APS Diplomat Recorder articles from June 2003

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from June 2003

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 1 - Israel Eases Curbs On Palestinians.
June 7, 2003... Israel eases month-long army closures on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, saying it will allow thousands of Palestinians to work in Israel as part of goodwill gestures ahead of the June 4 summit between PM Ariel Sharon, PM Mahmoud Abbas and US...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 2 - Bush Pledges 'As Much Time As Necessary' To Make Peace Work.
June 7, 2003... Visiting Sharm El Shaikh for talks with Arab leaders (see Arab-US Relations), US Pres. Bush pledges to "put in as much time as necessary" to achieve peace between Israel and the PA. He says he knows it will not be an easy task to end years of...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 3 - Bush Tells Israel To 'Deal With' Settlements.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... At the beginning of the session with 5 Arab leaders in Sharm El Shaikh (see Arab-US Relations), US Pres. Bush presses Israel to "deal with" its settlements so as to make way for a self-contained and fully connected Palestinian state. He says:...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 3 - Sharon 'Ready' To Evacuate 17 West Bank Settlements.
June 7, 2003... Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin says in an interview with Haaretz that PM Sharon is ready to evacuate 17 Jewish settlements in the West Bank to establish territorial contiguity between the towns and cities of a future Palestinian state. (Sharon...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 4 - Abbas & Sharon Meet In Aqaba.
June 7, 2003... Israeli PM Sharon and Palestinian PM Abbas meet in the Jordanian resort of Aqaba. Sharon says: "We will immediately begin to remove unauthorised outposts". Abbas renounces all terrorism against Israel, saying: "We do not ignore the suffering of...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 6 - Hamas Breaks Off Talks On Ceasefire.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... Hamas says in a statement that it has broken off ceasefire talks and rejected a call for an end to the armed struggle for statehood by PM Mahmoud Abbas. (The statement is a setback following the June 4 summit meeting of PM Abbas, PM Sharon and...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - June 2 - Bush Holds Talks In Sharm El Shaikh With 5 Leaders.
June 7, 2003... Pres. Bush arrives at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Shaikh to hold talks with Egyptian Pres. Hosni Mubarak, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, Bahraini King Hamad, Jordanian King Abdullah II and Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas. The topics discussed...

AFGHANISTAN - June 4 - Battle With Taliban Kills Dozens.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... Up to 40 Taliban guerrillas and seven government soldiers are killed in the 7-hour battle near Pakistan border, about 30 km north-east of the border town of Spin Boldak. A senior government official in Spin Boldak, Syed Fazal Din Agha, said in...

AFGHANISTAN - June 4 - Karzai Visits UK, Seeking More Aid.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... Pres. Hamid Karzai arrives in the UK for talks with British PM Tony Blair and other top-ranking officials aimed at drumming up fresh international support for rebuilding the country. Karzai is also to meet the Queen during his 3-day trip, which...

IRAN - June 6 - UN Nuclear Body Raises Concern.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) tells its board members that Tehran has failed to meet its "safeguards" obligations by processing nuclear material without giving notification. A confidential report by the IAEA is likely to...

IRAQ - June 1 - Coalition Ditches Plan For Assembly.
June 7, 2003... The occupying powers ditch a plan to create a 300-plus member national conference, which would have elected an administration in mid-July. Instead, they say they will form a 25-30 member political council to advise the ministries, in a move...

IRAQ - June 2 - Powell Defends Intelligence On Arms.
June 7, 2003... Speaking in Rome, US State Secretary Colin Powell defends US intelligence about Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction, saying he is convinced by "overwhelming" evidence that they existed even though none has yet been found. (Powell's stance was...

IRAQ - June 3 - Bremer Says There Will Be UN Role.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... Chief US administrator Paul Bremer meets with new UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, and they vow to work together "to create a democratic, independent and peaceful Iraq". Bremer says: "We have a very good sense of mutual mission". Vieira de...

IRAQ - June 5 - Oil Exports Resumed.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... The oil industry steps back into the international market for the first time since the war, offering 10m barrels of oil from its storage tanks for sale to the highest bidder. Mohammad Al Jibouri, head of oil marketing, acknowledged the tender...

IRAQ - June 6 - LUKoil Restarts Work In West Qurna Oilfield.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... LUKoil Vice-President Leonid Fedun says the company has re-launched work on the development of the West Qurna oilfield, despite a dispute over whether its contract signed under Saddam Hussein's regime remains valid. He confirms that the company...

ISRAEL - June 3 - Strict Jew Elected As Jerusalem Mayor.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... Uri Lupolianski, a member of the United Torah Judaism Party who has been acting mayor of Jerusalem for four months, is elected as Jerusalem Mayor, gaining 52% of the vote. His closest rival, Nir Barkat, a millionaire businessman, gained 42%....

MOROCCO - June 3 - French Citizen Arrested In Casablanca Bombing.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... The police arrest Robert Richard Antoine Pierre, a French citizen wanted in connection with the May 16 suicide attacks in Casablanca that killed 31 people. He is the first non-Moroccan implicated in the series of five nearly simultaneous...

RUSSIA - June 1 - Putin Meets Bush In St Petersburg.
June 7, 2003... Pres. Putin meets US Pres. Bush at the Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg on the sidelines of the city's 300 anniversary celebrations attended also by British PM Blair, French Pres. Chirac, German Chancellor Shroeder and many other leaders. At...

RUSSIA - June 1 - Unified Energy System Agrees Break-Up Plan.
June 7, 2003... The board of Unified Energy System (UES), which includes state representatives and foreign minority shareholders, unanimously approves the long-delayed plan to allow private shareholders to swap their stakes in UES on a pro rata basis for...

RUSSIA - June 5 - At Least 18 Die In Bombing Near Chechnya.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... A female suicide bomber blows up a bus carrying military workers early in the morning as it pauses at a railroad crossing near Mozdok, a military town about 60 km north-east of the Chechnya border, killing at least 18 people, many of them...

RUSSIA - June 6 - Chechens Given Offer Of Amnesty.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... The State Duma (the lower house of Parliament) gives final approval to Pres. Putin's amnesty for Chechen rebels who agree to disarm. (The move is presented by the Kremlin as a major step towards peace but it is assailed by critics as...

SAUDI ARABIA - June 5 - Gas Initiative Faces Collapse.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2003... The ambitious initiative to attract foreign investment into the kingdom's vast gas reserves faces collapse as the Oil Ministry tells a consortium led by ExxonMobil that it is scrapping a proposed $15 bn investment project. The cancellation,...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 8 - Militants Attack Gaza Post Killing 4 Soldiers.
June 14, 2003... Three Palestinian militants from Hamas, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Islamic Jihad, disguised as Israeli soldiers, attack an Army post near the Erez crossing just after dawn, killing four Israeli soldiers. Four other soldiers are injured. The...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 9 - First Posts Of Settlers Torn Down.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... Israeli soldiers begin tearing down settlement outposts in the West Bank, with two empty trailers that made up the Neve Erez South outpost near Ramallah being pulled down. Later, the Army pulled down a water tower at the Amona outpost. More...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 9 - Abbas Says He Will Use Dialogue To Halt Militant Attacks.(PM Mahmoud Abbas)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... PM Mahmoud Abbas tells reporters that he is committed to ending attacks against Israel, but emphasises that he will use only dialogue, and not force, to deal with militants. Abbas defends himself against widespread Palestinian criticism that he...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 10 - Israeli Rockets Kill 5.
June 14, 2003... Israeli helicopters rain missiles on cars carrying Hamas members, killing 5 Palestinians and wounding more than 60. The first Israeli strike targeted Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a fiery, outspoken Hamas leader. The two Apache helicopters fired at least...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 11 - Suicide Bomber Strikes Jerusalem, Killing 16.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... A Palestinian suicide bomber disguised as an ultra-Orthodox Jew blows himself up aboard a bus in central Jerusalem during rush hour on Jaffa Road, a main Jerusalem thoroughfare, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 60. The blast...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 11 - Bush Condemns Bus Bombing.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... US Pres. Bush condemns the bus bombing in Jerusalem and urges "all the free world" to renounce violence between Israel and the PA. He says: "There are people who want to kill in order to make sure that the desires of Israel to live in secure...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 12 - Seven Killed As Israel Targets Hamas.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... Israel presses ahead with air strikes against Hamas militants as helicopters blast a car with rockets in Gaza City, killing seven people, including Hamas leader Yasser Taha, his wife and 3-year-old daughter. About 25 people are injured. Four...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 13 - Palestinian Killed In Fresh Israeli Strike.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... Israeli helicopter gunships fire at least two missiles at a car in Gaza City, killing one Palestinian and wounding 22. Israel's Channel 1 television said the target could be Hamas members. After a Hamas suicide bomber killed 17 people aboard a...

ARABS-OPEC - June 10 - Cartel Agrees To Keep Output Unchanged.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... Key OPEC members agree the cartel should keep its output limits unchanged. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh confirms that the OPEC advisory committee will recommend the group's production ceiling remain at 25.4m b/d. Kuwaiti Oil Minister...

IRAN - June 8 - Tehran Hits Back At 'US Lies' On Nuclear Plants.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... The head of the Atomic Energy Organisation Gholamreza Aghazadeh urges the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to publish its latest findings on the Islamic Republic's activities, hitting out at "US lies" and expressing its determination...

IRAN - June 10 - Tehran Proposes Deal On Nuclear Monitoring.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... The head of the Atomic Energy Organisation Gholamreza Aghazadeh says Tehran will agree to additional international monitoring of its nuclear development, but only if it is allowed to acquire more advanced technology.

IRAN - June 11 - Eighty Arrested After Protest At University.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi says that approximately 80 people have been arrested following a student protest, which started Tehran University on June 10 and turned into an anti-government demonstration. The protest was against privatising...

IRAN - June 12 - Washington 'Applauds' Protests.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher congratulates Iranians for holding anti-government protests in Tehran, saying it supports their "aspirations to live in freedom". (Washington's encouragement, which followed two nights of protests...

IRAQ - June 7 - US Soldiers Raid Baghdad Office Of Shia Party.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... US soldiers raid a Baghdad office of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shia political party backed by Iran. (The raid comes days after the US 4th Infantry Division revealed it had arrested 20 members of the group in the...

IRAQ - June 9 - Bush Sure Proof Will Be Found.(Pres. George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... US Pres. Bush says he is convinced that Baghdad had programmes to make weapons of mass destruction before Saddam Hussein was toppled, and that proof eventually will be found. He says: "Intelligence throughout the decade showed they had a...

IRAQ - June 9 - US Soldier Killed At Checkpoint.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... Unknown gunmen kill a US soldier at a US checkpoint in the town of Al Qaim, about 50 km from the Syrian border. The incident continues a series of attacks that have killed 8 US soldiers in 14 days. US military officials acknowledged that...

IRAQ - June 9 - US Forces Move Against Resistance.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... More than 3,000 US soldiers backed by fighter jets, armoured vehicles and patrol boats surround the town of Thuluiya, north of Baghdad, that is said to harbour gunmen attacking US soldiers. (This is the largest combat operation since the fall...

IRAQ - June 10 - Commercial Flights Resume.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... Qatar Airways becomes the first airline in 12 years to operate commercial air services to Iraq with the opening of a twice-weekly service from Doha to Basra. The first service was an aid flight, but this will be followed by a commercial service...

IRAQ - June 11 - Toll Of Civilians Put At 3,240.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... A report in The IHT quotes a 5-week investigation by The Associated Press as saying that at least 3,240 civilians died across the country during a month of war with the US-led coalition, including 1,896 in Baghdad. The count is still...

IRAQ - June 12 - Gunmen Attack US Tank Column; Coalition Operation Against Resistance Continues.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... Gunmen detonate a land mine and fire rockets on a two-tank patrol of the 4th Infantry Division about 50 km north-west of Baghdad. The tanks returned fire, killing 4 assailants. The patrol called in reinforcements, including Apache helicopters,...

IRAQ - June 14 - Kurds Unite For Power.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... A report in The IHT says: "Iraq's two main Kurdish political parties agreed this week to try to put their rancorous past behind them and begin merging their local administrations in an attempt to wield greater influence in national politics in...

ISRAEL - June 10 - Govt. Commences El Al Privatisation.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... The government to sell its 97% stake in El Al, the country's flag carrier, on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The government is issuing combinations of stock and options, which can be converted within nine months to four years. The state and El Al...

ISRAEL - June 13 - Most Israelis Oppose Sharon's Assassination Policy.(Ariel Sharon)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... The centre-left Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper says its poll shows that 58% of Israelis believe the extra-judicial killing of Palestinian militants should stop at least temporarily to give Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas a chance. The newspaper...

RUSSIA - June 9 - Security Services Detain 55 Radical Islamists.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... The Federal Security Service (FSB) says in a statement that 55 members and supporters of a radical Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir mainly from Tadjikistan and Kyrgyzstan have been detained in Moscow. The FSB found weapons, explosives and...

SAUDI ARABIA - June 14 - Govt. Says Intolerant Clerics Ousted.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... A report in The IHT says: "The government of Saudi Arabia says that it has fired several hundred Islamic clerics and suspended more than 1,000 others for preaching intolerance, part of a broader campaign against terrorism. At a news conference...

SYRIA - June 13 - Powell Asks Damascus To Battle Terror.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2003... Speaking on the telephone to FM Farouk Sharaa, US State Secretary Colin Powell asks the government to help stem terrorism in the Middle East. (The US State Department lists Damascus as a sponsor of terror, and State Department spokesman Richard...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 16 - Sharon Promises To 'Hound Terrorists'.(Prime Minister Ariel Sharon)
June 21, 2003... Addressing the Knesset, PM Sharon says Middle East diplomacy will make no headway until Palestinian violence stops, and he pledges to "hound the terrorists" until PA security forces clamp down on them. "As long as there is terror it will not be...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 17 - PA Officials & Hamas Near Truce.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... Speaking to reporters after holding talks with PM Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza City, top Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar says: "It is the proper time for hudna [truce]. But it should not be without a national price". That price, Zahar says, is a long list...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 17 - US Envoy Meets Abbas & Dahlan.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... New US Middle East envoy John Wolf meets PM Mahmoud Abbas and PA security chief Mohammad Dahlan in Gaza City. The meeting lasted two hours. Wolf and PA officials said nothing about the substance of the talks. Diplomats said US State Secretary...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 19 - Suicide Bomber Injures 1.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... A suspected Palestinian suicide bomber blows up in a grocery store in Sdeh Trumot, a small farming community in northern Israel, killing himself and wounding another person. Yaakov Borovsky, the northern Israeli police chief, told Israel Radio:...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 20 - Powell Meets Sharon & Abbas.(US State Secretary Colin Powell )(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... US State Secretary Colin Powell holds separate talks with PM Sharon and PM Abbas. (This is Powell's first visit to the region since the US-backed "road map" was launched at Aqaba two weeks ago). Powell condemned Hamas as "the enemy of the...

IRAN - June 15 - Bush Praises Student Protests.(Pres. George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... Speaking to reporters in Kennebunkport, Maine, US Pres. Bush says the anti-government protests by students (see last week's Recorder) are a positive development that could mark a move towards greater freedom in the Islamic Republic. He also...

IRAN - June 16 - El Baradei Calls For Tehran To Open Up Nuclear Programme.
June 21, 2003... Speaking at the start of a week-long meeting of the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) board of governors in Vienna, the IAEA Director General Mohammad El Baradei calls on Tehran to open its nuclear programme to wide-ranging...

IRAN - June 19 - Order Restored But Rulers Fear New Protests.
June 21, 2003... A report in The FT says: "The clerical establishment in Iran appears to have restored relative order to the streets of Tehran, after adopting a softly-softly approach to a week of student-led anti-regime demonstrations. For the last two nights,...

IRAN - June 19 - Tehran Urged To Allow Tests Of Nuclear Sites.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... The International Atomic Energy Agency calls on Tehran to allow stricter inspection of nuclear reactor sites. In a statement concluding 3 days of debate in Vienna, the 35-member governing board of the agency says in a statement that Tehran...

IRAN - June 20 - Theologian Says Protesters Deserve 'The Highest Punishment'.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... Ayat. Mohammad Yazdi delivers the Friday prayers sermon in Tehran, which is broadcast on national radio, calling for judges to deal severely with opposition protesters. He says they deserve the "harshest of punishments". He says: "All those who...

IRAQ - June 15 - US Raids Continues.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... Thousands of US troops backed by tanks, planes and helicopters carry out extensive raids early in the morning in Falluja and three other cities. The military operation is one of the largest since the end of major fighting. Dozens of suspected...

IRAQ - June 16 - Greenstock Becomes UK's Special Envoy.(British Ambassador to the UN Sir Jeremy Greenstock)(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... British Ambassador to the UN Sir Jeremy Greenstock is appointed the UK's new special envoy to Baghdad. He will replace John Sawers, who moves to be political director for the Foreign Office. After his appointment, Greenstock called upon the...

IRAQ - June 18 - Saddam's Personal Secretary Captured.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... US Central Command says in a statement that on June 16 US forces captured Abdel Hamid Al Tikriti, Saddam's personal secretary, senior bodyguard and national security adviser. (He was the ace of diamonds in the US military's deck of cards...

IRAQ - June 18 - US & Kurdish Authorities Issue Weapons Ultimatum.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... A report in The FT says: "The US and Kurdish authorities in Iraq [on June 17] issued a joint ultimatum for all groups in the north of the country, other than the two main Kurdish parties, to give up their heavy weapons. This extends a new...

IRAQ - June 18 - Pentagon Admits Guerrilla War.
June 21, 2003... US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz tells Congress that US forces are waging a "guerrilla war" against elements of the former regime. He says the war inflicts casualties almost daily. He adds: "There's a guerrilla war there but we can...

IRAQ - June 19 - US Medic Killed As Ambulance Is Attacked.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... A US Army medic is killed and two other soldiers are wounded in an ambush of a military ambulance in the town of Al Iskandariyah, south of Baghdad. The ambulance was travelling on a highway when it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade....

JORDAN - June 17 - King's Supporters Win Majority In Poll.
June 21, 2003... The parliamentary elections are held in the kingdom, with tribal independents and pro-government candidates taking a majority of 62 of the 110 seats. Islamists win 22% of the vote. (This is the first general election since King Abdullah...

RUSSIA - June 17 - EU To Aid Chechens.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... EU Development Commissioner Poul Nielson says the EU will provide a 16.5m package of humanitarian aid to help 600,000 people made homeless by the conflict in Chechnya. He says: "I call on the Russian authorities to take more seriously the...

SAUDI ARABIA - June 14 - Five Terror Suspects Die In Raid.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... Troops and security agents raid a Mecca apartment building where terrorism suspects have holed up, killing 5 of the suspects, arresting 7 - including one wearing a suicide bomb belt - and seizing a large cache of weapons. Interior Ministry...

TURKEY - June 19 - Parliament Approves Human Rights Reforms.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... The parliament unanimously adopts a much-debated package of human rights reforms designed to comply with EU criteria for starting membership talks. The most significant change is to grant in practice cultural rights for Kurds and other ethnic...

UAE - June 14 - Shaikh Qasr Al Qasimi Demotes Eldest Son.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... Shaikh Qasr Al Qasimi, the ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, the northern-most of the UAE, issues a decree, demoting his eldest son, Shaikh Khaled, and appointing his fourth son, Shaikh Saud, as crown prince. (Observers say the move could have serious...

UAE - June 16 - Deal For 41 Airbus Planes Signed.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2003... Emirates Airlines signs a deal with Airbus Industrie at the Paris Air Show for 41 new planes, including 21 A380s, the superjumbo that the European consortium is building. The order, valued at $12.5 bn, is the largest ever for wide-body...

ARAB AFFAIRS - June 30 - Egypt & Jordan Greet Palestinian Ceasefire & Israeli Withdrawal From Gaza.
June 30, 2003... Cairo and Amman greet the news of the Palestinian ceasefire and the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip (see Arabs-Israel) with wary optimism. Former Egyptian ambassador to the US Abdel Raouf Reedy says: "Good, good, good. I think it's a...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - June 24 - Italian Police Arrest 6 For Alleged Al Qaida Ties.
June 30, 2003... The Italian police arrest 6 suspected members of a militant Islamic cell in Milan and charge them with raising funds for groups linked to Al Qaida and with promoting international terrorism. At about 5 am, more than 170 financial police raid 42...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 21 - Hamas Leader Assassinated.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2003... Late at night, the Army kills a 43-year-old Hamas leader Abdullah Qawasmeh in the West Bank city of Hebron. Israeli officials said he was shot dead while trying to resist arrest. PM Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin said Qawasmeh had recruited and...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 22 - US Raps Israel For Hamas Death.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2003... At the World Economic Forum in Shuneh, Jordan, US State Secretary Colin Powell says the latest Israel's assassination of Abdullah Qawasmeh in Hebron was a potential impediment to progress on the road map. (Powell is speaking after his first...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 24 - Hamas Is Target Of Israeli Sweep.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2003... The Army seizes more than 150 Palestinians in the West Bank, searching for Hamas militants. Army officials said the troops made more than 130 of the arrests in a predawn sweep through the southern West Bank city of Hebron, which Israel called...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 24 - Israel Ties 5 Citizens To Funding For Hamas.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2003... During a session of Haifa District Court, five Israeli Arabs are charged with funnelling an estimated $10m to Hamas. (This is a relatively rare instance in which Arab citizens of Israel have been accused of ties to extremist movements. Since...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 25 - Army Kills 4 In Gaza.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2003... Israeli troops kill four people in two separate attacks in the Gaza Strip. Earlier in the morning, Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at a car carrying Hamas militants in southern Gaza near the city of Khan Yunis, killing a man and a woman,...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 26 - Arafat Says Truce Deal Close.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2003... Arafat tells reporters in Ramallah that an agreement by militant groups to suspend attacks on Israelis is imminent. He says: "It was not determined officially, but we are waiting for it to be announced in the next few hours". Hamas leader...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 27 - Israel To Begin Withdrawal From Gaza.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2003... Israeli and PA leaders reach an agreement late at night for the Army to begin withdrawing from areas of the Gaza Strip and returning security control to PA officers. (The withdrawal would represent the first joint step forward, beyond oratory,...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 29 - Militants Declare Ceasefires.
June 30, 2003... The three main Palestinian militant groups - Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah - announce a 3-month ceasefire. (This comes as US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice continued meeting Israeli and PA leaders to maintain progress on the "road...

ARABS-ISRAEL - June 30 - Israel Releases Grip On Northern Gaza.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2003... Israel releases direct control of almost all of Gaza's main north-south artery for the first time in 33 months of fighting. PA officials say they have reached a tentative deal with Israel to take back security control in Bethlehem on July 2....

AFGHANISTAN - June 26 - US Soldier Dies In Attack.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2003... US Central Command says in a statement that a US soldier from a special operations unit was killed and two were injured by hostile fire in the east of the country early in the morning. In a separate incident, suspected Taliban militants...

ALGERIA - June 30 - Jet Crash Kills 17.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2003... A military C-130 Hercules transport aircraft slams into a house in the neighbourhood of Beni Mered, west of Algiers, killing 12 people on the ground, including 2 women and 3 children. Five crew members also die. At least five people are...

EGYPT - June 30 - US Retaliation Hits Trade Plans.(Brief Article)
June 30, 2003... A report in The FT says: "The US has suspended plans to advance free trade talks with Egypt in response to [Cairo's] decision not to join the US in a World Trade Organisation complaint against Europe's ban on genetically modified foods. The...