APS Diplomat Recorder articles from August 2008

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from August 2008

ARAB AFFAIRS - July 30 - Olmert Says Syria Must Choose Peace Or Isolation As Indirect Talks Set To Resume.(Ehud Olmert)
August 2, 2008... Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert issues Syria an ultimatum, saying Damascus must choose between peace or international isolation as the two countries still technically at war are set to begin another round of indirect Turkish-mediated talks. In an...

ARAB US RELATIONS - Aug 1 - US Still Hopes For Palestinian-Israeli Peace Deal By Yearend.
August 2, 2008... US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says there is still time to reach a peace deal between Palestinians and Israelis by the end of 2008. Rice plans to host peace talks between chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmad Qurie and Israeli FM Tzipi...

AFGHANISTAN - July 28 - Afghan Drug Lords Hire Foreign Chemists.
August 2, 2008... UN warns that drug lords in Afghanistan, where poppy growing has soared in spite of the billions that western powers have spent in trying to stamp it out, have started to recruit foreign chemists to help turn raw opium into highly refined...

EGYPT - July 29 - Fatah, Hamas In War Of Words As Officials Head To Egypt For Factional Talks.
August 2, 2008... Tit-for-tat arrests continues between rival Palestinian factions with the Fatah Movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas raiding a pro-Hamas village in the Occupied West Bank as delegations from both sides headed to Egypt for talks aimed...

IRAQ - July 27 - Gunmen Ambush Shi'ite PilgriNear Baghdad.
August 2, 2008... Gunmen hiding in reeds in a Sunni town south of Baghdad ambushed and killed seven Shi'ite pilgrimarching to a shrine here July 27 before a major holiday, officials said. The pilgrims, all young men, were killed when the attackers opened fire in...

IRAQ - Aug 1 - Al Maliki Invites Pope To Help With Reconciliation.
August 2, 2008... Iraqi PM Nouri Al Maliki invited Pope Benedict to visit Iraq, saying it would help the process of reconciliation. Al Maliki, who met the pope for 20 minutes at the pontiff's summer residence, also denied in comments to reporters afterward that...

IRAQ - July 28 - Women Bombers Kill 37 In Iraq.
August 2, 2008... Female suicide bombers targeted Shi'ite pilgriin Baghdad and Kurdish political demonstrators in the northern city of Kirkuk in one of the bloodiest days of violence in recent months. The bombings killed at least 37 people and injured scores of...

ISRAEL - July 31 - Israel Struggles With Succession Question.
August 2, 2008... The political battle to succeed Ehud Olmert as PM of Israel started in earnest, amid a sharpening debate over whether the country's next leader should be chosen by an internal party ballot or an early general election. Olmert announced on July...

ISRAEL - Aug 1 - Police Still Questioning Olmert, Who Lashes Back.(Ehud Olmert)
August 2, 2008... PM Ehud Olmert underwent a fourth round of police questioning, part of an unfolding corruption inquiry that has eclipsed his political career. Officers of the National Fraud Unit questioned Olmert at his official residence for almost three...

LEBANON - July 28 - Hizbullah Lashes Out At Us Envoy To Beirut, Calling Her 'Israel's Ambassador'.
August 2, 2008... Hizbullah lashed out at US Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison on July 28, dubbing the US envoy "Israel's ambassador". "All ambassadors assigned by the US administration to Beirut are Israeli puppets", Hizbullah MP Ali Ammar said. Ammar said...

PALESTINE - July 28 - Arrests Increase Tensions Between Palestinian Factions.
August 2, 2008... Tensions between the main rival Palestinian groups, Hamas and Fatah, spread from Gaza to the West Bank with reports of the Fatah-dominated PA security forces detaining more than 50 activists and academics associated with Hamas. The timing of...

SUDAN - July 28 - Sudanese Rally Behind Leader.
August 2, 2008... Omar Hassan al-Bashir has been accused by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court of genocide and vilified the world over as an incorrigible mass murderer bent on slaughtering his own people. But inside Sudan, his grip on power...

TURKEY - July 28 - Turkey Hearing Begins Despite Attack.
August 2, 2008... Turkey's top judges meet to discuss a petition to close down the governing party just hours after a bomb killed 17 people, adding to the shock and uncertainty gripping the country. The attack was the worst in Turkey since 2003 and caused...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Aug 3 - Ahmadi-Nejad Assures Assad Iran Is Taking Nuclear Talks Seriously.
August 9, 2008... President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad told visiting Syrian President and staunch regional ally Bashar Assad that Tehran was serious about finding a practical solution to the nuclear crisis. "We are serious in talks and we want the talks to be based on...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Aug 4 - Kingdom Stresses Need For Palestinian Unity.
August 9, 2008... The Council of Ministers stresses the need for the Palestinians to unite so that they can present their stances in an effective manner internationally. "The Council of Ministers in its weekly meeting chaired by Crown Prince Sultan reviewed the...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Aug 5 - Assad Meets Erdogan In Turkey For Peace Talks.
August 9, 2008... Syrian President Bashar Assad arrives in Turkey for a brief holiday and to discuss the indirect negotiations taking place in Turkey between his country and Israel. The Syrian leader, who was accompanied by his wife, was welcomed by Turkish PM...

ARABS-ISRALEI RELATIONS - Aug 3 - Israel To Free Five Palestinians As Part Of Hizbullah Prisoner Swap.
August 9, 2008... Israel's Cabinet approves the release of five Palestinian prisoners, a final step in a UN-brokered prisoner exchange with the Lebanese Hizbullah, a top Israeli government official said. The mostly symbolic action will see the release of five...

ARABS-ISRALEI RELATIONS - Aug 5 - Barak Warns Of More Strikes On Gaza Strip.
August 9, 2008... Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Israel will go back to carrying out military strikes on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip despite a month-old truce. "Those who miss the operations in the Gaza Strip, don't worry, they will come", Barak told a...

ARAB US RELATIONS - Aug 8 - US Endorses $20 Bn Bid To Aid Afghans.
August 9, 2008... Defense Secretary Robert Gates will endorse a $20 bn plan to substantially increase the size of Afghanistan's army and will also restructure the military command of American and NATO forces in response to the growing Taliban threat. Taken...

EGYPT - Aug 8 - Mubarak 'May Seek Another Term'.(President Hosni Mubarak)
August 9, 2008... The new leader of the Egyptian protest movement Kefaya, which tried to prevent the re-election of President Hosni Mubarak in 2005, says Egypt now faces the possibility that Mubarak will seek another term. "Our original aims are still valid,...

IRAN - Aug 5 - Moderate Appointments A Blow To Ahmadi-Nejad.
August 9, 2008... Iran's parliament dealt a blow to Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the president, by electing relatively moderate candidates to head the economy and interior ministries after forcing the government to drop its more radical nominees. The two ministries...

IRAN - Aug 4 - Iran Escalates Military Rhetoric.
August 9, 2008... Iran warns that it could easily close a critical Gulf waterway to oil shipments and said it had a new long-range naval weapon that could sink enemy ships nearly 200 miles away. The warning, by the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, followed...

IRAQ - Aug 4 - Iraqi Political Leaders Prepared To Compromise On Kirkuk Impasse.
August 9, 2008... Iraqi political leaders reach a tentative compromise that could resolve a stalemate over the fate of city of Kirkuk and allow local elections to go ahead. Lawmakers rescheduled for today a vote on a provincial election law, which had been held...

IRAQ - Aug 6 - Iraqis Fail To Agree On Provincial Election Law.
August 9, 2008... Iraqi lawmakers adjourn for the summer without passing a crucial election law that many here hoped would solidify the recent, still fragile gains in security. The failure seemed likely to mean the postponement of provincial elections,...

IRAQ - Aug 8 - Sadr To Dissolve Militia If Us Agrees To Withdraw Troops.
August 9, 2008... Shi'ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered his Mehdi Army militia to lay down its arms if a security pact between Baghdad and Washington provides for a withdrawal from Iraq, his spokesman said Aug 8. "We want to see whether the provisions of...

ISRAEL - Aug 7 - Israel To Free About 150 Palestinian Prisoners.
August 9, 2008... Israel will release about 150 Palestinian prisoners, including perhaps a couple of prominent ones, at the end of this month as a gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, officials from both sides said after a meeting between Abbas and PM...

LEBANON - Aug 5 - Murdered Syrian General 'Shipped Arms To Hizbullah:'.
August 9, 2008... The Syrian general shot to death at a beach resort was a top overseer of his country's weapons shipments to Hizbullah, according to opposition websites and Arab and Israeli news media. Syria by Aug 4 night had issued no reaction to widespread...

PALESTINE - Aug 3 - Nine Killed As Hamas Clashes With Fatah.
August 9, 2008... The Gaza Strip is reeling from one of the worst bouts of internecine fighting in over a year, after a Hamas raid on the stronghold of a powerful Gaza clan left at least nine dead and forced as many as 200 family members to flee into Israel. The...

PALESTINE - Aug 4 - Fatah Allies From Gaza Seek Refuge In West Bank.
August 9, 2008... Scores of Fatah allies who fled to Israel from the Gaza Strip sought refuge in the West Bank after Israel decided they would face "immediate danger" from Gaza's Hamas rulers if they were returned home. The men, members of a heavily armed Gaza...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Aug 11 - Jordanian King Makes Unannounced Visit To Baghdad.
August 16, 2008... King Abdullah II of Jordan makes an unannounced visit to Baghdad and held talks with PM Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. It was the first visit to Iraq by an Arab head of state since the US toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Abdullah had "frank and positive...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Aug 13 - Syria And Lebanon Establish First Full Diplomatic Relations.
August 16, 2008... The presidents of Syria and Lebanon agrees to establish full diplomatic relations for the first time since both gained independence from France in 1943, a Syrian official said. The official, Buthaina Shaaban, an adviser to President Bashar...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Aug 14 - Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad In Turkey For Nuclear, Bilateral Talks.
August 16, 2008... Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad met with his Turkish counterpart in a bid to improve ties between the Islamic Republic and the Nato ally. Relations between the two countries have improved since Turkey's Islamic rooted leadership took...

ARAB US RELATIONS - Aug 14 - US Refuses Israel Arms To Attack Iran N-Sites.
August 16, 2008... The US turns down Israeli requests for military hardware to help it prepare for an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, a front-page report in Israel's Haaretz newspaper said yesterday. The US viewed the request as a sign that Israel is in the...

ARAB US RELATIONS - Aug 13 - US Warns Turkey Over Energy Deal With Iran.
August 16, 2008... The US warns Turkey not to strike an energy deal with Iran that undermined diplomatic efforts to halt Tehran's nuclear programme, on the eve of a visit to Ankara by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad. A deal to increase Iranian natural...

AFGHANISTAN - Aug 10 - Karzai Criticises Airstrikes And Calls For Planes To Attack Pakistan Bases.
August 16, 2008... President Hamid Karzai says that airstrikes carried out in Afghan villages by US and NATO troops were killing only civilians and that the international community should instead go after terror centers in Pakistan. International forces serving...

AFGHANISTAN - Aug 12 - Taliban Attacks Nato By Choking Supplies.
August 16, 2008... Gulab Khan is constantly reminded of the danger of his job by the two round stickers he has used to cover bullet holes in the windscreen of the cab of his lorry, one of the thousands of trucks carrying diesel and jet fuel to Nato bases across...

IRAN - Aug 10 - Iran Unmoved On Nuclear Stance In Face Of Tighter Sanctions Threat.(Brief article)
August 16, 2008... Iran will not back down on its nuclear stance despite the threat of tighter sanctions. Britain, France, Germany and the US are considering imposing sanctions that go beyond existing UN measures against Tehran over its nuclear programme, a...

IRAQ - Aug 10- Iraq Demands 'Clear Timeline' For US Troop Withdrawal.(Brief article)
August 16, 2008... FM Hoshiyar Zebari says Iraq insists that the US provide a "very clear timeline" to withdraw its troops from the country. The timeline is part of an agreement allowing US troops to stay on beyond the end of this year, FM Hoshiyar Zebari said on...

IRAQ - Aug 11 - After Setbacks, Sadr Redirects Mahdi Army.(Muqtada al-Sadr)
August 16, 2008... Muqtada al-Sadr has taken yet another step in an attempt to transform his Mahdi Army militia from a force intent on battling US soldiers into a much broader social and political network that can still hold sway in the shifting landscape of...

IRAQ - Aug 12 - Female Suicide Bomber Strikes In Iraq.
August 16, 2008... A female suicide bomber struck an Iraqi Army convoy on Aug 12 carrying senior officials in Baquba, killing at least two people, the US military said. It was the second suicide attack by a woman in the city in as many days. The bombing came a...

IRAQ - Aug 14 - Bombs Target Shi'ite Pilgrims In Iraq And Dozens Die.
August 16, 2008... A woman suicide bomber struck Shi'ite pilgrims south of Baghdad, killing 26 people and wounding scores of others after the government announced new measures to protect worshippers ahead of a major religious festival. Also Aug 14, the US...

IRAQ - Aug 15 - Shi'ite Iraqi Theologian Asks His Followers To Sign A Blood Pledge Of Loyalty.
August 16, 2008... Muqtada al-Sadr, the Iraqi Shi'ite theologian, called on his followers to sign in blood a pledge of loyalty to the Shi'ite saint after whom he named the Mahdi army, and to affirm their commitment to ridding Iraq of US troops. The blood pledge...

JORDAN - Aug 10 - Jordan Launches Investigation Into 'Honor' Killing.
August 16, 2008... The Jordanian authorities are probing a possible "honor" killing after a man stabbed to death his unmarried niece, accusing her of having an affair. The 50-year-old man, who was not identified, has been arrested pending further investigations...

LEBANON - Aug 12 - Lebanon's Cabinet Wins Vote Of Confidence.(Brief article)
August 16, 2008... Lebanon's national unity cabinet received an overwhelming vote of approval in parliament for its new policy statement safeguarding the role of Hizbullah party as an armed resistance movement against Israel. The majority of ministers in the...

PALESTINE - Aug 10 - Hamas Demonstrators Urge Egypt To Open Gaza Crossing.
August 16, 2008... Hundreds of pro-Hamas demonstrators gather at the Rafah crossing in the Gaza Strip to demand that Egypt open its border to relieve a months-old Israeli siege. Around 600 demonstrators waving green flags deployed in front of the crossing under...

PALESTINE - Aug 13 - Abbas Rejects Israeli 'Peace' Proposal That Annexes Over 7% Of West Bank.(Mahmoud Abbas)
August 16, 2008... Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejects an Israeli peace proposal because it does not provide for a contiguous Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Nabil Abu Rdainah, Abbas' spokesman, told the official WAFA news agency Israeli...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Aug 17 - Lebanon Expects Full Ties With Syria In 2 Months.
August 23, 2008... Lebanon's FM says he expected full diplomatic ties with Syria to be established and ambassadors to be exchanged within two months. FM Fawzi Salloukh said Aug 23 that the cabinet approve diplomatic ties Aug 21. Later, it will issue a separate...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Aug 20 - Arabs' Rocky Road To Iraq.
August 23, 2008... Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora visits Baghdad for political and economic talks, in the latest high-profile visit by an Arab official to the strife-ridden country. Iraqi officials described his visit as further indication of Iraq's improved security....

ARAB AFFAIRS - Aug 21 - Lebanon Endorses Relations With Syria.
August 23, 2008... Lebanon's unity Cabinet formally approves diplomatic ties with Syria and the opening of a Lebanese embassy in Damascus. Information Minister Tarek Mitri said following a Cabinet meeting late Aug 21 that Lebanon's FM has been entrusted with...

ARAB EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Aug 20 - Syria Looks For Russian Arms Deal.
August 23, 2008... Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, arrives on a two-day visit to Russia seeking new weapons and greater military co-operation and hoping to capitalise on the rising tensions between Moscow and the west. In an interview with the Russian daily...

ARAB ISRAEL - Aug 17 - Israel To Release 200 Palestinians As Rice Visits Middle East.(Condoleezza Rice)
August 23, 2008... Israel's Cabinet votes to release about 200 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to President Mahmoud Abbas aimed at bolstering slow-moving US-backed Middle East peace talks. The August 25 release will coincide with a visit by US...

ARAB ISRAEL - Aug 21 - Peace Deal With Palestinians Unlikely Before Year's End, Israeli Says.
August 23, 2008... The FM of Israel and its chief negotiator with the Palestinians Tzipi Livni, cautions against expectations of a peace deal before the end of the year and suggested that too much international pressure could prove harmful. "I believe the...

ARAB US RELATIONS - Aug 21 - Exiting Iraq, Petraeus Says Gains Are Fragile.(David Petraeus )
August 23, 2008... In the final days of his campaign to bring Iraq under control, General David Petraeus sat in his office at the American Embassy here looking drawn, exhausted, and more than a few years older than when he took command 18 months ago. More than...

ARAB US RELATIONS - Aug 21 - US And Iraq Close To Troops Agreement.
August 23, 2008... Iraq and the US have reached preliminary agreement on a pact to govern the future use of US forces in the country, Iraq's FM Hoshyar Zebari. The draft would be shown to top Iraqi leaders on Aug 22. "We have a text", he said after hours of...

AFGHANISTAN - Aug 20 - Afghan War Escalates With Taliban Raid.
August 23, 2008... Taliban insurgents mount their most serious attacks in six years of fighting in Afghanistan over the last two days, including a coordinated assault by at least 10 suicide bombers against one of the largest American military bases in the...

AFGHANISTAN - Aug 20 - Taliban Creep Closer To Kabul.
August 23, 2008... Maidan Shah is a 30-minute drive from central Kabul, but locals say the mobile phone masts on a dusty hillock on the edge of town mark the beginning of Taliban territory. The town is the capital of Wardak, one of several provinces to the south,...

IRAN - Iran Executes 20-Year-Old Who Murdered At Age 15.
August 23, 2008... Iran has executed a 20-year-old man who was sentenced to death for a murder he committed when he was 15, reviving an international debate over its punishment of minors. The man, Reza Hejazi, was hanged in a prison in the central city of Isfahan...

LEBANON - Aug 18 - Hizbullah To Sign Memorandum Of Understanding With Salafists.
August 23, 2008... Hizbullah will sign on a memorandum of understanding with 15 Sunni Salafist groups in a step aimed at easing Sunni-Shi'ite tensions and banning the use of violence to settle political disputes between Shi'ite and Sunni political parties....

LIBYA - Aug 20 - Libyan Leader's Heir Takes Step Back.(Saif al-Islam Gaddafi)
August 23, 2008... Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader and a driving force behind the country's gradual opening, has declared that he will step back from matters of state. In a speech on Aug 20 evening, the apparent heir to Muammer Gaddafi, said all...

ARAB ISRAEL RELATIONS - Aug 25 - Prisoners Freed In Gesture To Abbas.
August 30, 2008... Israel frees 198 Palestinian prisoners out of an estimated 9,000 held in Israeli jails, hours before the US secretary of state was to arrive in the region to boost faltering peace talks. The release of 194 men and four women is a gesture of...

ARAB US RELATIONS - Aug 28 - US Military Secretly Sending Foreign Fighters To Home Nations.
August 30, 2008... The US military has secretly handed over more than 200 militants to the intelligence services of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other countries, nearly all in the past two years, as part of an effort to reduce the burden of detaining and interrogating...

ARAB US RELATIONS - Aug 28 - US To Turn Security Of Anbar Province Over To Iraq.
August 30, 2008... The US military will hand over responsibility for the security of Anbar Province, once a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency and one of the most violent regions in Iraq, to the Iraqi government as early as Aug 25, Iraqi and US officials said....

AFGHANISTAN - Aug 26 - UN Confirms Air Raids Killed 90 Afghans.
August 30, 2008... The UN has confirmed Afghan government claims that 90 civilians were killed by US-led coalition air strikes in the west of the country last week. Kai Eide, the UN special representative in Afghanistan, said on Aug 26 that investigators had...

IRAN - Aug 24 - New Nuclear Power Plant Being Designed.
August 30, 2008... Iran has chosen the site and started designing a new 360-mega-watt nuclear power plant. Iran has yet to complete construction of its first nuclear power plant and has previously sent conflicting signals about the state of work on a planned...

IRAN - Aug 25 - Iran Says It Has Started Building Submarines.
August 30, 2008... Iranian state TV says the country had begun production of a domestically built submarine capable of firing missiles and torpedoes. The defense minister, General Mostafa Muhammad Najjar inaugurated a production line Aug 25 for the mid-sized...

IRAQ - Aug 24 - Maliki Demands Changes To Draft Deal On US Presence.(Nouri al-Maliki)
August 30, 2008... Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki is demanding changes to a draft deal on the status of US forces beyond this year, a key Shi'ite ally in the governing coalition said, as violence around the country claimed the lives of nine Iraqis on Aug 24. "There are...

IRAQ - Aug 25 - Maliki Confirms Deadline For US Pull-Out.(Nouri al-Maliki)(Brief article)
August 30, 2008... Iraq PM Nouri al-Maliki that the Bush administration had agreed to withdraw all US troops from the country by the end of 2011. Speaking before a gathering of tribal leaders in the heavily fortified green zone in Baghdad, Maliki for the first...

IRAQ - Aug 25 - Iraq Says Deal Reached On A US Pullout In 2011.
August 30, 2008... The Iraqi PM, Nuri Kamal al-Malik says Iraq and the US have agreed on a date for the departure of all American troops as part of a broader security pact they are negotiating. "There is actually an agreement concluded between the two parties...

IRAQ - Aug 26 - Suicide Bomber Strikes Iraqi Police Recruits.
August 30, 2008... A suicide bomber blows himself up in a crowd of Iraqi police recruits, killing 28 people and wounding 45. It was the biggest attack for weeks in Iraq, where which has been enjoying some of its lowest levels of violence in four years. It came...

LEBANON - Aug 24 - Iran Will Hit Back If Israel Attacks, Says Hizbullah.
August 30, 2008... Hizbullah leader Hasan Nasrallah joins Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad in unleashing a volley of verbal attacks on Israel, warning the Jewish state against attacking the Lebane se group and accusing it of dragging the world into turmoil....

PALESTINE - Aug 26 - Rice Criticises Israel Settlement Surge.
August 30, 2008... US State Sec Condoleezza Rice urges Israel not to undermine peace efforts with the Palestinians after a report found it had almost doubled its settlement building in the West Bank this year. Ms Rice, who is visiting Israel and the PA in a bid...