Excerpts: Hamas/.Fatah impasse.Ahmadinejad celebrates.Yemen'rebels
ceasefire.Iran ignores U.N. call February 12, 2010

+++SOURCE: Al-Ahram Weekly 11-17 Feb.'10:"Leap of faith": Reconciliation
between Hamas and Fatah is still a world away, writes Saleh Al-Naami

QUOTE: "as soon as (Fatah's) Shaath departed from Gaza the war of words was
ignited in full force"
EXCERPTS:. . .Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Nabil Shaath,
member of Fatah's Central Committee, began serious discussions regarding
dialogue and reconciliation. The two met at Haniyeh's home at Al-Shateh
Refugee Camp, east of Gaza City.
It was obvious that the Hamas leadership wanted to demonstrate the
importance of Shaath's visit to the Gaza Strip, the first of its kind by a
senior Fatah leader since Hamas came to power in Gaza in the summer of 2007.
Shaath met with most Hamas leaders in Gaza and concluded his visit with a
joint meeting of leaders from both groups.
Apparently, Shaath's trip not only succeeded in clearing the air between the
two camps, but also went beyond that by establishing a number of significant
understandings. Sources told Al-Ahram Weekly that the two sides agreed to
end the war of words and reopen all Fatah institutions in Gaza and Hamas
associations in the West Bank. They also exchanged ideas about the release
of detainees.
Khalil Al-Hayya, member of Hamas's politburo, told the Weekly that his group
signalled its goodwill and strong commitment to end divisions through
several initiatives. "Other than compromising on national principles which
are unanimously upheld by Palestinians, we are willing to make huge
sacrifices in order to ensure reconciliation is successful," said Al-Hayya.
"We will prove that we are willing to compromise many organisational gains
to revive national unity and end this dismal situation."
Al-Hayya added, however, that the "problem is that we realise that not all
decision-makers in Fatah embrace Shaath's conciliatory positions.
Nonetheless, we are adamant to demonstrate our honest commitment to ending
discord." At the same time, Al-Hayya warned against Israeli and US
interference that could undermine the chances of reaching a political
settlement.
For his part, Shaath stated that his visit aimed at creating an atmosphere
that would end internal divisions, noting that he was delegated by the
Revolutionary Council and Fatah's Central Committee to visit Gaza. The Fatah
official revealed that Hamas promised to take positive steps towards Fatah
members in Gaza, but refused to elaborate, saying that Hamas would announce
these measures.
Shaath rejected the notion of creating joint committees between the two
groups and emphasised the need for more visits and communication on both
sides. He was guarded in quantifying his optimism about whether Hamas and
Fatah will in fact reach an agreement, and warned of possible setbacks.
Indeed, as soon as Shaath departed from Gaza the war of words was reignited
in full force. Hamas was deeply angered by Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas's repeated statements that he would not meet with Hamas politburo
chief Khaled Meshaal unless Hamas signs the Egyptian proposal for
reconciliation without amendments.
Matters escalated further when Fatah took advantage of news that Hamas had
apologised for harming Israeli civilians, which Hamas denied. Fatah demanded
an apology by Hamas to the Palestinian people for causing the internal rift.
Meanwhile, the security apparatus controlled by Salam Fayyad's cabinet
continued to arrest Hamas activists in the West Bank. Some 50 activists were
apprehended in a few days following Shaath's trip. Hamas is also claiming
that Abbas's security forces continue the objectionable practice of
questioning the wives of detainees about their husbands' activities, some of
who are detained by Israel.
Hamas has asked Fatah to allow its leadership to move around in the West
Bank, as Shaath was permitted to come to the Gaza Strip and meet with Hamas
officials and cadres there. Omar Abdel-Razek, former minister of finance and
a leading member in the group, called for more liberty for Hamas leaders in
the West Bank. "This would enable them to work on achieving reconciliation
and ending divisions in the Palestinian cause," Abdel-Razek argued.
"Freedoms have been granted to Fatah members, including regional and
committee representatives, in Gaza."
Abdel-Razek revealed that Hamas allowed Fatah meetings to take place, noting
that Shaath's visit demonstrates that Fatah is allowed to function in Gaza,
"unlike conditions in the West Bank, where Hamas faces annihilation at the
hands of security forces acting upon the orders of Dayton and the CIA."
Nonetheless, informed Palestinian sources told the Weekly that intense Arab
and Palestinian efforts are underway, targeting the Hamas leadership in
Damascus, Abbas and the Egyptian government, to end disagreements about
signing the Egyptian proposal. So far, the source disclosed, all ideas
evolve around "saving face" for all parties, especially in the wake of
obstinate positions that were taken regarding the Egyptian plan. The source
revealed that ideas are coming together to create "a ladder for everyone to
come down from the soapbox they climbed upon."
The source continued that despite severe tensions in relations between the
two sides, members of Hamas and Haniyeh's government are communicating with
Egyptians, especially intelligence circles, to reach a formula that would
allow them to sign the Egyptian proposal. The source emphasised that despite
the firm positions that the various parties currently embrace, the chances
of ending the quarrel over the Egyptian plan are promising. The source
stated that already Arab and Palestinian efforts have arrived at a formula
allowing Hamas to sign the proposal, but did not elaborate. He expected that
the document would be signed before the next Arab summit is convened in the
Libyan capital of Tripoli in March.
Both Abbas and Cairo are aware of these efforts; what remains is for Egypt
to invite all parties to Cairo to sign the proposal.
It is clear that Hamas is now intent on finding a way to end divisions,
although it is challenging for the group to meet the requisites of this
endeavour, especially agreeing to the Egyptian plan, which neither Cairo nor
Fatah are willing to amend. Hamas has come to realise that the situation is
more complicated than it initially estimated. While it publicly rejects
Abbas and his political agenda, it also realises that there is no end to the
siege and its harsh consequences without reaching an agreement to end
discord with Abbas.
Hamas avoided concurring with Abbas, especially after his role in preventing
a vote on the Goldstone Report in the UN Human Rights Council, which caused
a furore among the Palestinian people. While Hamas felt it unwise to
acquiesce to Abbas in the wake of this incident, it later found that whether
it wanted to continue to share power or remove Abbas from power, Hamas
needed to reconcile with Abbas.
As the human suffering of more than 1.5 million Palestinians worsens in Gaza
under a stifling siege, it is almost certain that Hamas could not just
negatively react to the positions adopted by Abbas regarding a political
settlement, the Goldstone Report, and his hostile statements against the
group. Egypt, which controls the border crossing at Rafah -- the Gaza
Strip's sole gateway to the outside world -- asserts that the border will
not reopen until Hamas signs the Egyptian proposal and ends divisions. This
means that the group is forced to agree with Abbas, the man it has often
attacked and criticised.
The situation becomes even more convoluted as Egypt continues to build a
steel wall along the border with Gaza, which ostensibly would prevent
smuggling supplies into Gaza and make the siege even more unbearable.
However, it is unlikely that Hamas will sign the Egyptian plan on the
command of Abbas. News that Abbas is ready to indirectly negotiate with
Israel has thrown another monkey wrench into Hamas's thought process, since
both Tel Aviv and Washington have stipulated that Hamas commit to the
conditions of the Quartet. These are: recognition of Israel, ending
resistance activities against the Israeli occupation, and recognition of
agreements signed by the Palestinian Authority. These terms are unacceptable
to Hamas and most of the Palestinian people.
In fact, many Palestinians are asking why no one has placed conditions on
the Israeli government headed by Binyamin Netanyahu, who every day restates
his rejection of the return of refugees and insists on retaining Jerusalem
and settlements. It appears that if there is no fundamental change in
Abbas's positions with regards to his willingness to capitulate to Israeli
pressure, then efforts to achieve reconciliation would end up a waste of
time.[IMRA: Hamas still refuses recognizing Israel.]

+++SOURCE: SAUDI GAZETTE `12 Feb.'10:"First batch of enriched uranium ready:
Iran ", by Agencies

EXCERPTS:TEHRAN - Iran is now able to enrich uranium to more than 80 percent
purity, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday, coming close to levels
experts say would be needed for a nuclear bomb.
He told a huge flag-waving crowd on the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution
that Iran does not want to produce a nuclear bomb but if it ever did, it
would do so publicly, a response to Western concerns that Iran is seeking to
develop a nuclear weapons capability in secret.
"I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first package of 20
percent fuel was produced and provided to the scientists," he said.. . .

+++SOURCE: SAUDI GAZETTE 12 Feb.'10:"Yemen declares ceasefire with rebels",
Reuters
QUOTE:"the deadline for the complee implementation of the ruce truce has
been a point of contention"

FULL TEXT: SANA'A - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced on
television a ceasefire in fighting against rebels in the north of the
country to take effect from midnight on Friday (2100 GMT Thursday).
The announcement came after reports that the Yemeni government and the
rebels were close to reaching a deal to end six months of fighting.
The truce was made possible after the rebels accepted six conditions put
forward by the government for the cessation of hostilities.
"We decided to stop military operations in the northwest region starting
from midnight tonight," a government statement broadcast on state media
said.
The leader of the rebels also ordered his fighters to abide by the
ceasefire. Yemeni officials have said that as part of a ceasefire deal, Sana'a
would allow rebel representatives to sit on a committee overseeing the
truce, and insurgents would hand over weapons they seized from the Yemeni
forces. The conditions demanded of the rebels include opening roads and
freeing detained soldiers and civilians.
Yemen says the rebels must also return captured military and civilian
equipment, stay out of local politics and end border hostilities with Saudi
Arabia.
One official said President Saleh had briefed a committee charged with
supervising conditions for a truce on his decision to stop the war.
Yemen state television said the government and rebels had also formed
smaller joint committees to supervise the truce in four areas, including on
the Yemen-Saudi border. The committees were to start work Friday(12 Feb.),
and one official said they would be flexible on the timeline for truce
conditions to be fulfiled.
The rebels said they would start opening the roads and removing checkpoints
once the truce stabilized. The deadline for the full implementation of the
truce had been a point of contention, with the rebels asking for more time
for their fighters to leave mountainous positions, they said.

+++SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES 12 Feb.'10:"International Atomic Agency Views
Iran's Stepped-Up Enrichment of Uranium as a Violation", By WILLIAM J. BROAD
QUOTE:"United Nations has called on Iran . . . to halt its program
altogether"
Iran's surprise move this week to begin enriching its uranium to a level
closer to weapons-grade violated an agreement with atomic inspectors in
Vienna, diplomats said, very likely providing the United States with another
piece of evidence that Iran is not living up to its international
commitments on its nuclear program.
The breach involved Iran's starting the enrichment process in the absence of
atomic inspectors - something that the International Atomic Energy Agency
had specifically asked Iran not to do. Narrowly, the violation was viewed as
technical in nature. But it caused resentment at the atomic agency's
headquarters in Vienna because Iran had acted so quickly and with such
apparent contempt of the agreement. . . .
The inspectors arrived Tuesday(9 Feb) at Natanz, the report said, and
monitored the Iranians as they moved 22 pounds of the low-enriched uranium
from the main plant to a smaller facility known as the pilot plant. On
Wednesday(10 Feb.), when the inspectors returned, they were told that Iran
had begun feeding uranium into the centrifuges the previous evening.. . .
The amount of uranium now undergoing higher enrichment is minuscule compared
with what Iran needs to fuel a reactor or, with greater enrichment, a bomb.
But nuclear experts see the escalation as significant because the United
Nations has called on Iran, instead of showing new proficiencies in
enrichment, to halt its program altogether.
=======
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA