Excerpts: Human rights groups urge Syria to lift 47 year old 'state of
emergency'."death threats for drawings of the prophet" March 09, 2010

+++SOURCE: JORDAN TIMES 9 Mar'10:"Syria urged to lift state of
emergency"Agence
France Presse

FULL TEXT:DAMASCUS (AFP) - Human rights groups in Syria on Monday urged the
government to lift a 47-year-old state of emergency, free political
prisoners and allow greater political freedoms. "We call on the Syrian
government to lift the state of emergency, which has been in force since
1963, and to close the file on political prisoners by freeing them," said a
joint statement. The rights groups called on authorities to "annul the
emergency courts and the judgements put forth by these tribunals". The
statement appealed for a law on political parties that "would allow citizens
to take part in political life". Notable signatories of the text included
the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Syrian League for the Defence
of Human Rights and the Kurdish Committee for Human Rights. Their statement
called on the government "to take all measures to amend laws limiting the
activities of human rights organisations, and which prohibit them from
working publicly and freely".

+++SOURCE: SYRIA REPORT 9 Mar.'10: German Development Bank KfW Provides EUR
50 million for Sayyida Zeynab Water Project

EXCERPT:KfW, the German Development Bank, is providing EUR 50.2 million to
finance the construction of a water sewage and network system in the Sayyida
Zeynab district of Damascus.

SOURCE: SYRIA REPORT 9Mar.'10: "Reclaiming of Land on Euphrates to Add
23,000 hectares of Cultivable Area
EXCERPT:The state institution in charge of reclaiming lands in the Euphrates
basin will add some 23,000 hectares of cultivable land in 2010 at a cost of
SYP 9 billion.

SOURCE: SYRIA REPOT 9 Mar'10:" Syria, (Japan International Cooperation
Agency) JICA Provides USD 16 million in Grants
JICA, Japan's International Cooperation Agency, is providing Syria with USD
16.27 million in grants to finance projects in the waste management, clean
power and education fields.

SOURCE: Syria Report 8 Mar.'10:"(National Bank of Kuwait) NBK to Open Syrian
Affiliate
EXCERPT:National Bank of Kuwait has received a preliminary approval from the
Syrian and Kuwaiti monetary authorities to establish a bank in Syria,
Ibrahim Dabdoub, Chief Executive Officer of NBK Group, said.

SOURCE:Syria Report 9 Mar.'10:"('Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank) Gulf
Finance House to Launch Islamic Lender in Syria
EXCERPT:Gulf Finance House, a Bahrain-based Islamic investment bank, is
setting-up an Islamic bank in Syria in joint venture with local partners.

SOURCE: Syria Report 9 Mar.'10: "Syria to Buy(Azerbaijan) Azeri Gas
EXCERPT:Syria plans to purchase some 1-1.5 billion cubic meters of natural
gas a year from Azerbaijan starting in the middle of 2011.

+++SOURCE: Bikya Masr via Egypt Daly News 8 Mar.'10:"Egypt joins
international
gas cartel"

QUOTE:"Egypt is joining The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), a 'gas
equivalent' of the OPEC oil cartel"

CAIRO: Egypt is joining the international gas cartel, a local newspaper
reported Sunday(7 Mar). According to the semi-governmental al-Ahram daily
newspaper, Egypt's parliament has ratified a deal officially confirming the
North African country's participation in an international gas cartel.
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), a "gas equivalent" of the OPEC oil
cartel, comprises Qatar, Russia, Algeria, Bolivia, Venezuela, Egypt, Iran,
Libya, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago and Equatorial Guinea.
The GECF was established in the Iranian capital Tehran in 2001. Its charter
was adopted at the seventh ministerial meeting in Moscow in 2008.
The paper quoted Egyptian members of Parliament as saying that the country's
involvement in the international gas system would enable Cairo to obtain
advanced technologies of natural gas prospecting, mining and transportation,
gain access to analytical and research information and participate in
international gas transportation projects.
Egypt's proven natural gas reserves total 1.89 billion cubic meters. Egypt
exports both natural gas and liquefied natural gas, holding the sixth place
in the world in terms of gas exports.
, a 'gas equivelent' of the OPEC oil cartel

+++SOURCE: WASHINGTON POST 9 Mar.'10:"7 arrested in Ireland over Swedish
cartoonist plot", Associatted Press

SUBJECT: "death threats for 'drawings of the prophet"'

DUBLIN -- Police in Ireland on Tuesday(9 Mar) arrested seven people over an
alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad
with the body of a dog.
Irish police said four men and three women were detained in raids across the
south of the country.
The force says the arrests were part of an investigation into a "conspiracy
to murder an individual in another jurisdiction."
The force offered the statement in response to a question about Lars Vilks,
whom Britain's Press Association news agency identified as the target.
Police said the suspects were aged from their mid-20s to their late 40s. It
did not identify their nationality.
Police say the investigation involved law enforcement agencies in the U.S.
and several European countries.
Al-Qaida in Iraq put a $100,000 bounty on Vilks' head after a Swedish
newspaper ran his picture of Muhammad's head on a dog's body in 2007. He was
put under police protection and moved to a secret location in Sweden.
Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable,
for fear it could lead to idolatry.
Vilks is not the first cartoonist to have received death threats for
drawings of the prophet.
Kurt Westergaard, a Danish cartoonist who in 2005 depicted Muhammad wearing
a bomb-shaped turban, also received death threats. In January, a Somali man
was arrested after breaking into his home in western Denmark armed with an
ax.
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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA