APS Diplomat Recorder articles from March 2008

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from March 2008

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 24 - Arab League Starts Fresh Bid To Solve Crisis In Lebanon.
March 1, 2008... The Arab League resume negotiations in Beirut to resolve the Lebanese political deadlock, the worst since the end of 15 years of civil war in 1990. AMousa, Secretary-General of the Arab League, began fresh mediation efforts two days ahead of a...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 24 - Lebanon Crisis Unites Riyadh.
March 1, 2008... Egyptian and Saudi leaders discuss regional issues, mainly the deadlock in Lebanon, official media in announced, without referring to the two countries' positions on the upcoming Arab summit scheduled to be held in Damascus. While the Egyptian...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 24 - Moussa Mediates 'Decisive' Talks In Beirut.
March 1, 2008... Arab League chief AMoussa hold talks with rival political leaders in Lebanon in a bid to break a deadlock that has left the country without a president for three months. Moussa hosted a meeting bringing together two leading members of the...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Feb 29 - Arab Leaders Press Syria Over Beirut Impasse.
March 1, 2008... Arab leaders are stepping up pressure on Syria to resolve the Lebanese presidential stand-off by threatening to stay away from the Arab League summit in Damascus next month, a move that will deepen Syria's regional isolation. Arab officials say...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Feb 28 - Gaza Air Strikes Follow Hamas Rocket Attack.
March 1, 2008... The attacks between Israel and Hamas escalated further as the Islamist group continued firing rockets from the Gaza Strip and Israeli aircraft launched attacks on the territory that left at least eight dead. In the past two days, Israeli forces...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb 25 - Taliban Threaten Cellphone Firms In Afghanistan.
March 1, 2008... The Taliban have demanded that all four cellphone companies in Afghanistan cease operating during night hours or face attacks on their offices and communication towers. The statement, issued by a Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, complained...

IRAQ - Feb 24 - Bomber Strikes Shi'ite Pilgrimage, Killing 40 In Iraq.
March 1, 2008... A suicide bomber detonates amid a crowd of Shi'ites making pilgrimage to the Shrine of Imam Husayn in Karbala, killing at least 40 people and injuring more than 100. Witnesses said they heard a shrill cry of "Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!"...

IRAQ - Feb 29 - Iraqi Leaders Say 'Chemical Ali' Will Be Executed.
March 1, 2008... Iraqi leaders say that they had found a way to execute Ali Hassan al-Majid, the man known as Chemical Ali who was one of Saddam Hussein's most notorious henchmen. Majid was sentenced to death last June, and the approval of his execution comes...

LEBANON - Feb 27 - Lebanon's Fadlallah Calls For Action Against Muslim On Muslim Violence.
March 1, 2008... A respected Shi'ite Shaikh has described the people behind an attack on pilgrims in Iraq as 'murderous animals'. Lebanon's Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Hussain Fadlallah also called for action on the school of thought which is used to justify the...

PALESTINE - Feb 24 - Palestinians Prepare Protest On Israeli Border.
March 1, 2008... The Israeli Army beefed up its forces on the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip on Feb 24 after Palestinian advocates there called on residents to form a human chain Monday along the Gaza side of the border fence, stretching from...

TURKEY - Feb 27 - Turkish Envoy In Baghdad For Talks On Incursion.
March 1, 2008... A senior Turkish envoy begin talks with Iraqi officials in Baghdad as the US called for a quick end to Turkey's week-long incursion into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish guerrillas. Acting Iraqi PM Barham Saleh said a prolonged offensive would...

TURKEY - Feb 29 - Turkey Withdraws Troops From Iraq.
March 1, 2008... Turkey has ended its military incursion into northern Iraq and its troops have returned to base, the military high command said on Feb 29. The announcement brings to an end a ferocious eight-day assault inside Iraq by Turkish troops on the PKK,...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 5 - Kingdom, Turkey Sign Agreement To Boost Co-operation.
March 8, 2008... As part of an effort to boost Saudi-Turkish co-operation in the tourism and culture sector, Prince Sultan ibn Salman, secretary general of the Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT), and Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertugrul Gunay...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 6 - Syria And Iran Sign Several Memorandums Of Understanding.
March 8, 2008... Syria and Iran signs eight memorandums of understanding, in a ceremony attended by journalists, involving different fields and agreed to set up a fund to finance investment in both countries. The memorandums in fields including energy, media,...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Mar 2 - Abbas Halts Peace Talks As Israeli-Palestinian Violence Spreads.
March 8, 2008... Israeli-Palestinian violence spills over from Gaza to the West Bank, and a spokesman for the Western-backed Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, says contacts with Israel had been temporarily suspended "in the light of the Israeli...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Mar 6 - Gaza Strip Attack Kills Israeli Soldier.
March 8, 2008... One Israeli soldier is killed and three injured in an attack launched by Palestinian militants close to the Gaza Strip, the latest victims of the deadly escalation of recent days. Mar 6 death brings to three the number of Israeli soldiers...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 4 - Abbas Rejects US Call To Reopen Peace Talks.
March 8, 2008... Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the PA, rebuffs a US plea to reopen peace talks with Israel, casting further doubt over the future of one of President George W. Bush's diplomatic initiatives in the face of spiralling violence in the region....

ARABS-US RELATIONS - Mar 4 - Bush Blames Assad For Lebanese Crisis As March 14 Envoys Plan Trek To Cairo.
March 8, 2008... US President George W. Bush accuses Syrian President Bashar Assad on Mar 4 of blocking the election of a new head of state in Lebanon and impeding the success of the country's government. "I am extremely disappointed that the Syrian leader...

ARABS-US RELATIONS - Mar 5 - Peace Talks To Resume, Says Rice.
March 8, 2008... US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Israelis and Palestinians had agreed to resume peace talks suspended over an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, but she did not specify a date. Signaling a willingness by Israel to hold fire, PM...

IRAN - Mar 3 - Iran President Attacks US Presence In Iraq.
March 8, 2008... Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad wraps up a landmark two-day visit to Iraq on Mar 3 with a call on US-led foreign forces to withdraw from Iraq. "People have not seen anything from the foreign presence in this region but more destruction...

IRAQ - Mar 2 - Ahmadi-Nejad In Iraq For Historic Trip.
March 8, 2008... Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad becomes the first regional head of state to visit Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion, underlining Tehran's close relations with its former enemy and staging a symbolic show of defiance of the US. The Iranian...

ISRAEL - Mar 4 - 'Unknown Jewish Elements' Vandalize Mosque In Israel.
March 8, 2008... The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Rehabilitating Islamic Sites accuses "unknown Jewish elements" of vandalizing the Hassan Bek Mosque in Jaffa inside Israel. The Jerusalem-based foundation said in a press statement that unknown perpetrators climbed...

ISRAEL - Mar 6 - Anger Over Peace Talks As Israelis Mourn.
March 8, 2008... Israel lays to rest the bodies of eight religious students gunned down. Along with them, several mourners said, were buried the hopes of many for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Thousands of Israelis - including a large contingent of...

EGYPT - Mar 6 - Egypt Pushes Hamas For Cease-Fire.
March 8, 2008... Egypt tries to convince the Palestinian group Hamas to accept a truce that will involve halting rocket attacks on Israel, in an effort to put an end to violence in the Gaza Strip and salvage Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Deputies of Egypt's...

SAUDI ARABIA - Mar 4 - 28 Al-Qaeda Militants Arrested In Kingdom.
March 8, 2008... Saudi Security forces have arrested 28 militants, who were involved in rebuilding the Al-Qaeda network in Saudi Arabia to launch another campaign of terror across the Kingdom. The militants had been collecting funds on the pretext of supporting...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 9 - Sultan Commends Saudi-Qatari Relations.
March 15, 2008... On the eve of a landmark visit to Doha to bolster Saudi-Qatari relations, Crown Prince Sultan emphasised the deep-rooted relations between the two countries. "Saudi-Qatari relations are governed by blood ties and a common destiny. They are not...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Mar 10 - Israel Denies Negotiating Truce In Gaza.
March 15, 2008... Despite several days of relative quiet, Israeli leaders denies that they are engaged in efforts to reach a truce agreement with Palestinian militant groups in Gaza or that they had reached any mutual understandings through Egyptian mediators....

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 12 - US Support For Egypt Hints At Shift On Hamas.
March 15, 2008... The US says it hoped that Egypt could convince Hamas to stop its attacks on Israel, in an apparent shift in Washington's policy on isolating the Islamist militant group. In a White House briefing, Dana Perino, spokeswoman for George W. Bush,...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 14 - US Convenes Israel-PA Talks.
March 15, 2008... Israel and the PA resumes high-level talks after a two-week hiatus, meeting with a top US envoy amid mounting US criticism of settlement construction. US displeasure with the continued Jewish settlement activity in the occupied West Bank was...

AFGHANISTAN - Mar 13 - Suicide Bomber Strikes Convoy In Afghanistan.
March 15, 2008... Afghan and international forces kill 41 Taliban militants in a battle in southern Afghanistan, and a suicide car bomb attack on a convoy of US troops left six Afghan civilians dead in Kabul, US and Afghan officials said Mar 13. None of the four...

IRAN - Mar 8 - Qom Highlights Iran Power Battle.
March 15, 2008... Iran's main fundamentalist coalition recently presented its choice of candidates for next week's parliamentary election to the Society of Scholars of Qom Seminary, the oldest clerical organisation in the city and the seat of Shi'ite religious...

IRAQ - Mar 12 - Rocket Kills 3 US Soldiers In Iraq.
March 15, 2008... Three American soldiers are killed in a rocket attack in southern Iraq, bringing to 12 the number of soldiers who have been killed in Iraq over the past three days. Lieutenant Patrick Evans of the US Navy, a military spokesman, said the three...

ISRAEL - Mar 9 - Israel Approves Building Of Homes In West Bank Settlement.
March 15, 2008... The government of Israel says that it had approved the construction of hundreds of homes in a West Bank settlement north of Jerusalem, a move that could further complicate a peace process already hobbled by violence. The announcement slightly...

PALESTINE - Mar 13 - Thousands Attend Funeral For Killed Palestinian Militants.
March 15, 2008... It is a display of Palestinian unity rarely seen since the Islamic group Hamas seized power in Gaza last summer and left the rival pro-Fatah PA struggling to hold on to the West Bank. As thousands of men and women crowded into Manger Square on...

TURKEY - Mar 11 - Turkish Offensive Upsets Political Balance.
March 15, 2008... In the Iraqi Kurdish town of Amedi, a group of Turkish soldiers rests by their armoured vehicles as a Kurdish maintenance team attaches a winch to their generator. One of them exchanges greetings with an elderly Kurdish civilian, inquiring...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Mar16 - Israelis And Palestinians To Restart Dialogue.
March 22, 2008... Chief Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators plan to meet this week, restarting talks that were suspended after a deadly Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. The negotiations, led by Israeli FM Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian PM Ahmad...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 16 - US Military Profiles Suicide Bombers In Iraq.
March 22, 2008... The US military has drawn a portrait of Al Qaeda's suicide bombers who have killed thousands, including several American troops, in Iraq. The study was based partly on interrogations of 48 foreign fighters who were captured or surrendered. It...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar19 - Bush Defends Iraq War Five Years On.
March 22, 2008... President George W. Bush says he will only order further troop reductions in Iraq if it would not "jeopardise" the improvement in security that has occurred since the military "surge" took effect last year. Speaking at the Pentagon on the...

AFGHANISTAN - Mar 19 - Helmand Governor Seeks Talks With Taliban.
March 22, 2008... The newly appointed governor of Helmand province has vowed to hold face-to-face meetings with Taliban fighters as part of a new strategy to quell the insurgency raging in Afghanistan's poppy belt. Gulab Mangal takes up what is perhaps one of...

AFGHANISTAN - Mar 19 - Bin Laden Threatens EU Over Drawings.
March 22, 2008... Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden threatens the EU with grave punishment over cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. In an audio recording posted on the Internet coinciding with the birthday of Islam's founder, bin Laden said the drawings,...

EGYPT - Mar 19 - US Quietly Backs Egyptian Effort To Mediate Israel-Hamas Cease-fire.
March 22, 2008... After ruling out talks with the Palestinian group Hamas, the Islamic governors of Gaza, the Bush administration is using Egypt as an intermediary to open a channel between Israel and the organization's representatives, in what some diplomats...

IRAN - Mar 16 - Iran's Conservatives Claim Poll Victory.
March 22, 2008... Conservatives win an overwhelming majority in Iran's parliamentary elections but the strong showing by some more moderate figures means Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the president, could face greater challenges from the legislature in the next 18...

IRAQ - Mar 17 - Bombing Kills 43 In Shi'ite Holy City In Iraq.
March 22, 2008... A bombing kills 43 people near the Imam Hussein shrine in the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala, penetrating one of the most secure perimeters in Iraq. Iraqi police officers at the scene and several witnesses said it had been carried out by a female...

ISRAEL - Mar 17 - Olmert Says Israel Will Continue Building In West Bank And Jerusalem.
March 22, 2008... PM Ehud Olmert of Israel says he will keep building in parts of the West Bank and Jerusalem that Israel wants to keep in a future peace deal, angering the chief Palestinian negotiator. In contrast, Olmert said in a closed meeting with visiting...

KUWAIT - Mar 17 - Kuwait Cabinet Ministers Resign Amid Political Crisis.
March 22, 2008... All members of Kuwait's cabinet submit their resignations to the PM, complaining of a lack of cooperation by parliament in the latest political crisis to hit the Gulf oil-exporter. Kuwait's government has been locked in a political battle with...

PALESTINE - Mar 18 - Most Palestinians Favor Violence Over Talks, Poll Shows.
March 22, 2008... A new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Palestinians support the attack this month on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem that killed eight young men, most of them teenagers, an indication of the alarming level of Israeli-Palestinian...

TURKEY - Mar 20 - Turkish Warplanes Bomb Kurdish Rebel Hideouts In Northern Iraq.
March 22, 2008... Turkish warplanes reportedly bombed Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq on Thursday, before a spring festival traditionally used by Kurdish activists to stir anti-government sentiment and assert demands for political autonomy and cultural...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 24 - Arab League Chief Mousa Expects No Breakthrough On Lebanon.
March 29, 2008... Secretary-General AMousa says the Arab League expects no last-minute breakthrough in the political deadlock in Lebanon before an Arab summit starts in Damascus Mar 29-30. "The feedback.... does not really give me the impression that we can do...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Saudi Arabia Calls Off High-Level Presence At Damascus Summit.
March 29, 2008... Riyadh's ambassador to the Arab League, Ahmad Qattan says Saudi Arabia will not send King Abdullah or FM Prince Saud al-Faisal to an Arab summit in Damascus later this week. Qattan, speaking on the margins of a preparatory meeting, said he...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Mar 25 - Abdullah, Saleh Discuss Mideast.
March 29, 2008... Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh hold talks with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on major international issues including Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon. They also explored ways of strengthening bilateral ties. In a statement on...

ARAB EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Mar 25 - Putin And Mubarak Strike Deal On Nuclear Co-operation.
March 29, 2008... Russia and Egypt signs an agreement opening the way for Russian firms to bid for lucrative contracts to build nuclear power plants in Egypt. The nuclear energy deal was signed after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian leader Hosni...

ARABS-ISRAELI RELATIONS - Mar 28 - Israel Bids To Revive Peace Talks With Syria.
March 29, 2008... An Israeli cabinet minister says that Israel is attempting to revive peace negotiations with Syria, just days after Ehud Olmert, PM, hinted at secret contacts with its Arab neighbour. Israel's infrastructure minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, told...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Mar 23 - Cheney Calls For Arab-Israeli Concessions.(Dick Cheney)
March 29, 2008... US vice-president Dick Cheney, meets Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the PA, as part of his tour of the Middle East. He criticised Hamas for the rocket attacks launched from Gaza on Israeli cities, saying they posed a threat to peace talks....

AFGHANISTAN - Mar 26 - Taliban Attacks Leave 250,000 Afghans Without Cellphone Coverage.
March 29, 2008... Taliban attacks on telecom towers have prompted cell phone companies to shut down service across southern Afghanistan at night, angering a quarter million customers who have no other telephones. Even some Taliban fighters now regret the...

EGYPT - Mar 25 - Egypt's Ruling Party Under Fire Over Bread Crisis.
March 29, 2008... Egypt's ruling party is coming under fire from opposition parties for its handling of the recent bread crisis. The Egyptian government is scrambling to ease shortages for poor citizens who rely on subsidized bread. But some opposition MPs have...

IRAQ - Mar 25 - Iraqi Forces Battle Militia In Basra.
March 29, 2008... Iraq's security forces launch an offensive against militias in the southern port city of Basra, triggering heavy fighting in which dozens of people were reported killed. The move comes amid increased tension between the Iraqi government and the...

IRAQ - Mar 27 - Maliki Risks Open Sadrist Insurrection.
March 29, 2008... Nouri al-Maliki took a huge gamble this week when he ordered the Iraqi army into battle against Shi'ite militias n the southern port city of Basra. If the PM succeeds, the pay-off would deliver a big boost to the credibility of a shaky...

LEBANON - Mar 24 - Nasrallah Rules Out Israeli War On Lebanon Or Syria.(Brief article)
March 29, 2008... Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah says that a new Israeli war on Lebanon or Syria is unlikely, as would a US strike on Iran. "It is not simple for America to launch a war on Iran, or for Israel to launch a war on Syria or Lebanon", Nasrallah...

LEBANON - Mar 24 - Nasrallah Vows Opposition Will Pursue Compromise In Lebanon.
March 29, 2008... Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says that the opposition is determined to reache a political settlement to Lebanon's ongoing political crisis. In what was described as the most moderate of his recent speeches, Nasrallah stressed that...

PALESTINE - Mar 23 - Fatah And Hamas Sign Yemeni-Sponsored Reconciliation Deal.
March 29, 2008... Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have signed a Yemeni-brokered reconciliation deal, promising to renew discussions after months of hostilities. The two factions reconvened in Sanaa earlier in the day in a last ditch effort to hammer...

SAUDI ARABIA - Mar 24 - Kingdom To 'Abide By All Decisions At Syria Summit'.
March 29, 2008... Saudi Arabia's permanent representative to the Arab League, Ahmad Qattan, says that he will represent the Kingdom at the upcoming Arab summit in Damascus. "I will represent Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, and Saudi Arabia will...

SYRIA - Mar 25 - Syria Summit Spotlights Arab Disunity.
March 29, 2008... Syria calls it the summit of "joint Arab effort", the message printed on hoardings in Damascus. But it is likely that the Arab League meeting in the Syrian capital this weekend will be remembered for its display of Arab disunity. The leaders of...

TURKEY - Mar 24 - Kurds And Police Clash For 5th Day In Turkey.
March 29, 2008... The police broke up a protest by hundreds of masked and stone-throwing Kurdish demonstrators during the fifth straight day of clashes that have killed two people and wounded dozens. The riot police fired rounds of tear gas canisters to disperse...