APS Diplomat Recorder articles from December 2005

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from December 2005

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Nov 27 - EU Offers To Restart Nuclear Talks With Tehran.
December 2, 2005... EU ambassadors delivers a letter in Tehran agreeing to renewed talks over Iran's nuclear programme. The move - in response to a request sent earlier this month by Iran's top security official Ali Larijani, comes after the EU and US stepped back...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Nov 30 - Bush Hits Back At His Critics Over Iraq War.(George W. Bush)
December 2, 2005... In an emotional address to the US Naval Academy to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Bush gives the most detailed and authoritative account of his Iraq strategy in an effort to turn round his domestic fortunes, sapped by mounting...

EGYPT - Nov 26 - Islamists Prosper In Egyptian Elections.
December 2, 2005... Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood continues an unprecedented run of success in month-long legislative elections, in spite of what independent monitors described as determined efforts by the government to staunch its momentum. Preliminary...

IRAN - Nov 27 - President Had 'Religious Vision' During UN Speech.(Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad)
December 2, 2005... A leading website in Iran publishes a transcript and video recording of Pres Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad claiming to have felt "a light" while addressing world leaders at the UN in New York in September. Baztab.com - a website linked to Mohsen Rezaei,...

IRAQ - Nov 28 - Lawyers Voice Fears As Saddam Trial Delayed.
December 2, 2005... The Iraqi tribunal trying Saddam Hussain adjourns the former dictator's trial for a second time after a key defendant complained he had been unable to obtain a replacement for his murdered attorney. The decision highlights the difficulties of...

IRAQ - Dec 1 - Iraqi Rebels Launch Attack For Control Of Ramadi.
December 2, 2005... Masked militants attack a US base and a local government building with mortars and rockets in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi, before holding ground on central streets. Scores of heavily armed men set up roadblocks at major entrance and exit...

IRAQ - Dec 1 - Ten US Marines Killed In Falluja.
December 2, 2005... Ten US Marines conducting a foot patrol at a factory outside Falluja are killed by an insurgent bomb in one of the deadliest attacks on US forces in Iraq this year. The deaths came as Pres Bush struggles to boost waning US public support for...

ISRAEL - NOV 30 - Adding To Political Upheaval, Peres Quits Labour To Join Sharon.
December 2, 2005... Capping a month of political upheaval in Israel, Shimon Peres announces that he is leaving the left-leaning Labour Party and will back PM Ariel Sharon's centrist movement in parliamentary elections in March. The move by the elder statesman was...

PALESTINE - Nov 29 - Erekat Asks Israel To Keep Out Of Elections.(Saeb Erekat)
December 2, 2005... The chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, calls on Ariel Sharon, the Israeli PM, not to "sabotage" Palestinian legislative elections or arrest or "assassinate" candidates. Addressing a press conference after meeting US State Sec Condoleezza...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Dec7-9 - Muslim Leaders Vow to Fight Terror.
December 10, 2005... The two-day extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference comes to a fitting end with OIC leaders, led by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, circumambulating the Holy Kaaba (tawaf) in an unprecedented show of...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Dec 5 - Bomb In Israel Sets Back Peace Hopes.
December 10, 2005... A Palestinian suicide bomber kills at least five people and injures dozens outside a shopping mall in an Israeli coastal town in the first attack on its kind in six weeks. Lebanon's Hizbollah TV said the Islamic Jihad group's military wing, the...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Dec 8 - Israel Halts Talks With Palestinians.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2005... Israel suspends talks with the PA on passage between the Gaza Strip and West Bank, a move seen as vital to reviving economic activity in the occupied territories. US Asst State Sec David Welch, was due in the region on Dec 8 and officials hoped...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Dec 5 - Rumsfeld Tells Iraq Critics To Look Beyond Attacks.
December 10, 2005... US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld says US success in Iraq should not be measured by the number of insurgent attacks. As domestic support for the war wanes and the US military struggles to contain the stubborn insurgency, Pres George W. Bush has been...

EGYPT - Dec 7 - Five Killed In Egypt Poll Crackdown.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2005... At least five people are killed in Egypt as month-long legislative elections concluded violently when police opened fire on rioters with tear gas and rubber bullets in the Nile Delta. Elsewhere the authorities attempted to block further gains...

IRAN - Dec 4 - Tehran Announces Plans For A Second Nuclear Power Plant.
December 10, 2005... Pres Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Cabinet ministers decide to build a second nuclear power plant, in Khuzistan province, south-western Iran, despite international concern over its nuclear program. Previously Iran has said it would build a second...

IRAN - Dec 8 - Put Jewish Homeland In Europe - Ahmadi-Nejad.(Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad)
December 10, 2005... Pres Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, says Israelis wanting a Jewish state should establish one in Europe rather than the Middle East. Speaking on a visit to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, he attacked Europe for prosecuting doubters of the mass...

IRAQ - Dec 6 - Saddam Trial Hears Evidence From Hidden Witness.(Saddam Hussein)
December 10, 2005... The first woman to testify in the trial of Saddam Hussein breaks down in tears as, in fear of her life, she testified behind a curtain about how she was forced to strip by Iraqi prison guards. Identified only as "Witness A", she said she was...

IRAQ - Dec 7 - Al Qaeda Leader Urges Attacks On Gulf Oil Sites.
December 10, 2005... Al Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman Al Zawahri urges militants to attack oil targets in Muslim states and says Osama bin Laden is still leading its battle against the West. "I bring a message of joy to all Muslims and mujahideen that al Qaeda is...

LEBANON - Dec 3 - Common Graves Found.(Brief Article)
December 10, 2005... The Lebanese authorities discover two common graves near what used to be the headquarters of Syria's intelligence operation in Lebanon. Troops aided by bulldozers recovered at least 25 bodies from graves on an onion farm near the town of Anjar,...

ARAB EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Dec 12 - EU Looks To Trade Deal With Iraq.
December 17, 2005... The EC takes the first step towards negotiating a trade deal with Iraq, in a sign of Brussels' willingness to deepen its ties with Baghdad. The Commission requested EU member states for the authority to negotiate a trade and co-operation...

ARABS-UN - Dec 14 - UN Meets Over Series Of Killings In Lebanon.
December 17, 2005... The Security Council meets to discuss a resolution extending the term of the UN investigation into the February assassination of the former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri, and expands its scope to include recent politically motivated killings....

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Dec 12- Bush Acknowledges About 30,000 Iraqis Have Died.(George W. Bush)
December 17, 2005... Pres Bush acknowledges for the first time that about 30,000 Iraqis had been killed in the war in Iraq. In response to a question after a speech on Iraq, Bush said: How many Iraqi citizens have died in this war? I would say 30,000, more or...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Dec 14 - Bush Says He Fought War On 'Wrong' Intelligence.(George W. Bush)(Iraq War)(Brief Article)
December 17, 2005... Pres Bush admits he led the US into the war in Iraq on the basis of "wrong" intelligence, But Bush insists on the eve of Dec 15 Iraqi elections that the conflict is justified by the goal of creating a "free and democratic" country after the...

AFGHANISTAN - Dec 15 - FM Defends Approach To War Criminals.(Abdullah Abdullah)
December 17, 2005... The country's FM Abdullah Abdullah, defends the government's softly approach to dealing with war criminals and warns that the country had to avoid becoming trapped "in a limited circle of revenge". Abdullah was speaking at the end of a...

IRAN - Dec 11 - President's Fourth Oil Minister Nominee Given Nod.
December 17, 2005... Iran's parliament gives a clear vote of confidence to Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh as oil minister, endorsing the fourth nominee from Pres Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad. Vaziri-Hamaneh said he would give priority to "domestic capability", casting further doubt...

IRAQ - Dec 13 - Sunni Politician Says Iraq Poll Could Prompt Talks With US.
December 17, 2005... A leading Sunni Arab politician predicts Dec 15 parliamentary elections will pave the way for negotiations between the US and Sunni leaders on reducing the violence. Saleh Al Mutlek, a prominent candidate on the list of the Iraqi National...

PALESTINE - Dec 14 - Hamas Submits List For Palestinian Poll.(Brief Article)
December 17, 2005... Hamas submits a list of 62 candidates for next month's Palestinian legislative elections headed by Ismail Haniyeh, who is considered a moderate in the militant group. The group is expected to pose a strong challenge to the Fatah faction of...

PALESTINE - Dec 15 - Abbas's Fatah Rivals Enter A Slate For Elections.
December 17, 2005... The divisions within the main Palestinian faction, Fatah, breaks sharply into the open as the Palestinian Pres Mahmoud Abbas, threatens to resign unless a rival slate of younger Fatah members for the Jan. 25 legislative elections is withdrawn....

ARAB AFFAIRS - Dec 19 - GCC Calls For Nuclear-Free Middle East.
December 24, 2005... GCC leaders end their summit calling for a nuclear-free Middle East and backing a Saudi proposal to strengthen the Peninsula Shield, a joint force of the six-member GCC. The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Dec 21 - Israel Bans Jerusalem Palestinian Vote Over Hamas.
December 24, 2005... Israel says it will ban East Jerusalem Arabs from voting in a Palestinian election next month if militant Islamic group Hamas takes part - a move Palestinian officials said could delay the vote. Israel allowed Palestinian residents of East...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Dec 18 - Cheney Takes Iraq By Surprise With Unplanned Stop.(Dick Cheney)
December 24, 2005... The US vice- president Dick Cheney, makes a surprise visit to Iraq, touching down in Baghdad for an eight-hour stopover and visits with top Iraqi officials and US troops. The trip, which echoed Pres Bush's Thanksgiving visit to US troops in...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Dec 20 - US To Cut Troops In Afghanistan.
December 24, 2005... The Pentagon announces it will reduce US troop levels in Afghanistan by 2,500 soldiers next year, saying that increased deployments by Nato allies will make up the difference. Although European allies have yet to approve formally new...

IRAQ - Dec 19 - Shiite Islamists Take Lead In Election.(Shiite Islamist United Iraqi Alliance)
December 24, 2005... The election commission releases preliminary results for last week's parliamentary election, indicating that the Shiite Islamist United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) is taking a strong lead. Sunni and Kurdish parties also did well, while a coalition led...

IRAQ - Dec 19 - Saddam's Former Top Officials Freed.(Saddam Hussain)(Brief Article)
December 24, 2005... An Iraqi lawyer says that between 24 and 25 former top officials in Saddam Hussain's government have been released from Iraqi jail. Badee Izzat Aref said that some of those released were his clients, adding that some of those freed have left...

IRAQ - Dec 21 - Saddam Trial Hears Graphic Evidence Of Torture.(Saddam Hussain)
December 24, 2005... Former Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussain claims he had been beaten while in detention, as his often chaotic trial on charges of orchestrating the torture and murder of Shiite villagers in 1982 resumes. Hussain said: Yes, I have been beaten, everywhere...

IRAQ - Dec 22 - Sunnis Threaten Boycott Of Parliament.(United Iraqi Alliance)
December 24, 2005... The main Sunni Arab coalition and the list headed by secular Shiite former PM Iyad Allawi are among 35 groups that called the Dec 15 Iraqi elections illegitimate and threatens to boycott parliament. The groups, in a statement, demanded that...

ISRAEL - Dec 18 - Sharon In Hospital After Minor Stroke.
December 24, 2005... PM Ariel Sharon, is in hospital in Jerusalem after suffering a minor stroke but doctors said he is expected to be discharged soon. Sharon, 77, complained of feeling ill just outside Jerusalem as he was being driven to his home in southern...

RUSSIA - Dec 23 - Judge Refuses To Extradite Former Oil Chief.
December 24, 2005... A judge rules out saying a former senior executive of Yukos, the shattered oil company, cannot be extradited to Russia because the case is politically motivated and he will not receive a fair trial. Alexander Temerko, a close ally and in effect...

YEMEN - Dec 23 - Yemen Launches Mediation To Free Austrian Hostages.(Brief Article)
December 24, 2005... Yemeni tribal elders launch a new mediation effort to free two Austrian tourists taken hostage by armed tribesmen in the country's northeast two days ago. They said local authorities asked prominent leaders of the main tribal groupings of...