APS Diplomat News Service articles from December 2005

APS Diplomat News Service archives from December 2005

Islamic Leaders Urged To Back The Arab Initiative For Iraq.
December 5, 2005... *** The Western Desert Of Iraq Is Said To Be Rich In Natural Gas & Palezoic Oil; Anbar Was Never Properly Studied By The High-Tech Geologists Of Multinationals *** East Baghdad Can Potentially Prove To Be A Super-Giant; It Was Once...

Iraq Swings Between Success For The US Project & Confrontation With Iran.
December 12, 2005... *** Zawahiri, No Longer Relevant As Al-Qaeda Has Been Taken Over By Zarqawi, Has Urged Neo-Salafi Attacks On Gulf Oil Sites And Says The US In Iraq Has Been Defeated: 'It's Only A Matter Of Time For The Americans To Leave With The Pretext That...

Billions Pour Into Iraqi Reconstruction.
December 12, 2005... As Iraq's US-backed transition from dictatorship to democracy approaches the end of its third year, lucrative contracting by foreign and Iraqi firms has moved behind the perimetres of US-built military installations. US and other companies left...

Secret Syria-Israel Talks?
December 12, 2005... Syria is said to be engaged in clandestine talks about reopening peace negotiations with Israel in an attempt to head off UN sanctions over its alleged role in the February assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister....

Zawahiri Urges Attacks On Gulf Oil Sites; Sees In Iraq 'Catastrophe' For USA.
December 12, 2005... Al-Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri on Dec. 7 urged Neo-Salafi militants to attack oil targets in Muslim states and said Osama bin Laden was still leading its battle against the West. "I bring a message of joy to all Muslims and...

Ahmadi-Nejad: Put Israel In Europe.
December 12, 2005... In Makkah participating in the Dec. 7-8 ICO summit, Iranian President Ahmadi-Nejad on Dec. 8 said Israelis wanting a Jewish state should establish one in Europe rather than the Middle East. Speaking in a press conference, he attacked Europe for...

Iran - How The Revolutionary Guards Are Taking Control Over The Theocracy.
December 19, 2005... *** US Victims Of The 1983 Beirut Suicide Bombing Seek Redress In EU As A Court On Dec. 15 Froze Iranian Assets In A Rome Bank Account; On Dec. 14 A US Court Ruling Ordered That Iran Must Pay $126M In Bomb Damages; There Are No Iranian Assets...

Why The Escalation & The Israeli Dimension.
December 19, 2005... Since then Ahmadi-Nejad has been concentrating his more frequent and more virulent attacks on Israel and Jewish lobbying in the West. This is primarily because in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear development plan - which is controlled by...

Implications Of The Arab Demise For Tehran.
December 19, 2005... In its verbal war against Israel and the West, Tehran under Ahmadi-Nejad is trying to take full advantage of the demise of the Arab regimes and their telling silence to what is happening in the Middle East. There are now three major local...

Ahmadi-Nejad's Policy Programmes.
December 19, 2005... As to President Bush's GME democratisation project, Ahmadi-Nejad gave his reply in a 7,000-word policy speech to parliament on Aug. 16, in which he presented his "short- and long-term programmes". In it he categorically stated that Western...

Iran Sanctions' Risk To Air Safety.
December 19, 2005... Six months before a US-made Iranian military transport plane crashed on Dec. 6 and killed 108 people, a report prepared for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) warned that American sanctions against Iran were placing civilian...

The Arabs Are Looking Inwards, Concerned With Local Issues; Pan-Arabism Is Declining.
December 26, 2005... *** Iran's Nuclear Status Should Not Be Viewed In Isolation - GCC Rulers Say They Have Nothing To Fear From Iran, Provided Its Nuke Plan Is For Peaceful Purpose And Urge The UNSC To Force Israel To Open Its Nuke Plants To IAEA Viewing; Iran Has...

GCC Calls For WMD-Free Middle East.
December 26, 2005... Meeting in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 18-19, the rulers of the six Arab Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states called for a Middle East free of nuclear bombs and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD). But they singled out only Israel, not Iran,...

A Worrying Iranian President.
December 26, 2005... Iran's potential nuclear threat took on ominous meaning after several recent speeches by its new President, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad. In stating Israel should be moved elsewhere and claiming the Holocaust was a myth, Ahmadi-Nejad deserves the...

How Ahmadi-Nejad Gains From Isolation.
December 26, 2005... Since taking office, Ahmadi-Nejad has had numerous problems, failing to deliver on his message of economic populism or to solidify the support of the conservatives who elected him and Supreme Leader Khamenei who supported him. But he has worked...

EU-Iran Talks Resume.
December 26, 2005... Meeting in Vienna on Dec. 21 Iranian and European negotiators tentatively agreed to meet again for talks in January, signaling the end of a four-month hiatus in negotiations meant to reduce fears that Tehran wants to make nuclear weapons. ...

Israel Points To Iran's 12 Potential N-Missiles.
December 26, 2005... Israel's army intelligence chief Maj Gen Aharon Zeevi-Farkash on Dec. 20 told the Israeli Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that Iran had obtained 12 cruise missiles which could be fitted with nuclear warheads. This was revealed...