APS Diplomat Recorder articles from February 2006

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from February 2006

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb 6 -Denmark Faces Iran Trade Ban Threat.
February 11, 2006... Iran moves to the forefront of the controversy over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad as protesters attacked the Danish and Austrian embassies in Tehran and the government is said to be considering a trade ban against the Nordic country. The...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb 6 - Israel Will Co-operate With Palestinians.
February 11, 2006... Acting PM Ehud Olmert says Israel will continue to co-operate with the PA and its interim government as long as Hamas is not represented there. He said that Israel will also deal diplomatically with the Palestinian Pres, Mahmoud Abbas, known as...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb 8 - Syria And Iran Accused Over Cartoons Strife.
February 11, 2006... The US accuses Syria and Iran of inciting violence among Muslims over caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad that were first published in a Danish newspaper and which have sparked protests across the world. It also implicitly urged newspapers not...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb 7 - 13 Killed In Suicide Bombing.
February 11, 2006... A suicide bomber blows up a guard post outside the police HQ's in Kandahar, killing 13 people and wounding 11. A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Mohammad Yousaf, claimed responsibility for the bombing on behalf of the hard-line militia, and...

IRAN - Feb 5 - Defiant Tehran Gives Go-ahead On Nuclear Work.
February 11, 2006... The crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions escalate as the country announce plans to resume all parts of its atomic programme and ends its acceptance of snap UN inspections. The move comes in clear defiance of Feb 4 27-3 vote by the board of the...

IRAQ - Feb 8 - Final Voting Results Are Promised By Friday.
February 11, 2006... The nation's election commission chief Adil al-Lami says the final certified results for Iraq's parliamentary elections on Dec. 15 will be announced in two days. He said that a judicial commission investigating complaints about the voting for...

PALESTINE - Feb 5 - Palestinian Officials Flee Over Missing $700m.
February 11, 2006... The PA's senior law officer Ahmad al-Moghani, announces that a number of senior Palestinian officials had fled abroad to escape prosecution in a series of corruption cases in which more than $700m had been squandered or stolen. "There are 50...

PALESTINE - Feb 8 - Hamas Warns Abbas Not To Make Changes To PA.(Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority)
February 11, 2006... The Hamas leader Khaled Meshal warns the Palestinian Pres, Mahmoud Abbas, not to revamp the PA in remarks that pointed to potential friction as Hamas prepares to form a new government. Meshal spoke at a news conference in Cairo, where he and...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Jan 31 - Arabs Join In Pressuring Hamas Over Israel.
February 13, 2006... In a swirl of Arab diplomacy, Saudi Arabia and Jordan press the militant Palestinian organisation Hamas to moderate its stance on Israel and to entice the defeated Fatah party into a deal to share power. And there were growing indications that...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Jan 29 - Iran's Nuclear Offer Fails To Impress Europe.
February 13, 2006... European diplomats dismiss an offer by Iran to slow down its controversial nuclear programme, as the Islamic republic continued its efforts to avoid being reported to the UN Security Council. Javad Vaeedi, one of Iran's top nuclear negotiators,...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb 1 - Tehran Cools On Russia Offer.(nuclear programme)
February 13, 2006... Iran's top security official Ali Larijani, says that he saw no "signs of life" in a Russian proposal floated as a compromise under which Moscow would allay international concerns over Tehran's nuclear programme by enriching uranium in Russia....

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb 1 - Israel Moves To Tear Down Illegal Settlements.
February 13, 2006... Thousands of Israeli troops in riot gear and on horseback clash with Jewish protesters as they began dismantling homes in this illegal West Bank settlement, injuring at least 40 people, officials said. It was the first forced evacuation of...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb 1 - Bush 'Calling For Iran Regime Change'.(George W. Bush)
February 13, 2006... A direct appeal by Pres Bush to the Iranian people to "win your own freedom" is a barely disguised call for regime change in Iran, raising the question of whether the US will turn to covert action to support internal opposition. In his State of...

IRAN - Feb 3 - Rafsanjani says UN referral would be 'black page in history'.(Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani)
February 13, 2006... Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former Pres and a towering figure in Iran's 27-year Islamic Republic, makes a last-minute appeal to the board of the IAEA not to refer Iran to the UN security council over its nuclear programme. Rafsanjani told...

IRAQ - Jan 29 - Saddam Judge Sparks Chaos.(Saddam Hussain)
February 13, 2006... The already troubled trial of Saddam Hussain descends into chaos as a new head judge's attempt to assert his authority sparks a walk-out by the former Iraqi Pres and his defence team and the forcible removal of another defendant. The courtroom...

IRAQ - Jan 31 - Blast Kills 100th British Soldier.
February 13, 2006... A British soldier is killed by an explosion in southern Iraq, becoming the 100th UK service member to die in the campaign since the US-led invasion in 2003. In a sign of the political sensitivity of the milestone, Def Sec John Reid took the...

PALESTINE - Jan 29 - Fatah Rules Out Joining Hamas In Coalition Govt.
February 13, 2006... Deputies from Fatah confirms the party will not join Hamas in a coalition government. The unexpected Hamas victory has led to alarm both within Israel, which has ruled out dealing with a Hamas administration, and among international players in...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 20 - Egypt's Islamists Call For Donations To Assist Hamas.
February 25, 2006... Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood launches a campaign to raise funds for a Hamas-led PA in light of Israeli sanctions and threats by the US and EU to suspend direct aid to the PA. The deputy leader of the Brotherhood Mohammad Habib, told the FT that...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb 20 - EU-Iran Talks Make No Progress.
February 25, 2006... EU talks with the Iranian FM fails to make progress in resolving the West's standoff with the Islamic republic over its nuclear program. The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana, said that Iran's "substantive position has not changed"....

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb 20 - Quartet Delays Palestinian Decision.(Javier Solana)
February 25, 2006... The EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, says the quartet of Mideast peacemakers, which includes the US, Russia, the UN and the EU, agree to wait until Hamas took power before deciding on funding to the Palestinian government. Solana said...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb 21 - Britain Appeals For Unified Iraqi Government.
February 25, 2006... Britain's foreign secretary Jack Straw, during a visit to Baghdad appeals for "a government of national unity" in Iraq. His call comes amid growing fears that the PM-designate, Ibrahim Al Jaafari, will be unable to broker a compromise between...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb 21 - Rice Visits Cairo As Quartet's Line On Hamas Blurs.(Condoleeza Rice)
February 25, 2006... US State Sec Condoleezza Rice, arrives in Cairo as the US and its international partners struggle to maintain a common line in the wake of Hamas' victory in Palestinian elections last month. There are growing signs that the controversy over...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb 23 - Rice Takes Aim At Syria Meddling On Visit To Beirut.(Condoleeza Rice)
February 25, 2006... US State Sec Condoleeza Rice, takes aim at Syria during a surprise visit to Beirut. After arriving from Saudi Arabia, she said that "the sole purpose of this trip is to express support for the Lebanese people and for the Lebanese government as...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb 20 - US Tactics 'Barbaric,' Bin Laden Alleges.
February 25, 2006... Osama bin Laden promises never to be captured alive and declares that the US had resorted to the same "barbaric" tactics used by Saddam Hussain, according to an audiotape purportedly by the Qaeda leader that was posted on Feb 20 on a militant...

IRAN - Feb 20 - Tehran To Pursue Research Despite Russian Plan.
February 25, 2006... Tehran vows to pursue nuclear research even as Iranian negotiators meet in Moscow to discuss a Russian proposal to outsource the country's uranium enrichment - the process that can create weapons grade material. FM Manouchehr Mottaki said: If...

IRAN - Feb 20 - Tehran Rejects US Money For 'Promoting Democracy'.
February 25, 2006... Iranian leaders dismiss the US administration's proposal to allocate $75m for "promoting democracy" in Iran. FM Manouchehr Mottaki, has suggested the money would be better spent on investigating why "hatred of the US has increased throughout...

IRAQ - Feb 21 - Attacks Fuel Fears Of Civil War.(Brief Article)
February 25, 2006... Two bombs rip through one of the country's most famous Shiite religious shrines, sparking retaliatory attacks and deepening fears that the country is slipping into open civil war. After the attack on the Golden Mosque in Samarra, the Iraqi Pres...

PALESTINE - Feb 20 - Hamas Names Haniyeh As Premier.(Ismail Haniyeh)
February 25, 2006... Hamas names Ismail Haniyeh as their choice to become the new Palestinian PM. PA (PA) Pres Mahmoud Abbas warned that his government faces a grave financial crisis as Israel imposed a range of sanctions on the incoming Hamas-led government....

PALESTINE - Feb 22 - Fatah Agrees 'In Principle' To Join Govt.
February 25, 2006... The Fatah faction says that it had agreed in principle to join the new Palestinian government led by Hamas. At a joint press conference with Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar held in Gaza City, Azzam El-Ahmad, head of Fatah in the Palestinian...

YEMEN - Feb 22 - Saudis Among 17 Al Qaida Suspects On Trial.
February 25, 2006... A group of 17 Al Qaida suspects, including three Saudis, are put on trial before the Yemeni state security court in Sanaa. The prosecutor, Khalid Al Mawri, accused the men of forming an armed gang to target Americans in Yemen, possession of...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 17 - Arab States Ask Hamas To Back 2002 Peace Offer.
February 27, 2006... Leading Arab states urge Hamas to commit the next Palestinian government to an Arab peace initiative from 2002 as part of a face-saving solution to international pressures for the group's isolation. The so-called international quartet - made up...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb 16 - Israel To Tighten Squeeze Ahead Of Hamas Control.
February 27, 2006... Israel's top security officials draw up a series of punitive measures likely to be imposed against the Palestinians after a new Palestinian Parliament, dominated by Hamas, is sworn on Feb 18. The new government, with a prime minister and a...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb 14 - Hamas Reacts To Reports Of A US-Israeli Squeeze.
February 27, 2006... Hamas criticises the US and Israel following reports that they are exploring ways to topple the militants' incoming government unless they renounced their violent ideology. In Washington, the White House and the Israeli ambassador to the US...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb 15 - More Images Of 'Abuse At Abu Ghraib' Shown.
February 27, 2006... The Pentagon says newly released images of US soldiers abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison will inflame tensions and provoke violence around the world. An Australian TV station broadcast previously unpublished images said to show physical...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb 13 - 4 US Troops Die In Blast.
February 27, 2006... Four American soldiers are killed when their Humvee is hit in a remote-controlled roadside explosion as they are patrolling with an Afghan Army unit in the southern province of Uruzgan. The explosion was so powerful that the four men were...

EGYPT - Feb 13- Mubarak Moves To Delay Elections.
February 27, 2006... Pres Hosni Mubarak of Egypt moves to postpone by two years elections for thousands of local government positions initially scheduled for April, turning away from a promise made during his recent Presidential race to promote democratic...

IRAN - Feb 13 - Tehran Dashes Hopes For Russian Nuclear Deal.(Brief Article)
February 27, 2006... Tehran announces it is indefinitely postponing talks scheduled for Feb 16 in Moscow, dashing hopes a Russian compromise proposal might ease its nuclear stand-off with the UN. Tehran also resumed enriching uranium at its Natanz plant in defiance...

IRAQ - Feb 12 - Shiite Choose Jaafari As PM Candidate.(Ibrahim al-Jaafari )
February 27, 2006... Iraq's ruling Shiite coalition announces they have chosen incumbent Ibrahim al-Jaafari as their candidate for prime minister, clearing the way for negotiations that should end with the formation of a government within three months. The decision...

IRAQ - Feb 13 - Angry Saddam Forced Back To Court.(Saddam Hussain )
February 27, 2006... Saddam Hussain is brought back to the courtroom by force as his trial resumes, and prosecutors make their strongest efforts yet to tie him to executions carried out after an assassination attempt on the former Iraqi leader in 1982. The trial...

JORDAN - Feb 15 - 9 Condemned To Death For Terror Plot.
February 27, 2006... A military court condemns to death nine men, including the leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, for plotting a chemical attack that would have killed thousands of people in Jordan's capital. "Bin Laden's organization is...

PALESTINE - Feb 14 - Hamas Fills First Parliamentary Posts.
February 27, 2006... Hamas makes its first parliamentary appointments as Israel prepares to decide on its strategy towards the Palestinians after the Islamic militant group takes up the reins of power. It named Mahmoud al-Zahar from Gaza, one of its most hardline...