APS Diplomat Recorder articles from October 2005

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from October 2005

ARAB AFFAIRS - Sep 29 - Israel Rejects Arab Charges It Is A Nuclear Threat.
October 1, 2005... Israeli atomic energy commission chief Gideon Frank says the country rejects charges it is a nuclear threat to peace after Egypt proposed the creation of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East, at a meeting of the UN atomic watchdog....

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Sep 25 - Iraq Insurgents' Ferocity Wasn't Expected, Blair Says.
October 1, 2005... PM Tony Blair says he did not expect the ferocity of the insurgency in Iraq, but insists that British troops will stay as long as the Iraqi government needed them. As Blair's governing Labour Party gathered for its annual conference, the PM...

ARAB-US - Sep 29 - US Looks For 'Iraq Troop Cuts Next Year'.
October 1, 2005... US military leaders say they want to reduce the number of US troops in Iraq next year, but acknowledge the Iraqi security forces have fewer fully trained and equipped battalions than six months ago. "Conditions-based reduction of coalition...

AFGHANISTAN - Sep 27 - Early Tally Puts Rivals Of Karzai In The Lead.
October 1, 2005... Early results from parliamentary elections indicate a strong showing for Pres Hamid Karzai's main political opponents and for figures from Afghanistan's wars of resistance, suggesting, as expected, that the new National Assembly will represent...

IRAN - Sep 25 - Tehran Defiant In Face Of IAEA Criticism.(International Atomic Energy Agency)
October 1, 2005... Tehran reacts defiantly to Sep 24 decision by the board of the IAEA to condemn it for "non-compliance" with the NPT, a first step towards a referral to the UN Security Council. FM Manouchehr Mottaki, said the IAEA resolution was "illegal and...

IRAQ - Sep 25 - More Than 25 Die As Sectarian Tensions Rise.
October 1, 2005... A suicide bomber swerves his sedan across a highway median and detonates it in a police convoy in south-east Baghdad, in the worst of several attacks and gun battles that leaves at least 25 people dead and dozens wounded. The violence comes...

IRAQ - Sep 25 - Al-Qaeda's Number Two Killed In Baghdad.
October 1, 2005... US and Iraqi troops kill the Baghdad commander for Al Qaeda Abdallah Najim Abdallah Mohammad Al Juwairi, better known as Abu Azzam, amid worsening sectarian violence less than three weeks before national voting on a divisive draft constitution....

IRAQ - Sep 26 - Suicide Bomber Targets Oil Workers.
October 1, 2005... A suicide car bomber rams a busload of oil workers in Baghdad, killing at least 10 and wounding 30, in an attack on a vital industry at the centre of sectarian disputes in next month's constitutional referendum. The attack occurred in front of...

ISRAEL - Sep 26 - Sharon Survives Likud Vote By Narrow Margin.
October 1, 2005... PM Ariel Sharon, fends off by a paper-thin margin a challenge to unseat him as leader of the ruling Likud party. In an internal referendum on the procedural question of whether to advance the date of party primaries, Sharon defeated his rivals...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Oct 6 - Breaching A Taboo, Kuwaitis Talk Of Softer Stance On Israel.
October 8, 2005... Kuwaiti newspapers float the idea in recent days that the country can take steps to reduce hostility toward Israel as a means of helping the Palestinians, prompting a quiet debate about Kuwait's strategy of isolating Israel. The discussion...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Oct 5 - UK Accuses Iran Over Iraqi Rebels.
October 8, 2005... Britain accuses Iran of seeking to undermine western forces in Iraq by making contact with Sunni Arab insurgents and backing a renegade Shiite group in possible retaliation for escalating western pressure over Tehran's nuclear file. A senior UK...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Oct 5 - EU Set To Increase Aid To The Palestinians.
October 8, 2005... The Brussels body European Commission says the biggest donor to the Palestinians, the EU, is set to ramp up its aid in the wake of the Israeli pullout from the Gaza strip. The body said it was contemplating doubling its aid to the West Bank and...

AFGHANISTAN - Oct 6 - First Winners Emerge In Afghan General Election.
October 8, 2005... Kabul announces the names of the first members of parliament to be elected since 1969 as results finally started to trickle more than two weeks after the close of polls marred by fraud, violence and voter confusion. Officials declared the...

IRAQ - Oct 2 - Shiite-Kurdish Pact At Risk Over Kirkuk.
October 8, 2005... The Shiite-Kurdish pact at the heart of Iraq's transitional government threatens to split amid accusations by Pres Talabani, a Kurd, that the Shiite PM's parliamentary bloc broke a deal over oil-rich Kirkuk, which the Kurds claim as their...

IRAQ - Oct 2 - Minister Hits At Saudi Criticism.(Bayar Jabor, Saudi Arabia)(Brief Article)
October 8, 2005... The interior minister takes a swipe at Saudi Arabia, telling the government in Riyadh to look its at own problems instead of lecturing Baghdad. In an unusual outburst against the Saudis, minister Bayar Jabor, dismissed recent remarks by the...

IRAQ - Oct 3 - Oil Minister Survives Bomb Attack.
October 8, 2005... Iraq's oil minister Ibrahim al-Uloum survives an apparent assassination attempt when a roadside bomb, in northern Baghdad, blasts his motorcade, the latest attack on the energy industry that is vital to rebuilding the country's beleaguered...

IRAQ - Oct 6 - Bomber Kills 10.
October 8, 2005... A man wearing an explosive belt gets onto a bus near Iraq's police academy in Baghdad and blows himself up, killing 10 passengers and wounding 11. The blast shattered the red minibus, killing almost everyone on board and sending huge plumes of...

IRAQ - Oct 8 - Qaeda No. 2 Warns His Chief In Iraq.
October 8, 2005... The second-ranking leader of Al Qaeda Ayman al-Zawahiri warns Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the top militant in Iraq that attacks on civilians and videotaped executions committed by his followers threaten to jeopardise the broader extremist cause. The...

PALESTINE - October 8 - Abbas targets past accord.(Mahmoud Abbas)
October 8, 2005... By Steven Erlanger The New York Times -THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2005- JERUSALEM The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said Thursday that when he finally meets the Israeli PM, Ariel Sharon, for their third summit meeting, his most important...

TURKEY - October 3 2005 14:33 / Last updated - Path clear for Turkey to discuss joining EU.
October 8, 2005... By Daniel Dombey in Luxembourg and Vincent Boland in Ankara-Published October 3 2005 20:30- The EU on Monday cleared the way for membership talks with Turkey after a day of high drama in which failure was only narrowly averted and even EU...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Oct 11 - Arab League Continues Mission In Iraq.
October 16, 2005... The mission of the Arab League continues its mission in Iraq following the attack it is exposed to on Oct 10 and results in killing two persons and wounding other seven in the lines of the Iraqi guards. The AL Assistant Gen Sec and the chief of...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Oct 10 - Abbas-Sharon Summit Put Off Again.(Israeli troops put back for security at Gaza Strip)
October 16, 2005... A summit meeting between Palestinian Pres Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, their first since Israel's withdrawal from Gaza Strip, is put off again after the two sides are deadlocked over Israeli troop withdrawals in the West Bank and...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct 9 - US 'Seeks New Syrian Leader' As Pressure Mounts.(Bashar Al Assad)
October 16, 2005... As it steps up pressure on Damascus, the US is actively seeking an alternative who would take over from Pres Bashar Al Assad, according to sources close to the Bush administration. Washington has consulted its allies in an inter-agency search...

IRAN - Oct 9 - Treatment Worse Than North Korea.(fascism is followed by some security officials)(Brief Article)
October 16, 2005... Tehran's top security official Ali Larijani accuses international bodies of treating Tehran worse than North Korea and attacks a "fascism" that denies Iran advanced technology. In a speech reported by Iranian news agencies, secretary of the...

IRAQ - Oct 10 - Baghdad Talks Aimed At Settling Draft.
October 16, 2005... With only five days to go before Iraq's constitutional referendum, politicians hold talks to try to avoid a confrontation that may inflame sectarian tensions by pitting the Shiite and Kurdish leaders who drafted the document against Sunni Arabs...

IRAQ - Oct 10 - Gunmen Attack Arab League Delegation Visiting Iraq.
October 16, 2005... Two Iraqi security guards are killed when gunmen ambush an Arab League delegation with anti-tank rockets and heavy machine guns amid sharp criticism of the pan-Arab group over its role in Iraq. The visiting diplomats - on the first Arab League...

IRAQ - Oct 12 - A Deal Heralds Bigger Role For Sunni.
October 16, 2005... The leaders announces a breakthrough deal to win over Sunni Arabs to the country's draft constitution before Oct 8 referendum. The deal requires parliament to revisit controversial issues over the next eight months. Although it has won the...

PALESTINE - Oct 13 - PA Says Report Into Arafat's Death Inconclusive.(Yasser Arafat)
October 16, 2005... PM Ahmad Qorei says a report released by a Palestinian ministerial commission charges with investigating the causes of Pres Yasser Arafat's death has proved inconclusive. The report, which was heavily based on the findings of French doctors who...

PALESTINE - Oct 13 - Qorei Insists His Cabinet Will Not Resign Early.(Ahmad Qorei)
October 16, 2005... PM Ahmad Qorei says his government will not quit before its mandatory resignation next month, defying calls by legislators who says it had failed to halt armed chaos. Lawlessness, however, continued in the coastal territory with the abduction...

SYRIA - Oct 12 - Top Official In Hariri Inquiry Found Dead.(Ghazi Kanaan, Rafiq Hariri)
October 16, 2005... The interior minister Ghazi Kanaan, one of the top officials questioned in the UN investigation of the assassination of Lebanon's former PM, is found dead in his office in what the authorities describes as a suicide. The death of Ghazi Kanaan,...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Oct 16 - 3 Israelis Killed In West Bank Shootings.
October 22, 2005... Palestinian gunmen kill three Israeli civilians and wound at least five others in two drive-by shootings near Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated with the Fatah faction of the Palestinian Pres, Mahmoud...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct 18 - Rice Short On Detail On Exit Strategy For Iraq.
October 22, 2005... US State Sec Condoleezza Rice, lays out what she calls the US strategy for preparing "a permanent Iraqi government for decisive victory" but rebuffs senators who asked how long this may take and when US troops will start to come home. Her...

ARAB-US RELATIONS- Oct 20 - Bush Says Militias Hurt The Hopes Of Palestinians.(George W. Bush)
October 22, 2005... Pres Bush presses the Palestinian Pres Mahmoud Abbas, to "confront the threat that armed gangs pose to a genuinely democratic Palestine" but cautions that a Palestinian state living peacefully with Israel may not be established before he leaves...

IRAQ - Oct 16 - US Air Strikes Kill 70 Suspected Militants.
October 22, 2005... US fighter jets and attack helicopters kill around 70 suspected militants in a series of air strikes in and near the western Iraqi city of Ramadi. The military said 20 men were killed when a US warplane dropped a precision-guided bomb on a...

SAUDI ARABIA - Oct 16 - New Regions Planned.
October 22, 2005... Interior Minister Prince Naif announces that Saudi Arabia intends to increase the number of its regions to improve services to its growing population. He said: A study on this matter will be completed shortly and will be presented to higher...

SYRIA - Oct 21 - Damascus Pressed On Hariri Plot.
October 22, 2005... Bashar Al Assad multiplies his press statements in recent weeks, proclaiming time and again that as president he is sure Syria is "100 per cent" innocent in the February assassination of Rafiq Hariri, Lebanon's former PM. On Oct 21, however,...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct 19 - US Refuses To Rule Out Syria Strike.(Brief Article)
October 22, 2005... Addressing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, State Sec Condoleezza Rice says both Syria and Iran are allowing fighters and military assistance to reach insurgents in Iraq. The US refuses to rule out possible military action against Syria...

IRAQ - Oct 19 - Defiant Saddam Pleads Not Guilty.(Saddam Hussein)
October 22, 2005... A defiant Saddam Hussein pleads not guilty to charges of murder and torture as his long-awaited trial begins with the one-time dictator arguing about the legitimacy of the court and scuffling with guards. The first session of the trial lasted...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Oct 26 - Russia And Arab League Oppose Syria Sanctions.
October 29, 2005... Russia and the Arab League opposes an implicit Franco-American threat of sanctions against Syria, contained in a tough draft UN resolution demanding Syria's full co-operation with the investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese PM...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Oct 28 - Mubarak Goes To Damascus.
October 29, 2005... The state-run Syrian Television announces that Syrian Pres Bashar Assad holds talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, on developments in Syria and Lebanon. Mubarak's surprise visit to Syria came as US Pres Bush assailed Syria and...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Oct 24 - Russia Tries To Break Impasse With Iran.
October 29, 2005... Russia says it will seek to resolve the impasse over Iran's controversial nuclear programme, in a sign of Moscow's increasing importance in international attempts to broker a deal with Iran. On a day of intensive diplomacy in Moscow, Sergei...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Oct 27 - Blair Condemns Iran On Terrorism And Israel.
October 29, 2005... Using unusually strong language that verges on the bellicose, PM Tony Blair of Britain told Iran that its attitudes toward Israel, terrorism and nuclear weapons are "totally unacceptable". His remarks, linking the three issues, seemed certain...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Oct 22 - Israelis Backtrack On Hamas.
October 29, 2005... Israel, having failed to convince Pres Bush to come out publicly against the participation of an armed Islamic group, Hamas, in Palestinian legislative elections, begins to backtrack on its own opposition. The justice minister and Sharon's...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Oct 24 - A Top West Bank Militant Killed.
October 29, 2005... Israeli troops shoot dead a top Islamic Jihad commander in the occupied West Bank, the most senior Palestinian militant killed since the start of an eight-month-old cease-fire. Loai Assadi, long a prime target of Israeli forces, had been...

IRAN - Oct 26 - Wipe Israel From Map, Says Ahmadi-Nejad.(Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad)
October 29, 2005... Pres Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, declares Israel shall be "wiped off the map" and warns Arab countries against developing economic ties with Israel in response to its withdrawal from Gaza. His remarks, delivered at a conference in Tehran entitled "A...

IRAQ - Oct 25 - Iraqi Vote Approves Draft Constitution.
October 29, 2005... Iraqi electoral officials announce that a new constitution has been passed by voters, enshrining a legal foundation for the future governance of the country and paving the way for elections in December for a full-term government. The electoral...

IRAQ - Oct 25 - Saddam's Defense Team Wants To Put Bush On Trial.(Saddam Hussein, George W. Bush)
October 29, 2005... A Jordanian lawyer Saleh Armouti says Saddam Hussein's defense committee wants to put US Pres Bush in the dock to mirror the Baghdad trial of the toppled Iraqi leader over a Shiite massacre. He said: We shall contact international and Arab...

IRAQ - Oct 26 - Sunni Political Groups To Join Forces In Iraq.
October 29, 2005... Several of Iraq's major Sunni Arab political movements announce they are forming an alliance to contest December parliamentary elections, in a sign of increased mobilisation of what has been until now the least organised of the country's main...

ISRAEL - Oct 25 - Suicide Bomber Kills Five.
October 29, 2005... An Islamic Jihad suicide bomber kills five people at a market in the coastal town of Hadera, two days after the Palestinian group's West Bank commander was shot dead in an Israeli army raid. It was the first such attack inside Israeli since Aug...

LEBANON - Oct 24 - Campaign For Lahoud To Resign Intensifies After Mehlis Report.(Emile Lahoud, Detlev Mehlis, United Nations investigator)
October 29, 2005... Pressures intensifie for Pres Emile Lahoud to resign, after the UN report names his top four security chiefs as suspects in the killing of former premier Rafik Hariri. The security chiefs were all arrested even before the publication by UN...

PALESTINE - Oct 24 - Clashes In Taamir No-man's Land 'Not Connected With Palestinian Groups'.
October 29, 2005... PM Fouad Siniora heads a security meeting to discuss the violent clashes in Taamir, near the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp, and to take steps to ease the tension. The clashes, which left one man dead and four wounded, broke out Oct 23...