Carter meets father of captured Israeli soldier Fri Jun 12, 10:09 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The father of an Israeli soldier held by militants in the Gaza Strip for almost three years on Friday asked former US president Jimmy Carter to deliver a letter to Hamas.At a meeting with Carter at a Jerusalem hotel, Noam Shalit asked the former president to deliver the letter to the Islamist movement when he travels to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Tuesday.Noam's son Gilad, then a 19-year-old army corporal, was captured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants in a June 25, 2007 cross-border raid.I handed Carter a letter to pass on to Gilad when he visits Gaza,Shalit told AFP. Carter told me he will continue in his efforts to bring about his release.The soldier's parents had received a letter from their son a year ago through the Atlanta-based Carter Center, two months after the former US president met the Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal in Damascus.Israeli officials have worked, so far in vain, through Egyptian mediators to secure Shalit's release in exchange for several hundred jailed Palestinian prisoners.Carter was on a tour of the region that has already taken him to Lebanon, where he monitored the election, and to Syria, where he met Hamas leaders, the Carter Center said.Throughout the visit, as part of his ongoing efforts to promote constructive dialogue, the president will hold meetings with representatives of all parties to the Israeli-Arab conflict,it said.Carter is due to hold talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday, and on Sunday he plans to visit a representative of the more than 280,000 Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
He is also expected to hold talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres and MPs, the Carter Center said.It gave no details of his planned trip to Gaza, which has been run Hamas since it seized power there two years ago, ousting forces loyal to Abbas.Only a few US officials -- among them Senator John Kerry in February -- have visited the Palestinian enclave since the takeover by Hamas, which Washington lists as a terrorist organisation.
EU's Solana to meet Hezbollah MP Fri Jun 12, 10:15 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana began a visit to Beirut on Friday for talks with the country's leaders and, for the first time, a member of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.Solana will meet President Michel Sleiman on Friday and then hold separate talks on Saturday with Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan, an EU representative said.
The meeting with Hajj Hassan will be the first such high level contact between an EU official and Hezbollah, which has been blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington but not by the European Union, the official said.Solana's visit coincides with a trip by US envoy George Mitchell who vowed that Washington would not sacrifice Lebanon as it seeks comprehensive peace in the Middle East.The visits follow Sunday's election on Sunday that saw a Western-backed alliance increase its majority in parliament, defeating a coalition led by Hezbollah.Solana and Mitchell are scheduled to meet in Beirut before the US envoy heads to Damascus later Friday for talks with Syrian leaders.
Envoy Mitchell to visit Syria.Envoy's visit could pave the way for improved relations between U.S., Syria JUNE 12,09
(CNN) -- Syria, a country on the outs with the United States during the Bush administration, was to be U.S. envoy George Mitchell's latest stop in his trip to jump-start the idle Middle East peace process.U.S. envoy George Mitchell, right, visited with Lebanese officials, including parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri.
A former Maine senator who is President Obama's special envoy to the region, Mitchell is expected to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad and other officials in a trip beginning Friday and ending Saturday.The United States has not had an ambassador in Damascus since 2005. But Mitchell's visit is part of a series of actions that could pave the way for dramatically improved relations between the two countries. The Obama administration also believes engaging the Syrian regime will weaken Syria's strategic alliance with Iran.You know that this administration is committed to a broad-based, comprehensive peace dealing with all the different players in the region, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters at a State Department daily press conference earlier this week.And we decided this was an appropriate time for Sen. Mitchell to go to Syria. And ... this is a very high priority for this administration, and we're going to pursue this vigorously in the coming months.
Kelly said the stop is in many ways a follow-up to Obama's speech last week in Cairo, Egypt, where the president laid out his stances on a variety of issues in the Muslim world. They include his views of the long-simmering Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an overriding conflict in the region.During this trip, Mitchell met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He made stops in Jordan and Egypt, which both have diplomatic relations with Israel.He met on Friday with officials in Lebanon, less than a week after a pro-Western coalition made strides against a Hezbollah-led bloc in parliamentary elections.The Damascus visit points to a warming up of relations between the United States and Syria.The United States and the Bashar Assad regime have had frosty relations over Syria's perceived meddling in Lebanon, its relationship with Iran and militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas and the infiltration of insurgent attackers from Syrian territory into Iraq.
The United States withdrew its ambassador from Syria four years ago in protest at the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Washington accuses Syria of being behind the killing of the popular statesman in a massive bombing that also left 22 others dead. Syria denies it, but an ongoing United Nations investigation has found indications of Syrian involvement.But at the same time, Syria has wanted to have better relations with the United States, and it has engaged in indirect talks with Israel over their differences, especially the Syrian land seized by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967. And Syria has said it wants a stable Iraq.
Mitchell's visit is the highest-profile trip to Syria by a U.S. official since 2005, and it comes on the heels of the Obama administration's diplomatic efforts to re-engage with the Assad government.The State Department has said that Mitchell's trip will be followed by other U.S. missions -- including a delegation of U.S. military commanders who will discuss joint efforts to combat the Iraqi insurgency, officials said.Jeffrey Feltman -- an assistant secretary of state who is the department's top official on the Middle East -- and National Security Council official Daniel Shapiro traveled to Damascus twice in recent months in an effort to improve ties with Syria.
The talks, which have been the start of more regular contacts between Washington and Damascus through normal diplomatic channels, focused in part on getting Syria to seal its border with Iraq. Washington has criticized Damascus for turning a blind eye to foreign fighters traveling through the country into Iraq.The United States also wants Syrian support in achieving a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace agreement, and it appears willing to nurture indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel that began last year over the disputed Golan Heights. Those talks were suspended after Israel's three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip that ended in mid-January.It's our view that...Syria can play an important, constructive role in the region, Feltman told reporters in March.At that time, Feltman hit home the administration's regional approach to Middle East peace.The United States wants a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace,he said, saying Mitchell's mandate is to achieve a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.Such an effort means that there will be a Syrian-Israel track at some point, and, Feltman said, we do want to see forward momentum on the Syrian-Israeli track at the time when the parties are ready for this.Damascus wants the United States to become involved if the talks resume. And Washington is interested in getting Damascus to use its influence with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which Syria views as a legitimate resistance movement and whose leaders take refuge in Syria.In another sign of reconciliation, officials have said the United States is considering reappointing an ambassador to Syria. A charge d'affaires has been the highest-level American diplomat in Damascus since 2005.The United States also is interested in building a new embassy in Damascus, and Eric Boswell, assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, recently traveled to Syria to examine the security situation there.
After 27 years, no news on Israeli MIA's Published: June 12, 2009 at 10:30 AM
JERUSALEM, June 12 (UPI) -- Today marks 27 years since three Israeli soldiers were captured and declared missing in a battle with Syrian forces in the first war in Lebanon.On June 12,1982, in the battle of Sultan Yacoub, a Lebanese village located 3 miles (5 km) from the Syrian border, Israeli troops were ambushed by Syrian forces. Eighteen Israeli soldiers were killed and soldiers Yehuda Katz, Zvi Feldman and Zachary Baumel, who also has U.S. citizenship, were captured. Two weeks ago, Baumel's father, Yona, passed away without knowing whether his son is alive or dead. Since his son's capture, Baumel did everything he could to learn what happened to him, and tried to verify reports that his son and the other two soldiers were being held captive in Syria.Katz's father Yossi told the Yedioth Aharonoth Web site Friday that he refuses to give up hope, but fears he, too, will die without knowing what happened to his son.Baumel's death signaled that time does not stand still, he said. A generation goes, another generation comes. … We refuse to give up hope and believe fate in the end will return our son Yehuda alive.Eyal Ben Reuven, a general in the reserves, is with the Born To Freedom organization and maintains contact with the families of the three soldiers. He met Baumel three weeks prior to his death.
Yona was extremely angry with the security establishment who failed to provide any solutions concerning his son's fate, he told the Web site. Ben Reuven said efforts to find the trio continue and some progress has been made. But he refused to divulge further details.The Born To Freedom organization was set up for the sake of Israeli MIA's and their families. The organization has offered a $10 million reward to anyone who comes forward with information concerning the missing soldiers. 2009 United Press International, Inc.
Mediators await Netanyahu speech, hoping for change By Dan Williams JUNE 12,09
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to deliver a policy speech on Sunday to address tensions with the United States over his refusal to end settlement building and embrace Palestinian statehood.Netanyahu briefed U.S. envoy George Mitchell and other diplomats this week on his planned speech. But the steps which Netanyahu outlined to Mitchell were not adequate to satisfy Washington, a U.S. official told a meeting of the Quartet of Middle East mediators, according to participants.Netanyahu's refusal to declare a building freeze in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and to endorse the goal of establishing a Palestinian state -- both set out in a 2003 peace road map -- has opened a rare rift in U.S.-Israeli relations.Anxious to preserve the alliance but also beholden to his fractious and right-wing governing coalition, Netanyahu has spoken of stop-gap proposals such as Palestinian self-government shorn of sovereign powers like the right to set up an army.The Palestinians, having won limited autonomy under 1993 interim accords, insist on full statehood. But there are also divisions, with Hamas Islamists who reject coexistence with the Jewish state in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007.
U.S. President Barack Obama says containing Iran's nuclear aspirations -- which Israel considers a major threat -- would be helped by progress toward a Palestine deal.An Israeli official said Netanyahu was still putting final touches to the speech which would present a vision of moving forward in the peace process with the Palestinians.In the framework of that, we want to see the Arab states play an increased role,the official said.The speech will acknowledge the road map and deal with the issue of statehood.European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said during a West Bank visit: I don't know what he wants to say but what I would like to hear...is that (Israel) will stop settlements and will resume negotiations with the Palestinians.
WHAT ISRAELIS WANT
Netanyahu was sworn into office in March, replacing centrist prime minister Ehud Olmert, who relaunched peace talks with the Palestinians at a 2007 conference in Annapolis, Maryland, that reaffirmed the two sides' commitment to the 2003 road map.
Polls now show Israeli opinion is divided but one survey indicates voters have a more hard-nosed attitude to giving up land for a peace they are not sure they would have.
Tamar Hermann, a sociologist who has conducted a monthly peace index survey for years, said she found that until a month ago, between 60 and 75 percent of Israelis answered in surveys that they supported a two-state solution.But this month just 41 percent saw Palestinian statehood as a viable option, said Hermann, dean of Israel's Open University.Fewer Israelis say they are willing to yield the minimum Palestinians seek for a deal -- the eventual dismantling of most Israeli settlements built in the occupied territory.
Hermann said 53 percent now oppose removing the enclaves.
But pollster Rafi Smith finds that 55 percent of Israelis still support a two-state solution and 57 percent backed Obama's call for a halt to settlement construction. But 85 percent doubt the exercise will lead to eventual peace.The Israeli public has moved to the right because their concept of trust in the Arabs is very low. The problem is that we don't trust the Arabs and they don't trust us,Smith said. Israelis agree there should be two states, but don't believe it will ever happen.U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's security forces have been cracking down on Hamas in the West Bank, where Israel has long demanded security assurances ahead of any territorial handovers to the Palestinians.But many Israelis regard the West Bank, captured from Jordan in a 1967 war, as a biblical Jewish birthright and the Netanyahu government intends to keep major settlement blocs under a peace accord -- a plan Palestinians rule out as a non-starter.(Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Adam Entous)(Editing by Angus MacSwan)
UN chief: key Mideast peacemakers to meet Thu Jun 11, 6:46 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says that key parties trying to promote Mideast peace will meet in Italy later this month.Ban gave no details on the date and place but said Thursday he expects the Quartet of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia to discuss the next steps to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace.High-level Quartet meetings are usually attended by foreign ministers. Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight major industrialized nations are already scheduled to meet in Trieste June 26-27.The G8 includes the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada.Ban also says that President Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world in Cairo was historic and a fantastic statement.
Carter: Mideast peace not possible without Hamas By ALBERT AJI, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jun 11, 11:57 am ET
DAMASCUS, Syria – Former President Jimmy Carter Thursday reiterated that there can be no peace between Israel and the Palestinians without involving the militant group Hamas.His comments came shortly before he met with the militant group's Syrian-based leader, Khaled Mashaal. Carter met with Mashaal twice under the Bush administration, angering some in the U.S. government who said he was legitimizing a group the U.S. considers a terrorist organization.But this was his first meeting under the Obama administration, which has launched a fresh quest for peace in the Middle East, and came as Obama's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, was less than 400 miles (645 kilometers) away in Cairo preparing to visit Syria Friday.Carter, who went to Syria after observing elections in neighboring Lebanon, stressed that he was in Damascus as a private citizen and not representing the Obama administration.Obama, also a Democrat, seems to be going in the direction that Carter has long advocated — engagement with longtime foes Iran and Syria. So far Obama, like the Bush administration, has drawn the line at meeting with Hamas. But in a speech in Cairo last week, Obama seemed to suggest some basis for believing that Palestinian militants who rule Gaza might be drawn into the peace process.As president, Carter helped broker an Israeli-Egyptian peace deal in the late 1970s and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to promote peace around the world. He has continued to pursue Mideast peace through his Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center foundation, and angered many Israelis for his 2006 book that compared Israel's policies toward the Palestinians in the West Bank to apartheid.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, Carter said Hamas and its more moderate Fatah rivals must reconcile so they can negotiate effectively with Israel.I don't believe there is a possibility to have any peace between the Palestinians and Israel unless Hamas is involved directly in harmony with Fatah,he said.Carter said Obama's pressure on Israel to freeze construction in West Bank settlements is an essential step toward restarting peace efforts.He said Israel is very eager to avoid any serious disagreement or confrontation with the U.S. and that Obama's push for a two-state solution would be seriously considered by Israel.
Carter also plans meetings in Israel and the West Bank over the weekend.
Syria's official news agency reported that Assad discussed with Carter ways to reactivate the peace process and stressed that Damascus is committed to peace that guarantees the return of Arab rights.Syria wants Israel to relinquish the Golan Heights it captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Syrian-Israeli indirect talks through Turkey have been on hold since Israel launched an offensive on Gaza in December.
Turkey said Thursday it is prepared to restart mediation efforts but is waiting for both countries to signal their readiness to resume talks.
Israel PM told to keep silent on Palestinian state by Jean-Luc Renaudie – Thu Jun 11, 11:43 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The heat is on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from within his own right-wing party to resist US pressure and not utter the words Palestinian state in a keenly awaited policy speech.The expression Palestinian state should not be used, Likud MP Miri Regev said on Thursday, echoing the sentiment of several other members of Netanyahu's Likud party ahead of Sunday's speech.To date, the hawkish prime minister has not endorsed the concept of a Palestinian state and has defied US pressure to freeze construction activity in West Bank settlements where more than 280,000 Israelis live.Netanyahu hopes that his landmark speech will help ease the mounting tension in relations with the United States, Israel's prime ally.
But he faces a delicate balancing act if he is to avoid infuriating his partners in the governing centre-right coalition, which is split between those who reject a two-state solution, and those, like defence minister and Labour chief Ehud Barak, who support it.Regev insisted that US President Barack Obama cannot force decisions on the Israeli government.The US pressure is mainly psychological; one should not forget that the president is not the only one in the United States, there's the Congress and the Senate, which support Israel,she said.Also among those pressing Netanyahu to steer clear of the concept of a Palestinian state is Benny Begin, a minister without portfolio and son of former premier Menahem Begin.If the only solution is two states for two peoples, then there is no solution, he said.Begin insisted that the Palestinians were not after a two-state solution but wanted a two-stage solution at the end of which there would be a single PLO-Hamas state.Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau from the far-right Yisrael Beitenu party insisted that in any case Israel has no Palestinian partner with whom to negotiate.
In the Gaza Strip, there is some kind of a terrorist state in the hands of Hamas, while (Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas) does not control the Arabs in the occupied West Bank, Landau said.Netanyahu also faces pressure not to cave in to US demands to order a freeze on all settlement construction activity in the West Bank, something to which Israel committed itself to under the 2003 international peace roadmap.But President Shimon Peres, who has been discussing the planned speech with Netanyahu, said that Israel and the Palestinians should agree on a Palestinian state with temporary borders as a first step towards ending the conflict.The roadmap outlines a clear path and (the sides) should implement the second stage of the roadmap -- declaring a Palestinian state with temporary borders,said Peres, whose office is mainly ceremonial.The Palestinian Authority flatly rejected this proposal, with president Mahmud Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina saying it takes us back to square one.Visiting EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged Netanyahu to commit to the concept of a Palestinian state being created alongside Israel.
I would like to hear a speech in which there's a commitment of the government to the two-state solution, a commitment of the government on the question of settlements and a commitment to re-initiate relations with the Palestinians,he told journalists. I am sure that we will hear something of that nature,said Solana, who met Peres and other Israeli government officials on Thursday. According to the Haaretz newspaper, Netanyahu will announce his government's adoption of the roadmap and the two-state solution while rejecting a settlement freeze and insisting that Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish state. But parliament speaker Reuven Rivlin was not convinced.I don't believe the prime minister believes in two states for two people, the Likud MP said.
Israel warns Hamas over Gaza attack, keeps embargo Wed Jun 10, 9:18 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's powerful security cabinet warned on Wednesday it would hold Hamas responsible for any attacks from its Gaza stronghold and kept in place a crippling blockade of the Palestinian territory.In the face of US pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the cabinet to consider easing the stifling blockade that Israel slapped on Gaza after Hamas, a group pledged to the Jewish state's destruction, seized control of the territory two years ago.The cabinet decided that Israel considers Hamas responsible for any attacks against Israel from Gaza's territory,the premier's office said afterwards.The cabinet instructed the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) to respond to any attack against Israel from Gaza,it said.
On Monday, four Palestinian militants were killed in a gunbattle with Israeli soldiers along the Gaza border. The previously unknown Soldiers of Allah claimed responsibility for the attack.As to the blockade, the statement said only that the cabinet is examining further ways to ease the life of the Palestinian population in Gaza while keeping Israel's security interests.Under the blockade, only essential humanitarian goods are allowed into the impoverished territory.Ministers also discussed Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants, including from Hamas, in a deadly cross-border raid in June 2006 and who remains in captivity.The cabinet instructed the bodies dealing with the issue of Gilad Shalit to make every possible effort to bring about his release,it said.Israel and Hamas have conducted months of indirect talks through Egypt on a prisoner exchange that would see Shalit freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians detained by Israel.
No other choice for Israel but two-states: Mubarak Wed Jun 10, 4:06 pm ET
CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Israel was bound to agree to a two-state solution in the Middle East because there is no other choice, during a television interview to air later on Wednesday.Israel will agree to a two-state solution because it has no other choice, he told Egyptian television in an interview, trails for which were broadcast ahead of the programme.I told (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu there is no choice, the two-state solution is bound to happen, he said, adding that solving the Palestinian question was key to resolving other conflicts in the region.Any peace process for the Palestinian question means peace and stability for the entire region, he said.Netanyahu has yet to publicly embrace the principle of a Palestinian state.Over the past few months tensions between the United States and its staunchest ally have risen to levels not seen in 20 years as Washington presses Netanyahu to publicly back the principle of a Palestinian state and freeze all settlement activity on occupied land.In a speech in Cairo last week, Obama repeated his call for a complete halt to Israeli settlements and said the creation of a Palestinian state was the only solution to the conflict.
Fear of Iran, Obama's words swayed Lebanon vote By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jun 10, 2:05 pm ET
BEIRUT – Fears of a hard-line Iran helped swing Christian voters from the militant Shiite group Hezbollah and deliver election victory to a pro-Western coalition in Lebanon. President Barack Obama's outreach to Muslims lingered in voters' minds, too.
Now the question is whether similar factors will sway Iran's own elections Friday for the presidency, considered too close to call between incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a self-styled reformist challenger.Lebanon and Iran are different in key ways, with voters in Lebanon, an Arab country, tending to vote along Shiite and Sunni Muslim and Christian sectarian lines and out of family loyalties.Iran, in contrast, which is mainly Persian and mostly Shiite Muslim, is divided by a sharp struggle between the Islamic establishment and desires for greater personal freedom and more liberal foreign and economic policies.Neither country has any accurate, independent or publicly available political polling, and no poll has attempted to substantively gauge the effect of Obama's presidency or his recent Cairo outreach speech to Muslims on either country.One recent poll done on behalf of two U.S.-based public-interest groups found that few Iranians — only 29 percent — said they have favorable opinions of the United States, and that the view had changed little since Obama's election.
The survey was conducted by telephone into Iranian households from a nearby, unidentified country in Farsi, Iran's language, but regional experts noted it could have been influenced by the fears of random Iranians who answered the phone calls, in a country where private communication is often monitored.The poll was conducted for Terror Free Tomorrow, a bipartisan group that tries to undermine support for terrorism, and for the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute, both based in Washington.In general, concerns over Iran's recent hard-line positions —and interest in Obama's call for dialogue with Iran and his outreach to Muslims overall — are intense across many parts of the Mideast, showing up often as a topic in media and conversations.In a high-profile speech in Cairo last week in the final stretches of both countries' campaigns, Obama challenged the Islamic world to confront violent extremism and find ways to achieve peace between Palestinians and Israelis. He has previously called for dialogue with both Iran and Syria, now at loggerheads with the West.The speech came amid high tensions between Arab allies of America and Iran in the region itself.My sense is that Iranians feel there is a window now to move in a new direction with America, and change Iran's reputation in the region,said Adbulkhaleq Abdulla, a professor of political science at Emirates University in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.The question is can opponents of Ahmadinejad make this feeling translate into votes on election day?
I don't want to overestimate it,added political analyst Sharif Emam Jomeh in Iran. But people do think that now the world has changed. ... Obama has come to power and it's time for Iran to change.In Lebanon, Obama's effect was equally muted though still evident. Iran's effect on Lebanese Christian voters, however, was glaringly out in the open.Christians were the swing voters in Sunday's balloting and the votes in two key Christian districts helped the pro-Western coalition retain its majority in parliament over a coalition including the Shiite Hezbollah group, which is backed by Iran.A key factor was a last-minute warning against Iranian influence from Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, head of the influential Maronite Catholic Church in Lebanon. He warned that the nation's character and its Arab identity were under threat — an allusion to Iran, Hezbollah's mentor.Lebanon's large Christian minority fiercely guards its liberal lifestyle and freedoms.What the patriarch said affected the way people voted,said Edmond Samir, a Christian shopper in his mid-30s who said he backed the winning ticket.The pro-Western camp won 68 seats while Hezbollah and its allies — including one Christian faction — ended up with 57.
An estimated two-thirds of Lebanon's Christian voters had supported Hezbollah's Christian ally, former army chief Michel Aoun, in the last election in 2005. But results indicated enough turned away from Aoun this time in favor of the pro-Western bloc to make the Christian split even, and to swing the outcome toward the pro-Western bloc decisively. Aoun still emerged with several more seats to remain the largest Christian bloc in parliament.Lebanese Sunnis, supporting the pro-Western camp and fearing Shiite domination, also were mobilized to vote en mass to give their factions a majority to stop Hezbollah. Hilal Khashan, head of the political sciences department at the American University of Beirut, said Aoun's alliance with Hezbollah was extremely difficult to justify for the Christian community, describing it as most unlikely and most improbable.However, Obama's recent speech also may have been a contributor or a reinforcing statement to the voters, too, he said. It was not decisive, but did have some impact.Added middle-aged Christian shop owner Lena al-Awar of Obama: He didn't change the way I voted ... But maybe because Obama supports freedom and democracy, then that has an effect.Associated Press writers Brian Murphy in Cairo and Anna Johnson in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
Abbas tries to fix Palestinian side of peace puzzle By Mohammed Assadi Mohammed Assadi – Wed Jun 10, 6:55 am ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – President Mahmoud Abbas chairs talks in Jordan on Thursday with factions of Fatah, seeking agreement to hold the first congress in 20 years of the fractured, weakened movement dominating Palestinian politics.Fatah needs to restore unity to overturn its shock 2006 election defeat by Islamist rival Hamas, and to ensure Abbas is firmly in the driver's seat for peace talks with Israel, which U.S. President Barack Obama wants to resume without delay.The meeting of the central committee that will take place in Amman will take the final steps in preparation for the Sixth Fatah Congress,said Fatah West Bank spokesman Fahmi al-Zarir.A senior aide to Abbas told Reuters the meeting stood a good chance of setting a final date and venue for the congress, last held in 1989 but never yet convened on Palestinian territory.The aim is to strengthen Abbas by restoring and rejuvenating Fatah, instituting reforms to bolster its democratic credentials and heal rifts in the ranks between the exiled establishment and home-based veterans of the resistance movement.
Secular Fatah is internally divided on issues of militancy, democratization, and the conduct of talks with Israel. Local and younger leaders want the old guard to grant them more say.The differences within Fatah could lead to division and fragmentation of the movement. What's happening is a recipe for the collapse of Fatah, said reformist Qaddoura Fares.Once all-powerful under the late Yasser Arafat, Fatah began to show cracks after his death, running rival slates in the 2006 election and thereby helping its opponent Hamas to a victory that led on to open division and armed hostility.A year later Fatah was forced out of the Gaza Strip by the Islamists and holds sway only in the occupied West Bank. Months of talks in Cairo to reconcile the two divergent wings of the Palestinian cause have so far made little progress.Arafat had contributed to weakening Fatah but he was the glue that held the movement together. Now everyone sees himself as leader, commented political analyst Hani Masri.
STRENGTHENING ABBAS'S HAND
Abbas, 74, wants a modern, united and tamed Fatah -- as opposed to the militant Hamas -- to prove he can deliver peace as head of the Palestinian Authority.But his Fatah movement must restore credibility with Palestinians disaffected by its corruption and cronyism, and the meager results of past peace talks with Israel.The Hamas Islamists, with a reputation for austerity, spurn talks in favor of armed resistance against Israel and now represent Abbas's most serious challenge.A strengthened Abbas could win greater U.S. and European support in pressing Israel's right-leaning government to endorse the internationally backed two-state solution to the conflict.Abbas wants the movement's 1,550 members to grant wider representation to the younger generation. Congress would chose a new Central Committee and Revolutionary Council -- titles reflecting Fatah's birth in the Cold War geopolitics of 1965.The choice would pit reformists who grew up fighting, then talking to, Israeli occupiers against veterans who stayed in the privileged diaspora until establishment of limited Palestinian self-rule in mid 1990s.Five previous Fatah congresses were held in the diaspora and rarely presented leaders from the territories. Some current central committee members oppose holding the sixth congress in the territories, in case new blood challenges their hold.
They want the same old faces, said Fares.
Wherever the congress meets, rationalizing the future course of Palestinian liberation policy will be the dominant topic. Like Hamas, Fatah's existing charter does not recognize Israel and endorses armed struggle to liberate Palestinian territories. But the charter of the Palestine Liberation Organization, of which Fatah is the backbone and Hamas is also a member, long ago nullified the call for Israel's destruction.(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta, editing by Douglas Hamilton)
Saudis gleeful at Lebanon vote, now look to Iran By Ulf Laessing and Andrew Hammond – Tue Jun 9, 10:31 am ET
RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia, which has led Arab attempts to hold back Iranian influence in the Middle East, has reacted triumphantly to the victory of its pro-U.S. allies in Lebanon's elections this week.The surprise win by the incumbent Sunni Muslim-led bloc backed by Washington and Riyadh over the Hezbollah-led opposition, which is backed by Iran, was Saudi Arabia's first foreign policy break after a string of setbacks.I think the Saudis find the outcome of the Lebanese elections very satisfying,said a senior Western diplomat in Riyadh.Saudi-controlled Arab media could hardly restrain their glee as presenters and correspondents cracked jokes on Dubai-based Al Arabiya news channel and papers ran boastful headlines on the blow to Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah.Nasrallah justifies, apologizes then accepts defeat, said the front page of Asharq al-Awsat daily, owned by the family of Riyadh governor Prince Salman, a brother of King Abdullah.Tariq Alhomayed, editor of the paper, declared the fall of the Iranian project in Lebanon, reflecting the sectarian language witnessed during campaigning.This is above all a victory for the Arabness of Lebanon... the important thing is that Lebanese protected their country from subject status to Iran,he wrote.
EYES ON AHMADINEJAD
A cabinet statement late on Monday congratulated Lebanon over victory for the Lebanese and King Abdullah received a call from Syria's leader Bashar al-Assad, whose relations with Riyadh have been icy over its backing for Hezbollah. State media said only that they discussed their bilateral ties.Results showed Saad al-Hariri's pro-Western bloc had won 71 of parliament's 128 seats, against 57 for an opposition alliance that groups Shi'ite factions Hezbollah and Amal with Christian leader Michel Aoun.The Saudis are very, very happy with what happened in Lebanon,said a Saudi analyst who declined to be identified.Riyadh, which sees itself as the leader of Sunni Islam, has watched with alarm as Shi'ite Iran's influence grew in the region following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, which brought Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslims to power there.Hezbollah managed to survive a month-long Israeli onslaught in 2006, then overwhelmed pro-government militias in street fighting in 2008 before securing a temporary power-sharing agreement that seemed to spell failure for Saudi diplomacy.Iran's ally Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in fighting with Fatah forces loyal to U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.
A defeat in Friday's Iranian election for populist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has overseen Tehran's expansionist policy of recent years, would be a double-whammy for Riyadh.Analysts say Saudi leaders fear a loss of regional and domestic standing if Washington comes to a historic compromise with Iran over its nuclear energy program that recognizes Tehran as the leading power in the Gulf region.Western countries and Saudi Arabia fear Tehran is developing nuclear weapons, a charge Iran's leadership denies.Mustafa Alani, a Dubai-based analyst close to Saudi thinking, said Riyadh did not expect any major policy change on the nuclear question. They follow it but have little hope of major changes,Alani said. Saudi intelligence chief Prince Mugrin, another brother of the king, visited Lebanon this year for what Arab media reported as a deal between Syria and Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, not to finance the opposing parties in the Lebanese vote. As'ad AbuKhalil, a Lebanese politics professor in the United States, said Riyadh still probably topped the list of funders.I don't have evidence and I don't have data but I can speculate that Saudi Arabia paid the most money in this election followed by Iran and the United States, he wrote on his blog (blogspot.angryarab.com).(Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Six Hamas Members Arrested In West Bank, EUR1 Million Seized Official JUNE 09,09
NABLUS (AFP)--Police have arrested six Hamas members in the West Bank suspected of planning acts against the Palestinian Authority and seized more than EUR1 million from them, a senior official said Tuesday.The arrests, including those of at least two women, were carried out from Monday in the Nablus region in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Mayor Jamal Muheissen told AFP.We have seized EUR1 million and 21,000 Jordanian dinars ($29,750) from two of the people arrested, he said.Hamas confirmed that six of its members had been arrested and accused the Palestinian Authority of collusion with Israel to wipe out Hamas.Tensions between Islamist Hamas and the secular Fatah of President Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority have risen over the past several weeks after two deadly arrest operations of Hamas members in the West Bank.Muheissen said that among the documents seized from the detainees were records of transfers of some 38,000 dinars from abroad for arms purchases.He accused the Islamists of planning to spread anarchy in the West Bank and to overthrow the Palestinian Authority like they did in Gaza.
The bitter divide between the two groups reached a critical juncture in June 2007 when Hamas gunmen drove Abbas' forces from the Gaza Strip in a week of deadly street battles that cleaved Palestinians into hostile rival entities.Since then, each movement has accused its rival of political arrests and persecution in the territories under its control.The two sides have held several rounds of negotiations in Cairo this year aimed at resolving their differences and forming a national unity government, but without visible progress.A Hamas delegation arrived in Egypt Monday for the latest round of the talks.(END) Dow Jones Newswires 06-09-091009ET
US wants Mideast talks to start soon, end quickly by Ron Bousso - Tue Jun 9, 5:13 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Washington wants stalled Middle East peace talks to resume soon and wrap up quickly, US envoy George Mitchell told Israeli leaders on Tuesday, as it was announced he would make his first visit to Syria.Mitchell, whose visit comes just days before hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to outline his cabinet's peace policy, sought to play down rising tensions between the two close allies over the US peace drive.We all share an obligation to create the conditions for the prompt resumption and early conclusion of negotiations, Mitchell said ahead of talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres.We're now engaged in serious discussions with our Israeli and Palestinian and regional partners to support these efforts, said Mitchell, who met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.According to Netanyahu's office, a two-hour private meeting with Mitchell was amicable and positive.Israeli military radio reported that Netanyahu ran through policy proposals he plans to float aimed at creating a positive atmosphere in Washington towards these ideas.
Netanyahu has yet to publicly embrace the principle of a Palestinian state, and the Israeli press has been filled with speculation that he might finally do so in the speech he is due to give on Sunday.
The envoy quizzed Barak on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, illegal under international law and the cause of a major rift between the United States and Israel.Mitchell, who arrived in Israel accompanied by Frederick Hoff, his adviser on Syria, also pressed Barak to reopen talks with its eastern neighbour.He is to meet with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and prime minister Salam Fayyad on Wednesday.
Mitchell said on Monday that President Barack Obama had told him to work for an immediate resumption of the peace talks with the Palestinians, which restarted under US stewardship in November 2007 but were suspended during the Gaza war over the new year.He also reiterated that Washington sees the creation of a Palestinian state as the only viable political solution to the decades-old conflict.Another major bone of contention that has driven a rift between the US and Israel is that of Israeli settlements.Obama's administration has repeatedly called for a complete halt to all settlement activity, including building to accommodate population increases.
Netanyahu's largely right-wing government vigorously opposes this and would probably collapse if the premier caved in to Washington's demands, analysts in Israel say.
Tensions between the key allies have jumped to levels unseen in nearly two decades as Obama has pushed to jump-start the moribund peace process, raising fears in Israel that Washington may reduce its support as it seeks to improve relations with the Muslim world.In a speech to the Muslim world last Thursday, Obama reiterated Washington's unbreakable bond with Israel, but vowed not to turn his back on Palestinian aspirations and repeated his call for a halt to Jewish settlements.
Mitchell sought to play down disagreements on Tuesday, saying US commitment to Israeli security -- the Jewish state's top concern -- remained unshakeable and that the United States and Israel are and will remain close allies and friends.But he also reiterated that Israelis and Palestinians have a responsibility to meet their obligations under the roadmap.That was a reference to the 2003 international peace plan that called for Israel to halt settlements and Palestinians to stop violence. On Monday the White House said Obama and Netanyahu had constructive talks by phone ahead of the prime minister's expected speech. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said as part of the president's commitment to work to advance a comprehensive peace in the region,Mitchell will visit Damascus on Friday and Saturday following a stop in Beirut on Thursday.Syria expressed renewed readiness on Tuesday to resume preliminary contacts through Turkish go-betweens on relaunching US-sponsored peace negotiations with Israel.
Priest found dead at Jerusalem's Holy Sepulcher Tue Jun 9, 11:19 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – A 34-year-old priest was found dead on Tuesday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where most Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried, officials said.The cleric, thought to be an Armenian, was found at the bottom of a flight of stairs and appears to have fallen, a police spokesman told AFP.The priest fell down and passed away, Micky Rosenfeld said. His death was not the result of a criminal act.The Holy Sepulchre, considered by most Christians to be their faith's holiest site, is uneasily shared by six denominations, including Greek Orthodox, Armenians and Roman Catholics.The Armenians are in a state of shock, said Father Fergus Clarke, the senior Franciscan monk at the church, who spoke with the dead man's colleagues shortly after the incident.They tried to revive him but unfortunately it was too late, he said.Tensions among the various denominations are not uncommon, erupting most recently last November when a brawl broke out between Greek and Armenian monks after a mass at the church.
