APS Diplomat Recorder articles from January 2003

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from January 2003

ARAB AFFAIRS - Jan. 3 - Arab States May Ask Saddam To Stand Down.(Saddam Hussein)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... A report in The FT says: "Arab governments keen to avert another Gulf war will try to convince [Iraqi leader] Saddam Hussein to step down if a US-led military campaign becomes imminent. Saudi Arabia is already pressing Washington to allow the...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 2 - Violence Continues.
January 4, 2003... Israeli forces, backed by armoured bulldozers, invade Nusairat and Bureij refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip late at night, clashing with militants. (The camps are considered among the strongholds of Palestinian militants). Ambulance...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 3 - Army Guts Militant Leader's Home.(Islamic Jihad's Mohammad Brewesh; Israeli Army)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The Army destroys the home of Mohammad Brewesh, a leader of Islamic Jihad in Beit Kahil north of Hebron. (Israeli forces arrested Brewesh last summer). In another development, several dozen Palestinian prisoners are lightly hurt in disturbances...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan. 1 - Washington Sends 11,000 More Ground Troops To Kuwait.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... A report in The IHT says: "The US Army is sending 11,000 more soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division in Georgia to Kuwait in the largest single ground deployment to the Gulf since the 1991 war... One of the division's three combat brigades,...

IRAQ - Jan. 3 - Bush Resumes Hardline Stance.(George W. Bush threatens Saddam Hussein again)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Addressing 4,000 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, US Pres. Bush accuses Saddam Hussein of showing "contempt" for the UN and says that, unless the leader dramatically changes his ways, he is heading towards war. Bush says the Dec. 7 Baghdad's...

IRAQ - Jan. 3 - Aziz Says Oil Drives.(Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... Speaking to several groups of European activists in Baghdad, Deputy PM Tariq Aziz says Washington is planning to invade his country as part of a plan to control the region's oil supplies. He says: "When they continue their preparations for the...

IRAQ - Jan. 4 - Britain To Send 20,000 Troops To Gulf.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The Daily Telegraph says the UK is planning to send more than 20,000 troops to the Gulf and mobilise 7,000 reservists next week in preparation for war against Iraq. The newspaper says British defence chiefs will brief PM Tony Blair on his...

JORDAN - Jan. 2 - Blair Visits.(Tony Blair; King Abdullah II)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... British PM Tony Blair arrives in Amman for talks on Iraq with King Abdullah II. Accompanied by his wife, Blair meets Abdullah at a palace in Aqaba, a Red Sea resort 350 km south of Amman. (The talks, which focused on Iraq and the Middle East...

RUSSIA - Jan. 1 - Utility Curbs Slow Inflation.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The IHT quotes the report by the State Statistics Committee as saying inflation in the country slowed to 15.1% in 2002, the lowest rate in five years, as the government limited price increases for natural gas and electricity. Consumer prices...

RUSSIA - Jan. 3 - Monitors May Be Able To Return To Chechnya.(Operation for Security and Co-operation in Europe)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The head of Pres. Putin's human rights commission Ella Pamfilova tells Echo of Moscow radio that the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe should be allowed to resume its mission in the breakaway republic of Chechnya. She says:...

SYRIA - Jan. 3 - Help On War Against Terror Warms Relations With US.(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... A report in The IHT says: "Syria's recent help against terrorists has created the most important thaw in relations with the United States since a brief warming in 1990, when Damascus offered a largely symbolic force to the US-led coalition...

TURKEY - Jan. 2 - Erdogan Urges Denktash To Agree Deal Over Cyprus.(Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash)(Brief Article)
January 4, 2003... The country's unofficial leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan urges Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to heed his own people's wishes for a settlement of the divided island of Cyprus that would enable them to join the EU as part of a re-united...

YEMEN - Jan. 2 - Deadly Attacks May Point To More Targets.
January 4, 2003... A government-owned weekly newspaper, known as September 26, reports that Abed Abdel Razzak Kamel, the man arrested for the Dec. 30 killing of three US missionaries, has confessed to meeting with Al Qaida operatives several years ago. Among...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Jan. 10 - Al Qaida Finance Suspect Arrested.(Shaikh Mohammad Ali Hassan Mouyad, Mohammad Moshen Yahya Zayed)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... German authorities arrest two Yemeni men - Shaikh Mohammad Ali Hassan Mouyad and Mohammad Moshen Yahya Zayed - at the Sheraton Hotel near Frankfurt International Airport. Christian Brockert, a spokesman for the Bundeskriminalamt says the men...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 5 - Tel Aviv Hit By Double Suicide Bombing.
January 11, 2003... Twenty-three people are killed and about 100 people wounded late at night in a double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. (This is the first bombing inside Israel since Nov. 2002, and the most devastating Palestinian assault inside Israel since March...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 6 - Israel Scuppers Palestinian Reform Meeting.
January 11, 2003... Responding to the Jan. 5 attacks in Tel Aviv, PM Sharon's government bans PA representatives from travelling to London for the Jan. 14 conference on Palestinian reform. FM Benjamin Netanyahu says: "The Palestinian leadership does not need to...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 8 - Army Kills Palestinian Near Settlement.
January 11, 2003... Israeli troops shoot dead a 30-year-old Palestinian man from Khan Younis, central Gaza, as he watches soldiers at the garrison at the nearby Neve Dekalim settlement. The Army, which has killed scores of militants trying to infiltrate...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 8 - Blair Pushes On With Plans To Host Palestinian Conference.(Tony Blair)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... In a speech to a gathering of British ambassadors, British PM Tony Blair invites PA representatives for the Jan. 14 talks with a "Quartet" of Middle East mediators - the US, EU, UN and Russia - to discuss Palestinian reforms demanded by...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 9 - Israel Rebuffs Blair's Travel Permits Plea.(Tony Blair)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... Israel snubs a British plea to allow PA officials to attend the Jan. 14 Middle East peace conference in London, with PM Sharon responding negatively to British PM Blair's letter by telephone after postponing a meeting with the British...

ARABS-OPEC - Jan. 7 - Cartel To Consider Raising Output.
January 11, 2003... A senior OPEC delegate says the cartel will hold an emergency meeting on Jan. 12 in Vienna to discuss raising oil production by up to 2m b/d. (OPEC has decided to pump more oil into the market because the general strike in Venezuela has brought...

ALGERIA - Jan. 4 - Attacks Kill 56.(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... Islamic militants ambush a military convoy in the north-east of the country and attack families in Zabana, 50 km south of Algiers, killing at least 56 people and wounding about 20. Among those killed are 43 soldiers. (This is the deadliest...

IRAN - Jan. 5 - Women Trained To Work As Police.(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... In a statement faxed to The Associated Press, police officials say 400 women are being trained to work as police officers to deal with crimes committed by women and will begin work in October. (This is the first time the women are allowed to...

IRAQ - Jan. 5 - Inspectors Hold Thousands For Hours At Research Complex.(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... Twenty one UN weapons inspectors freeze exits and entrances of a government research complex, confining thousands of people inside, including the visiting Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Douri for almost six hours. The complex houses a variety of...

IRAQ - Jan. 6 - Saddam Accuses Inspectors Of Spying.(Saddam Hussein, UN weapons inspectors)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... In a televised address marking the armed forces day, Pres. Saddam Hussein accuses UN weapons inspectors of spying on his country "instead of searching for weapons of mass destruction". He says the UN experts are being pressed by the US to go...

IRAQ - Jan. 7 - Saddam Ousts Ally Linked To Weapons Industry.(Saddan Hussein, Amer Mohammad Rasheed)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... Saddam Hussein replaces Oil Minister Amer Mohammad Rasheed with Sameer Aziz Al Najim, one of Saddam's closest associates and a hardline Baath Party regional commander and former ambassador, with little background in oil. Muhammad-Ali Zainy, an...

IRAQ - Jan. 7 - UN Reports 500,000 At Peril In War.(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... A British student group, Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq, quotes a UN confidential contingency planning report, called "Likely Humanitarian Scenarios", as saying that about 500,000 people in Iraq could suffer injuries and require medical...

IRAQ - Jan. 9 - Blix Tells Council Baghdad's Arms Report Had Nothing New.(Hans Blix, UN Security Council)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... The head of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission Hans Blix tells the UN Security Council that his team has found no "smoking gun" in Iraq so far, and he charges that the information supplied by Baghdad in its Dec. 7 weapons...

IRAQ - Jan. 10 - Bolton Says Baghdad Must Be Disarmed.(John Bolton)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... The US Under-Secretary of State for arms control and international security John Bolton makes it clear that the failure of the UN inspectors to come up with any hard evidence of weapons of mass destruction will not dissuade Washington from its...

ISRAEL - Jan. 7 - Mitzna Calls For Sharon Quit.(Amnon Mitzna, Ariel Sharon)
January 11, 2003... The Labour candidate for the Jan. 28 elections Amnon Mitzna demands that PM Sharon quit as prime minister over corruption allegations. (He refers to reports that police have launched an investigation into a $1.5m payment Sharon's sons received...

ISRAEL - Jan. 9 - Election Ban On 2 Arabs Lifted.(Azmi Bishara, Ahmed Tibi)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... The Supreme Court restores the candidacy of two Arab legislators, Azmi Bishara and Ahmed Tibi, overturning the decision by the Central Election Commission two weeks ago to disqualify them on charges of supporting Palestinian violence. (The ban...

JORDAN - Jan. 5 - Court Upholds Death Sentence In Terror Trial.(Raed Hijazi)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... A military court upholds its guilty verdict and death sentence on Raed Hijazi, a 33-year-old Jordanian-American convicted of conspiring to carry out poison-gas attacks on US and Israeli targets in the kingdom three years ago. (The ruling comes...

RUSSIA - Jan. 10 - Koizumi Visits.(Junichiro Koizumi)
January 11, 2003... Pres. Putin and visiting Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi sign an agreement calling for an accelerated effort to resolve the long-standing territorial dispute over four of the Kuril Islands. (The dispute has, technically, left Moscow and Tokyo in...

RUSSIA - Jan. 10 - Moscow Slates Constitutional Referendum In Chechnya.(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... The government announces that a constitutional referendum in Chechnya will be held on March 23, advancing a sweeping effort by Moscow to demonstrate that the war in the breakaway republic is over. A government commission has gathered 17,000...

TURKEY - Jan. 5 - Gul Meets Mubarak.(Abdullah Gul, Hosni Mubarak)(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... PM Abdullah Gul meets Egyptian Pres. Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. (This is a part of his Middle East tour, which started in Syria on Jan. 4, to try to head off a war with Iraq while limiting damage from Ankara's expected support for a US attack on...

TURKEY - Jan. 8 - Airliner Crashes Killing 72.(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu says a Turkish Airlines flight on its way from Istanbul has crashed while trying to land at the airport of Diyarbakir in the south-east of the country, killing 72 people. The plane crashed in heavy fog. NTV...

TURKEY - Jan. 10 - Ankara To Let US Military Survey Ports & Air Bases.(Brief Article)
January 11, 2003... Military officials and their US counterparts sign a deal granting permission to the US military to inspect ports and air bases in preparation for a possible war against Iraq. But the deal does not grant approval for a massive deployment of US...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Jan. 12 - Riyadh Proposes Plan To Resolve Iraq Crisis.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah says on state television that he does not believe there will be a war between the US, its allies and Iraq and that "Saudi Arabia has presented proposals to its brothers in Arab states and asked them to accept them...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Jan. 14 - German Officials Recast Strasbourg Terror Case.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... German prosecutors narrow their case against four Algerian men suspected of planning a bomb attack in the French city of Strasbourg, dropping a charge that the suspects belong to a terrorist group. The prosecutors say they still intend to...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Jan. 15 - Germany Outlaws Islamic Group.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... German Interior Minister Otto Schily outlaws the Islamic group Hizb ut Tahrir, which translates as the Liberation Party, accusing it of extremism and spreading anti-Semitic propaganda in universities. Schily says Hizb ut Tahrir has long been...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 11 - Arafat Appeals For Calm.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... In a strongly worded statement, Arafat urges Palestinian militants to halt attacks on Israeli civilians, saying: "Attacks against civilians have severely harmed our cause in the international arena and in Israeli public opinion. As the Israeli...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 12 - Sharon Shuns Blair Plea On Palestinian Talks.
January 18, 2003... PM Sharon rejects a personal appeal from British PM Tony Blair to allow Palestinian delegates to attend the conference on Palestinian reforms in London (see last week's Recorder). Sharon tells British Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles, who...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 12 - Sharon Dismisses Arafat Plea For Calm.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... PM Sharon dismisses an appeal from Arafat to Palestinian extremists for a pre-election halt to attacks on Israeli civilians, saying at the weekly cabinet meeting: "Not only is the murder of Israelis a constant and permanent goal for the...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 14 - Egypt Intelligence Chief Offers Peace Plan.
January 18, 2003... Attending the London conference on Palestinian reform (see Palestine), the head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service Omar Sulaiman proposes a peace initiative designed to end the 27 months of conflict between Israel and the PA. The plan...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 15 - Two Palestinian Colleges In Hebron Closed.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... The Army closes the Islamic University and the Polytechnic Institute in Hebron in response to the Jan. 5 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that killed 23 people. The Army says some students belong to militant groups. The Army also pumps cement into...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 18 - Troops Round Up Scores Of Palestinians In Pre-Election Raids.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... A report in The IHT says the Army has rounded up scores of Palestinians this week in a stepped-up campaign ahead of the Jan. 28 elections. Beginning on Jan. 14, there have been reports of arrests of 20 to 30 people a day, usually in raids...

ARABS-OPEC - Jan. 12 - Cartel Raises Output.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... In an emergency meeting in Vienna, OPEC members agree to raise their total output quota to 24.5m b/d as of Feb. 1. OPEC Pres. and Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah Hamad Attiyah says: "OPEC is trying to send a very strong message that it is doing...

ARABS-OPEC - Jan. 16 - Oil Prices Continue To Rise.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... Oil prices rise to two-year highs, with a barrel of Brent crude rising 66 cents to $31.04 in London. (This comes despite the OPEC decision to raise output on Jan. 12). The benchmark has risen 4.7% since Jan. 12, while jitters over Iraq have...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan. 12 - Rumsfeld Orders Extra Troops To Gulf.(Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld )(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sign orders authorising the deployment of an additional 62,000 troops to the GCC region, and four US warships set sail for the Gulf. The orders also call for additional stealth fighters, radar-jamming aircraft,...

AFGHANISTAN - Jan. 15 - Wolfowitz Unveils Plan To Aid Security.(United States Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz)(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... Visiting Kabul, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz meets Pres. Karzai at the presidential palace and calls for accelerating the reconstruction of the country, outlining a new plan for using US, local and possibly European forces to...

IRAN - Jan. 12 - Cartoon Sparks Protest.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... Traditionalist theologians close theology schools in the holy cities of Qom and Mashhad and hold demonstrations in protest against a cartoon in a reformist newspaper, regarded as an insult to Ayat. Ruhollah Khomeini, the late founder of the...

IRAQ - Jan. 14 - Pope Reiterates Opposition To War.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... Speaking in the annual "state of the world" address to diplomats from 175 countries gathered at the Vatican, Pope John Paul declares his opposition to a possible US-led war against Baghdad, saying the problem of terrorism inspired by religious...

IRAQ - Jan. 14 - European Opposition To Strike Hardens.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... The German and French governments show increasing signs of reluctance to back the US policy towards Baghdad, with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder saying that Berlin will insist on a second resolution by the UN Security Council to sanction...

IRAQ - Jan. 14 - Annan 'Optimistic' On Avoiding War.(United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan)(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... At a morning press conference in New York, UN Sec-Gen. Kofi Annan says it is too early for the UN Security Council to consider whether to authorise military action against Baghdad, and he says he remains "both optimistic and hopeful" that war...

IRAQ - Jan. 15 - Asylum Offer For Scientists.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... A report in The FT says: "The US has indicated to UN inspectors that Iraqi scientists spirited out of the country for interviews could be granted political asylum, a move that should facilitate the departure of experts who might provide...

IRAQ - Jan. 15 - Pentagon Offers Drone To Weapons Inspectors.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... The Pentagon says it has provided UN weapons inspectors with a U-2 spy-plane and has offered to provide them with an unmanned Predator drone to help hunt down evidence of Baghdad's weapons programmes. US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff...

IRAQ - Jan. 16 - Undeclared Chemical Warheads Found.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... UN weapons inspectors discover empty chemical warheads that were not included in Baghdad's Dec. 7 weapons declaration. The warheads are found during an inspection of the Ukhaider Ammunition Storage Area, 75 miles south of Baghdad. UN spokesman...

IRAQ - Jan. 17 - No Chance Of Saddam Stepping Down.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... Visiting Damascus, Ali Hassan Al Majeed, Saddam's cousin and his closest aide, dismisses as an "absurdity" reports that Saddam is negotiating a possible exile from the country. (His visit to Syria is a part of a regional tour that reflects the...

IRAQ - Jan. 17 - Saddam Vows To Rout US.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... In his speech, marking the 12th anniversary of the start of the Gulf war that drove Iraqi troops out of Kuwait, Saddam says he has mobilised his army and drawn up a plan to counter any invasion by the tens of thousands of US soldiers, warplanes...

IRAQ - Jan. 17 - Blair Urges Baghdad To Disarm.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... Speaking after holding a meeting with chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, British PM Tony Blair says Saddam Hussein should "take full advantage of this opportunity to disarm". Blix makes a similar plea, talking of "a very tense situation" and...

IRAQ - Jan. 17 - White House Calls Weapons Find 'Troubling'.
January 18, 2003... White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says the warheads found by UN inspectors at the Ukhaider storage area near Baghdad on Jan. 16 were not included in the document Baghdad handed over to the UN on Dec. 7. He says: "The fact that Iraq is in...

ISRAEL - Jan. 14 - Labour Rejects Joint Rule With Sharon.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... The Labour Party rules out joining any government led by PM Sharon, with Labour leader and Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna saying: "We will not be in a government led by Sharon. It's us or him. Anyone who doesn't vote Labour is voting for Sharon"....

ISRAEL - Jan. 16 - Sharon Regains Ground In Opinion Polls.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... Opinion polls published by three newspapers show PM Sharon's Likud Party emerging from the Jan. 28 election with 30-34 parliamentary seats, compared with 27 in last week's polls (see last week's Recorder). This is still well down on the 40-plus...

PALESTINE - Conference In London.
January 18, 2003... PA representatives participate by video link from Gaza and Ramallah to a conference room in the Foreign Office, London, where 15 delegates from the EU, UN, US, Russia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are seated. Later, British Foreign Secretary...

RUSSIA - Jan. 15 - Delegation To Baghdad Sent.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... The government sends a delegation, headed by Deputy FM Alexander Saltanov and Deputy Energy Minister Ivan Matlashov, to Baghdad on a delicate mission to patch up strained relations with Saddam Hussein while simultaneously laying claim to as...

TURKEY - Jan. 14 - Turkish Cypriots Demand Reunification.(Brief Article)
January 18, 2003... About 55,000 protesters - almost a quarter of the population of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus - march through the streets of Nicosia, waving olive branches and EU flags and demanding the reunification of the divided island....

TURKEY - Jan. 16 - Ankara Calls Summit On Iraq.
January 18, 2003... The government invites Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Iran to a summit next week to urge Saddam Hussein to co-operate fully with UN weapons inspectors in Iraq and avert a US-led war. (The summit, ahead of the inspectors' report to the...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Jan. 18 - Saudi Arabia Pushes For Iraqi Coup.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... A report in The FT, referring to a Gulf diplomat with close ties with Saudi rulers, says: "Saudi Arabia has proposed that to head off an attack on Iraq either the United Nations or the international community should offer amnesty to all but the...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Jan. 21 - Riyadh & Cairo Deny Saddam Exile Plan.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... Saudi FM Prince Saud Al Faisal tells a news conference: "Both Saudi Arabia and Egypt agree that changing any political leadership [in Iraq] should come from inside the country and not from outside".

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 19 - Sharon Snubs Peace Bid.
January 25, 2003... At a meeting with foreign reporters, PM Sharon says European members of a "quartet" of foreign mediators are biased against Israel and will stall peace efforts unless they back the removal of Arafat. Sharon singles out the EU for not taking a...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 19 - Barghouti Ordered To Stand Trial.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... An Israeli court brushes aside the contention held by Fatah West Bank leader Marwan Barghouti that it has no right to try him, setting an April 6 trial date on charges of involvement in the slaying of 26 people. Prosecutor Devora Chen says the...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 21 - Army Demolishes Market In West Bank.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... Israeli troops backed by bulldozers destroy 62 shops in the Palestinian village of Nazlat Issa, next to the West Bank border with Israel. Dozens of protesters throw stones at Israeli troops who answer by firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 23 - Three Israelis Killed In Hebron.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... Three Israelis are killed south of Hebron, when Palestinian militants open fire on their vehicle at an intersection near a settlement in the Hebron hills. (About 450 Israeli settlers live in three enclaves in the middle of Hebron, making it a...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 24 - Violence Surges.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... The Army carries out a sweeping operation in the town of Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, killing one Palestinian and wounding 20. (This raid comes after Hamas militants fired rockets at the southern Israeli town of Sderot and scored a...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 24 - Palestinians Factions Hold Ceasefire Talks In Cairo.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... Palestinian factions open long-shot unity talks in Cairo under the auspices of the director of Egyptian intelligence Gen. Omar Sulieman. Different Palestinian factions, including Marxists, Islamists and those controlled by Syria and Iraq, take...

IRAN - Jan. 20 - Two Lawyers Jailed.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... Two lawyers are imprisoned on charges of spreading lies about the Islamic Republic after they asserted that their clients were tortured in custody. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, a lawyer who defended members of the banned Freedom Movement, is sent to...

IRAQ - Jan. 19 - Rumsfeld Raises Prospect Of Amnesties.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld raises the prospect of granting the "senior leadership" in Iraq amnesty from war crimes prosecution if they are exiled to a third country. He tells the ABC News show This Week: "To avoid war, I... recommend...

IRAQ - Jan. 19 - El Baradei Reports Progress.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohammad El Baradei reports "some progress" in talks with Baghdad officials as senior weapons inspectors began a 2-day trip to Iraq to press for more pro-active co-operation. El Baradei...

IRAQ - Jan. 20 - UK Makes Major Boost In Gulf Troop Strength.
January 25, 2003... Addressing the House of Commons, British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announces a substantial increase in British military strength for possible action against Baghdad, saying London is readying 30,000 troops for action in a build-up...

IRAQ - Jan. 21 - Baghdad Sees Attack At 'Any Second'.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan says the government is certain the US will attack despite Baghdad's agreement to expand co-operation with UN weapons inspectors. He say: "It is possible any minute, any second that while the inspectors are...

IRAQ - Jan. 21 - Bush Calls Saddam's Manoeuvring A 'Rerun Of A Bad Movie'.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... Likening Saddam's manoeuvring to "a rerun of a bad movie", US Pres. Bush says Baghdad is not complying with demands that it rid itself of weapons of mass destruction and warns again that time is running out on efforts to avert war. Bush...

IRAQ - Jan. 22 - Paris & Berlin Condemn Rush To War.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... At the 40th anniversary celebrations of the Elysee Treaty, which reconciled France and Germany after World War II, French Pres. Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder raise a united voice against any quick decision by the US to...

IRAQ - Jan. 22 - Saddam Won't Accept Exile.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... In an interview on ABC News, Deputy PM Tariq Aziz rules out the possibility of Saddam Hussein leaving the country to avoid a US-led war, saying: "Saddam Hussein is the leader of Iraq. He was born in Iraq and he loves Iraq and he will continue...

IRAQ - Jan. 23 - Scientists Refuse To Be Interviewed By Inspectors.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... The top liaison with the UN inspectors Gen. Hussam Muhammad Amin says six scientists whom the UN inspectors wanted to interview privately refused to do so, unless accompanied by a government "minder" or unless the interview was recorded. He...

ISRAEL - Jan. 25 - Support For Labour Sinks.(Brief Article)
January 25, 2003... A report in The FT says: "Newspaper polls in the past two days predicted [the] Labour [Party] would secure as few as 18 seats, compared with up to 32 for Likud, [at the Jan. 28 elections to the Knesset]. Labour's decline has prompted...