APS Diplomat Recorder articles from September 2004

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from September 2004

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Sept 3 - EU's Solana Urges Israel Not To Threaten Syria.
September 4, 2004... Arriving for an EU FMs' meeting in the Netherlands, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana criticises Israeli threats against Syria following Palestinian suicide bombings this week that killed 16 people. He says: "I don't think it's helpful to...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Aug 31 - Two Suicide Bombers Kill 16 In Israel Bus Blasts.
September 4, 2004... Two Palestinian suicide bombers kill at least 16 and wound more than 100 people in almost simultaneous bus attacks in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba. The militant Hamas group claimed responsibility. Hamas distributed a leaflet in the...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Sep 2 - Israel Steps Up Military Threats Against Syria.
September 4, 2004... Israel steps up threats of possible military action against Syria for its alleged complicity in a double suicide bombing that killed 16 people on Aug 31. The Deputy Defence Minister Ze'ev Boim, was the latest official to accuse Syria of bearing...

ARABS-UN - Aug 30 - UN Official Warns On Sudan As Deadline Expires.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2004... A senior UN official Dennis McNamara warns there is still a "protection crisis" in Darfur as a UN deadline for the Sudanese government to improve security in the troubled region of western Sudan. He said acts of sexual violence continued with...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Aug 31 - US Airstrike Kills Afghan Civilians.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2004... US warplanes strike an isolated village in eastern Afghanistan, killing as many as eight civilians and hitting a compound used by an international aid group. The pre-dawn airstrikes near Mano Gai village in Kunar province followed an attack by...

AFGHANISTAN - Aug 30 - Taliban Warn Of More Attacks Before Afghan Election.
September 4, 2004... The Taliban warns of further deadly attacks before Afghanistan's first Presidential election after a car bomb in the heart of the capital kills at least a dozen people. Three Americans were among those killed in the blast, aimed at the offices...

IRAN - Aug 31 - Suspected Nuclear Spiesn Arrested.
September 4, 2004... The Intelligence Minister Ali Yunessi, says "several people" has been arrested for spying on the country's nuclear program. Yunessi said those arrested "were sending information on Iran's nuclear activities abroad", but he did not say when the...

IRAQ - Aug 30 - Sadr Call For Truce Presages Move To Politics.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2004... The radical Shiite theologian Muqtada Al Sadr, orders his followers to observe an Iraq-wide ceasefire, describing it as a precursor to joining the country's halting political process. The announcement caught Iraqi officials and US military...

IRAQ - Aug 31 - Insurgents Kill 12 Nepalese.
September 4, 2004... In a worst day of bloodshed against civilian captives since the war began, an insurgent group linked with Al Qaeda kills 12 Nepalese workers. News of the killings was posted on to a website run by the Islamist Army of Ansar Al Sunna, an Iraqi...

IRAQ - Sep 1- Explosions Mark First Day Of Assembly.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2004... Five mortar bombs explode near national assembly shortly before it met for the first time, providing a stark reminder of the country's dangerous road to elections. Gunmen also opened fire on a convoy carrying prominent Shiite politician and...

LEBANON - Sept 3 - Mandate Of Emile Lahoud Extended.
September 4, 2004... The parliament votes by 96 to 29 to extend Pres Emile Lahoud's mandate by three years, despite widespread opposition across the country. The move comes after intense pressure from Syria to keep Damascus' ally in office. The rubber-stamp vote...

RUSSIA - Aug 31 - Suicide Bomber Kills 10 In Central Moscow.
September 4, 2004... At least 10 people are killed and 33 injured in an apparent suicide bombing in central Moscow, two days after contested presidential elections in the country's conflict-torn republic of Chechnya. The mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, said a woman...

RUSSIA - Sep 1 - Armed Gang Seizes School Children As Hostages.
September 4, 2004... At least 120 children and parents are taken hostage in a school in the country's ethnic republic of North Ossetia by armed men who threaten to explode the building if it is stormed. Officials said that the hostage-takers had demanded talks with...

RUSSIA - Sep 2 - Gunmen Release 26 In Hostage Siege.
September 4, 2004... Armed rebels release 26 hostages from a siege at a school in the southern republic of North Ossetia as the stand-off enters a second day. The release of the women and children from the school, in which at least 350 people are being held, came...

RUSSIA - Sep 3 - At Least 150 Killed In School Siege.
September 4, 2004... Special forces storm the Beslan school where hundreds of children and parents had been held hostage, launching a gunfight in which about 150 are killed - dozens of them children. Reports on Sep 3 night quoting the health ministry put the death...

SAUDI ARABIA - Aug 30 - No Letup In Anti-Terror Campaign-Abdullah.(Crown Prince Abdullah )
September 4, 2004... Addressing the weekly meeting of Council of Ministers at Al-Salam Palace in Jeddah, Crown Prince Abdullah emphasises that the country will go ahead with its nationwide campaign to rid the country of all extremists and sought full cooperation of...

SUDAN - Sept 3 - Khartoum Would Accept More Observers.(Brief Article)
September 4, 2004... FM Mustafa Osman Ismail says the government will be willing to accept more foreign observers in the Darfur region if it is convinced the monitors will help the situation. He said the government was prepared to discuss anything "that could help...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Sept 7 - EU Commissioner's Remarks On Turkey Raising Eyebrows.(Frits Bolkestein)
September 11, 2004... In a speech at the University of Leidenlate, one of the EU's most outspoken commissioners Frits Bolkestein, raises controversy after he seemed to try to raise concerns that admitting Turkey to the EU will make Europe more Islamic. Bolkestein...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Sept 7 - 13 Killed In Israeli Strike On Hamas Camp In Gaza City.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2004... An Israeli air strike on a training camp of the militant Palestinian organisation Hamas kills at least 13 people and wounds 30 in Gaza City. The Israeli military said the camp targeted by the air force had been used in recent days for...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Sept 10 - Rumsfeld Vows To Defeat Iraqi Extremists.
September 11, 2004... Reponding to criticism that the US occupation force and the Iraqi government had allowed extremists to set up no-go areas, US Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld, vows US will not allow extremist insurgents to maintain sway over Falluja or other rebel...

EGYPT - Sept 9 - Business Upbeat Over Reforms.
September 11, 2004... Businessmen in Egypt are upbeat about the future of economic reform following a big overhaul of customs procedures and reduction of import tariffs. The measures announced by FM Youssef Boutros-Ghali, have been at the top of a long list of...

IRAQ - Sept 5 - Ibrahim Al Douri Held.
September 11, 2004... Baghdad's defence ministry claims that its forces capture Izzat Ibrahim Al Douri, the most wanted former Baathist to remain at large, near Tikrit. But the US military said it did not have the former Baathist leader in custody. Officials said...

IRAQ - Sep 6 - Car Bomb Kills 7 US Marines.
September 11, 2004... In the deadliest single attack on US forces in five months, a car bomb attack on a US patrol outside the rebel-held city of Falluja kills seven US marines and three Iraqi National Guardsmen. The attack raises the official Pentagon US death toll...

IRAQ - Sep 8 - Battle Rages In Rebel Stronghold, As Aid Workers Flee.
September 11, 2004... US forces continue to battle Iraqis in the insurgent bastion of Falluja as the kidnapping of two Italian aid workers in central Baghdad prompted workers for foreign charities workers to consider leaving Iraq. The coordinator for charitable...

LEBANON - Sept 6 - 4 Ministers Quit Over President's Term.
September 11, 2004... Four ministers quit the government to protest the passage of a Syrian-inspired constitutional amendment intended to keep Pres Emile Lahoud in power for another three years. The three ministers from the secular leftist faction of the Druze...

RUSSIA - Sept 8 - $10m Bounty On Chechen Warlords.
September 11, 2004... Moscow offers a Rbs300m ($10.3m, 8.4m, [pounds sterling]5.7m) bounty for two Chechen warlords and warns it may launch pre-emptive strikes on suspected terrorist bases abroad after the Beslan school siege. The FSB, the federal security service...

RUSSIA - Sep 10 - Under pressure, Putin promises inquiry.( Vladimir Putin)
September 11, 2004... In an unusual retreat under public pressure, Pres Putin promises an open inquiry into the Sep 1-3 slaughter of hostages in a schoolhouse, although the forum he choose leaves critics doubtful of his good faith. After insisting that only a closed...

YEMEN - Sept 8 - Five Killed, 13 Injured In Market Explosion.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2004... A hand grenade goes off in open-air market in Kutaf district of the northern Saada province killing five people and injuring 13 others. Police officials said that rescue workers and volunteers rushed the injured, seven of whom in critical...

YEMEN - Sep 10 - Army Says Al Houthi Killed.(Brief Article)
September 11, 2004... The army says it has killed Hussain Badr Eddin Al Houthi, a radical Shiite theologian who led a three-month rebellion in the north western Saada province near the border with Saudi Arabia. Shaikh Houthi's main grievance appears to have been his...

ARAB AFAIRS - Sep 12 - GCC Slams Terror Wave In Iraq.(Gulf Cooperation Council )
September 18, 2004... Opening a meeting of GCC FM's in Jeddah, Kuwait's Shaikh Mohammad Al Sabah denounces terrorist attacks in Iraq and reiterates the six-member GCC support for efforts to restore security in the war-ravaged Arab country. Al Sabah says: "The GCC...

ARAB AFAIRS - Sep 14 - Arab League Avoids Stand On UN In Lebanon.(Brief Article)
September 18, 2004... Arab FM's agree to avoid a position on UN intervention in relations between Syria and Lebanon after Syria and Jordan disagree over what approach to take. An Arab League resolution, approved but subject to amendment, does not mention a Security...

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Sep 17 - EU Turns Up Heat On Turkey As Decision Looms.(European Union)
September 18, 2004... The EU warns Turkey to keep up progress on human rights ahead of a key decision on EU membership negotiations, but Turkey replies by warning Brussels against meddling in its affairs. The remarks comes during a period of rising sensitivity ahead...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Sep 13 - US Kills Insurgents In Afghanistan.
September 18, 2004... US forces backed by helicopter gunships kill 22 insurgents, including several Arabs, in the Shinkay district of Zabul Province, a center of resistance to the US-backed Afghan government. Scott Nelson, a spokesman, said that about 40 enemy...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Sep 16 - US Presses IAEA For Strong Stand On Iran.(International Atomic Energy Agency )
September 18, 2004... A US official speaking on condition of anonymity expresses alarm that Iran may have a test site for nuclear weapons technology and pressed the IAEA to take a tougher position on the issue. The official spoke as US and European negotiators moved...

IRAQ - Sep 12 - Clashes Kill 110 As Allawi Pledges Poll.
September 18, 2004... As the interim PM Iyad Allawi, insists elections can be held next year even if it means excluding towns over which Iraqi and US forces have little control, clashes across the country kill at least 110 people. The Health Ministry said the worst...

IRAQ - Sep 14 - Suicide Car Bomber Slaughters 47.
September 18, 2004... A car bomb rips through a busy market outside a Baghdad police HQ's, killing at least 47 people, most of them policemen, as the rebel insurgency penetrates the center of Baghdad. In a second attack, in Baquba, north of the capital, 12 more...

ISRAEL - Sep 13 - Netanyahu Calls For Vote On Gaza Settler Pullout.
September 18, 2004... The influential FM Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a national referendum on the proposed withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, a move that can complicate the plan set out by PM Sharon. Opinion polls consistently show that about 70%...

RUSSIA - Sep 13 - Putin's Anti-Terror Plan Centralises State Power.
September 18, 2004... Putin convenes the meeting of the cabinet, top security and military officials, and the nation's governors as authorities and lawmakers are considering how to tighten security following a series of terror attacks including the three-day...

SUDAN - Sep 15 - Talks Fail On Darfur.
September 18, 2004... One of the two rebel movements from Darfur region Justice and Equality Movement, says peace talks with the government has collapsed after three weeks of negotiations in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. Rebels said that the talks failed after...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Sep 21 - Syria Redeploys Troops In Lebanon.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2004... Syrian troops based in Lebanon dismantle several of their positions south-east of Beirut and head east towards the Bekaa valley. The move appeared designed to ease Lebanese and international criticism of Syria's role in Lebanon but it is...

ARAB AFFAIRS - Sep 22 - King Fahd, Abdullah Receive Karzai.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2004... Afghan Pres Hamid Karzai hold talks in Jeddah's Al-Salam Palace with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah. The Afghan leader told King Fahd that his country appreciates the generous support and assistance Saudi...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Sep 19 - Sharon Takes Hard Line On Palestinian Rockets.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2004... PM Ariel Sharon warns Israel will retaliate against Palestinian rockets, even if they are fired from civilian areas, and an arms manufacturer says Israel had installed a radar system in a border town to warn of such attacks. Sharon's remarks...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Sep 22 - Two Die In Jerusalem Bombing.
September 25, 2004... A woman suicide bomber kills two people and wounds at least 15 in an explosion at one of Jerusalem's most busiest intersections, a heavily-guarded bus stop at French Hill, the most-targeted spot in the four-year-old Palestinian uprising. Al...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Sep 23 - Mortar Strikes A Woman.
September 25, 2004... As Israel prepared to mark Judaism's most solemn day of Yom Kippur amid fears of bombings, a Palestinian mortar strike on a Jewish settlement in Gaza kills an Israeli woman. The attack was slammed by a close aide to Israel's PM Sharon who...

ARABS-UN - Sep 24 - Israeli Wall To Grab Land.(United Nations)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2004... In a report to the UN General Assembly in New York, South African law professor charged with monitoring the Palestinian territories by the Geneva-based UNCHR John Duggard, says Israel is building its wall on West Bank land not to keep out...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Sep 20 - US Lifts Commercial Sanctions On Libya.
September 25, 2004... The US lifts commercial sanctions against Libya, clearing the way for the payment this week of more than $1 bn to the 270 families of those killed when PanAm flight 103 was brought down by Libyan agents in 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Sep 23 - Allawi Delivers Upbeat Message On Iraq.
September 25, 2004... Iraq's interim PM Iyad Allawi, lends his support to Pres Bush's presidential campaign by defending the Iraq war and offering an optimistic assessment of the country's future. Allawi gave an upbeat report to a joint session of the US Congress,...

AFGHANISTAN - Sep 20 - Karzai Deputy Escapes A Roadside Bombing.(Hamid Karzai)
September 25, 2004... A deputy to Hamid Karzai, Nayiamatullah Shahrani escapes a roadside bombing in northern Afghanistan. The attack comes just four days after a rocket was fired at Karzai's helicopter as he was heading to a campaign event for the Oct. 9...

IRAN - Sep 19 - Tehran Resists Nuclear Pressure By UN.(International Atomic Energy Agency)(United Nations)
September 25, 2004... Reacting to IAEA's demand to suspend all uranium enrichment activities, top security official Hassan Rowhani, says Iran has made "no decision" to comply with IAEA's resolution and will continue a voluntary suspension of a narrower range of...

IRAN - Sep 21 - Tehran Starts Tests On Uranium For Nuclear Centrifuges.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2004... Attending a general conference of the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation Gholamreza Aghazadeh says Iran begins test on a facility that will produce a large amount of material for nuclear...

IRAQ - Sep 19 - Allawi Insists Country Is On Schedule For Polls.(Iyad Allawi)(Brief Article)
September 25, 2004... The interim PM Iyad Allawi, insists national elections will take place on schedule and calls on the UN, which has cast doubt on plans to hold the vote in January, to deepen its involvement in the country. Speaking after a meeting with the UK PM...

IRAQ - Sep 20 - Militants Release Video Showing Beheading Of American Contractor.
September 25, 2004... Militants in Iraq led by an ally of Al Qaeda Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, releases a video showing the beheading of American contractor Eugene Armstrong and threatens to kill a British hostage and a second American within 24 hours. Armstrong was...

IRAQ - Sep 22 - Car Bomb In Baghdad Kills More Than 11.
September 25, 2004... A suspected suicide car bomber struck on Wednesday in a crowded commercial street in Baghdad, killing at least 11 people, as scores of men wanting to join the country's security forces queue up to photocopy their documents. The blast destroyed...

ISRAEL - Sep 21 - Public Sector Goes On Strike.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2004... About 400,000 public-sector workers stage a general strike, called by Histadrut labour federation, grounding international flights, shutting ports, financial markets, banks and many other services. The open-ended strike meant to protest against...

ISRAEL - Sep 22 - Court Orders Strikers To Work.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2004... The National Labour Court orders 400,000 striking public-sector staff back to work, 24 hours after they launched a general strike that paralysed ports and airports and forced banks and other public services to close. The court also ordered the...

SAUDI ARABIA - Sep 24 - Second Suspect Held In Jeddah Twin Blasts.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2004... Police arrest Salah Al Najjar, second suspect in the twin blasts that struck Jeddah on Sep 11, adding that the man belonged to a deviant group. Salah Al Najjar was arrested in the north-western city of Tabuk, after he escaped a raid on Sep 20...

SUDAN - Sep 19 - Govt Says It Will Obey UN's Darfur Resolution.
September 25, 2004... The state minister for foreign affairs Najeeb Al Kheir Abdul Wahab says the government vows to carry out the UN Security Council's resolution on Darfur, although it said the resolution was unfair and damaging to African mediation efforts. He...

TURKEY - Sep 21 - Opposition Seeks Debate On Reform.(Brief Article)
September 25, 2004... The main opposition party Republican People's Party, insists the government to resolve a disagreement with the EU over Ankara's penal reform bill, moving to convene Parliament in an extraordinary session to enact reforms that Brussels says are...