APS Diplomat Recorder articles from April 2006

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from April 2006

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 26 - Arab Ministers Call For Continued Palestinian Aid.
April 1, 2006... Arab FMs dismiss Western explanations for cutting aid to the PA but offers no extra money to compensate for a budget shortfall when Hamas takes office. The ministers, meeting in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to prepare for an Arab summit this...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Mar 26 - Blair Says US Allies Must Not Quit Iraq Now.(Tony Blair)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... British PM Tony Blair says that Iraq and Afghanistan are decisive battlegrounds for the values the West believes in and warns of the risk of a US retreat into isolationism. In a speech to the Australian parliament, Blair made his case for the...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 31 - Rice Admits 'Thousands Of Tactical Mistakes' In Iraq.(Condoleezza Rice)
April 1, 2006... US State Sec Rice accepts the US had probably made thousands of errors in Iraq but defends the overall strategy of removing Saddam Hussein. Local Muslims and anti-war activists told Rice to "Go Home" when British counterpart Jack Straw earlier...

IRAQ - Mar 26 - 30 Killed In Baghdad.
April 1, 2006... US troops arrest at least 40 Iraqi Interior Ministry troops holding 17 foreigners in a secret bunker complex, while at least 18 Iraqis are killed after US troops clash with a Shi'ite militia. The developments came hours after 30 bodies, most of...

ISRAEL - Mar 28 - Kadima Claims Victory In Israeli Elections.
April 1, 2006... Israel's centrist Kadima declares victory in the country's elections, claiming a mandate for Ehud Olmert's plan to fix the country's borders in the next four years after strategic withdrawals from the West Bank. Despite a narrower-than-expected...

ISRAEL - Mar 29 - Olmert Considers Options After Slender Victory.(Ehud Olmert)
April 1, 2006... Ehud Olmert embarks on forming a broad coalition to implement his plan for separating Israel from the Palestinians after his new Kadima party wins the largest number of seats in Mar 28 elections. With just 28 seats in the 120-member Knesset,...

PALESTINE - Mar 26 - Abbas: Hamas Needs 'To Change Policy'.(Mahmoud Abbas)
April 1, 2006... Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas denies threatening to bring down Hamas' incoming government but insists that the group must adopt more moderate stances to avoid a stalemate with his authority. Abbas had warned in a letter to the incoming Hamas...

PALESTINE - Mar 28 - Parliament Approves Haniyeh Cabinet.(Ismail Haniyeh )
April 1, 2006... The new Palestinian Cabinet of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is approved overwhelmingly by the Palestine Legislative Council (Parliament). Of the 109 legislators present, 71 gave their vote of confidence for the new Cabinet, 36 voted against and...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Apr 6 - EU Rejects Plan To Suspend Palestinian Aid.(Brief article)
April 8, 2006... EU diplomats reject a proposal to suspend direct aid to the PA because some EU countries consider the measure "too brutal". Representatives of the 25 EU member states refused to endorse a European Commission proposal that would have suspended...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Apr 3 - Israel Kills Commander Of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
April 8, 2006... Israeli occupation forces shoot Raed Abayat to death, the top commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah movement early Apr 2 in a raid on the West Bank town of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, witnesses and security sources...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Apr 5 - Israel's Largest Bank Severs Ties With Palestine.
April 8, 2006... Bank Hapoalim, Israel's largest bank, announces that it is severing ties with its Palestinian counterparts after a Hamas-led government took office in the Palestinian territories. It was the latest financial measure adopted against a PA...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Apr 2 - Time Running Out In Iraq, Rice Cautions.(Condoleezza Rice)
April 8, 2006... US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, tells Iraqi leaders that time is running out to form a new government. "The Iraqi people are losing patience", Ms Rice said after meeting Sunni, Shi'ites and Kurdish leaders during a surprise trip to...

IRAN - Apr 7 - Iran Ready For High-Level Talks, US Resists.
April 8, 2006... Iran prepares a high-level delegation to hold wide-ranging talks with the US, but the Bush administration is resisting the agenda suggested by Tehran despite pressure from European allies to engage the Islamic republic. A senior Iranian...

IRAQ - Apr 4 - Iraq Charges Saddam With Genocide.
April 8, 2006... The special court that is trying Saddam Hussein announces that it has charged the former President and six others with attempting to annihilate the Kurdish people through military operations in 1988 that killed at least 50,000 civilians and...

IRAQ - Apr 5 - Saddam Admits He Swiftly Doomed 148 Villagers.
April 8, 2006... Bombarded with questions during the first cross-examination in his trial, Saddam Hussein admits that he had signed an order of execution for 148 men and boys with only a cursory glance at the evidence. The testimony appeared to bolster the case...

IRAQ - Apr 6 - Car Bomb Kills Pilgrims Outside Shrine.
April 8, 2006... A car bomb explodes in a crowd of worshippers and pedestrians near Najaf's Imam Ali Mosque, one of the most sacred Shi'ite shrines in the world, killing at least 10 people and wounding 42. The attack seemed calculated to stir sectarian fury: It...

ISRAEL - Apr 4 - Olmert To Form Coalition With Labour As Senior Partner.(Ehud Olmert)
April 8, 2006... The country's acting PM and Kadima party leader Ehud Olmert, announces he planned to form a coalition government with the Labour party as his senior partner, an alliance that would enhance the prospect of future withdrawals from the West Bank....

PALESTINE - Apr 2 - Hamas Determined To End Armed Chaos.
April 8, 2006... The Hamas-led Palestinian government says that it is determined to put an end to armed chaos and impunity after three people are killed in clashes between rival militants. Palestinian Interior Minister Said Siam pledged this in reference to Mar...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Apr 18 - Olmert Against Military Response To Bombing.
April 22, 2006... Israel's PM-designate Ehud Olmert, decides to refrain from military action against the Hamas-led Palestinian government but blames it for Apr 17 suicide bombing that killed nine people, for which Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. Olmert...

AFGHANISTAN - Apr 20 - Karzai Wins Major Cabinet Victory.
April 22, 2006... Pres Hamid Karzai wins broad approval from the Parliament for his reshuffled cabinet, with 20 of the 25 nominated ministers approved and only five rejected in daylong voting. Some parliamentarians raised objections about the results for three...

IRAN - Apr 16 - Rafsanjani Doubts US Will 'Risk War'.(Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani)(Brief article)
April 22, 2006... Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the country's influential former President, says in Syria that the US is "incapable of taking a risk" of a war in the region without seriously discussing Iran's nuclear programme. Rafsanjani, who will also visit...

IRAN - Apr 18 - Iran Will Cut Off The Hand Of Aggressor - Ahmadi-nejad.
April 22, 2006... Hardline Pres Mahmoud Ahmadi-nejad vows that Iran will "cut off the hand of any aggressor", as the Islamic republic's army put on a show of strength in their annual military parade. "The enemies know that the Iranian army ranks among the most...

IRAN - Apr 19 - Ex-Iranian Nuclear Negotiator Rowhani Makes Call For 'Less Emotion'.
April 22, 2006... The country's former top security official Hassan Rowhani, has called for "more balance more reason, and less emotion" in Tehran's approach to the nuclear crisis. His remarks, reported by the official ISNA news agency, were unusually direct in...

IRAQ - Apr 18 - Fears Grow Over Sunni Backing For Iraq Insurgency.
April 22, 2006... Sunni politicians on condemn government forces who battled guerillas in a Baghdad neighbourhood, feeding fears that rising sectarian violence and Shi'ite militia activity may be pushing Iraq's Sunni population toward supporting the insurgency....

IRAQ - Apr 20 - Iraq Shi'ites Move To End Deadlock Over PM.
April 22, 2006... PM Ibrahim al-Jaa'fari opens the way to the formation of a new government by agreeing to let his Shi'ite allies reconsider his candidacy. Jaa'fari, the candidate of the Shi'ite-led UIA, the largest group in parliament following December's...

IRAQ - Apr 21 - Shi'ite Alliance Selects New PM Candidate.
April 22, 2006... Iraqi political leaders moves closer to creating a new government with the nomination of a new PM. Jawad al-Maliki was selected to replace the incumbent Ibrahim al-Jaa'fari, whose candidacy met fierce opposition from rival Sunni and Kurdish...

PALESTINE - Apr 20 - Palestinians Warn Of Severe Credit Crunch.
April 22, 2006... Palestinian businesses and private sector officials warn of severe instability and a credit crunch by local banks in the wake of western attempts to press the Hamas-led government by cutting off budgetary support and directing aid to...

PALESTINE - Apr 20 - New Palestinian Force To Be Led By Militants.
April 22, 2006... The interior minister Siad Siam, a Hamas leader, announces the creation of a new security force that will be led by and made up of militants, a move that could increase friction between the Hamas-led government and the PA Pres, Mahmoud Abbas....

ARAB AFFAIRS - Apr 26 - Syria Denies Being Base Of Any Hamas Leader.
April 29, 2006... Damascus rejects accusations that Hamas had smuggled weapons into Jordan through Syria. "Pretending that a Hamas military leader in Syria was behind the operation is completely false. Syria is not aware of any Hamas military leader inside its...

ARABS-US RELATIONS - Apr 26 - Functioning Government 'Key To Solving Iraq Crisis'.
April 29, 2006... The second most senior US general in Iraq Lt Gen Peter Chiarelli says creating a functioning national unity government is the key to quieting both the Sunni insurgency and the danger posed by Shi'ite militias. He said: I honestly believe, with...

ARABS-US RELATIONS - Apr 26 - Rice And Rumsfeld To Meet Iraqi PM.(Jawad al-Maliki)(Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleeza Rice)
April 29, 2006... The US' diplomatic and military chiefs both flies in to Baghdad to meet Iraq's new PM Jawad al-Maliki, emphasising the importance Washington attaches to his success in forming a national unity government. State Sec Rice and Def Sec Donald...

EGYPT - Apr 24 - Bombs Point To Desert Terrorists.
April 29, 2006... The third terrorist attack in 18 months on the same stretch of Egypt's Red Sea coast appears to confirm the emergence of a new group of extremists operating out of the Sinai desert. At least 24 people were killed on Apr 24 night, most of them...

IRAN - Apr 24 - President Dismisses Fears Of Mideast Crisis.(Mahmoud Ahmadinejad)
April 29, 2006... Pres Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, defiantly dismisses talk of crisis in the Middle East as the Apr 28 deadline approaches for Tehran to meet a UN Security Council demand that it suspend its controversial nuclear programme. Ahmadi-Nejad said he thought...

IRAQ - Apr 24 - Car Bombs Kill At Least 9 Civilians In Baghdad.
April 29, 2006... Insurgents unleash a wave of car bombs across Baghdad, killing at least 9 people and wounding 76 in attacks against the back gate of Mustansiriya University, two police patrols and a busy central Baghdad intersection at rush hour. All of the...

IRAQ - Apr 27 - 'I'm still here'- Zarqawi.(Abu Musab al-Zarqawi)
April 29, 2006... After years of operating in Iraq as a shadowy force who was sometimes heard but never seen, the Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi steps out of the shadows with a video released on the Internet that showed him planning operations...

PALESTINE - Apr 25 - Abbas 'Will Never Let Civil War Occur'.(Mahmoud Abbas)(Brief article)
April 29, 2006... Pres Mahmoud Abbas says that clashes between gunmen loyal to Hamas and his Fatah group are of concern, but adds that he will "never let a civil war occur". Abbas was quoted as saying that he has the power to dismiss the month-old, Hamas-led...