APS Diplomat Recorder articles from February 2008

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from February 2008

ARAB AFFAIRS - Jan 27 - Arab FMs Send Moussa Back To Lebanon.
February 2, 2008... Arab League FMs meet in Cairo to try to find a solution to nudge feuding Lebanese politicians to elect a new president and put an end to the almost 14-month-old political standoff which has crippled the country. Arab League chief AMoussa held...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Jan 29 - Moussa Warns Rival Lebanese Parties To Accept Compromise.
February 2, 2008... Arab FMs have called on rival political factions in Lebanon to agree on the number of Cabinet posts each side will get with the firm understanding that the majority does not get "half plus one" nor the opposition "a third plus one" of Cabinet...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 1 - Hundreds Of Hamas Supporters Protest Egypt's Attempts To Close Gaza Border Breach.
February 2, 2008... Hamas militants hauled away metal spikes that Egyptian soldiers had placed at sections of the Gaza-Egypt border, defying attempts to reseal the frontier and stop the influx of blockade-weary Gazans. Ever since Hamas-allied militants toppled the...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Jan 27 - Israel Relents On Supplies To Gaza.
February 2, 2008... PM Ehud Olmert of Israel promises the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Jan 27 that Israel will no longer disrupt the supply of food, medicine and necessary energy into the Gaza Strip and intended to prevent a "humanitarian disaster"...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Jan 29 - Israel Won't Resist Abbas Control At Egypt Crossing.
February 2, 2008... Israel will not stand in the way of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas taking control of Gaza's breached border with Egypt as part of a deal to sideline Hamas. But it is unclear how Abbas, the Fatah leader, would be able to assert control over...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Jan 30 - Lebanon War Report Targets Israeli Military.(Report)
February 2, 2008... Israel's embattled PM Ehud Olmert, emerged damaged but unbroken from a highly critical report into his government's handling of the 2006 war in Lebanon that accused the country's political and military leaders of "severe failures and faults"....

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan 29 - US Commanders Predict A Long Campaign For Mosul.
February 2, 2008... Leading US commanders in northern Iraq predict that the battle to oust Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia from its last urban stronghold would not be swift but rather a grinding campaign for Mosul that will require more firepower from both the Pentagon...

EGYPT - Jan 28 - Egyptian Authorities Urge Abbas To Control Border.
February 2, 2008... Egypt says that it wanted the PA of President Mahmoud Abbas to control the border crossing with the Gaza Strip, excluding Hamas militants, who have run the territory since June. FM Ahmad Aboul Gheit told the EU and the US it was important that...

IRAN - Jan 30 - Ahmadi-Nejad: Iran Will Produce Nuclear Power Next Year.(Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad )
February 2, 2008... President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad of Iran says in a speech Jan 30 that his country will produce nuclear energy by next year and lashes out at Israel as a "filthy entity" that would soon collapse. His speech came as the United Nations Security...

IRAQ - Jan 27 - Iraqi Forces Take Lead In Mosul Crackdown.
February 2, 2008... Iraqi soldiers reach the northern city of Mosul on Jan 27 for an operation against the Sunni insurgent group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, in a response to a week of violence in which at least 34 people were killed in a house explosion, followed by...

IRAQ - Feb 1 - Dozens Killed In Baghdad As 2 Suicide Bombers Strike.
February 2, 2008... Two women suicide bombers kill 65 people and wounded 149 at Baghdad pet markets on Feb 1, inflicting the bloodiest day on the Iraqi capital in six months. The co-ordinated attacks at the hugely popular Ghazil animal market and smaller New...

LEBANON - Jan 30 - Moussa Warns Lebanese Rivals To Reconcile While They Still Can.
February 2, 2008... Arab League chief AMoussa warns Jan 30 that should the Arab initiative fail to resolve the impasse in Lebanon, international powers could intervene. Moussa, who was in Kuwait for a meeting with senior officials, told reporters that any further...

SYRIA - Jan 29 - Syria Arrests Prominent Dissident.(Riad Seif )
February 2, 2008... Syria has arrested prominent dissident Riad Seif as part of an intensifying crackdown on dissent. Seif, a former MP, was arrested because of his involvement with the "Damascus declaration", calling for democracy in Syria, said Ammar Qorabi, the...

PALESTINE - Feb 1 - Top Palestinian Official Freed After Gaza Arrest.(Omar Al Ghoul )(Brief article)
February 2, 2008... An adviser to Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad is freed on Feb 1 after being held by Hamas for more than a month. Omar Al Ghoul was the most senior official in the PA to be arrested since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June. The...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 3 - OIC Condemns Gaza Siege; Urges Immediate Action By UN.
February 9, 2008... The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which groups all Muslim countries, lashes out at Israel for the crimes it is committing against Palestinians in the occupied territories. It demanded that Tel Aviv end its policy of collective...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 7 - Hariri Lashes Out At Iran And Syria, Calls For Massive Protest.
February 9, 2008... Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri blasts Syria and Iran for interfering in Lebanese politics and urged a massive turnout for a rally on the third anniversary of his father's assassination. "On February 14, we will all go down to Martyrs...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 8 - Mousa Engages Lebanon Rivals In Talks.
February 9, 2008... Arab League chief AMousa says more time is needed to resolve Lebanon's political stand-off after he brought the feuding parties together. Distrust between the anti-Syrian ruling party and the Hezbollah-led opposition is increasing after a...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Feb 8 - Israel Trims Gaza Electricity, Prompting Warning From US.
February 9, 2008... Israel begins reducing the amount of electricity it sells to Gaza as part of sanctions against continued rocket fire. The move prompted a warning from the US not to "worsen the humanitarian situation" of civilians in Gaza, and was followed by...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb 3 - Kabul Angered By Secret UK Taliban Plan.(United Kingdom)(Brief article)
February 9, 2008... A secret British plan to build military training camps for former Taliban fighters in Helmand has sent Afghan-UK relations to an all-time low, say officials. Kabul had no knowledge of attempts to persuade fighters to switch sides and train to...

EGYPT - Feb 3 - Egyptian Troops Seal Gaza Border.
February 9, 2008... Egyptian troops close the border with the Gaza Strip apparently bringing an end to 11 days of free movement for Palestinian residents of the blockaded territory. The Egyptian troops and police were allowing Gazans and Egyptians to cross the...

EGYPT - Feb 4 - Several Wounded In Clashes At Egypt-Gaza Border.
February 9, 2008... Egyptian forces and Hamas police exchange fire across the volatile Gaza-Egypt border, a day after Egypt resealed the frontier. Defiant Hamas leaders warned they would not permit Gaza's only gate to the world to remain closed for long. One...

IRAN - Feb 4 - Iran Unveils Space Center, Launches Rocket.(Explorer-1)
February 9, 2008... Iran launches a research rocket and unveiled its first major space center, the latest steps in a program many fear may be cover to more fully develop its military ballistic missiles. State television showed live images of the event from the...

IRAN - Feb 7 - Khatami Calls Iran Poll Disqualifications A 'Disaster'.(Muhammad Khatami)
February 9, 2008... Former president Muhammad Khatami says the mass disqualification of reformist candidates in Iran's forthcoming parliamentary elections is a "disaster" and warned against "pre-determining people's votes". In his first public reaction to the...

IRAQ - Feb 3 - Ex-Baathists In Iraq Back In Jobs.(former Baath party members to reclaim government jobs)(Brief article)
February 9, 2008... Iraq's presidency council issues a controversial law that allows lower-ranking former Baath party members to reclaim government jobs, the final step for the first US-backed benchmark approved by parliament. The measure was thought to affect...

IRAQ - Feb 3 - Mahdi Army Awaits Theologian's Ceasefire Call.(Muqtada al-Sadr )
February 9, 2008... A spokesman for Muqtada al-Sadr said on Feb 7 that the radical Shi'ite theologian had called on his followers to continue observing a unilateral ceasefire that is believed to be a big cause of the recent decline in Iraq's political violence....

ISRAEL - Feb 3 - Reprieve For Olmert From Coalition Ally.
February 9, 2008... Ehud Olmert has survived the latest threat to his embattled tenure as Israel's PM, after the Labour party decides to remain part of his coalition government in spite of a scathing report into its handling of the 2006 Lebanon war. Labour's move...

ISRAEL - Feb 6 - Israel Strikes As Palestinian Militants Continue Attacks.
February 9, 2008... A rocket fired from Gaza wounds two young sisters as they played outside their home, Israel's air force attacked Gaza militants and a top Israeli Cabinet Minister declared an all-front war on Hamas - rapid-fire incidents that threatened to bury...

LEBANON - Feb 6 - Nasrallah And Aoun Say Partnership Is Still Strong.(Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Michel Aoun)
February 9, 2008... The leaders of Lebanon's largest Shi'ite and Christian opposition parties declare that their two-year old alliance is still strong and that its greatest achievement is the maintenance of civil peace despite a long-running power struggle with...

PALESTINE - Feb 8 - Peace Accord Unlikely This Year, Says Palestinian PM.
February 9, 2008... PM Salam Fayyad says a lasting peace accord with Israel is unlikely in 2008 despite renewed diplomatic efforts to resolve the long-running conflict. He highlighted the lack of progress on the issue of Israeli colonies and military incursions...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 21 - 'There Is No Initiative But The Arab Initiative'.
February 23, 2008... Acting FM Tarek Mitri says "there is no initiative in Lebanon but the Arab initiative" to resolve the continuing political deadlock, which has left the country without a president since Emile Lahoud stepped down in November 2007. Mitri...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 20 - Moussa Getting Nowhere.
February 23, 2008... Saudi FM Prince Saud al-Faisal says he is worried about the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon and blames a "foreign party" for undermining attempts to restore stability in the country. Speaking at a conference of Arab and South American FMs...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 22 - Arab Leaders Doubtful On 2-State Solution To Palestinian Conflict.
February 23, 2008... Arab leaders will threaten to rescind their offer of full relations with Israel in exchange for a complete Israeli withdrawal from occupied lands unless Israel gives a positive response to their initiative, indicating the Arab states' growing...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Feb 17 - Israeli Incursion Into Gaza Strip Kills 4 Militants.
February 23, 2008... The Israeli Army kills four Palestinian militants in southern Gaza, and one Israeli soldier is seriously wounded in an exchange of fire. Hospital officials in southern Gaza said that more than 20 Palestinians, including civilians, were wounded...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Feb 19 - Olmert And Abbas Continue Mideast Peace Talks.
February 23, 2008... The Israeli and Palestinian leaders met amid growing public dissonance over the content of their talks and the kind of agreement they are trying to achieve. PM Ehud Olmert of Israel and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, met in the...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Feb 21 - Israeli Military Mounts Another Attack in Gaza.
February 23, 2008... The Israeli tanks backed by drones rolled into southern Gaza Strip amid intensive use of machine gunfire. Witnesses said that the Palestinian resistance confronted the invading troops but no casualties were reported. They added that several...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb 17 - Scores Killed In Afghan Suicide Bombing.
February 23, 2008... A suicide bomber blows himself up in a large crowd gathered to watch dogfights just outside this city, killing about 80 people and wounding more than 90 in the country's worst single bombing since 2001. Witnesses and officials said the bomber...

IRAN - Feb 17 - Iran Says US Talks Delayed For Technical Reasons.(United States-Iran peace talks)(Brief article)
February 23, 2008... Iran's FM says technical reasons are behind the delay in talks between Iranian and US officials on Iraq and denies new US claims that Tehran is fueling violence in its neighbour. Tehran postponed what would have been a fourth round of talks....

IRAN - Feb 19 - Nuclear Plans Are Peaceful, Says Larijani.
February 23, 2008... Iran's former top security official has said the United Nations watchdog investigating Tehran's nuclear plans now has all the information it needs to establish that the programme is of a peaceful nature. Ali Larijani was one of the architects...

IRAQ - Feb 22 - Al Qaida's Collapse 'Imminent' Say Officials.
February 23, 2008... Recent remarks by Iraqi and US officials about Al Qaida activities in Iraq and the confiscation of documents belonging to the group have strengthened the belief that Al Qaida's collapse is imminent. Iraqi PM Nouri Al Maliki talked about a...

IRAQ - Feb 22 - Sadr Orders Mahdi Army To Extend Cease-Fire.
February 23, 2008... The Shi'ite theologian Muqtada al-Sadr orders his Mahdi army militia to extend its cease-fire for another six months, raising hopes that a recent trend toward sharply lower Iraqi civilian and American military deaths in Baghdad would continue....

PALESTINE - Feb 18 - 'No Delaying Of Jerusalem Status Talks'.
February 23, 2008... Palestinian officials angrily reject Israeli PM Ehud Olmert's claim that they agreed to delay talks on the fate of occupied Jerusalem until the last phase of peace negotiations. The disagreement emerged a day before Olmert and Palestinian...

TURKEY - Feb 22 - Turkish Ground Troops Enter Iraq In Operation Against Kurdish Fighters.
February 23, 2008... The Turkish military says it had sent troops into northern Iraq, in a limited operation to weaken Kurdish militants there. The military announced the operation on its Web site, but PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan later played it down, describing the...