotiate whille holding on to the Golan Heights"
BBC 1/9/2004
The BBC's Linden Kemkaran -- "It's thought that Israel may try to negotiate whille holding on to the Golan Heights"

Human Rights..

Farming in the West Bank: Palestinian farmers from the village of Jayous, wait in now Israeli-controlled farmland of their village to go to their farms, as other villagers (foreground) were denied entrance by the occupation soldiers. Nearly three-fourths of Jayous' farmland, or 2,250 out of 3,000 acres, is now on the 'Israeli' side of the separation wall, cutting them off from the village itself. The residents, along with thousands of other Palestinians along the West Bank must now apply for permits to cross Israeli army controlled barriers to get to their fields and back. - MIFTAH photo

Nablus in the last 20 days
International Solidarity Movement 1/8/2004
1) Nablus in the last twenty days _ Zeid in Nablus: Operation stagnant water began on the 16th December before this time the Israeli Army had been coming in to Balata or Askar every 3 or 4 days provoking trouble and playing their game of shooting at the children.But after the 16th the operation was intensified with about 500 troops backed up by 30 tanks and many jeeps surrounding Balata Camp. The troops started house to house searches using dogs, while others used explosives to blow holes from one house to the next. /2) The truth is out there, somewhere - Letter, Toronto Star: It is disturbingly easy to lose track of those who have fallen over the past few weeks in Nablus, the largest city in the West Bank and, reportedly, the breeding ground for most of the suicide bombers who have terrorized Israelis. / 3) Support the refuseniks: ....Sign the Petition for the immediate release of the 5 conscientious objectors at http://www.refuz.org.il/.

Israel’s ‘campaign of misinformation’ allowed for Nablus siege which ended yesterday leaving 18 dead
Palestine Monitor 1/8/2004
Thursday January, 8, 2004 Mahmoud Aloul, the Governor of Nablus and Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi President of Palestinian Medical Relief, gave a joint press conference along with Palestinian Ministry Forensic Doctor, Sameer Abu Zarour in the temporary premises of the governorate in Nablus....The governor Mahmoud Aloul explained how efforts to contact both embassies and press offices had been unsuccessful during this campaign of great escalation on Sharon’s behalf which resulted in 18 Palestinian deaths and over 250 injured.

Zionist authorities restrict travel of foreigners to Gaza and West Bank
Palestinian Information Center 1/9/2004
Occupied Jerusalem - The Zionist government has imposed new restrictions on the travel of foreigners to the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip areas. Palestinian sources said that foreigners arriving at the Ben Gurion airport or other crossings into the Hebrew state were given instructions not to enter the West Bank or the Gaza Strip without prior permission. They said that the foreigners were asked to apply for such visits and wait five days before receiving an approval in writing.

Masked men assault Arabiya correspondent in Gaza
Electronic Intifada /PCHR 1/8/2004
PCHR strongly condemns the attack this afternoon on Seif al-Din Shahin, Gaza correspondent for the al-Arabiya satellite channel.A group of unidentified individuals attacked Shahin apparently because of their opposition to recent press reports made by Shahin.PCHR considers this violent action an attack on the freedom of the press, of opinion, of expression and the freedom to impart and receive information.PCHR calls upon the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Attorney General to conduct a full and fair investigation into the incident and to bring those found responsible to justice in accordance with the rule of law.

Hoss launches legal aid group Fund will assist Palestinians
Daily Star 1/9/2004
Former [Lebanese] Prime Minister Salim Hoss announced on Thursday that the Fund of Legal Aid to Palestinians, established for the purpose of aiding victims of Israeli aggression in Palestinian territories, has commenced its operation. Hoss spoke during a press conference held at the headquarters of the Press Federation, in the presence of its president, Mohammed Baalbaki, members of the Fund’s board of trustees, and former Telecommunications Minister Issam Neaman. The former prime minister is the president of the Fund.

Prominent Bay Area activist imprisoned in Israel for protesting "apartheid wall"
San Francisco Bay Guardian 1/9/2004
As the Bay Guardian went to press Jan. 6, Bay Area activist Kate Raphael was serving her sixth day in an Israeli jail. The Israeli government is seeking to deport Raphael for participating in a Dec. 31 march against the construction of a 400-mile-long barrier, dubbed a "security fence" by the Israeli government and an "apartheid wall" by activists who argue that it effectively annexes more Palestinian territory into Israel.

Soldiers may again shoot protesters
Palestine Monitor/Ha'aretz 1/6/2004
A senior Israel Defense Forces source said on Tuesday that "the military may again use live fire against Israelis demonstrating along the separation fence." According to the source, the military would not be able to supply all soldiers on duty in the region with crowd dispersal means, and therefore there a situation in which demonstrators may be shot at could be repeated.

Police intimidation against Indymedia Israel violates Internet Freedom of Speech
Alternative Information Center 1/8/2004
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) states in a letter to the Attorney General of Israel: ''The investigation against Indymedia Israel has turned into intimidation, harming Freedom of Speech on the Internet.'' Police investigators are attempting to throw responsibility on Indymedia Israel’s operators, for publications appearing in the “open publishing zone” of the website. This is done illegally and against the recommendations of a professional committee of the Israel Ministry of Justice.

Economy..

Palestinian Economy in Brief
Jerusalem Times 1/8/2004
PCBS says 9.7 million Palestinians worldwide at end of 2003: The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said that there were 9.7 million Palestinians worldwide, including 3.7 million in the Palestinian areas (2.3 million or 63.3% in the West Bank and 1.4 million or 36.7% in the Gaza Strip) and one million inside Israel..... / Saudi aid for Palestinians: The Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People handed over ambulances and fire-extinguishing vehicles, buses, devices and medical supplies to Palestinian ambassador to the Kingdom Mustafa Hashim Al-Sheikh Deeb..... / JDECO condemns mob attack on its Ramallah offices: The Jerusalem District Electricity Company (JDECO) strongly condemned in a statement to the press and in a meeting with President Yasser Arafat mob attack on its Ramallah premises that took place on January 1..... [If unable to access this page, go to: http://www.jerusalem-times.net- then enter or paste this address: http://www.jerusalem-times.net/article/news/details/detail.asp?id=4620 - Ed.]

People..

Two Palestinian women walk amid the rubble of a house demolished by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis. 18 houses were completely destroyed and another 13 partially destroyed during a six-hour Israeli army incursion which began around midnight. (AFP/Said Khatib)

Diary of an art competition (under occupation)
Jerusalem Times 1/8/2004
When a country and its people are not free, how do its artists respond? -- Three years ago, with support from the family foundation that my parents set up in 1994, we launched an ambitious and wide-ranging programme of support for the arts and sciences in Palestine. The foundation’s aims were principally focused on education and culture, but from the start we were working beneath a daunting and ominous shadow: the realities of the continuing Israeli occupation, and the potential violence of Palestinian resistance to it.[If unable to access this page, go to: http://www.jerusalem-times.net- then enter or paste this address: http://www.jerusalem-times.net/article/news/details/detail.asp?id=4608 - Ed.]

Cancer treatment center inaugurated in Gaza
Jerusalem Times 1/8/2004
Preparations to finish the first Palestinian health project in Gaza, that is funded by the Kingdom of Saudi of Arabia in the amount of $5.2 million, in which the funds will be channeled through the Saudi committee for the relief of the Palestinian people that is headed by the Minister of Interior, Prince Naief Ben Abed Al-Aziz, is about to be finished soon. [If unable to access this page, go to: http://www.jerusalem-times.net- then enter or paste this address: http://www.jerusalem-times.net/article/news/details/detail.asp?id=4621 - Ed.]

Northern Gaza's sewage problem
Jerusalem Times 1/8/2004
Palestinian engineers and technicians stressed recently on the importance to take courageous and urgent steps to overcome the disastrous effects of the sanitary sewage basins in Northern Gaza. The Palestinian engineering team presented a full description about the temporary and urgent projects that are being implemented to solve this existing health environmental problem for years, besides to receive the over flow of the water that is being flooded from the basins to avoid flash floods on the Palestinian residents. [If unable to access this page, go to: http://www.jerusalem-times.net- then enter or paste this address: http://www.jerusalem-times.net/article/news/details/detail.asp?id=4603 - Ed.]

56% of Israelis oppose handing back Golan to Syria
Middle East Online 1/9/2004
JERUSALEM - A majority of Israelis oppose handing back the occupied Golan Heights to Syria, according to an opinion published Friday, as pressure grows on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to resume peace negotiations with Damascus. To the question "Are you for or against handing over the Golan to Syria in exchange for peace?", 56 percent of respondents answered "no," while 36 percent supported the idea and eight percent did not express an opinion.

International..

Report: Iran renews flow of weapons via Syria to Hezbollah
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
After a break of nearly a full year, Iran has resumed supplying Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon with weapons and supplies transported via Syria, according to a report Thursday evening on Channel 1 news. According to the report, Syria dispatched a number of planes to Iran last week posing as humanitarian aid transports for Iranian earthquake victims..When the flights returned to Syria, they were filled with weaponry which was unloaded in Damascus and transferred to Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Details of the weapons transfer became known to the United States, which demanded an explanation from Syria.

Iran: Syria did not use aid planes to send arms to Hezbollah
Ha'aretz 1/9/2004
Iran on Friday rejected as "baseless and a sheer lie" claims by Israeli security sources that Syrian planes that flew earthquake relief aid to Iran had returned with weapons for Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi called the accusation a "baseless and a sheer lie." "After the Israelis observed the... world's solidarity with the Iranian nation they became angry and they're continuing their policy based on lies and cheating by fabricating such news," he told Reuters.

Libya signs for UTA crash payout
Al-Jazeera 1/9/2004
Libya has signed a $170-million compensation deal with the families of victims of the 1989 bombing of a French airliner over Niger, paving the way for the normalization of Franco-Libyan relations. The deal was signed on Friday by Abdu Salam, director of the al-Qadhafi Foundation, a charity that negotiated for Tripoli, Guillaume Denoix de Saint-Marc, a spokesman for some of the families, Francis Szpiner, attorney for the French victims' rights group SOS Attentats, and a representative of the Caisse des Depots et Consignations, a state-owned financial agency.

Libyan Stagnation a Big Factor in Qaddafi Surprise
New York Times 1/8/2004
TRIPOLI, Libya, Jan. 7 — Since Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi proclaimed last month that Libya would rid itself of outlawed weapons, praise has been pouring in from world capitals, the Libyan press reports every day. Telegrams and phone calls from heads of state congratulate the "great leader" of Libya's revolution for his visionary decision, a potentially transforming step for a state that made itself a pariah in the 1980's, blazing a path of terrorism across Europe.

World Bank: Lebanon has ‘given up’ on Paris II
Daily Star 1/9/2004
‘Status quo’ 2004 budget faulted -- The World Bank said in its third quarter 2003 report that the recent ratification by the Cabinet of a “status quo budget for 2004 signifies that the authorities have given up, at least for the time being, pursuing their strategy presented at Paris II.” The report, released earlier this week by the international body, also criticized developments relating to the country’s fiscal affairs and privatization program since the ‘Paris II’ donors’ conference, which have fallen short of initial expectations.

Muslim Brotherhood leader dies
Al-Jazeera 1/9/2004
The death of Ma'moun al-Hodeiby, head of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, risks igniting a generational battle for the leadership of the influential Islamist organsiation. Al-Hodeiby, the Brotherhood's sixth "supreme guide", died at the age of 83 following an unspecified illness. Known for his strong personality and organisational abilities, he only took over in November 2002 on the death of his predecessor, Mustafa Mashhur.

Lebanon Scrambles to Avert a U.S. Invasion of Bekaa
An Nahar 1/9/2004
Lebanon is exploring political and security avenues to cope with thinly veiled U.S threats to land special American army units in the Bekaa valley on a 'hunt and kill' mission against Hizbullah's 'terrorists,' An Nahar reported on Friday. The report coincided with fresh Israeli media claims that Syria was upgrading its military support of Hizbullah in the Bekaa and south Lebanon in open defiance of the Bush administration demand all kinds of assistance to 'terrorist' groups be promptly discontinued.

France backs EU-Libya relations
BBC 1/9/2004
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin has called for "progressive" normalisation of EU ties with Libya. His call came after Libya agreed to pay a $170m settlement to families bereaved by a 1989 bombing of a French plane. The BBC's Peter Biles says the deal should be seen amid other recent overtures to the West by Tripoli.

BBC suspends talk show over alleged anti-Arab comments
BBC 1/9/2004
LONDON - The British Broadcasting Corp. said Friday it had taken a long-running daytime talk show off the air while it investigates allegedly anti-Arab comments that its host wrote in a newspaper. In a column published this week in the tabloid Sunday Express, Robert Kilroy-Silk, 61, host of the BBC television's "Kilroy" program, said that few Arab countries "make much contribution to the welfare of the rest of the world." The column also referred to Arabs as "suicide bombers, limb amputators, women repressors."

Arab League reforms slow in coming
Daily Star 1/9/2004
Some officials want more input from the private sector in decision-making -- The secretariat-general of the Arab League wants more private sector involvement in the 22-member union, which is currently dominated by government officials who make key economic decisions, a senior Arab League official said Tuesday.

High speed internet for Iran
Al-Jazeera 1/9/2004
Authorities in Iran have for the first time allowed a private firm, Parsonline, to provide high-speed internet access in the Islamic republic. "We have received our first file as a PAP (private access provider), which enables us to provide our clients with ADSL, allowing high-speed internet access," Parsonline official Majid Emami told reporters on Friday. "We will have to go through the Iranian telecom service, but it is a first step towards privatising telecommunications," he added.

Guantanamo Britons: New release hopes
Al-Jazeera 1/9/2004
Seven of the nine Britons held by the US at Guantanamo Bay on Cuba could soon be returned. Fresh hopes for their early release were rekindled after a US diplomat was reported in newspapers as saying the suspects being held without trial could be repatriated if Britain is able to 'manage' them after their return. "We are prepared to arrange their transfer home for detention or prosecution or other actions depending on individual circumstances," US ambassador at Large for War Crimes Pierre-Richard Prosper told a small US Embassy briefing.

Miami federal court has 'secret docket' to keep some cases hidden from public
Sun-Sentinel.com 1/8/2004
"In recent months, it has become evident that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida maintains a dual, separate docket of public and non-public cases" -- A secret docketing system hiding some sensitive Miami federal court cases from public view has been exposed and is being challenged in two higher courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court....Mohamed Kamel Bellahouel, 34, of Deerfield Beach, was arrested for a violating his student visa a month after the terror attacks. Although he sought his release in the District Court and appealed to the 11th Circuit, no public record of his case existed until his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A diaspora divided
Al-Jazeera 1/9/2004
Shock waves from the continuing carnage in the Middle East are increasingly dividing the Jewish diaspora, and the rifts are becoming ugly. Aljazeera.net has uncovered evidence of an anti-Semitic hate mail campaign against Jewish peace activists in London, which involves rabbis and at least one respected Israeli literary figure. Diaspora Jewish communities have traditionally rallied round Israel in times of crisis. But faced with an occupation that seems to have no end, and a perceived increase in anti-Semitism accompanying it, discontent among British Jewry is rife.