Excerpts: Saudi backs aviation treaties to fight terrorism. Obama warns
Hamas. Obama warns Hamas. UN delays Hariri indictment. Hamas attack
challenges Palestinian Authority. Jordan's Abdullah/Obama meet before 'peace
talks' begin. Obama warns Hamas. Iran visit to Egypt put off 2 September
2010
+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 2 Sept '10:"Kingdom backs aviation treaties to
fight
terrorism",By Mohammed Al-Kinani
SUBJECT: Saudi backs aviation treaties to fight terrorism.
EXCERPTS:JEDDAH - Saudi Arabia has expressed its continued support for all
treaties
and conventions to fight terrorism and threats to international aviation.
This is according to Prince Turki Bin Faisal Bin Turki, Deputy President of
the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), who led a Saudi delegation
to China for the International Diplomatic Conference to Review The Hague and
Montreal Conventions on aviation security.
Prince Turki said Saudi Arabia presented a working paper calling for some
alterations to the articles of the two conventions that would preserve the
interests of Saudi Arabia and Arab countries.
In his speech to the conference, which started on Tuesday, Prince Turki
expressed the hope that delegates would reach agreement on contentious
issues.. . .
+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 2 Sept. '10:"Obama warns Hamas as peace talks open"
Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Qbama warns Hamas
EXCERPTS:WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama Wednesday warned Hamas
its
"senseless slaughter" would not thwart his Middle East peace drive but a row
over Israeli settlements clouded the opening of the long-odds talks.
Obama condemned the Islamist group for gunning down four Israeli settlers on
the West Bank, billing the attack as a bid to scupper direct
Israeli-Palestinian talks here before they even start on Thursday.
"The tragedy we saw yesterday, by terrorists who are purposely trying to
undermine these talks, is an example of what we are up against," Obama said,
with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side.
On the eve of the first direct Israeli-Palestinian talks for 20 months,
Obama gathered regional power brokers for one-to-one sessions and a joint
dinner at the White House, putting his personal credibility on the line.
The talks will take place with few of the parties, or outside observers,
predicting success amid widespread regional distrust, and with each side
retrenching conflicting positions before the bargaining begins.
Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton late Tuesday that he
would not extend a 10-month freeze on settlement building on the West Bank
when it expires on September 26, his office said.
But the Palestinians immediately warned that a resumption of settlement
construction would mean the end of peace talks.
"The settlements must be halted and continuing them will signal the end of
the peace process," Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told
journalists.
In a flurry of high-stakes diplomacy, coming as his domestic popularity ebbs
due to the slowing recovery, Obama was also holding separate talks with His
Majesty King Abdullah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak.
Abbas on Tuesday(31 Aug) said the attack, in Kiryat Arba, a West Bank
settlement,
was intended to "disrupt the political process".
Hamas, which rules Gaza, is opposed to the peace talks and is a rival of
Abbas' US-backed Palestinian Authority.
. . .
+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 2 Sept. '10:"Obama warns Hamas as peace talks open"
Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Qbama warns Hamas
EXCERPTS:WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama Wednesday warned Hamas
its
"senseless slaughter" would not thwart his Middle East peace drive but a row
over Israeli settlements clouded the opening of the long-odds talks.
Obama condemned the Islamist group for gunning down four Israeli settlers on
the West Bank, billing the attack as a bid to scupper direct
Israeli-Palestinian talks here before they even start on Thursday.
"The tragedy we saw yesterday, by terrorists who are purposely trying to
undermine these talks, is an example of what we are up against," Obama said,
with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side.
On the eve of the first direct Israeli-Palestinian talks for 20 months,
Obama gathered regional power brokers for one-to-one sessions and a joint
dinner at the White House, putting his personal credibility on the line.
The talks will take place with few of the parties, or outside observers,
predicting success amid widespread regional distrust, and with each side
retrenching conflicting positions before the bargaining begins.
Netanyahu told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton late Tuesday that he
would not extend a 10-month freeze on settlement building on the West Bank
when it expires on September 26, his office said.
But the Palestinians immediately warned that a resumption of settlement
construction would mean the end of peace talks.
"The settlements must be halted and continuing them will signal the end of
the peace process," Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told
journalists.
In a flurry of high-stakes diplomacy, coming as his domestic popularity ebbs
due to the slowing recovery, Obama was also holding separate talks with His
Majesty King Abdullah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak.
Abbas on Tuesday(31 Aug) said the attack, in Kiryat Arba, a West Bank
settlement,
was intended to "disrupt the political process".
Hamas, which rules Gaza, is opposed to the peace talks and is a rival of
Abbas' US-backed Palestinian Authority.
. . .
+++SOURCE:Jordan Times 2 Sept.'10:"UN prosecutor says will not rush Hariri
indictment", Reuters
SUBJECT: UN delays Hariri indictments
FULL TEXT:
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The UN prosecutor investigating the killing of Lebanon's
former premier Rafik Hariri said he would not rush to indict suspects,
dampening expectations of imminent indictments which had raised tensions in
Lebanon.
"Let me state clearly that the indictment has not been drafted yet," Daniel
Bellemare said in a rare media interview published by the website NOW
Lebanon. "I will only file the indictment when I am satisfied there is
enough evidence".
Media reports had said that Bellemare could issue indictments this month
against members of the Shiite group Hizbollah in connection with the 2005
bombing which killed Hariri and 22 other people.
Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who has denied any Hizbollah
involvement in the killing and called the UN tribunal an "Israeli project",
stepped up his criticism in recent weeks.
That raised tensions in the unity government led by Hariri's son, Prime
Minister Saad Hariri, who supports the UN court.
Bellemare rejected accusations that the five-year investigation was
politicised.
"We operate in a political context. But the decision that will be made is
not a political decision," he said.
Asked if he would file any indictment by the end of the year, Bellemare said
he was "very optimistic" and was moving as fast as possible.
"Let's say as soon as possible, but not sooner than possible," he said.
He said video footage provided by Hizbollah, which Nasrallah said showed
that Israeli drones had surveyed the route taken by Hariri's motorcade
before the bombing, was being assessed and was "not being taken lightly".
"If somebody comes to me with credible evidence that shows me that I may not
be on the right path, whatever path I am on, then of course I will look at
that material. That is exactly what we are doing," he said, adding he did
not know whether Hizbollah's evidence would further delay any indictment.
Bellemare declined to say whether his team had questioned any Israelis.
"What I am saying is that we are reviewing all the possible existing
evidence."
Hizbollah has often questioned the tribunal's neutrality, saying its work
could have been tainted by false testimony and reliance on telephone records
that Israeli spies arrested in Lebanon could have manipulated.
The tribunal has indicted no one since it was set up by the UN Security
Council in May 2007. Last year it ordered the release of four pro-Syrian
Lebanese generals jailed for four years without charge. Lebanese authorities
had detained them at the request of a former UN investigator in 2005.
+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 2 Sept.'10:"Hamas throws down gauntlet in West Bank"
By Tom Perry,Reuters
SUBJECT: Hamas attack challenges Palestinian Authority
RAMALLAH - A lethal attack by Hamas fighters on Jewish settlers in the West
Bank is as much a challenge to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority as
it is to Israel, and seems bound to deepen the Palestinian divide.
The armed wing of the Islamist group threw down the gauntlet to President
Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday(31 Aug) by killing four Israelis in the occupied
territory
where his security forces, retrained with US support, have worked to prevent
such violence. The attack was proof Hamas has survived what it describes as
Abbas' efforts to "uproot" it from the West Bank.
It immediately exacerbated tensions between him and the rival movement,
whose stronghold is the Gaza Strip, vacated by Israeli forces five years
ago.
On the eve of peace talks in Washington, Abbas' security forces rounded up
Hamas activists in the West Bank. The Iranian-backed Islamists called this
an act of treason.
"The operation will deepen the divide," said Palestinian commentator Hany Al
Masri, who has played a role in efforts to reconcile the two groups despite
their fundamental differences over the future with Israel and their rival
foreign allies.
The Hamas armed wing, the Izzeddine Al Qassam Brigades, promises more
attacks. A senior security official in Abbas' administration promises more
arrests.
Some 250 people associated with Hamas in the West Bank were rounded up on
Wednesday(1 Sept), the group said.
Security shattered
The shooting was the deadliest attack on Israelis in the West Bank in four
years. It jolted a security situation which Jewish settlers had said was
never better. The Palestinian Authority says stability is in the
Palestinians' interest.
"The aim of the operation is to send a message to Israel, Abu Mazen and
others that Hamas does exist and it can disrupt your plans," a senior Hamas
official in the West Bank told Reuters, using Abbas' popular name.
"The other message is to say that Abu Mazen cannot protect the security of
the Israelis and the settlers, despite arrests."
The chasm between the Palestinian rivals was reflected in their rhetoric.
Naming its operation "The Flood of Fire", the Qassam Brigades said the
attack was a "continuation of the jihad and resistance project against the
Zionist enemy until the liberation of the land".
Abbas was due to launch direct peace talks in Thursday with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seeking a treaty that would end the six-decade
old conflict by creating a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza at
peace with Israel.
Hamas, part of an alliance including Iran, Syria and Lebanon's Hizbollah,
has long opposed the negotiation process.
The group says it backs creation of a Palestinian state on lands occupied by
Israel in 1967, but will only sign up to a long-term truce, not a permanent
peace. Its charter calls for Israel's destruction.
Salam Fayyad, Abbas' prime minister, said bloodshed was "incompatible with
Palestinian interests" and warned the Palestinians against being "sucked
into a spiral of violence".
"Renouncing violence is the path to salvation, not exploiting the suffering
of the Palestinian people in the service of factional and regional agendas,"
said Fayyad, who promotes non-violent activism against Israeli occupation.
+++SOURCE: Jordan Times 2 Sept '10:"King meets Obama on eve of direct
Mideast
peace talks"
Jordan's Abdullah/Obama meet before 'peace talks' begin
EXCERPTS: AMMAN (JT) - His Majesty King Abdullah met in Washington on
Wednesday with
US President Barack Obama ahead of a wide-ranging meeting scheduled later in
the day that was to bring together top leaders involved in the Mideast peace
process.
The meeting with Obama was part of a series of separate meetings held on the
eve of the launch of direct talks between the Palestinians and Israelis.
His Majesty discussed peace efforts with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak,
Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, and Quartet representative Tony Blair.
Obama also met yesterday with Mubarak, Netanyahu and Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas, warning in a statement after the meetings that the
Palestinians and Israelis must not let a fleeting opportunity for peace slip
away, Agence France-Presse reported.
During King Abdullah's one-on-one meeting with the US president, the two
leaders discussed steps that should be taken to create a proper environment
for successful talks.
Such an environment should guarantee swift and effective progress in the
one-year talks, leading to a peace deal between the Palestinians and Israel
and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that lives in
peace and security with Israel "as soon as possible", a Royal Court
statement said.. . .
+++SOURCE: Egyptian Gazette 2 Sept.'10:"Obama warns Hamas as peace talks
open", Associated Press
SUBJECT: Obama warns Hamas.
EXCERPTS:WASHINGTON - Opening Mideast talks just after fresh violence,
President
Barack Obama on Wednesday(1 Sept) warned militant Hamas that the United
States and
its allies won't be stopped in their pursuit of peace by the acts of
terrorists.
Standing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White
House, Obama condemned the killings on Tuesday(31 Aug) of four Israelis who
were
shot while traveling near the West Bank city of Hebron. Hamas, which rejects
Israel's right to exist and opposes peace talks, claimed responsibility.
"I want everybody to be very clear," Obama said. "The United States is
going to be unwavering in its support of Israel's security. And we are going
to push back against these kinds of terrorist attacks. And so the message
should go out to Hamas and everyone else who is taking credit for these
heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us."
Netanyahu praised Obama for his support and for expressing the
sentiments of "decent people everywhere." Both leaders said their opening
talks on Wednesday(1 Sept) morning, part of a series of separate
discussions, that
also were to include Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, were productive.
. . .. The militant Hamas movement, which rejects Israel's right to exist
and opposes peace talks,
claimed responsibility[for the attack]. Israeli officials called the
shooting an attempt to
sabotage the discussions and the White House weighed in with its own
condemnation.
"This brutal attack underscores how far the enemies of peace will go to
try to block progress" in the talks, White House press secretary Robert
Gibbs said in a strongly worded statement. "It is crucial that the parties
persevere, keep moving forward even through difficult times, and continue
working to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region that provides
security for all peoples."
In remarks to reporters before their meeting Tuesday evening at a
Washington hotel, Netanyahu, with Clinton at his side, said: "We will not
let terror decide where Israelis live or the configuration of our final
borders. These and other issues will be determined in negotiations for peace
that we are conducting and in these negotiations."
Clinton was equally firm.
"We pledge to do all we can always to protect and defend the state of
Israel and to provide security to the Israeli people," she said. "That is
one of the paramount objectives that Israel has and the United States
supports in these negotiations." . . .
+++SOURCE: Egyptian Gazette 2 Sept.'10:"Iranian FM's Cairo visit put off"
SUBJECT: Iran vist to Egypt put off
EXCERPTS:CAIRO-- The Egyptian Foreign Ministry Wednesday(1 Sept) summoned
the Iranian Charged's Affaires in Cairo to clarify remarks attributed to
Iran's Foreign
Minister Egyptian Manouchehr Mottaki in which he described Arab leaders'
participation in Washington's relaunch of direct Palestinian-Israeli talks
as treason.
The Foreign Ministry informed the Iranian diplomat that a visit, which
was due by Mottaki to Cairo on September, has been delayed, The Gazette
Online has learnt.
Irans Foreign Minister will visit Cairo for NAM talks.
Currently Iran, Egypt and Cuba are members of the NAM troika.
Mehmanparast told reporters on Tuesday(31 Aug) that the troika meeting will
probably
be held before the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
. . .
Diplomatic ties have been cut between Cairo and Tehran since 1979 when
Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel. Recent attempts to mend their
relations have failed.
========
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA
|
