APS Diplomat Recorder articles from March 2007

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from March 2007

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 26 - Abdullah And Jordan's King Discuss Key Issues.
March 3, 2007... Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and his Jordanian counterpart King Abdallah hold talks in Riyadh on major regional issues, including Palestine and Iraq. Earlier on arrival at Riyadh Airbase, the Jordanian king was given a red...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Feb 27 - Blair Calls For 'Tough Action' Against Iran.
March 3, 2007... PM Tony Blair says Tehran is making a "big miscalculation" by refusing to suspend its nuclear enrichment program, and he urges the international community to take "tough, clear and unified" action by toughening sanctions against Iran. But the...

ARAB-ISRAEL RELATIONS - Feb 25 - Israel Puts Nablus Under Curfew To Fight Militants.
March 3, 2007... The Israeli Army put the West Bank city of Nablus under curfew in one of the largest military operations there in two years. The Israeli forces discovered a second explosives laboratory in Nablus in two days. It contained pipe bombs, explosive...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb 26 - US Presses For More Sanctions On Iran.
March 3, 2007... US and British diplomats say the world's big powers had agreed to start work on new UN measures against Iran after Tehran's failure last week to meet a deadline on its nuclear programme. They added that the west's strategy of incremental...

IRAN - Feb 25 - Tehran Defiant On Nuclear Pursuit.
March 3, 2007... Pres Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad warns that Iran will not retreat from its nuclear programme, while Tehran seek to underline its technological prowess by announcing that it had fired a rocket into the atmosphere. "Iran has obtained the technology to...

IRAQ - Feb 25 - Suicide Bomber Kills 40 At Baghdad College.
March 3, 2007... A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives and ball bearings blows himself up at a Baghdad university, killing at least 40 people and strewing fingers, pens, purses and bloody textbooks all over the ground. The blast, at a campus of...

ISRAEL - Mar 2 - Inquiry Ordered Into Israeli PM's 'List Of Favours'.
March 3, 2007... Israeli authorities order another investigation into their scandal-plagued government after it is alleged that PM Ehud Olmert, used a previous ministerial post to provide favours for party allies. Micha Lindenstrauss, state comptroller,...

PALESTINE - Mar 2 - Palestinians Miss Govt Deadline.(formation of united government)(Brief article)
March 3, 2007... Caretaker Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh calls on factions to speed up the formation of a unity government after they miss Mar 2 deadline to allocate Cabinet berths. He said he had completed consultations with different Palestinian factions over...

SAUDI ARABIA - Feb 26 - French Nationals Killed On Saudi Tour.
March 3, 2007... Gunmen in Saudi Arabia shoot dead three Frenchmen who are working in the country as they were travelling north of the holy city of Medina in what appeared to be an attack by Islamic militants. The attack took place as a group of nine French...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 4 - Iran, Saudi Hail 'Friendly' Meeting.
March 10, 2007... Returning from Riyadh after meeting King Abdullah, Iranian Pres Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad says "friendly consultations" between Iran and Saudi Arabia will continue with the two countries sharing identical views on developments in Iraq....

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Mar 9 - Solana To Restore EU Ties With Syria.(Javier Solana)
March 10, 2007... The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana, will restore high-level EU contact with Syria when he visits Damascus next week for the first time in more than two years. The trip is designed to encourage Syria to help end the Lebanon political...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 4 - US Forces Extend Baghdad Push.
March 10, 2007... US and Iraqi forces begin to sweep house to house through the huge Baghdad slum of Sadr City, the first such operation in this stronghold of radical Shi'ite militias during the current push for security in the capital. The sweep comes the day...

AFGHANISTAN - Mar 4 - 16 Afghan Civilians Killed.
March 10, 2007... US Marine Special Forces fleeing a militant ambush involving a suicide car bomb and gunmen open fire on civilians in eastern Afghanistan. Up to 16 people were killed and 34 wounded in the violence. More than a half dozen Afghans recuperating...

IRAQ - Mar 4 - Al Maliki Gives Insurgents Ultimatum.
March 10, 2007... PM Nouri Al Maliki gives Iraqi insurgents an ultimatum - either accept his peace offer, or face a crack-down the likes of which has not been seen before. "We do not need to implement security measures except against those who reject the...

IRAQ - Mar 6 - Attacks Target Shi'ite Pilgrims In Iraq.
March 10, 2007... A pair of suicide bombings targeting a procession of Shi'ite pilgrims kill at least 90 people, the latest in a series of attacks by presumed Sunni insurgents against religious targets. This attacks may have been intended at least in part to...

IRAQ - Mar 7 - Islamist Party Quits Maliki Coalition.
March 10, 2007... A Shi'ite Islamist party formerly allied to PM Nouri al-Maliki, withdraw from Iraq's ruling coalition, declaring itself ready to join other groups to form a cross-sectarian alliance. The move by the Fadila or Virtue party does not represent an...

IRAQ - Mar 8 - Iraq Surge Will 'Continue Beyond Summer'.
March 10, 2007... The top US general in Iraq says the military surge will continue "well beyond the summer" as leading Democrats in Congress vow to press ahead with legislation setting a timetable for withdrawal. General David Petraeus said there were...

ISRAEL - Mar 7 - Israelis Arrest 18 In Raid.
March 10, 2007... Israeli forces arrest 18 alleged militants in a raid on PA Military Intelligence HQ's near Ramallah, in what appears to be a growing security clampdown in the West Bank. Last week, one Palestinian man was killed and dozens wounded during three...

JORDAN - Mar 7 - Jordanian Urges US Congress To Seek Mideast Peace.
March 10, 2007... In a rare appearance before a joint session of Congress, King Abdullah II of Jordan makes an impassioned plea for the US to lead in the active pursuit of Israeli-Palestinian peace, saying that without its leadership none of the region's...

LEBANON - Mar 8 - 2 Key Lebanese Leaders Meet.(Saad Hariri, Nabih Berri)
March 10, 2007... Saad Hariri, the Sunni Muslim leader of Lebanon's March 14 coalition, the largest bloc in Congress, and the Shi'ite Parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, a major opposition leader, meet late night to discuss ways of ending the country's political...

PALESTINE - Mar 6 - Mesha'al Gets Iran Aid Pledge.(Khalid Mesha'al )
March 10, 2007... Hamas leader Khalid Mesha'al extract from Iran a pledge to fund his radical Palestinian movement to compensate for the West's financial blockade of the Palestinian government. Mesha'al, who arrived in Iran early Mar 6, told a press conference...

SAUDI ARABIA - Mar 5 - 'No Nuclear Double Standard'.
March 10, 2007... FM Prince Saud Al-Faisal says every country in the region has the right to develop nuclear programs for peaceful means. He, however, warned against adopting double standard in the implementation of International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA)...

SOMALIA - Mar 6 - Mortar Fire Greets First Au Troops In Somalia.
March 10, 2007... The first Ugandan peacekeeping troops are greeted with a volley of mortar rounds as they land in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, marking the start of the African Union's mission to bolster the embattled interim government. About 400 Ugandan...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 12 - Syria Calls For Talks On Iraqi Refugees.
March 17, 2007... Syria calls for a "comprehensive dialogue" with the US as a senior State Department official hold talks in Damascus on the plight of up to 1m Iraqi refugees. Ellen Sauerbrey, the assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Mar 14 - EU Urges Syria To Play 'Positive' Role.
March 17, 2007... The EU's foreign affairs chief, Javier Solana, on his first visit to Damascus in more than two years, urges Syria to play a positive role in Lebanon and Iraq. He also expressed support for Syria's aim of regaining the Golan Heights, captured...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Mar 15 - Tighter Sanctions On Iran Regime Proposed.
March 17, 2007... The UK proposes a new Security Council resolution tightening sanctions on Iran's nuclear programme, also moving tentatively towards broader containment of its activities. The draft, agreed by all permanent members of the council and Germany,...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Mar 11 - Olmert-Abbas Talks Yield No Accords.
March 17, 2007... The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and PM Ehud Olmert of Israel hold their second summit meeting in a month, but aides say afterward that there is little concrete progress to report. Still, both sides made it clear that more meetings...

IRAN - Mar 11 - Mystery Of Former Iranian Minister Deepens.(Ali-Reza Asgari)
March 17, 2007... A former senior Iranian official adds to the mystery over Ali-Reza Asgari, the former deputy defence minister who disappeared in Turkey last month, by saying his family was still in Tehran. This contradicted intelligence leaks to western and...

IRAN - Mar 15 - Sanctions 'Will Not Stop Iran'.
March 17, 2007... Pres Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad dismisses any new UN sanctions resolution as "a torn piece of paper" that will not stop Tehran's nuclear work, the official Irna news agency reports. The US, British, French, German, Russian and Chinese diplomats at...

ISRAEL - Mar 12 - Israel Cautions EU Against Concessions On Hamas.
March 17, 2007... Israel cautions the EU against going soft on a Palestinian government including the Islamist group Hamas, saying this could lead to "more terror". Israeli FM Tzipi Livni, on a visit to Canada, made the remarks to reporters three days after EU...

LEBANON - Mar 13 - Beirut Claims Breakthrough Over Attacks.
March 17, 2007... Lebanon's anti-Syrian government claims the first major breakthrough in the investigation into a series of attacks in the country over the last couple of years. It announced the arrest of four Syrian members of an obscure Palestinian Islamic...

PALESTINE - Mar 12 - BBC Reporter Kidnapped In Gaza Strip, Say Officials.
March 17, 2007... Palestinian security officials reports that a BBC correspondent is kidnapped in the Gaza Strip by unknown assailants. Police identified the journalist as Alan Johnston, who has been the BBC's correspondent in Gaza for three years. Officials...

PALESTINE - Mar 15 - Palestinians Form Unity Government.
March 17, 2007... Palestinian factions announce the formation of a long-awaited national unity government, which they hope will ease an international boycott imposed on the PA when Hamas came to power a year ago. Ismail Haniya, Hamas's PM-designate in a cabinet...

PALESTINE - Mar 16 - UN Refugee Body Chief Escapes Kidnap Attempt.
March 17, 2007... Three masked Palestinian gunmen fire on a vehicle carrying the chief of the UN refugee mission in Gaza and tries to kidnap him. No one was hurt in the kidnap attempt in northern Gaza, said John Ging, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency...

SYRIA - Syria Lauds Brammertz Report As 'Professional'.(Serge Brammertz)
March 17, 2007... Syria welcomes the latest interim report of the UN International Independent Investigating Commission into the murder of former PM Rafik Hariri, describing it as "professional". "The report is professional, technical and does not pre-empt the...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 21 - Kingdom, Jordan In Pre-Summit Talks.
March 24, 2007... Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah holds talks with Jordan's King Abdallah on major regional issues including Palestine and Iraq as part of his efforts to make the March 28-29 Arab summit in Riyadh a success. Before talks with...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Mar 17 - Israel Pleads For Hamas To Remain Isolated.
March 24, 2007... Israel launches a rearguard action to salvage an international consensus on isolating Hamas after western states expressed readiness to talk to at least some members of the Palestinian national unity government installed on Mar 17. As the...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 18 - A Split Between US And Israel On New Unity Government.
March 24, 2007... Differences emerge in the Israeli and American approaches to the new Palestinian unity government, though the core policies of both remain fundamentally in tune. The Israeli cabinet voted overwhelmingly to boycott the Palestinian government,...

AFGHANISTAN - Mar 23 - Afghan Forces Kill 69 Militants Without Nato Help.
March 24, 2007... Afghan forces launch what appeared to be their biggest independent operation ever against the Taliban, killing as many as 69 militants in fighting in the south that also left 7 policemen dead. Elsewhere in southern Afghanistan, suspected...

EGYPT - Mar 20 - Egypt's Constitutional Reforms Spur Protests.
March 24, 2007... Egypt's parliament approve a series of highly controversial amendments to the constitution, paving the way for a referendum next week on the changes in spite of protests from opposition groups. Government officials insist the amendments - the...

IRAN - Mar 23 - Tehran Seizes 15 British Marines.
March 24, 2007... Britain and Iran are heading for a major diplomatic showdown last night after Iranian forces seize 15 British sailors and marines in the northern Gulf. The incident heightened Middle East tensions and drove oil prices to three-month highs. The...

IRAQ - Mar 20 - Saddam's Former Vice President Hanged.
March 24, 2007... Saddam Hussein's former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan is hanged for crimes against humanity, the third top aide of the ousted president to go to the gallows since he was executed in December. Ramadan was sentenced in November to life in...

IRAQ - Mar 22 - Curfew In Basra After Militia Fighting.
March 24, 2007... The Iraqi government declares a curfew in the southern port city of Basra after reports of fighting between local militias amid that a crackdown in the capital may spark increased violence elsewhere. Witnesses from the city quoted in wire...

IRAQ - Mar 23 - Iraqi Deputy PM Wounded In Suicide Bombing.
March 24, 2007... A Sunni who crossed the sectarian divide to join the Shiite-led government as a deputy PM is gravely wounded in a suicide bombing in a mosque at his home, his chest pierced with shrapnel. Nine people were reported killed in the attack. A man...

LEBANON - Mar 20 - Lebanese Parliament Fails To Convene.
March 24, 2007... Lebanon's Parliament fails to meet on the first day of its summer session, exacerbating tensions between the anti-Syrian majority in the assembly and the Hizbullah-led opposition. The renewed mutual recriminations are undermining chances of...

LEBANON - Mar 20 - Tensions Rise In Lebanon As Hopes For Deal Fade.
March 24, 2007... Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri accuses the ruling majority coalition of dealing a crushing blow to talks aimed at ending a political crisis, signalling a rise in tensions in the four-month-old standoff. The comments by Nabih Berri, a...

PALESTINE - Mar 19 - Hamas Claims Shooting Of An Israeli On Border.
March 24, 2007... The armed wing of Hamas claims responsibility for the shooting of an Israeli civilian near the border with the Gaza Strip. It was the first attack on Israel claimed by that Islamic movement since a shaky cease-fire came into effect in November,...

SAUDI ARABIA - Mar 23 - Reappointment Of Saudi Cabinet Disappoints Reformers.(Brief article)
March 24, 2007... Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has reappointed his entire cabinet for another four-year term, surprising many who had been expecting changes. It was the first time King Abdullah had named a cabinet since ascending the throne in August 2005 after...

SOMALIA - Mar 18 - Somali Insurgents Locked In Battle With Troops.
March 24, 2007... Somali insurgents battle Ethiopian and government troops with mortar and artillery fire, killing two people and wounding at least 16 others who were caught in the crossfire. Mortar attacks were launched against four separate areas in the...