APS Diplomat Recorder articles from March 2004

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from March 2004

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 2 - Efforts To Confront Bush Initiative & Reform The League Await Summit.
March 6, 2004... Arab foreign ministers (FMs), ending a two-day meeting meet in Cairo, fail to adopt a joint Arab strategy to confront US Pres. Bush's "Greater Middle East Initiative" to democratise the region and a plan to reform the Arab League. The ministers...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 2 - Al-Ahram Attacks Arabs Over US Reform Plan.
March 6, 2004... "There is nothing (in the Bush initiative) which justifies the categoric rejection with which it has been received in the Arab world", writes analyst Mohammed Salmawi in Al-Ahram. He says the plan "neither attacks Islam, nor violates Arab...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Mar 1 - EU Getting Tough With M.Et.
March 6, 2004... UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw unveils a report issued by the London-based Foreign Policy Centre (FPC), saying EU states should adopt a tougher policy towards the Middle East by withdrawing aid and trade privileges from regimes that continue...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Mar 3 - UK Ready To Fund Palestinian Security Force.
March 6, 2004... The FT reports British diplomats as saying the UK government is ready to fund the unification of Palestinian security forces if the PA fulfills a pledge to bring them under a central command. They say this initiative will help the PA fulfill...

ARAB-ISLAMIC AFFAIRS - Mar 6 - Saudi/Wahhabi Leaders Urged To Condemn Shiitte Carnage.
March 6, 2004... 35 Saudi intellectuals, many of them teachers at Islamic universities, have urged Wahhabi religious leaders to condemn the March 2 attacks in Iraq and Pakistan which killed nearly 225 Shiitte worshippers as they marked Ashura. They say in a...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 1 - Iraqis Agrees Interim Constitution.
March 6, 2004... US-led CPA officials after all-night talks in Baghdad succeed in getting the 25 IGC members to agree to an interim constitution (the most progressive in the Arab world as it calls for a pluralistic democracy that embraces federalism for the...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 3 - Closer To EU On M.E. Reforms.
March 6, 2004... Under-Secretary of State Marc Grossman - in Brussels briefing NATO ambassadors, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, and EU's special ambassadors for security issues, after his visit to several Middle Eastern states - outlines a three-pronged...

AFGHANISTAN - Mar 2 - Farmers Won't Curb Heroin Crop.
March 6, 2004... An annual report published by the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) says Afghan cultivation of the poppy crop, the source of most of the world's opium and heroin, reached alarming levels in 2003 despite...

AFGHANISTAN - Mar 2 - Kabul To Get Extra [pounds sterling]300m UK Aid.
March 6, 2004... The UK announced an extra [pounds sterling]300m ($560m, 450m) of aid for Kabul over 5 years, building on an original commmitment made in January 2002. The additional funding takes the total amount of assistance to [pounds sterling]500m for the...

IRAQ - Feb. 29 - US Backs Oil Export P/L Via Iran.
March 6, 2004... The US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) has backed plans for Iraq to build a 350,000 b/d crude oil pipeline for exports through Iran, says Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr Al-Uloum, adding: "We have agreed in principle to an offer from Iran...

IRAQ - Mar 1 - Interim Constitution.
March 6, 2004... After all-night talks, the 25 IGC members at 4:20 am agree unanimously to an interim constitution. (It is an important part of the process by which the Bush administration intends to hand sovereignty to an Iraqi government by a June 30...

IRAQ - Mar 2 - Kirkuk Ethnic Tensions.
March 6, 2004... Turkmen leaders call for international help in keeping the peace in Kirkuk, where ethnic tensions between Kurds and Turkmens have flared in recent days. (Both Turkmens and Kurds feel Kirkuk should rightfully be theirs. Under Saddam Hussein,...

IRAQ - Mar 2 - Ashura Attacks & Suicide Bombings Kill Over 180.
March 6, 2004... Over 180 Shiite worshippers die in a series of co-ordinated attacks, as 3 bombs hit Kadhimiya, a northern suburb of Baghdad, and several bombs, including suicide bombers hit Karbala. Within about 2 hours, over 34 Shiites were killed by Sunni...

IRAQ - Mar 3 - Banks Name Rate For $1.4bn Loan.
March 6, 2004... First indications of the post-war borrowing status emerges as a group of banks offer to make a loan at an interest rate of 6% points over the benchmark Libor rate. The $1.4 bn (1.1bn) three-year loan offer is made by a consortium including...

IRAQ - Mar 4 - Russians Gave Missile Aid To Saddam.
March 6, 2004... US government officials are reported as disclosing that a group of Russian engineers secretly aided Saddam Hussein's long-range ballistic missile programme, providing technical assistance for prohibited Iraqi weapons projects even in the years...

IRAQ - Mar 5 - Shiites Delay Signing Constitution.
March 6, 2004... Five Shiite members of the IGC - including IGC's March President Ayat. Mohammed Bahr Al-Uloum, SCIRI leader Abdel Aziz Al Hakim, Muaffaq Al-Rubaiee, and Ahmad Chalabi - fail to show up at the constitution's signing ceremony and later indicate...

IRAQ - Mar 3 - Sharon Faces New Scandal.
March 6, 2004... PM Sharon is embroiled in a new controversy after Maariv questioned his motives for supporting a prisoner exchange in January that freed more than 400 Arabs in return for an Israeli captive in Lebanon. Maariv took up the first 11 pages of its...

LIBYA - Mar 5 - Chemical Weapons Programme Bared.
March 6, 2004... Tripoli formally declares the extent of its chemical weapons programme, revealing an effort that lasted from the mid-1980s until the early 1990s. The declaration to the OPCW in The Hague is contained in 12 binders of documents. It coincides...

RUSSIA - Mar 1 - Putin Names Fradkov As PM.
March 6, 2004... Pres. Putin names Mikhail Fradkov, a 53-year-old career civil servant who is Moscow's envoy to the EU, as the next prime minister. (Critics say this is the continuation of a trend towards authoritarianism and statism). Putin in TV remarks...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar. 7 - Bahrain Meet Urges Human Development.
March 13, 2004... A seminar held by the Bahrain Centre for Studies and Research (BCSR) urges Arab to open themselves up to other cultures to accelerate human development across the region. The chairman of BSCR's board of trustees, Dr Mohammed Al-Ghatam, tells...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar. 12 - Mubarak: Reform Must Focus On Ending Conflicts.
March 13, 2004... Speaking to 200 Arab intellectuals at a 3-day conference on reform, Egyptian Pres. Mubarak warns that accelerating the reform process could encourage Islamic militants to try to seize power. He says any Arab reform strategy should be homegrown...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Mar. 7 - Violence Escalates.
March 13, 2004... Israeli forces kill 14 during raids on two Gaza Strip refugee camps prompting PA accusations that Israel is escalating violence in a territory from which it has said it would withdraw. Armoured vehicles and infantry, backed by helicopter...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar. 10 - Sanctions Against Syria.
March 13, 2004... The Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns tells the House International Relations Committee "very firm" sanctions will be imposed against Syria for failing to do more to halt terrorism, for occupying Lebanon and...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar. 11 - Bush Renews Iran Sanctions.
March 13, 2004... Citing an "unusual and extraordinary threat" from Tehran, Pres. Bush renews sanctions barring US firms and citizens from oil dealings with Iran. He Iran did not allay US concerns about its alleged "support for international terrorism, efforts...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar. 12 - Middle East Reform Initiative Scrapped.
March 13, 2004... The Bush administration has scrapped its draft proposal for a "Greater Middle East Initiative". (A revised and probably diluted plan is still expected to be launched in June under a different name). The FT quotes a European diplomat as saying...

AFGHANISTAN - Mar. 9 - Cabinet Rifts.
March 13, 2004... A former minister Mohammad Mohaqiq running against Pres. Karzai in the June elections says he was dismissed and did not resign as was announced this week. He describes deep divisions in Karzai's cabinet and says: "There were a lot of other...

IRAN - Mar. 7 - Tehran For Nuclear File To Be Closed.
March 13, 2004... The Secretary-General of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Hassan Rowhani, calls for the Iranian nuclear file to be closed by the IAEA. He reiterates Tehran's insistence that its suspension of uranium enrichment activities is only...

IRAN - Mar. 11-12 - Tehran Hits IAEA Criticism.
March 13, 2004... Pres. Khatami has told Russian Pres. Putin the IAEA needs a "realistic" approach free from the influence of the US (which argues that Iran's civil nuclear activities hide a weapons programme). On Mar. 12 the IAEA board voted on a resolution...

IRAQ - Mar. 8 - Interim Constitution Signed; Sistani Hits Document.
March 13, 2004... The 25 IGC members sign the interim constitution at a conference hall in front of dignitaries and high-ranking US officials including CPA chief Bremer. But hours later Shiite leader Ayat. Sistani's website said the document was "an obstacle" to...

IRAN - Mar. 9 - Americans Killed.
March 13, 2004... Two US civilians working for the CPA and an Iraqi interpreter driving down from Karbala towards Hilla in an unmarked, unprotected vehicle are killed by 4 men dressed as Iraqi police officers who had been following them. The latter opened fire...

ISRAEL - Mar. 9 - Sharon-Yaalon Dispute Over Gaza Plan.
March 13, 2004... Newspapers highlight reports of a dispute between PM Sharon and Chief of Staff Lt-Gen. Moshe Yaalon. Reportedly Yaalon is unhappy about Sharon's plan for evacuation from the Gaza Strip. After the two men spoke at night on Mar. 8, Gen Yaalon...

LIBYA - Mar. 10 - Tripoli Allows IAEA Surprise Visits.
March 13, 2004... Scientific Research Minister Matooq Muhammad Matooq in Vienna signs an additional protocol with the head of IAEA Mohamed ElBaradei allowing the IAEA to conduct surprise inspections of Libyan nuclear facilities. He then tells reporters: "This is...

PALESTINE - Mar. 11 - Arafat Welcomes Israelis Pullback.
March 13, 2004... PA Pres Arafat tells the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah he will welcome an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, provided it is co-ordinated with the Palestinians and is part of a broader peace effort. ...

RUSSIA - Mar. 9 - New Cabinet.
March 13, 2004... Pres. Putin unveils a sharply streamlined cabinet under new PM Fradkov. (This reinforces the influence of the liberal economic reformers in the new government while highlighting Putin's own firm grip on decision-making. The structure, modelled...

SAUDI ARABIA - Mar. 7 - Foreign Firms Invest $800m In Gas.
March 13, 2004... Oil Minister Nuaimi signs gas E&P deals worth a total of $800m with Russia's LUKoil, China's Sinopec and a consortium of Italy's Eni and Spain's Repsol YPF covering 120,000sq km of the Empty Quarter desert. LUKoil's deal, coming less than...

SAUDI ARABIA - Mar. 8 - Judge Warns On US TV Station.
March 13, 2004... Judge Ibrahim Bin Nasser Al-Khudeiri warns viewers away from Al-Hurra, the new US-financed satellite TV station that is hoping to win the hearts and minds of the new Arab generation. He tells the London-based pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat Al-Hurra is...

SYRIA - Mar. 8 - Rights Activists Arrested.
March 13, 2004... Several human rights activists are arrested as they hold a sit-in demanding more political freedom and an end to a state of emergency declared in March 1963. (The move demonstrates the strict limits imposed by the Baathist regime on political...

TURKEY - Mar. 9 - Masonic Lodge Blast.
March 13, 2004... Two suicide bombers open fire on diners at a Masonic lodge in Istanbul and then set off rudimentary explosives. They kill a waiter and wound 5 other people. One attacker dies in the blast. The other loses an arm, a hand and suffers severe...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Repression Worsens - Analysing The Depth Of The Arabs' Crisis.
March 20, 2004... Most Arab regimes have taken measures against national advocates of political reform, despite a recent US decision to water down a call by President Bush for democratisation in the Middle East and North Africa. Standing out as particularly...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar. 16 - Arrests & Violence In Syria.
March 20, 2004... With the Syrian authorities continuing to arrest Kurdish militants, more clashes between Arabs and Kurds take place in Ras Al-Ain and Amouda in north-east Syria. A tense calm prevails in cities further east after several days of Kurdish...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar. 16 - Arrests In Saudi Arabia.
March 20, 2004... In a sweep of five regions - Jeddah, Riyadh, Dhahran, Al Qatif and Dammam - Saudi police arrest 13 leading liberals and academics. Later in the week Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Ibn Abdel Aziz, who is strongly opposed to Crown Prince...

ARAB AFFAIRS - March 16 - Saudi Reformists' Views.
March 20, 2004... Since the Mar. 16 arrests, many Saudis who previously spoke freely have been reluctant to go on the record, fearing they, too, could be targeted by the authorities. But Saudi reformist Sami Angawi has been quoted as saying: "Now we must...

ARAB AFFAIRS - March 16 - Mubarak's View.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... Speaking to Arab intellectuals at a conference on reform in Alexandria, Mubarak on Mar. 12 warned that trying to accelerate the reform process could encourage Islamists to try to seize power. "Our strategy to achieve a better future is based on...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Mar. 14 - Double Suicide Bombing In Ashdod.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... At least 10 people are killed and 24 are injured in a double suicide bombing in Ashdod, Israel's second largest port, with the attack claimed jointly by Hamas and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, prompting PM Sharon to cancel a long-awaited summit...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Mar. 15 - Sharon Defends Solo Plan.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... Addressing the Knesset, PM Sharon defends his plan for unilateral disengagement from the Palestinians but refuses to spell out the details. He rules out negotiations with the Palestinians on the plan. He says: "(The Ashdod attack) reinforces...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Mar. 16 - More Palestinians Killed.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians in 2 missile strikes into a Gaza refugee camp, which brings the death toll to 6 over the past 2 days in what Israel calls relentless offensive against militants after the Ashdod attack. The Mar. 16 action...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Mar. 18 - Court Extends Freeze On Barrier.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... Israel's Supreme Court imposes an open-ended freeze on construction of a 25km section of the barrier. The order affects an area around 8 Palestinian villages north-west of Jerusalem near the invisible line - known as the Green Line - separating...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Mar. 19 - Abdullah Meets Sharon.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... Jordanian King Abdullah visits Sharon at the latter's farm in the Negev and discusses his plan for Israeli "disengagement" from the Palestinians. (Jordan, which has a Palestinian majority, is worried Sharon's plan could prompt a new influx of...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar. 14 - Clash With Iran Troops.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... A patrol from the US 4th Infantry Division carrying out routine border operations comes under fire from men wearing the uniforms of Iranian border guards. The US later said its soldiers returned fire in self-defence. (In the 11 months since the...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar. 19 - Bush Seeks Int'l Support For Iraq Efforts.
March 20, 2004... In a White House speech to ambassadors and other senior diplomats from 83 countries, including opponents of the Iraq war such as France and Germany, Pres. Bush marks the first anniversary of the war's launch by urging allies to unite in the...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar. 19 - Powell hails Iraq war.
March 20, 2004... Iraqi and Arab journalists walk out of a Baghdad news conference held by visiting Secretary of State Powell in protest at the lack of security and the killing of 2 Al Arabiya journalists by US troops on Mar. 18. Powell urged allies to stay the...

IRAN - Mar. 15 - Tehran Unsure On Return Of UN Inspectors.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... Addressing a news conference, FM spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi says Tehran is not sure when it will allow IAEA inspectors to return, adding: "This (new Tehran position) was a response to the insulting tone of the (IAEA board's) resolution. We...

IRAN - Mar. 17 - Khatami Pulls Reform Bills, But Vows To Stay In Office.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... Pres. Khatami rules out resigning in the aftermath of his reformist camp's resounding defeat by hardliners in the Feb. 20 legislative elections and announces he is withdrawing two bills that had been seen as a last-ditch attempt to assert his...

IRAQ - Mar. 16 - Europeans Killed.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... Violence against unarmed Western civilians working in Iraq intensifies a 2 engineers, a German and a Dutchman, and 2 Iraqis are shot dead by unknown assailants south of Baghdad. The men were in a 4-wheel drive vehicle when they were ambushed...

IRAQ - Mar. 17 - Bomb Destroys Hotel.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... A car bomb destroys a central Baghdad hotel 7 and injuring many more in one of the worst attacks targeted at foreign civilians in post-war Iraq. Ahead of Mar. 19 anniversary of the start of the war, the attack seemed designed to challenge a...

RUSSIA - Mar. 14 - Putin Wins.(Brief Article)
March 20, 2004... Putin wins his predicted landslide re-election as president, putting him under the spotlight to deliver on promises to boost economic growth, reduce poverty and reform the military over the next 4 years. Later it was announced that Putin scored...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 27 - Tunis Calls Off Summit.
March 27, 2004... In a statement read by his deputy, Tunisian FM Habib Ben Yahya tells delegates the Mar 29-30 Arab League summit in Tunis is called off. (Shocked by a decision taken abruptly by Tunisian Pres. Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali, delegates from the 22...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Mar 25 - EU's New ME Strategy.(European Union)(Middle East)
March 27, 2004... EU FMs set out a two-pronged security strategy for the Middle East, based on promoting reforms in the region while working with the US to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (This marks a shift in policy, with the EU seeking ways to...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Mar 25 - Blair Visits Qadhafi.(Brief Article)
March 27, 2004... The first British leader to visit Libya since Winston Churchill in 1943, PM Tony Blair seals Tripoli's return to the international fold with an historic handshake with Col. Qadhafi and an agreement to fight Al-Qaeda together. After more than an...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Mar 22 - Shaikh Yassin Killed.
March 27, 2004... Missiles from Israeli helicopters kill wheel-chair-bound Hamas founder Shaikh Ahmad Yassin and six of his bodyguards and bystanders while on their way home from pre-dawn prayers at his neighbourhood mosque in Gaza. Within a few hours hundreds...

ARAB-UN - Mar 24 - Iraq Mission Gets Support.(Brief Article)
March 27, 2004... The UN Security Council on offers "strong support" for a new mission to advise on the formation of an interim Iraqi government, expected after the end of the occupation on Jun. 30, and calls on all parties to "co-operate fully" with it.

ARAB-UN - Mar 26 - Polls Team In Baghdad.(Brief Article)
March 27, 2004... A team of UN election experts headed by Carina Perelli arrives in Baghdad to advise on polls expected by the end of 2004 or early 2005. UN special adviser on Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi is to follow in April to help Iraqis determine the form of an...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar. 24 - Bremer To Cement Iraq Measures.(Brief Article)
March 27, 2004... In a speech marking the last 100 days of formal occupation in Iraq, CPA chief Bremer says there will be independent regulators in Iraq to check the power of ministries, including 3 anti-corruption commissions to audit and oversee ministries and...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 25 - UN Move After Yassin Killing Vetoed.(Brief Article)
March 27, 2004... US Ambassador John Negroponte vetoes an Algerian draft resolution at the UN Security Council to censure Israel for its Mar 22 assassination of Hamas leader Shaikh Yassin (see Arabs-Israel). The US, alone among major powers in not condemning the...

AFGHANISTAN - Mar 21 - Civil Aviation Minister Killed.
March 27, 2004... Fighting in the western city of Herat, dubbed as one of the worst violent acts since the fall of the Taliban more than 2 years ago, kills Civil Aviation Minister Mirwais Sadiq, son of Herat governor and warlord Ismail Khan (one of Kabul's most...

IRAQ - Mar 20-27 - Violence Continue.(Brief Article)
March 27, 2004... Anti-US guerrillas continue the violence throughout the week, killing several US soldiers, Iraqis and other targets, with the insurgency particularly intense in Falluja and other parts of the Sunni triangle. Violent protests by unemployed job...

LIBYA - Mar 25 - Qadhafi To Join US & UK In War On Terror.
March 27, 2004... Visiting UK PM Blair shakes hands with Col. Qadhafi in a tent outside Tripoli. Tripoli promises Blair it will joint the US and UK in their war on terror and Al-Qaeda. (This brings to an end decades of Libya's isolation as a pariah state....

PALESTINE - Mar 23 - Rantissi Succees Yassin.(Brief Article)
March 27, 2004... Dr. Abdel Aziz Rantissi, a 56-year-old doctor, becomes the new Hamas leader in Gaza succeeding Shaikh Ahmad Yassin who was assassinated on Mar 22 by Israel (see Arabs-Israel). But Khaled Mishaal, based in Syria, remains the head of the group's...

PALESTINE - March 23 - Hamas Profile.
March 27, 2004... Hamas, the main Islamic group staging suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli targets, has a leadership structure kept vague to the general public. Its military wing works in secret, while its social services attract popular support in...

PALESTINE - Mar 25 - Teenagers In Suicide Bombings.
March 27, 2004... Palestinians issue criticism against using teenagers as human bombs. "No one the age of my son should be used to commit such acts", says Tamam Abdo, mother of Hussam Abdo, 16. A day earlier, Hussam approached a nearby Israeli military...

RUSSIA - Mar. 23 - N-Warships Not Safe.
March 27, 2004... Navy Commander Admiral Vladimir Kuroedov is quoted by two Russian news agencies saying one of the nuclear warships might be about to blow up. He ordered the 26,000-ton cruiser Peter the Great (the pride of the northern fleet with 2 nuclear...

RUSSIA - Mar. 25 - Putin Streamlines Kremlin.
March 27, 2004... Pres. Putin restructures the Kremlin administration in a push for ambitious policy reforms during his second term. Putin confirms as head of the Kremlin apparatus Dmitri Medvedev, a long-standing friend and fellow lawyer from his native St...