APS Diplomat Recorder articles from May 2005

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from May 2005

ARAB AFFAIRS - May 4 - Mikati Tries To Build Healthier Links With Syria.
May 7, 2005... Lebanon's new PM Najib Mikati meets the Syrian Pres Bashar Al Assad, in the first attempt to build a healthier relationship between the two countries since the departure of Syrian troops. Najib Mikati, who took over as PM two weeks ago and is...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - May 1 - EU3 Warns Of 'Managed Crisis' Over Iran Ambitions.
May 7, 2005... European officials warns of a "managed crisis" in Europe's dialogue with Iran over the country's nuclear ambitions, after Iranian negotiators say they will consider resuming part of the uranium enrichment process suspended since 2003. The...

ARABS-ISRAEL - May 1 - Erdogan Holds Talks In Israel.(Brief Article)
May 7, 2005... Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, hold talks with Israeli officials aimed at easing strains in the two countries' long-standing alliance prompted by disagreements over the Palestinian issue. At a wreath-laying ceremony at the hall of remembrance...

ARABS-UN - May 4 - UN Concern Over Syria Verification.(Brief Article)
May 7, 2005... The UN Sec Gen Kofi Annan, expresses concern after a UN team verifying the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon is denied access to a pro-Syrian Palestinian base. The team, which had been inspecting former Syrian positions in Lebanon's eastern Beka'a...

IRAQ - May 2 - Shiites Vow To Fill Key Posts With Sunnis.
May 7, 2005... A string of deadly car bombs kill 15 people in neighbourhoods across Baghdad, while Iraq's new Shiite-majority government insists that it will fill key cabinet positions from the fractious Sunni minority by May 2. The government, the first...

IRAQ - May 2 - Disarray As New Government Is Sworn In.
May 7, 2005... The new government is finally sworn in, but five outstanding positions in the cabinet, including the key posts of defence and oil, remains unfilled. Parliament approved a partial cabinet Apr 28, but the Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni parties have...

IRAQ - May 4 - Insurgent Bomber Kills More Than 60 In Arbil.
May 7, 2005... A suicide bomber strikes the offices of a Kurdish party in northern Iraq, killing about 60 people and injuring 150. Hours later in Baghdad a car bomb killed nine National Guardsmen and wounded 20 people. The suicide attack on the centre in...

IRAQ - May 5 - Twenty Killed In Insurgency Attacks.
May 7, 2005... A suicide bomber attacks a recruitment centre for Iraq's new forces for the second successive day and gunmen ambush a police patrol, killing more than 20 people. It is estimated that some 200 people have been killed in attacks in the week since...

LEBANON - May 1 - Lebanese Do Not Need Any Guardianship, Says Junblatt.(Brief Article)
May 7, 2005... The leader of the Progressive Socialist Party and leftist alliance Walid Junblatt says Lebanese people are not seeking the guardianship of anybody, after the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. He said: Yes. We want only self-determination. We...

PALESTINE - May 6 - Hamas Makes Strong Election Showing.
May 7, 2005... The Fatah movement of Mahmoud Abbas, emerges as the winner in local elections, but the Islamic faction Hamas also makes a strong showing. The rivals are headed for even more important showdowns at the ballot box this summer. The results...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - May 10 - US Readies New Raids Near Syria.
May 14, 2005... The chief of operations for the 2nd Marine Division Col Bob Chase, says insurgents who control parts of the western Iraqi desert appear to have fallen back to regroup as the Marines prepare a new assault on a force of more than 200 insurgents...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - May 10 - US Allots $82bn For Iraq And Afghanistan.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2005... The US Senate unanimously gives final approval to an $82bn emergency spending bill to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pres Bush requested the extra funding to cover the cost of US military operations, which have spiraled...

EGYPT - May 10 - Cairo Approves An Open Presidential Vote, But Critics See No Change.
May 14, 2005... The Parliament approves a constitutional amendment that opens presidential elections to multiple candidates for the first time, but critics protest it set such stringent conditions for running that the vote this year will basically remain a...

IRAN - May 8 - FM Spokesman Reiterates Uranium Work Plan.(Asefi)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2005... FM Spokesman Asefi reiterates that it will soon restart work related to uranium enrichment, suspended since 2003 to help talks with the EU over Tehran's nuclear programme. He said Iran was "still studying" which part to resume of the process of...

IRAN - May 10 - Registration For Presidential Election Begins.
May 14, 2005... Registration for presidential election begins without final confirmation that Akbar Hashemi Rasfanjani would stand again for the post he held between 1989 and 1997. Candidates have until May 14 to register for the June 17 election, with...

IRAQ - May 8 - Jaafari Names Defence And Oil Ministers.(Ibrahim Al Jaafari)
May 14, 2005... PM Ibrahim Al Jaafari, names two important ministers and three other cabinet members in a significant step towards ending three months' wrangling between the country's main ethnic blocs over the formation of first postwar elected government....

IRAQ - May 10 - Japanese National Kidnapped.(Akihiko Saito)
May 14, 2005... An Islamic militant group says it has seized a Japanese man working at a US base in Iraq, but Japan's government can not confirm the claim and media reports said no demands had been made. The Army of Ansar Al Sunna militant group posted on its...

IRAQ - May 9 - US Troops Kill 75 Insurgents In Offensive.(Brief Article)
May 14, 2005... US forces claim to have killed more than 75 insurgents in an attack in north-west Iraq apparently designed to cut the lines of communication by which foreign Islamist volunteers enter the country. A military spokesman said soldiers, sailors and...

ISRAEL - May 9 - Sell-off Is Largest Since 1990s.(Haim Saban wins a 30% stake in Bezeq)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2005... FM embarks on its biggest privatisation since the late 1990s after a consortium headed by media mogul Haim Saban wins a 30% stake in Bezeq Israel Telecom for Shk4.23bn ($970m, 754m, [pounds sterling]514m). Saban's group included his SGC Israel...

LEBANON - May 12 - Beirut's Sectarian Rifts Threaten Election Deadline.
May 14, 2005... Lebanese opposition groups seek to close ranks after days of sectarian rifts that had been exacerbated by a statement from the country's Maronite Christian Church. The tensions have prompted renewed calls, mostly by Christians, for a delay of...

RUSSIA - May 11 - Putin Pushes Ahead With Priorities.(Vladimir Putin)(Brief Article)
May 14, 2005... Pres Putin orders the government to draft bills aimed at implementing many of the priorities outlined in his state of the nation address last month, including defining limits on foreign investment in strategic areas of the economy. Putin had...

ARAB AFFAIRS - May 17 - Iraq And Iran Pledge An Era Of Co-operation.
May 21, 2005... Iraq and Iran pledge to turn the page on nearly a quarter-century of war and bitter rivalry during a visit by Iran's FM Kamal Kharazi, who expressed support for Iraq's new Shiite-led government. "I have no doubt this visit will open up...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - May 16 - UK Calls Iran's Atom Activities 'Serious'.
May 21, 2005... Jack The British foreign secretary Straw, says Britain, one of the three EU countries negotiating with Iran over its nuclear capability, concludes Iran is "quite serious" in threats to resume uranium enrichment activities that will trigger...

ARABS-ISRAEL - May 18 - Air Strike And Mortars Rattle Shaky Gaza Truce.
May 21, 2005... In Israel's first air strike since a truce was announced three months ago, the air force fires on a Palestinian cell launching mortars at Jewish settlements in the southern Gaza Strip. The air strike came during one of two separate shooting...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - May 15 - Rice Urges Political Solution To Iraq's Insurgents.(Condoleezza Rice)
May 21, 2005... Amid continuing violence and escalating sectarian tensions, US State Sec Condoleezza Rice, pays a visit to Iraq, calling on the country's newly-formed government to keep up the pace of the political process in a bid to undercut support for the...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - May 19 - Zoellick Backs Iraq Transitional Constitution.(Robert Zoellick)
May 21, 2005... Following meetings with elected Iraqi leaders, Deputy State Sec Robert Zoellick, says that the country's permanent constitution will most likely be closely based on the provisional document put in place early last year by US administrators....

AFGHANISTAN - May 20 - 6 Killed In Ambush.
May 21, 2005... Suspected Taliban militants gun down six employees of a US-financed anti-drugs project in southern Afghanistan, the second fatal attack on project staff members in two days. The victims were driving to Kabul with the body of one of five men...

IRAN - May 15 - Parliament Votes To Restart Atomic Activity.
May 21, 2005... The Parliament adopts a nonbinding resolution insisting that the government resume developing enough nuclear fuel to generate a significant amount of electricity, defying the American and European demand that the Islamic Republic halt all...

IRAQ - May 16 - 12 Bodies Found Dumped In Baghdad.(Brief Article)
May 21, 2005... The bodies of 12 Iraqi men, all of whom had been shot dead, are found dumped in north-eastern Baghdad. Police said the bodies had been found overnight. Since May 14, at least 46 bodies have been found dumped at four locations in Iraq....

IRAQ - May 27 - Photos of Saddam in underwear.(Saddam Hussein)
May 21, 2005... Two newspapers owned by the media mogul Rupert Murdoch, The Sun of London and The New York Post, publish photographs showing an imprisoned Saddam in his underwear. The newspapers said the pictures had been provided by US military sources to...

PALESTINE - May 15 - Abbas Issues Strong Naqba Warning.(Mahmoud Abbas)
May 21, 2005... Palestinians marked the blackest day in their history with warnings that there will be no Middle East peace until they are handed independence and the plight of their refugees is solved. Fifty-seven years on from the foundation of the state of...

RUSSIA - May 18 - Putin Aide Denies Oil-For-Food Claim.(Brief Article)
May 21, 2005... The former chief of staff to Pres Vladimir Putin denies that he or any Kremlin officials received oil allocations from the Iraqi oil-for-food programme. Alexander Voloshin was alleged in a report by the US Senate subcommittee on investigations...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - May 25 - EU wins breathing space in Iran talks.(European Union)
May 28, 2005... The EU wins an extra two months for its efforts to scale back Iran's nuclear programme, but the issue at the heart of the dispute between Europe and Tehran remains unresolved. At a Geneva meeting between Iran's negotiator and the foreign...

ARABS-ISRAEL - May 24 - Sharon Reaffirms Gaza Plan, But Warns Attacks Must Stop.(Ariel Sharon)
May 28, 2005... PM Ariel Sharon declares despite criticism in Israel and among Jews in the US, his plan to pull military forces and settlers out of the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank will proceed on schedule. But he also warned the Palestinians that more...

ARABS-ISRAEL - May 27 - 3 Palestinians Accused Of Smuggling Explosives.
May 28, 2005... Israeli troops arrest three Palestinians trying to smuggle explosives through checkpoints in the occupied West Bank. One of those arrested, named by Palestinians as Thair Abu Assap, 20, was stopped at the Beit Iba checkpoint west of Nablus on...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - May 26 - Bush Promises Abbas $50m Gaza Aid.(George W. Bush)(Mahmoud Abbas)
May 28, 2005... Pres Bush welcomes the PA Pres Mahmoud Abbas, to the White House with a promise of $50m in direct aid to develop Gaza after Israel's planned withdrawal and renews US commitment to an independent Palestinian state. The Palestinian delegation...

AFGHANISTAN - May 22 - Karzai Defends Efforts On Heroin Trade.(Hamid Karzai)(Brief Article)
May 28, 2005... Talking to CNN Late Edition Pres Hamid Karzai, defends his record in the fight against heroin trade and says international efforts to get involved in the issue had been "ineffective" and "half-hearted". He said: We have done our job. Now the...

EGYPT - May 25 - Egypt Votes On Poll Reform.
May 28, 2005... Egyptians trek to polling stations to vote on a key amendment to Article 76 that will allow contested presidential polls for the first time amid opposition calls for a boycott. President Hosni Mubarak was among the first to vote after calling...

IRAN - May 22 - Leading Reformer Is Banned From Poll.(Mostafa Moein)(Brief Article)
May 28, 2005... The main reformist candidate in next month's Iranian presidential election Mostafa Moein, has been disqualified, increasing the odds of a conservative victory. Iranian state TV announced that the Guardian Council, the country's Islamic...

IRAN - May 24 - Tehran Reverses Ban On Reformist Presidential Candidates.
May 28, 2005... Iran's hardline Guardian Council reverses its ban on two reformists excluded from presidential elections on June 17, defusing a row which had sparked some calls for a boycott of the vote. The decision to reinstate Mostafa Moein and Mohsen...

IRAQ - May 24 - Bombs Kill Seven US Soldiers.(Brief Article)
May 28, 2005... A car bomb kills three US soldiers in Baghdad, and four soldiers are killed south of the capital the previous day when a roadside bomb exploded beside their vehicle. A spokesman said the Baghdad car bomb exploded around 1:30 p.m. The victims...

IRAQ - May 24 - Zarqawi Wounded, Al-Qaeda Says.(Abu Musab Al Zarqawi)
May 28, 2005... Al Qaeda's group says its leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi had been wounded but that will only serve as an inspiration to step up its attacks against "the enemy of God". "O nation of Islam... Pray for the healing of our Sheikh Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...