APS Diplomat Recorder articles from February 2003

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from February 2003

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 26 - Twelve Die As Army Strikes Into Gaza.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... At least 12 Palestinians are killed and more than 40 are wounded as Israeli armoured vehicles backed by helicopter gunships sweep into the Zaytoun neighbourhood of Gaza City. (This is the deepest raid into the Gaza Strip in more than two years...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 29 - Violence Continues.
February 1, 2003... Violence flares in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Israeli soldiers killing an 18-year-old shepherd, Nahed Abu Dahrouj, and wounding 19 other people in separate incidents in Gaza. In the West Bank, Palestinian militants wound an Israeli man...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 30 - Hebron Raided.
February 1, 2003... The Army raids Hebron, destroying the Palestinian open-air market and shutting down police and television stations. Troops along with bulldozers and armoured vehicles pour into the town, where some 450 Jewish settlers live amidst heavy security...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 31 - Two Palestinians Killed In Jenin.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The Army kills a Hamas militant and a bystander in a gun battle outside a fire station in Jenin. Army officials said the soldiers ordered everyone inside the fire station to come out, then sent eight Palestinians who did so around to the other...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan. 30 - 'Shoe-Bomber' Sentenced To Life In Prison.(Richard Reid)
February 1, 2003... Richard Reid, the "shoe-bomber" who tried to blow up a Paris-to-Miami American Airlines flight with explosives hidden in his shoes on Dec. 22, 2001, is sentenced to life plus 110 years in prison and fined $2m in Boston. Judge William Young...

AFGHANISTAN - Jan. 28 - US-Led Coalition Forces Battle Rebels.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... US military spokesman Col. Roger King says at least 18 rebels have been killed in the battle with US-led coalition forces in the Adi Ghar mountain, just north of Spinbaldak, the border crossing between the southern town of Kandahar and the...

AFGHANISTAN - Jan. 30 - Terror Suspects Held In Kabul.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... US special forces in Kabul arrest 3 men suspected of plotting terrorist attacks on international troops. Meanwhile, the US military operation suffered its first casualties of the year when a helicopter crashed a few miles east of Bagram airbase...

AFGHANISTAN - Jan. 31 - Bus Bomb Kills 18.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... At least 18 people are killed early in the morning when a bus, crossing the Rambasi bridge, six miles south of Kandahar, explodes. Only two aboard the bus survives. No one immediately took responsibility for the explosion. The authorities...

EGYPT - Jan. 28 - Pound Allowed To Float.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... PM Atef Obaid says the pound is allowed to shift from a fixed peg to a market determined rate. (Analysts say the move is aimed at to pre-empting the likely disastrous impact of a war against Iraq on the stumbling economy). On Jan. 29, the pound...

IRAN - Jan. 29 - Top Dissident Freed.(Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, an 80-year-old theologian and once successor-in-waiting to the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayat. Ruhollah Khomeini, is released from house arrest. He leaves his home in the holy Shiite Muslim city of...

IRAN - Jan. 31 - Montazeri Attacks Political Trials.(Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... In a private meeting at his home with a dozen reformist MPs and student activists, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri condemns political trials as being against Sharia and calls for revision of the traditionalist judiciary. He says: "The...

IRAQ - Jan. 26 - Powell Insists US Ready To Act Alone.(Colin Powell)
February 1, 2003... US State Secretary Colin Powell tells global business and government leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos: "The US is in no rush to go to war. We seek Iraq's peaceful disarmament. But we will not shrink from war if that is the only way...

IRAQ - Jan. 26 - Blair Sets Out Terms For Action.(Tony Blair)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Speaking on British television, British PM Tony Blair says London will "only" be willing to fight alongside the US without a second UN resolution if one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council "unreasonably exercises their...

IRAQ - Jan. 27 - Sabri Insists Baghdad Gave 'Super Co-operation'.(naji Sabri)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... FM Naji Sabri tells a press conference that Baghdad has co-operated fully with the UN inspectors. He says: "We hope that they will be fair and that they would present the facts as they are on the ground that there are no banned weapons or...

IRAQ - Jan. 27 - Blix Attacks Baghdad Over Lack Of Co-operation.(Hans Blix)
February 1, 2003... In his long-awaited report to the UN Security Council on Iraqi disarmament, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix strongly criticises Baghdad for failing to account for its banned weapons. He acknowledges that Baghdad has granted access to...

IRAQ - Jan. 28 - Bush Seeks To Prepare US For War.(George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... In his State of the Union address, US Pres. Bush says: "The dictator of the Iraqis is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving. He has shown... his utter contempt for the United Nations and for the opinion of the world". Bush forcefully...

IRAQ - Jan. 28 - UK Declares 'Material Breach' By Baghdad.(Jack Straw)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw declares for the first time that Baghdad is in material breach of UN resolution 1441 requiring it to disarm. He says the UN is now facing a "fundamental challenge" to its authority. Straw says: "If it [Iraq]...

IRAQ - Jan. 28 - Amer Rashid Calls UN Report On Weapons Unfair.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... In the first official comment in Baghdad on the Jan. 27 report by Hans Blix to the UN Security Council, Saddam aide Lt.-Gen. Amer Rashid says Baghdad holds no banned weapons, adding: "We are co-operating with all our capacity and if there is a...

IRAQ - Jan. 30 - European Leaders Call For Unity With US.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Eight European leaders - Jose-Mara Aznar of Spain, Tony Blair of the UK, Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso of Portugal, Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark, Leszek Miller of Poland, Peter Medgyessy of Hungary and Vaclav Havel...

IRAQ - Jan. 30 - El Baradei Says Baghdad 'Not In Material Breach'.(Mohammad El Baradei)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammad El Baradei says that, in his view, Baghdad is not in material breach of UN Resolution 1441, contradicting the views expressed by the UK and US governments. He says he wants another...

IRAQ - Jan. 31 - Bush Warns Saddam Has Only Weeks To Disarm.(George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... Speaking at the White House with visiting British PM Tony Blair, US Pres. Bush warns Saddam Hussein that the US will give the diplomatic process a matter of "weeks not months". Bush also says a UN decision to pass a second resolution will be...

ISRAEL - Jan. 28 - Sharon Sweeps Ballot.(Ariel Sharon)
February 1, 2003... PM Ariel Sharon's Likud Party triumphs in the general election, securing 37 seats in the 120-member Knesset, almost double its current representation. (According to the final results announces on Jan. 31, Likud secured 38 seats in the Knesset)....

JORDAN - Jan. 28 - US To Provide Patriot Missile Shield.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... A report in The FT quotes a US government official as saying: "The US will provide Jordan with a Patriot anti-missile defence system and US troops to operate it in the event of war in the region". The report adds: "In recent weeks, Jordan has...

KAZAKHSTAN - Jan. 25 - Government Reaches Agreement With Oil Firms.(ChevronTexaco Corp. consortium, Tengiz oilfield in the Caspian)
February 1, 2003... The government reaches an agreement with an international oil consortium led by ChevronTexaco Corp. over the financing of the Tengiz oilfield in the Caspian. Under the terms of the agreement, the consortium will pay $810m to the Kazakh...

RUSSIA - Jan. 28 - Border Treaty With Ukraine Signed.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... During his 3-day visit to Kiev, Pres. Putin and Ukrainian Pres. Leonid Kuchma sign a treaty delineating the border between the countries. (The move ends years of sometimes sharp disputes over the issue). Putin says: "This is the result of a...

RUSSIA - Jan. 28 - Putin Changes Tack To Back 'Tougher' Line Towards Iraq.(Vladimir Putin)
February 1, 2003... At the meeting with university students in Kiev, Pres. Putin says: "If Iraq creates problems for the inspectors' work, then Russia may change its position and agree with the US on the development of other, tougher decisions in the UN Security...

TURKEY - Jan. 26 - US Offers Ankara $4 Bn.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... A senior US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says: "If Turkey helps us in the war [in Iraq], we want to help Turkey with the economic consequences of its role in that war". Separately, a well-placed international financial...

TURKEY - Jan. 31 - Ankara Endorses Troop Presence.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2003... The National Security Council, which includes the top cabinet members and generals, endorses the basing of foreign troops in the country. (The move can open the way for US soldiers to use Turkey as a base for military action against Iraq. The...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 5 - Three Palestinians Killed.
February 8, 2003... Three Palestinians die in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Kamla Said, a 65-year-old stepmother of a Palestinian militant, Baha Said, dies under the ruins of their house demolished by the Army in the Maghazi...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 6 - Violence Continues.(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... Two Palestinian militants attack an Army post in Nablus before dawn, killing 2nd Lt. Amir Ben Aryeh, 21, and Staff Sergeant Idan Suzin, also 21, before they are shot to death. Army officials said the attackers were armed with AK-47 submachine...

ARABS-OPEC - Feb. 2 - Cartel May Cut Output In Spring.
February 8, 2003... UAE Oil Minister Obaid Bin Saif Nasseri says in Abu Dhabi: "We [OPEC] definitely are concerned for the second quarter, because typically demand declines during that period. If we see the danger of a drop in oil prices, we will meet to rectify...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 4 - US Trade Policy 'Isolates Muslim States'.
February 8, 2003... The Washington-based Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) issues a report saying that US trade policy risks isolating the Muslim states that are on the front line in the war on terrorism. The report warns that the Muslim World has been "the blank...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 7 - Yassin Urges Muslims To Retaliate.(Shaikh Ahmad Yassin)(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... In an open letter, Hamas spiritual leader Shaikh Ahmad Yassin instructs Muslims worldwide to retaliate against "Western interests" if the US makes war on Iraq. He writes: "Muslims should threaten Western interests and strike them everywhere"....

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 6 - CIA Officer Killed.(Helge Boes)(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... CIA officer Helge Boes is killed and two others are injured in a training accident in the east of the country, when a grenade detonates prematurely during a live-fire exercise. The injuries to the two other officers are not life-threatening,...

IRAN - Feb. 4 - Two Political Pollsters Jailed.(Hossein-Ali Ghazian, Abbas Abdi)(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... A report in The FT says Hossein-Ali Ghazian, the director of private Ayandeh polling institute, and Abbas Abdi, a managing member of the institute and once a veteran student with a leading role in US embassy takeover in 1979, are sentenced to 9...

IRAQ - Feb. 2 - Saddam Denies Links With Al Qaida.(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... In a rare TV interview with former British cabinet minister Tony Benn, Saddam Hussein denies that Baghdad has any links with Al Qaida, saying: "If we had a relationship with Al Qaida and we believed in that relationship, we wouldn't be ashamed...

IRAQ - Feb. 3 - Powell Vows 'Compelling Demonstration'.(Colin Powell)(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... In an open letter published in the Wall Street Journal, US State Secretary Colin Powell promises to provide a "compelling demonstration" on Feb. 5 that Saddam Hussein "is concealing the evidence of his weapons of mass destruction, while...

IRAQ - Feb. 5 - Powell Demands UN Action.(Colin Powell )
February 8, 2003... At a special session of the UN Security Council, US State Secretary Colin Powell demands that the Security Council respond "effectively and immediately" to a catalogue of defiance by Baghdad. Using satellite photos, intercepted conversations...

IRAQ - Feb. 5 - Baghdad Dismisses US "Lies".(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... Saddam's top scientific adviser Amir Al Saadi dismisses the presentation by US State Secretary Colin Powell to the UN Security Council as lies, saying: "This was a typical American show, complete with stunts and special effects... It is really...

IRAQ - Feb. 6 - UK Announces Further Military Deployment To Gulf.(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... UK Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon tells the House of Commons that London plans to send a further 8,100 British military personnel and 127 aircraft to the Gulf. (This is the largest deployment since the 1991 Gulf war. The deployment will bring the...

IRAQ - Feb. 6 - Bush Says 'Game Is Over'; Inspectors Say Saddam Has Days To Co-operate.(George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... US Pres. Bush tells reporters: "Saddam Hussein can now be expected to begin another round of empty concessions, transparently false denials. No doubt he will play a last-minute game of deception. The game is over". Powell earlier told the...

IRAQ - Feb. 7 - Rumsfeld Says War Would Last Up To 6 Weeks.(Donald Rumsfeld)(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tells hundreds of US military personnel gathered at the US Aviano airbase in northern Italy that Washington does not expect a possible war with Iraq to last long and is not planning to mobilise all its...

ISRAEL - Feb. 3 - Labour Rejects Sharon Bid For Coalition.(Ariel Sharon)(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... During a meeting between PM Sharon and Labour leader Amram Mitzna aimed at forming a broad new coalition government, Mitzna says Sharon appears unwilling to revise his positions to accommodate those of Labour, including the Labour view that...

ISRAEL - Feb. 5 - Recession Deepens.(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... The Finance Ministry publishes data, which shows that the Jan. deficit reached almost Shk2.7 bn, more than double the budget projection. The 17% fall in tax revenues, compared with Jan. 2002, is a principal factor in the deficit's rise. The...

KUWAIT - Feb. 3 - Two US Schools Close.(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... The American School of Kuwait and the American International School decide to close on Feb. 7 until March 22 because of growing tensions in the Gulf. (The decision comes two weeks after suspected Muslim extremists killed a businessman...

LIBYA - Feb. 4 - Gaddafi Offers To Mediate In Iraq Crisis.(Muammar Gaddafi)(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... Speaking to CNN while in Addis Ababa for the summit of the African Union, Muammar Gaddafi offers to mediate between US Pres. Bush and Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein to try to halt the slide towards a new Gulf war. He says: "I wish I could have the...

RUSSIA - Feb. 5 - Putin Meets Musharraf.(Vladimir Putin, Pervez Musharraf)
February 8, 2003... Visiting Moscow, Pakistani Pres. Gen. Pervez Musharraf meets in the afternoon with Pres. Putin. (This is the first official visit by a Pakistani president to Moscow in 33 years). Musharraf invites Putin on a return trip that would be the first...

TURKEY - Feb. 4 - Erdogan Modifies His Stance On Iraq.(Recep tayyip Erdogan)(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... The leader of the governing Justice and Development Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Iraq is not "taking the necessary steps" for peace and Ankara will lose any say in the future of Iraq if it does not join in an operation. (The shift by...

TURKEY - Feb. 5 - Pamukbank Put Up For Sale.(Brief Article)
February 8, 2003... The government puts up for sale Pamukbank, the 7th largest bank, 3 days after resolving a dispute with its former owner that threatened the $16 bn funding agreement with the IMF. The deal ending the dispute has also been criticised by the IMF...

TURKEY - Feb. 6 - Parliament Allows US To Upgrade Bases.
February 8, 2003... The parliament votes in a closed session to allow the modernisation of bases and harbours for use in a likely US-led war against neighbouring Iraq. The vote is carried by a majority of deputies in the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP),...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 9 - Violence Flares After Sharon-Korei Meet.
February 15, 2003... Three Palestinians blow up their explosives-laden car next to a Gaza Strip army post, killing themselves and wounding 4 Israeli soldiers. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the car blast. The Israeli sources said the...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 9 - Sharon To Oust Top PA Officials.(Ariel Sharon, Palestinian Authority)
February 15, 2003... In a broadcast ceremony, PM Sharon officially accepts the task of forming the Israeli government, saying: "Out of a sense of deep responsibility, I accept the task of setting up a new government in Israel. The new government will have to...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 11 - Soldiers Kill 3 Palestinians.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... Three Palestinians are killed by Israeli soldiers in separate incidents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli troops making arrests in the West Bank city of Nablus kill a Palestinian militant as he flees. In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 11 - Most Americans Back War In Iraq.
February 15, 2003... The poll, conducted for ABC News and The Washington Post, shows that 66% of US citizens support military action to oust Saddam Hussein, but that drops to 50% if the UN opposes the action. 57% support military action against Iraq if some allies...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 12 - 12% Of US Reserves Active In War On Terror.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... Defence Department spokesman Lt. Col. Dan Stoneking reports a huge increase in the call-up of National Guard and reserve troops in the past week. Now the number of reservists serving in the war on terrorism increased to more than 12% of the...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 11 - Gunmen Open Fire On US Troops.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... US military spokesman Col. Roger King says at a briefing at the Bagram Air Force base that US special forces have run into an ambush during a reconnaissance mission in a valley in Baghran, in the top corner of Helmand Province in the south of...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 12 - US Bombs Kill At Least 17 Civilians.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... At least 17 civilians are killed in a US-led bombing in Baghran where US special forces have been battling rebels this week (see above). Special forces battle 25 rebels and capture 12 men near Lejay. There are no US or coalition casualties. But...

IRAN - Feb. 9 - Khatami Reveals Uranium Discovery.(Mohammad Khatami)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... Pres. Mohammad Khatami announces the discovery and extraction of uranium for the production of nuclear energy, insisting that Tehran's nuclear programme is for peaceful use. He says uranium deposits are discovered in central Iran 200 km from...

IRAN - Feb. 14 - Court Lifts Death Sentence.(Hashem Aghajari)
February 15, 2003... The Supreme Court in Qom lifts the death sentence ordered in the case of Hashem Aghajari, a history professor at Tehran's Teachers Training University. (He was condemned to death for insulting Islam and questioning theological rule during a...

IRAQ - Feb. 10 - Blix Says Extra Inspectors Not The Issue.(Hans Blix)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix warns that an increase in the number of weapons inspectors in Baghdad will not address the fundamental question of whether Saddam Hussein is willing to offer full co-operation on disarmament. He says in...

IRAQ - Feb. 10 - Baghdad Agrees To Allow Surveillance Flights.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Douri delivers a letter from Baghdad to the chief UN weapons inspectors agreeing to allow flights over the country by photographic surveillance aircraft - a U-2 aircraft offered to the inspectors by the US, a...

IRAQ - Feb. 11 - Bin Laden Urges To Resist US.
February 15, 2003... In an audio tape broadcast by Al Jazeera, Osama Bin Laden issues a call urging Iraqis to stand firm against an impending US invasion and claiming the US and Israel will soon face new suicide attacks. He says the attacks will be "a disaster [the...

IRAQ - Feb. 11 - Post-War Transition 'Could Take 2 Years'.
February 15, 2003... Marc Grossman, US undersecretary of state for political affairs responsible for overseeing planning for a post-war Iraq, says he thinks it will take 2 years to complete the transition to a new government if a US-led invasion overthrew Saddam...

IRAQ - Feb. 13 - Range Of Missile 'Exceeds Rules'.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... A meeting of missile experts called by UN arms inspectors finds Al Samoud 2 missile system has a longer operational range than permitted under UN resolutions. (This provides the first clear indication Baghdad has continued to develop proscribed...

IRAQ - Feb. 13 - Bush Tells Security Council To Display 'Backbone'.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... Speaking at the Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonsville, Florida, US Pres. Bush challenges the UN Security Council to show "backbone and courage" in its deliberations over Iraq, lest it "fade into history as an ineffective, irrelevant debating...

IRAQ - Feb. 14 - Only Full Compliance "Will Stop War".(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... While en route from Vienna to New York to deliver a crucial report to the UN Security Council on Iraqi disarmament, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammad El Baradei tells Reuters that Baghdad still has a chance...

IRAQ - Feb. 14 - Saddam Bans Importation Or Production Of Nuclear, Biological & Chemical Weapons.(Saddam Hussein)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... Saddam Hussein issues a presidential decree banning the importation or production of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons by "individuals and companies in private and mixed sectors". The decree says: "All ministries should implement this...

IRAQ - Feb. 14 - UN Security Council Splits Over Inspectors' Report.
February 15, 2003... The Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission Hans Blix and the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammad EL Baradei deliver a report to the UN Security Council detailing progress...

ISRAEL - Feb. 10 - Sharon Starts Formal Talks To Build Coalition.(Ariel Sharon)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... PM Sharon begins formal talks with possible partners on forming a new coalition government. He has up to 6 weeks to form a new government following his victory in the Jan. 27 elections. Likud Party officials hope the sense of emergency prompted...

ISRAEL - Feb. 12 - Sharon Faces War Crimes Charge In Belgium.(Ariel Sharon)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... Belgian Supreme Court throws out a ruling by a lower court that the case against PM Sharon, accused of committing war crimes in 1982 during the Lebanese civil war, can not proceed because it does not refer to Belgian territory. But it says that...

JORDAN - Feb. 13 - Amman Advocates Exile For Saddam.(Saddam Hussein)
February 15, 2003... A report in The IHT says: "Officials at high levels of Jordan's government say they are pressing the case with Washington for offering Saddam Hussein and perhaps the top 50 Iraqi officials the chance to quit power in Baghdad and accept a...

PALESTINE - Feb. 10 - Refugees Face Food Crisis.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... Peter Hansen, the commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency, warns that without immediate international help it will run out of money in March to feed more than a million people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He says in an...

PALESTINE - Feb. 14 - Arafat Agrees To Appoint Prime Minister.(Yasir Arafat)(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... Arafat tells reporters at his headquarters in Ramallah: "In light of contact that we conducted with members of the Quartet... I decided to appoint a prime minister". But Arafat did not say who the prime minister would be, when the appointment...

RUSSIA - Feb. 10 - Moscow, Paris & Berlin Issue Declaration To Delay War In Iraq.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... Visiting Paris, Pres. Putin and French Pres. Jacques Chirac issue a joint Franco-Russian-German declaration calling for intensified weapons inspections as an alternative to war in Iraq. (The declaration follows talks in Berlin over the weekend...

RUSSIA - Feb. 11 - BP Invests.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... BP PLC agrees to pay $6.75 bn to form a new Russian oil company. (The deal is the largest in the post-Soviet history and equal to a quarter of all foreign direct investment in Russia since 1992). Under the terms of the agreement, BP will pay...

TURKEY - Feb. 10 - NATO Aid On Iraq Blocked.
February 15, 2003... Blocking NATO's 16 other members, France, Germany and Belgium reject a request from Ankara for access to surveillance aircraft and missile systems. (The government, which permitted the US to use bases in the country in the event of war against...

TURKEY - Feb. 14 - Netherlands Aids Defence.(Brief Article)
February 15, 2003... The Dutch Air Force begins loading Patriot defence missile systems onto freighter ships destined for Turkey in case of a US-led war against Iraq. The Dutch government agrees to provide Ankara with three ground-to-air missile batteries after it...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb. 16 - Foreign Ministers Deny Support For Iraq Attack.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2003... Foreign ministers meet in Cairo, and after hours of wrangling issue a communique, saying: "[The foreign ministers] affirm the necessity for their countries to refrain from offering any kind of assistance or facilities for any military action...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb. 18 - Kuwait Eases Rift With Lebanon.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2003... Diplomats say the crisis between Kuwait and Lebanon has "started to calm down" following a series of high level meetings in Kuwait City and Beirut. (The crisis opened on Feb. 16 after a Lebanese-chaired meeting of Arab foreign ministers in...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb. 20 - League Sets Summit On Iraq Crisis.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2003... The Arab League announces that leaders of its member states will meet in Cairo on March 1 in an effort to forge a united position on US Pres. Bush's threats to attack Iraq. (The meeting amounts to a compromise between Egyptian Pres. Hosni...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb. 19 - Court Jails Moroccan Over Sept. 11.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2003... Mounir Al Motassadeq, a 28-year-old Moroccan national and former electrical engineering student, is sentenced to 15 years in prison by a panel of 5 judges in a Hamburg court for being an accessory to murder in 3,066 cases - the number of people...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 16 - Six Hamas Members Killed In Gaza.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2003... At least 6 Hamas members die in a mysterious explosion in a southern neighbourhood of Gaza City, when a powerful bomb goes off as they are sitting in a car near a farmhouse. One of those killed is Nidal Farahat, a top leader of the military...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 17 - Army Kills Hamas Leader.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2003... Israeli undercover troops hiding in a van loaded with vegetables kill Riyad Abu Zeid, a top Hamas militant, in a roadside ambush in the Gaza Strip. The Army described Abu Zeid as a senior member of Hamas' military wing who had organised attacks...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 19 - Thirteen Palestinians Killed.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2003... The Army invades the northern Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Nablus, killing 13 Palestinians and demolishing metal shops and homes and searching for suspects. Violence spirals through the day. In Gaza, a Hamas suicide bomber blows himself...