Middle East Aggregator

Farewell, and We'll see you soon!

2008-06-11T14:52:00.001-04:00

As many of you may have noticed, the Aggregator has been slow to update over the past few days. This is because I am in the process of moving, and Stephen is touring Israel/Palestine on an academic trip. So, instead of sacrificing the quality of our news coverage, or further delaying the news getting to our readers, we have decided to discontinue posting temporarily, until either of us can begin dedicating the time necessary towards maintaining this site.

For those of you that have our feed on your web sites or blogs, it would be best to remove them as they will be stagnant. Readers registered to our RSS/ATOM or Email updates however, may opt to maintain a subscription, which will inform you when we are back online.

It has been a wonderful experience working on the Aggregator and its community, as well as having the opportunity to watch it grow. We hope to get it back online in the near future, if time permits. For now, Stephen and I, along with a great writer and journalist, Michael Corcoran, will be contributing news analysis to the Rational Manifesto. For reference, all news and tags will remain in tact on the Aggregator, which you can view at your discretion.

Thank you for your support,

Mohamed Al Khalifa

Olmert 'wants Lebanon talks'

2008-06-10T13:42:00.001-04:00

The Israeli prime minister has suggested that peace talks should be opened with Lebanon, following the resumption of negotiations with its neighbour Syria.
"Just as we started talks with Syria, I would hope it would be possible to start talks with Lebanon," an official quoted Ehud Olmert as saying in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Israel and Syria announced last month that they had been holding indirect talks through Turkey.
Further meetings are expected for later this week, officials said.

However, a source, who spoke to the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, said that the prime minister "wasn't asking for talks with Lebanon" but was voicing his hope that conditions would emerge to enable negotiations. (Al Jazeera)

Gaddafi rejects Mediterranean bloc

2008-06-10T13:41:00.001-04:00

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has opposed the proposal of a so-called Mediterranean Union.
Gaddafi said at a mini-summit of North African and Syrian leaders on Tuesday that it would harm efforts to achieve Arab and African unity.

"We are member states of the Arab League and also the African Union and we will not take any chances with damaging Arab or African Unity," he said.
"Our European partners need to understand that. We are in favour of partnership projects but they must take account of these red lines."

"If Europe wants to co-operate with us, let them do so through the Arab League or the African Union ... we will not accept that they deal only with a small group."

Gaddafi said that he believed the Mediterranean Union proposal was just another "passing fad" which would make no more progress than the so-called Euro-Mediterranean partnership process launched in Barcelona in 1995. (Al Jazeera)

Hamas members killed in Gaza raid

2008-06-10T13:39:00.001-04:00

Three members of Hamas's armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have been killed in an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say.

Health officials said at least four other Palestinians were wounded on Tuesday in separate Israeli air raids.

The Israeli military said it targeted fighters who had fired mortar rounds across the border.

Hamas said 16 mortar shells were fired towards an Israeli-controlled border crossing in retaliation for the killings.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman said Israel's military action "clearly indicates that Israel [is] not interested in achieving calm."

"Therefore they must be ready to pay the price," he told the Associated Press news agency.

The attacks occurred east of the town of Jebaliya, in northern Gaza. (Al Jazeera)

BBC uncovers lost Iraq billions

2008-06-10T13:38:00.001-04:00

A BBC investigation estimates that around $23bn (£11.75bn) may have been lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq.

For the first time, the extent to which some private contractors have profited from the conflict and rebuilding has been researched by the BBC's Panorama using US and Iraqi government sources.

A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations.

The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies.

While George Bush remains in the White House, it is unlikely the gagging orders will be lifted.

To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq.

The president's Democrat opponents are keeping up the pressure over war profiteering in Iraq.

Henry Waxman who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said: "The money that's gone into waste, fraud and abuse under these contracts is just so outrageous, its egregious.

"It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history." (BBC)

European Leaders Support Bush on Iran Sanctions

2008-06-10T13:36:00.001-04:00

Opening a farewell tour of Europe, President Bush won European support on Tuesday to consider additional punitive sanctions against Iran, including restrictions on its banks, if Iran rejects a package of incentives to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

President Bush at Brdo Castle in Kranj, Slovenia, with, from left, Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission; Janez Jansa, prime minister of Slovenia; and Javier Solana, the European Union�??s foreign policy chief.

Iran�??s leaders, the Mr. Bush said, �??can either face isolation, or they can have better relations with all of us if they verifiably suspend their enrichment program.�??

Mr. Bush was speaking at a news conference after what was billed as his final summit meeting with European officials before his term ends in January.

The meeting was held in the same small mountainous country as he chose for his first foray into Europe as president seven years ago.

It was, he said, a �??fitting circle�?? to return to Slovenia. One day he would return as a tourist, he said. �??You know, I�??m close to retirement.�??

A joint statement after the meeting urged Iran to �??comply with its international obligations concerning its nuclear activities.�?? (NY Times)

Al-Maliki's Balancing Act Leaves Iran Cool

2008-06-10T13:35:00.001-04:00

As Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sought to alleviate neighbouring Iran's increasing concerns about a security deal between his country and the United States, he strove to keep a delicate balance with the two countries which are vying for hegemony over Iraq.
Speaking alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran last Saturday, al-Maliki pledged that "Iraq will not be used as a military launch pad'' against Iran. The remarks by al-Maliki come at a time when Iran is becoming ever more suspicious of U.S. intentions toward it, fearing the superpower might consider using Iraq either as a base or a corridor to attack Iran.
But his apparent reassurances to Iran over a contentious security deal can hardly be mollifying to Iranians and perhaps at worst, in their view, denote al-Maliki's determination to maintain a strong relationship with the U.S.
Even the defence deal al-Maliki signed with Iran, which was meant to signify the importance Iraq attached to relations with its neighbour, hardly nears the new agreement with the U.S., which is still being negotiated but was outlined in the Declaration of Principles (DoP) signed by Iraqi and U.S. leaders late last year. The DoP states clearly that the U.S. will protect Iraq in the face of "foreign aggression", which many say is a code phrase for Iranian intervention in Iraq, as alleged by Washington. Iran is not going to be pleased with that sort of attitude from al-Maliki, a Shia whom Tehran expects to be more attentive to its concerns in Iraq.
The Iraq-Iran-U.S. triangle is a highly complex and complicated web of relationships. (IPS)

US: Iraq security pact can be finalized in July

2008-06-10T13:34:00.001-04:00

The U.S. State Department's top Iraq adviser said Tuesday he believes an agreement to establish a long-term security relationship between Iraq and the United States will be completed by the end of July.

"We're confident it can be achieved, and by the end of July deadline," David Satterfield told reporters in Baghdad's U.S.-guarded Green Zone.

The pact also would provide a legal basis for keeping American troops in Iraq after the U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

But tempering the optimism were recent reports in Iraq and Washington that the talks had stalled because of stiff Iraqi opposition, and it would not be finished before President Bush leaves office.

A senior Bush administration official close to the talks told The Associated Press on Monday that it was "very possible" the U.S. may have to extend the existing United Nations mandate.

Iran also has lashed out at the agreement, suggesting that if permanent U.S. military bases are established on Iraqi soil, the country could be used as a launching pad for attacks on the neighboring country.

Satterfield disputed that Tuesday, saying Washington "does not think Iraq should be an arena, a platform for attacks on other states." (AP)

Conference seeks cash and progress for Afghanistan

2008-06-10T13:33:00.001-04:00

Donor states, military powers and regional players will be seeking a more effective strategy for Afghanistan's development and security as well as pledging funds at a conference in Paris on Thursday.

Afghanistan will ask the ministers and other delegates from around 65 countries to fund a $50 billion five-year development plan, for which donors will demand that Kabul do more to fight corruption in what is one of the world's poorest states.

Two years after a similar meeting in London outlined an international effort to promote security, good governance and development, envoys will assess "remaining challenges" in Afghanistan, which still suffers daily violence more than six years after U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban government.

Last year alone, an insurgency by a rejuvenated Taliban accounted for some 6,000 deaths.

"No one anticipated the levels of violence that we see today. That's probably one of the best reasons for reviewing the London compact -- the basic assumptions in the compact did not hold true when they were written," said one official who briefed reporters. (Reuters)

Turkish PM: court must explain headscarf ruling

2008-06-10T13:32:00.001-04:00

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday the Constitutional Court must explain its decision to overturn a government-led reform allowing students to wear Muslim headscarves at university.

Last week's Constitutional Court ruling was the most serious setback for the Islamist-rooted AK Party since it came to power in 2002 and analysts said it increased the chances of the party being banned for Islamist activities, in a separate case.

Erdogan reiterated that the court was not authorized to examine the content of a constitutional amendment and should look only at the technical aspects of the reform.

"The Constitutional Court must certainly explain why it examined the contents of the reform in the (headscarf) case," he told a parliamentary group meeting.

The Constitutional Court normally gives reasons for its rulings after announcing the decision. The court's chairman said in this case that the justification would be announced, but not for the time being because of speculation surrounding the case. (Reuters)

Will it be 'Obama's war'?

2008-06-10T13:31:00.001-04:00

Senator Barack Obama has repeatedly assured the public that, if elected to the presidency, he will withdraw US troops from Iraq, and in a manner more cautious than the way in which the US went in.
He is unclear as to how many troops he would withdraw, which leaves a suspicious amount of ambiguity. Nonetheless, the Democratic faithful believe that he will keep his word and that his word denotes large-scale withdrawal. There are, however, extraordinary obstacles to large-scale withdrawal, which make some doubt that this change is one in which we can believe in.
The next president, regardless of his party, will face powerful foreign pressures to keep a major US commitment in Iraq, perhaps only somewhat less than the troop level of 140,000 we will have soon. Saudi Arabia warned the US against toppling Saddam Hussein's government. Brutal and sometimes menacing though it was, Saddam's Iraq was at least a barrier to Shi'ite and Iranian expansion in the Middle East. His ouster created a vacuum, and geopolitics abhors a vacuum at least as much as nature does.
Fearful that Iran might march west or at least incite the Shi'ites of Saudi Arabia and those in other Sunni states, the Saudis wish the US to stay in the region, indefinitely, as a guardian against Iran. Israel is also worried. It is not just the fear of an Iran with nuclear weapons; Israel also fears the expansion of Iranian influence in Lebanon, where Hezbollah is probably closer to Iran's Quds Force than ever. Iran has even gained influence with Hamas - a Sunni group - in Palestine. The Saudis and pro-Israel groups are exerting pressure on the US to maintain its troops in Iraq. Each of those groups wields considerable influence throughout Washington. Combined, their influence will be very difficult to overcome. (Asia Times)

Most Israeli ministers support Gaza military operation

2008-06-10T13:30:00.003-04:00

A majority of Israeli ministers on Tuesday voiced their support for launching a military operation in the Gaza Strip, while some others expressed their readiness to accept a serious truce with Palestinian militant groups.

"Israel must launch a large-scale operation in Gaza against Hamas and the rest of the terror organizations," Housing and Construction Minister Zeev Boim was quoted by local daily Yedioth Ahronoth as saying at the weekly cabinet meeting.

He added that "a truce would only serve Hamas' interests" and Israel cannot risk letting the militant group rearm itself "beforethe next round."

"We must act; The question is in what way," Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Eli Yishai told the cabinet, stressing that theJewish state cannot accept a "virtual" calm that does not include the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.

"But if there will be a serious ceasefire, then there's room totalk," he added. (Xinhua)

Guantanamo inmates suffering mental damage: report

2008-06-10T13:30:00.001-04:00

Over two-thirds of the detainees in the Guantanamo Bay prison are suffering from or at risk of mental problems because they are kept isolated in small cells with little light or fresh air, according to Human Rights Watch.

In a report entitled "Locked Up Alone: Detention Conditions and Mental Health at Guantanamo", the group says 185 of the 270 detainees at the U.S. military prison for terrorism suspects are housed in facilities similar to "supermax" prisons.

They spend 22 hours alone in cramped cells, have very limited contact with other human beings and are given little more than the Koran to occupy themselves, said the report, which is based interviews with government officials and attorneys.

Detainees held in this manner include many that have not been charged with crimes and have already been cleared for release or transfer, according to the report.

"Guantanamo detainees who have not even been charged with a crime are being warehoused in conditions that are in many ways harsher than those reserved for the most dangerous, convicted criminals in the United States," said Jennifer Daskal, senior counterterrorism counsel at Human Rights Watch.

More than six years after the United States began sending terrorism suspects to the naval base in Cuba, not a single case has gone to trial. (Reuters)

Qaeda groups active in Gaza after year under Hamas

2008-06-10T13:29:00.001-04:00

A year after Hamas Islamists seized control of the Gaza Strip, Abu Hafss is waiting impatiently to see a sword remove the hand of a thief or a woman stoned to death for adultery.

"Hamas does not implement the rule of God," the Palestinian ally of al Qaeda said. "We have seen no one have his hand cut off for stealing. We have seen no one stoned as an adulterer."

Yet for all Abu Hafss' disappointment with the approach Hamas has adopted since it routed secular rivals in Gaza a year ago, some analysts believe smaller, more radical groups like Abu Hafss' secretive Jaysh al-Ummah (Army of the Nation) have benefited from the Hamas takeover to expand their membership.

Despite an official Hamas policy of respecting the rights of Gaza's small Christian minority, there has been an increase in attacks on Christians in the past year, apparently by Islamists not content with the extent of Hamas's "Islamisation" of Gaza. (Reuters)

Survey of Israelis�?? Attitudes Toward Politics Finds Disgust and a Growing Apathy

2008-06-10T13:27:00.003-04:00

A third of Israelis expressed feelings of nausea, revulsion, depression or despair when asked what they felt or thought about the word �??politics,�?? according to a new survey. Another third said they instinctively associated politics with corruption, betrayal or deceit.

The survey, the annual Democracy Index, being published on Tuesday by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent research organization, also found that only about 60 percent of the public reported any interest in politics, a drop of 15 percentage points from the 2006 survey. Trust in public institutions has eroded significantly, with the army topping the list as the most trustworthy and the prime minister and political parties ranking last.

Early this year, 1,201 adults were queried in Hebrew, Arabic or Russian for the survey, which has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. It was conducted before a new political scandal broke involving Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Morris Talansky, a 75-year-old Long Island fund-raiser and financier who testified in May that he had given an estimated $150,000, mostly cash stuffed into envelopes, to Mr. Olmert over a period of 13 years. (NY Times)

Applying Iraq�??s Lessons in an Afghan Village

2008-06-10T13:27:00.001-04:00

United States marines pushed the Taliban out of this village and the surrounding district in southern Helmand Province so quickly in recent weeks that they called the operation a �??catastrophic success.�??

Yet, NATO troops had conducted similar operations here in 2006 and 2007, and the Taliban had returned soon after they left. The marines, drawing on lessons from Iraq, say they know what to do to keep the Taliban at bay if they are given the time.

�??There is definitely someone thinking out there,�?? said Capt. John Moder, commander of Company C of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, speaking of the Taliban. �??That�??s why we need these people to be at least neutral to us,�?? he said, gesturing to the farmers who have been slowly filtering back to harvest their fields.

Originally sent to Garmser District on a three-day operation to open a road, the marines have been here a month and are likely to stay longer. The extension of the operation reflects the evolving tactics of the counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan, building on the knowledge accumulated in recent years in Anbar Province in Iraq. (NY Times)

U.S. Official Cites 'Hardening' of Iraqi Detainees

2008-06-10T13:25:00.001-04:00

U.S. combat commanders are currently sending about 30 prisoners a day to the main U.S.-run detention centers in Iraq, with more of the detainees likely to be held for longer periods as security risks than those prisoners taken when the U.S. troop buildup first began last year, according to Maj. Gen. Douglas Stone Jr., the former head of the Iraq detention program.

"We're seeing a hardening of the population where there are guys that are as bad as they come," Stone told reporters yesterday at a Pentagon news conference. "Division commanders have gotten much better at determining that the guy's a real, legitimate . . . imperative security risk," he added, saying "conditions are perhaps a little bit less chaotic on the ground, so you can collect more information" about the detainees and determine that they would not be released after their initial six-month review.

Stone, who is ending a 14-month tour in Iraq during which he transformed the U.S. detention program, said there are now less than 21,000 Iraqis being held in U.S. facilities, down from a high of around 25,000. He said the number is coming down slowly, with about 50 detainees leaving and 30 entering daily, for a net decline of 20 per day. (Washington Post)

POLITICS-US: Pledging Allegiance to AIPAC

2008-06-10T13:20:00.001-04:00

With the Iranian nuclear "threat" in the crosshairs, discussion of Palestinians or a Syrian-Israeli detente was virtually non-existent. But then again, one should not expect many overtures for peace when attending the annual policy conference for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
As more than 5,000 Jewish-American activists ascended Capitol Hill last week, the most common word circulating through panel discussions, daily briefings, and remarks made by high-level officials and presidential candidates was "security" -- more accurately, Israel's security.
And most of the tough talk, whether substantive or merely stylistic, was directed at a nuclear Iran and its presumed proxies -- Lebanese Hezbollah, Palestinian Hamas, and even Syria.
The policy prescriptions, outlined in a draft proposal of AIPAC's policy agenda, urge, among other things, that the U.S. "take all appropriate measures to halt Iran's pursuit of nuclear and 152 other weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them."
The language remains unsettling for many Democrats and war-weary U.S. citizens, who view it as a license for the President George W. Bush administration to launch a military attack on Iran. (IPS)

Iraqi artifacts return to Baghdad

2008-06-10T13:18:00.001-04:00

The Iraqi antiquities department has taken delivery of 11 ancient ceremonial seals that were looted after the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

Originally from the national museum, the artifacts, some of which date from 3,000BC, were seized by US customs officials in the city of Philadelphia.

The circumstances of their discovery have not been made public.

Iraq has previously blamed the looting of thousands of artifacts on organised smugglers and occupying foreign troops.

The country has been carrying out a worldwide campaign to get the objects back.

In April, 700 stolen pieces - including gold coins and jewellery - were seized by customs officials in Syria and returned to Iraq.

Officials say a further 1,600 items are awaiting return from Jordan. (BBC)

Iraq troops decision 'this year'

2008-06-10T13:04:00.001-04:00

The final withdrawal of British troops from Iraq could be announced by the end of the year, the BBC has learned.

Discussions have begun about pulling forces out if the security situation continues to improve.

However, any withdrawal of troops could take many months after a political announcement is made.

Ministers are under pressure from the military to release the 4,000 troops who are currently serving in Iraq while pressures are mounting in Afghanistan.

Previous plans to reduce troop numbers to 2,500 were put on hold in March.

This followed a bout of violence dubbed the "battle of Basra". (BBC)

Family of captured Israeli soldier receives letter

2008-06-10T12:59:00.001-04:00

The family of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier abducted by militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, received a hand-written letter from him, Israeli officials said on Monday.

Shalit, then 19, was captured on June 25, 2006 by Palestinian gunmen who tunneled into Israel from Gaza. There has been no sign of life from the captive soldier except for a letter in September 2006 and an audio tape released by Hamas last June.

Shalit's family was not available for comment.

The release of the letter comes as Egypt is trying to broker a truce between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.

A senior Hamas official said the letter was released in a gesture to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter who met with the group's leaders during a trip to the region in April. (Reuters)

Pentagon blocked Cheney's attack on Iran

2008-06-10T12:54:00.001-04:00

Pentagon officials firmly opposed a proposal by Vice President Dick Cheney last summer for airstrikes against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) bases by insisting that the administration would have to make clear decisions about how far the United States would go in escalating the conflict with Iran, according to a former George W Bush administration official.
J Scott Carpenter, who was then deputy assistant secretary of state in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, recalled in an interview that senior Defense Department (DoD) officials and the Joint Chiefs used the escalation issue as the main argument against the Cheney proposal.
McClatchy newspapers reported last August that Cheney had proposal several weeks earlier "launching airstrikes at suspected training camps in Iran", citing two officials involved in Iran policy.
According to Carpenter, who is now at the Washington Institute on Near East Policy, a strongly pro-Israel think-tank, Pentagon officials argued that no decision should be made about the limited airstrike on Iran without a thorough discussion of the sequence of events that would follow an Iranian retaliation for such an attack. Carpenter said the DoD officials insisted that the Bush administration had to make "a policy decision about how far the administration would go - what would happen after the Iranians would go after our folks". (Asia Times)

Syrian anthem played for Lebanese

2008-06-09T12:33:00.001-04:00

Saudi Arabian football authorities are investigating an error that led to the Syrian national anthem being played before a match against Lebanon.

Several Lebanese players were visibly angry when the wrong anthem was played before Saturday's game, reports say.

Officials at the stadium quickly realised their mistake, and eventually played the correct national anthem before the World Cup qualifying clash.

Lebanon went on to lose the match in the Saudi capital Riyadh, 2-1.

Syrian influence in Lebanon remains one of the most divisive issues there. (BBC)

Death sentence for Yemen 'rebel'

2008-06-09T12:32:00.001-04:00

A court in Yemen has sentenced one man to death and jailed 13 others for forming an armed group.

Defendants were convicted of having links with Shia rebels, who have been involved in fighting with the security forces in north Yemen.

The man sentenced to death has been named as Jafar al-Murhabi, but no reason has been given for the much tougher sentence he received.

The other defendants received jail terms of up to 10 years.

The defendants were convicted of charges relating to plots to attack Yemeni troop transporters and government buildings, and contaminate water supplies to military bases.

Some were also found guilty of killing two security officials who died chasing "criminals", court papers said.

One of those jailed was journalist Abdulkarim al-Khaywani.

Khaywani, who was jailed for six years, was editor of a weekly newspaper al-Shura.

Yemen's union of journalists condemned the sentence. (BBC)

Deaths in Algeria bus station blast

2008-06-09T12:30:00.001-04:00

A bomb has exploded at a bus station in a town east of the capital Algiers, killing 20 people, Reuters news agency, quoting a security source, says.

The bomb went off on Monday in Bouira, some 120km from Algeria, the source said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

It was the fourth deadly bomb attack in six days in regions east of the capital of the oil- and gas-exporting North African country.

On Sunday, 13 people including a French engineer were killed by a twin bomb attack at a railway station east of Algiers. (Al Jazeera)