APS Diplomat Recorder articles from April 2008

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from April 2008

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 30 - Regional Tensions Mar Arab League Summit.
April 5, 2008... Efforts to isolate Syria are likely to intensify following the week-end Arab League summit in Damascus that was shunned by several key leaders upset by the Syrian regime's failure to help break the political deadlock in neighbouring Lebanon....

ARAB AFFAIRS - Apr 2 - Nuclear Base Was Target Of Syria Raid, Says Olmert.
April 5, 2008... Israel admits for the first time that an air strike in Syria last year was aimed at a nuclear facility built with assistance from North Korea. The Japanese daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun cited sources at the Japanese foreign ministry for its...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Apr 3 - Cairo Talks Focus On Peace, Arab Ties.
April 5, 2008... Egypt's president, the Jordanian monarch and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have met to thrash out thorny Arab issues and topics such as the Lebanese crisis and the stalled Middle East peace process. Abbas first met separately with...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Mar 29 - Israel Agrees To Reduce Roadblocks In West Bank.
April 5, 2008... Israel agrees to remove about 50 roadblocks in the West Bank and promises Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is visiting here, that it would upgrade checkpoints to reduce the waiting time for Palestinians who have been hampered in their...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 31 - Israeli Settlement Expansion Should Stop, Urges Rice.
April 5, 2008... US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that Washington still considered the expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank "not consistent" with Israel's obligations under the Quartet's road map and urged the Jewish state to stop it. "We...

IRAQ - Mar 30 - Theologian Suspends Shi'ite Militia's Fight In Basra.
April 5, 2008... The Shi'ite theologian Muqtada al-Sadr calls for his followers to stop fighting in Basra and in turn demanded concessions from Iraq's government, after six days in which his Mahdi Army militia has held off an American-supported Iraqi assault on...

IRAQ - Apr 1 - Iraq Leader Claims Success In Anti-Militia Operation.
April 5, 2008... PM Nuri Kamal al-Maliki claims that a week-old operation against Shi'ite militias had been a "success" despite a cease-fire that did not disarm the gunmen and left him politically battered. Maliki, a Shi'ite, stopped short of declaring an end...

ISRAEL - Mar 31 - Abbas To Resume Mideast Peace Talks With Olmert.
April 5, 2008... The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, says that he will return to the bargaining table for face-to-face peace talks with PM Ehud Olmert of Israel next week. The two have not met since the Israeli incursion into Gaza began a month ago. Abbas...

LEBANON - Apr 3 - Lebanon Candidate To Quit As Army Chief.
April 5, 2008... Lebanon's army commander, Michel Suleiman, the consensus candidate for the country's vacant presidency, announces he will leave his military post three months early. General Suleiman voiced anger over the continued political bickering that was...

LEBANON - Apr 1 - Hizbullah Accuses Riyadh Of 'Bias' Against Opposition.
April 5, 2008... Hizbullah chastised Saudi Arabia's FM Prince Saud al-Faisal, accusing him of unfairly blaming the oppositon for the failure of efforts to resolve the political impasse in Lebanon. "The Saudi foreign minister knows that the opposition has...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Apr 10 - Cracks In Saudi, Egyptian Ties With Syria.
April 12, 2008... Egypt and Saudi Arabia, in an implicit criticism of Syria, says better relations with Damascus depended on an end to the political crisis in Lebanon. "We call things by their names, in that Saudi-Egyptian relations with sister Syria do not...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Apr 7 - Israeli And Palestinians Revive Peace Talks With High Hopes.
April 12, 2008... Meeting after a break of almost two months, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders agree that peace talks will continue from now on without interruption, despite concerns on both sides about the situation on the ground, an Israeli official said....

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Apr 10 - Israel Cuts Off Fuel Supplies To Gaza.
April 12, 2008... Israel cut off fuel supplies to Gaza following an attack by Palestinians fighters on its fuel depot in Nahal Oz crossing that killed two Israelis. Though some Israelis demanded that Israel halt all supplies to Gaza, Israeli defense officials...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Apr 11 - Seven Killed In Air Strike And Incursion Into Gaza.(Brief article)
April 12, 2008... Israeli forces launch air strikes and a ground raid on Gaza, trading fire with gunmen in clashes that killed seven Palestinians including a 12-year-old boy, Palestinians said. The deaths drove the Palestinian death toll to 15 in Israeli strikes...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Apr 6 - Petraeus To Defend Iraq Strategy.(David Petraeus)
April 12, 2008... General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq who hinted months ago that he wanted to halt troop reductions after the "surge" was unwound this summer, will be under pressure on Apr 9 to provide details about the "pause" when he appears...

IRAN - Apr 11 - Rafsanjani Denies Iran Meddles In Iraqi Affairs.(Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani)(Brief article)
April 12, 2008... An influential Iranian theologian rejects US President George W. Bush's accusations that Iran was arming and funding Shi'ite militias in Iraq to kill American soldiers, state radio reported. In a speech at the White House on Thursday, Bush...

IRAQ - Apr 6 - US And Iraqis Battle Militias To End Attacks.
April 12, 2008... Sharp fighting breaks out in the Sadr City district of Baghdad as American and Iraqi troops seek to control neighbourhoods used by Shi'ite militias to fire rockets and mortars into the nearby Green Zone. But the operation failed to stop the...

IRAQ - Apr 8 - Sadr Threatens To End Iraq Ceasefire.(Brief article)
April 12, 2008... The Mahdi army militia ceasefire had been credited with helping sharply to reduce violence across Iraq. Scrapping the truce could trigger widespread fighting with security forces and plunge Iraq back into a deadly spiral of sectarian violence....

MOROCCO - Apr 7 - Moroccan Bomb Convicts Escape From Jail.
April 12, 2008... The Moroccan authorities says that nine Islamic militants jailed for their role in a series of near simultaneous bomb attacks in the economic capital Casablanca in 2003 had escaped from prison. The justice ministry said in a statement that...

PALESTINE - Apr 7 - Hamas Threatens To Breach Egypt And Israeli Borders.(Brief article)
April 12, 2008... The ruling Hamas group threatens to storm the Egyptian and Israeli borders if the two countries don't lift their blockade of the Gaza Strip. The threat, made by senior Hamas leader Khalil Al Haya, came two months after the group blew open the...

PALESTINE - Apr 9 - Palestinian Gunmen Attack Gaza Crossing.
April 12, 2008... Palestinian gunmen attack an Israeli-controlled crossing point into the Gaza Strip, in a raid that left two civilians dead and raised the likelihood of a fresh bout of fighting between Gaza-based militants and Israeli forces. At least four...

SYRIA - Apr 7 - Bashar Ready To Help Lebanon Overcome Crisis.(Bashar Al Assad )
April 12, 2008... Syrian President Bashar Al Assad offers to help bolster security in Lebanon and voiced support for inter-Lebanese talks to solve a protracted political crisis. Syria "stands ready to provide all possible help which the Lebanese could request,...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Apr 14 - Peres Blames 'Weak' Palestinian Leadership.
April 19, 2008... Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, has become the latest voice to call into question whether Israeli and Palestinian leaders can meet their goal of a comprehensive peace agreement by the end of this year. The US-sponsored talks, launched last...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Apr 18 - Israeli Minister Offers To Meet Hamas.
April 19, 2008... A religious Israeli cabinet minister has offered to meet the leadership of Palestinian Hamas to ask for the release of a soldier held in Gaza, a move which would break with government policy. The spokesman said Industry and Trade Minister Eli...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Apr 13 - Carter Says It Is Necessary To Talk With Hamas.
April 19, 2008... Former President Jimmy Carter said he felt "quite at ease" about meeting Hamas militants over the objections of Washington because the Palestinian group is essential to a future peace with Israel. Carter was interviewed Saturday for ABC News's...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Apr 15 - US Hopes To Counter Mahdi Army's Clout In Baghdad.
April 19, 2008... The US military continues to go after Shi'ite militiamen in an effort to quell the deadly rocket-fire that has been hitting the Iraqi capital's fortified Green Zone with increasing accuracy. On Apr 13 night it killed six gunmen in eastern...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Apr 15 - Carter Meets With A Leading Member Of Hamas.
April 19, 2008... Former President Jimmy Carter embraces a leading Hamas figure in the West Bank and laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat, further antagonising Israel as he pushed forward with his latest Middle East peace mission. Israel and the West Bank...

AFGHANISTAN - Apr 14 - 11 Afghan Police Killed In Taliban Attack.
April 19, 2008... Taliban insurgents attack a police checkpoint north of the city, killing 11 police officers and burning their vehicles before disappearing into the night. The attack, on the main road between the southern provinces of Kandahar and Oruzgan,...

IRAN - Apr 13 - Iran Mosque Blast 'Was An Accident'.
April 19, 2008... An explosion in a Shi'ite mosque in Iran that killed 12 people and injured about 190 was an accident and not an attack. The blast, which happened on Apr 13 evening in the southern city of Shiraz, "was an accident, not any bombing", Abbas...

IRAQ - Apr 13 - Iraq Dismisses 1,300 After Basra Battles.
April 19, 2008... The Iraqi government says that it had dismissed 1,300 soldiers and policemen for refusing to fight or performing badly during the offensive against Shi'ite militias in the southern city of Basra last month. Major General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf, an...

IRAQ - Apr 14 - Shi'ite Leader Defends Troops Who Gave Up Arms.
April 19, 2008... The radical Shi'ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr said on Monday Iraqi security forces sacked after surrendering their weapons rather than go into battle with his followers should retain their jobs. His statement came a day after Iraq said 1,300...

IRAQ - Apr 14 - Iraqi Forces Free Kidnapped Journalist Richard Butler.
April 19, 2008... A British journalist held for two months by kidnappers in the southern Iraqi city of Basra was rescued by Iraqi forces sweeping through the city in a crackdown on militants, the Iraqi military said. Richard Butler, a photographer on assignment...

IRAQ - Apr 15 - Bombings Kill Nearly 60 In Sunni Areas Of Iraq.
April 19, 2008... The bloodshed - in four cities as far north as Mosul and as far west as Ramadi - struck directly at claims that the Sunni insurgency is waning and being replaced by Shi'ite militia violence as a major threat. The deadliest blasts took place in...

LEBANON - Apr 13 - Berri Says Foreign Mediators Can't Replace Lebanese In Ending Crisis.(Nabih Berri )
April 19, 2008... Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo that rival Lebanese parties must play a leading role in resolving their country's protracted political crisis. "Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia can offer...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Apr 21 - Palestinian Groups Urged To Forge Unity.
April 26, 2008... The Council of Ministers calls upon Palestinian groups to work for a national unity government, saying it was the only way to confront Israeli intransigence and international alliances that support the Jewish state. The Cabinet meeting, which...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Apr 22 - Iraq PM Criticises Neighbours For Lack Of Support.
April 26, 2008... Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki rebukes neighbouring states for not doing enough to strengthen ties with Baghdad, write off Iraq's debts or stop militants entering the war-torn country. In a hard-hitting speech at a meeting in Kuwait of FMs from Iraq's...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Apr 24 - Hints Of Progress Toward A Deal On The Golan Heights.
April 26, 2008... Peace overtures between Israel and Syria moved up a gear when a Syrian cabinet minister said that PM Ehud Olmert of Israel had sent a message to President Bashar al-Assad to the effect that Israel would be willing to withdraw from all the Golan...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Apr 24 - Turkey 'Mediating Peace Pact With Syria And Israel'.
April 26, 2008... Syrian President Bashar Al Assad says that Turkey is mediating a peace deal between his country and Israel, reported a Qatari newspaper. The remarks came a few days after top Israeli and Turkish officials met in Doha during a democracy forum...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Apr 20 - Rice In Iraq To Bolster Maliki.
April 26, 2008... Condoleezza Rice pays an unannounced visit to Baghdad in an apparent effort to show support for the government of Nouri al-Maliki as its showdown with the radical Shi'ite Sadrist movement intensified. The US secretary of state's visit came...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Apr 21 - Rice Presses Iraq's Neighbours To Give It More Support.(Condoleezza Rice )
April 26, 2008... Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls for greater financial and diplomatic support to Iraq during a meeting with Arab FMs in Bahrain, but she did not appear to have won any new commitments. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Apr 23 - Bush And Jordanian King Meet On Mideast.
April 26, 2008... President George W. Bush and King Abdullah of Jordan met privately for breakfast, as the White House tries to resuscitate the ailing Middle East peace talks before Bush leaves for Israel next month. The breakfast session was brief, lasting less...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Apr 25 - Top US Military Officer Assails Iran's Role In Iraq.
April 26, 2008... The government of Iran continues to supply weapons and other support to extremists in Iraq, despite repeated promises to the contrary, and is increasingly complicit in the death of US soldiers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Apr...

IRAN - Apr 25 - Iran To Address Allegations That It Sought Nuclear Arms, UN Says.
April 26, 2008... Iran has agreed to answer allegations that it studied how to design nuclear weapons, the chief of the UN nuclear monitoring agency said Apr 23. The official, Muhammad ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency, called the gesture a...

IRAN - Apr 25 - Iranians Vote In Parliamentary Runoff Elections.
April 26, 2008... Polls open in Tehran and other parts of Iran for runoff elections to fill the 82 seats in Parliament for which there were no clear winners in the first round. But polling places in Tehran were less crowded than they had been in the first round...

IRAQ - Apr 22 - 'Chemical Ali' Released From Hospital.
April 26, 2008... A cousin and top deputy of Saddam Hussein, whose execution has been delayed for months, was returned to a US detention facility on Apr 22 after being hospitalized for a heart attack, US officials said. Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical...

IRAQ - Apr 24 - Iraqi Offensive Draws Extra Forces To Basra.
April 26, 2008... The US military presence in Basra has grown to 800 troops as its soldiers provide increased support to an Iraqi government offensive against militias, according to coalition military officials. Until Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi PM, launched his...

IRAQ - Apr 24 - Sunni Bloc To Return To Iraq Cabinet.
April 26, 2008... The largest Sunni bloc in Iraq has agreed to return to the cabinet of PM Nuri Kamal al-Maliki after a nine-month boycott, several Sunni leaders said, citing a recently passed amnesty law and the Maliki government's crackdown on Shi'ite militias...

ISRAEL - Apr 20 - Israel Kills 7 Hamas Militants After Suicide Bombings.
April 26, 2008... Israel kill seven Hamas militants in a series of airstrikes after the group detonated three vehicles packed with hundreds of kilograms of explosives at an Israeli crossing on the Gaza border. Two of the militants were killed early Apr 20....

ISRAEL - Apr 23 - Israel Offers To 'Return' The Golan Heights.
April 26, 2008... Israel has reportedly offered to withdraw from the Golan Heights, the territory conquered by Israeli forces in the 1967 war, in return for full peace with Damascus. The offer was revealed on Apr 23 by Buthaina Shaaban, a Syrian cabinet...

LEBANON - Apr 22 - Lebanese Lawmakers Fail Gain To Elect President.
April 26, 2008... A deeply divided parliament failed Apr 22 in its 17th try to elect a new president for Lebanon, extending a stalemate that has become the country's worst political crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. The deadlock prompted Arab FMs meeting in...

PALESTINE - Apr 20 - Hamas Leader Vows Not To Recognise Israel After Carter Trumpets Terror Group's Willingness To Be Good 'Neighbour'.
April 26, 2008... Just hours after former President Jimmy Carter trumpeted Hamas' agreement to let Israel "live as a neighbour", the same terrorist leader he met with face-to-face vowed not to recognize the Jewish state. But Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal did offer...