Ahmadinejad extolls Iran's military might By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer - APR 18,10
TEHRAN, Iran – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday extolled Iran's military might during an annual army parade, saying the country is so powerful today that no one would dare attack it.The parade in Tehran showcased Iran's surface-to-surface Ghadr, Sajjil and Shahab-3 missiles, which have a range of up to 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) that puts Israel and U.S. bases in the region within Iran's reach.The Shahab-3 missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Although Tehran doesn't have one, this has been a source for Western concerns along with Iran's controversial uranium enrichment program, which the international community fears masks ambitions for an atomic bomb.Today, our armed forces have so much power that no enemy will harbor evil thoughts about laying its hands on Iranian territory, Ahmadinejad said at the parade marking National Army Day. The speech was broadcast live on state TV, which also showed segments of the parade.Ahmadinejad also urged the U.S. to stop supporting Israel and to dismantle the American military presence in the Middle East and Afghanistan.Tehran sees American troops on its doorstep in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf as a threat, and Ahmadinejad reiterated his allegations that the U.S. presence is the source of the region's instability.They have to leave our region, this is not a request, it is an order from the nations of the region. It is the will of the regional nations,said Ahmadinejad. If they are interested in helping the security of the region, they have to dismantle their military presence in the region and stop supporting Israel.The U.S. has been pressing for new round of international sanctions against Iran after Tehran spurned President Barack Obama's offer for dialogue over its accelerated nuclear development. The administration has pursued what it calls pressure track — a combination of stepped-up military activity in Iran's neighborhood and sanctions that would pinch Iran economically.
But, according to a report by The New York Times on Sunday, a January memo from U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to the White House warned that the U.S. lacks a nimble long-term plan for dealing with Iran's nuclear program.Gates' three-page memo set off efforts in the Pentagon, White House and intelligence agencies to come up with new options, including the use of the military, the Times said, quoting unnamed government officials.However, White House officials Saturday night strongly disagreed the memo caused a reconsideration of the U.S. approach to Iran.It is absolutely false that any memo touched off a reassessment of our options, National Security Council spokesman Benjamin Rhodes told The Associated Press.This administration has been planning for all contingencies regarding Iran for many months.Iran launched an arms development program during its 1980-88 war with Iraq to compensate for a U.S. weapons embargo. Since 1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles and fighter planes.Tehran has been also looking to upgrade its defenses, especially as Israel has refused to rule out an airstrike over concerns that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Tehran claims its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, such as electricity production
The advances in Iran's military technology cannot be independently verified.
Iranian news agencies reported that the parade Sunday also displayed an air defense system similar to Russian-made S-300, which is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missile warheads at ranges of over 90 miles (145 kilometers) and at altitudes of about 90,000 feet.Iran ordered Russia's advanced S-300 air defense system in 2007 but none have been delivered, allegedly due to technical glitches, though many believe the delay stems from international opposition to the sale.Associated Press National Security Writer Anne Gearan and AP writer Jackie Quinn contributed to this report.
Israel should reconsider settlement curb: minister
Sun Apr 18, 4:57 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel should consider reversing a limited moratorium on new settlement construction if the Palestinians do not return to US-backed peace negotiations, a minister said in comments published on Sunday.If another month or two pass, and the Palestinians don?t come to the negotiations, we ought to cancel or reconsider the freeze, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told the online edition of the Jerusalem Post.If you take a step that is not at all effective and may even be counter-productive... then it needs to be reconsidered,he said.Israel in November announced a 10-month halt to new construction in the occupied West Bank following months of US pressure on both sides to relaunch peace talks suspended after the outbreak of the Gaza war in late 2008.The Palestinians dismissed the move as insufficient because it left out east Jerusalem -- which they view as their future capital -- as well as public buildings and housing projects already under way.
Israel has adamantly refused to halt construction in east Jerusalem, which it occupied in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in a move not recognised by the international community. It views all of Jerusalem as its capital.Steinitz, a senior member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, said the prime minister had made major concessions to the Palestinians by slowing settlement growth, easing movement restrictions in the West Bank and accepting a Palestinian state in principle.He added that any further pressure from Washington would be a mistaken request and an unfair one and that Israel was thus far disappointed with the Palestinian response.
Israel seals West Bank as security precaution
Sun Apr 18, 3:17 am ET
JERUSALEM – Israel has barred the entry of nearly all Palestinians from the West Bank as a security measure because of observances for Memorial Day and Independence Day.
The closure is to be lifted at midnight Tuesday.
Israel is always on a heightened state of precaution during national observances. Memorial Day begins on Sunday night and is followed by Independence Day, which begins Monday night and lasts through Tuesday.The military says Palestinians in need of medical attention will be permitted to enter for care. A small number of media crews and professional groups such as lawyers and religious workers will be allowed to cross over. Humanitarian aid will also be allowed to pass.
Hamas, Fatah join ranks to call for Israel to free prisoners by Adel Zaanoun – Sat Apr 17, 9:49 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Hamas and Fatah closed ranks on Saturday to mark Palestinian Prisoners' Day on Saturday, in the first joint initiative by the bitter rivals since the latter was routed from Gaza in 2007.Representatives of the two factions, joined by members of smaller militant groups, relatives of prisoners and international activists, staged a sit-down protest and 24-hour fast outside the Gaza City offices of the Red Cross.Ismail Haniya, head of the Hamas government in Gaza, made a brief visit to call for Palestinian reconciliation and urge all Palestinians to fight Israeli occupation by any means and pressure Israel to free thousands of prisoners.
We must put aside anything that can harm our unity, Fatah representative Raafat Hamdouna said, hailing Saturday's joint protest with the Islamist movement Hamas which expelled Fatah in deadly street fighting in June 2007.This year's rallies and vigils in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem in support of the prisoners came a day after a detainee died in Israeli custody.In Ramallah, about 1,000 people marched through the centre of the West Bank city, carrying pictures of imprisoned relatives and of Marwan Barghuti, a jailed leader of the mainstream Fatah party.Barghuti, architect of the 2000 uprising against Israeli occupation, is serving five life terms but remains popular and is often spoken of as a successor to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.We shall not rest until the prisoners issue is resolved, prisoners' affairs minister Issa Qaraqae told the crowd in Ramallah.Abbas said in a statement for the annual Prisoners' Day that there could be no end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict without the release of the prisoners.
There cannot be a solution or peace in our region without a final resolution of the prisoner issue and the release of all Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons,he said.A man serving a 10-year sentence for attempted murder died in his prison cell in southern Israel late on Friday, Qaraqae's ministry said, adding he was the 19th Palestinian to die in Israeli custody over the past decade.Israeli prisons service officials, quoted in the media, said the man, Raed Abu Hamad, 31, had a history of medical problems and that his death was being investigated.In east Jerusalem, relatives held pictures of their jailed loved ones at the entrance to the walled Old City.In Gaza City, Haniya met prisoners' aid officials and called on Arab countries to donate funds for prisoners and their families, in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.More than 7,000 Palestinians, including 270 under the age of 18, are currently being held in Israeli prisons, according to data released by the Palestinian central bureau of statistics.Three of the prisoners have been in jail for more than 30 years, and 315 for more than 15 years, the office said in a statement released on the eve of Prisoners' Day.Of those held, 264 are under administrative detention, meaning they are being held without trial.Since Israel seized the West Bank along with other Arab territories in the 1967 Middle East war, it has detained a total of more than 760,000 Palestinians, the statement said.
Scud allegations may prompt Israeli raid: Hezbollah
Sat Apr 17, 9:44 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – US concern over allegations that Syria has been supplying Scud missiles to Hezbollah serves to encourage Israel to attack Lebanon, the Lebanese Shiite militant group said on Saturday.Israeli President Shimon Peres has accused Damascus of providing Hezbollah with the missiles, prompting Washington to warn that the trade potentially puts Lebanon at significant risk.With this position, (the Americans) are encouraging Israel to carry out an aggression against Lebanon that they are trying to endorse at the international level,Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad told AFP.The United States is thus placing itself in a position of complicity in the event of aggression and it will have to take responsibility,he said.Fayyad said that Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, did not comment on Israeli inventions on its arsenal but Peres's accusation on Tuesday had made the situation more tense than before.Such statements exacerbate tension and directly threaten the stability of the region,the MP said, accusing Washington of trying to cover up its failures as well as those of Israel in the Middle East.According to Arab media and some think-tanks, Syria has been sending some of its own arsenal of Scuds to Lebanon, an allegation denied by Damascus.We are obviously increasingly concerned about the sophisticated weaponry that is allegedly being transferred, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Wednesday.We have expressed our concerns to those governments and believe that steps should be taken to reduce any risk and any danger, Gibbs said, apparently referring to the Israeli and Syrian governments.Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 fought a 34-day war which killed 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers.
Iran wins regional support for its nuclear programme
Sat Apr 17, 8:38 am ET
TEHRAN (AFP) – Syria, Lebanon and Iraq backed Iran's atomic programme on Saturday, which they said has peaceful aims, and insisted that Israel be stripped off its nuclear arsenal.The foreign ministers of these three countries also stressed that Israel, the Middle East's sole but undeclared holder of a nuclear arsenal, must join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).We back Iran for pursuing peaceful nuclear technology,said Syria's Walid Muallem in a speech at the opening of a two-day nuclear disarmament conference hosted by Tehran, according to ISNA news agency.His Lebanese counterpart, Ali al-Shami, said Iran was seeking nuclear energy for peaceful aims and it was not deviating from the treaty,the official IRNA news agency reported.And Hoshyar Zebari, foreign minister of former foe Iraq, said: We reject any threat against Iran and insist on Iran's rights to use peaceful nuclear energy.
The three leaders, however, strongly urged for Israel to join the NPT.The major threat in the region is Israel which has nuclear warheads. Israel must join this treaty and take quick steps to destroy its nuclear weapons which number over 200 warheads, Muallem said.Shami said Israel needed to be stripped off its nuclear arsenal.There is more need to strip Israel of its nuclear arsenal, as the international community is aware of its nuclear weapons capability and that this regime has defiantly declared it will use these weapons whenever it wants,he said.
Since the atomic weapons of the Zionist regime are not inspected, there is a danger of these weapons being used in future. This regime must join the NPT without any conditions.Zebari said Israel must allow UN inspectors in to its nuclear facilities, the state television website said.Israel has not ruled out a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities to stop its atomic programme which the West suspects is aimed at making weapons.Tehran denies the charge.
Hezbollah says its missiles not Israel's business By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer – Fri Apr 16, 11:28 am ET
BEIRUT – A Hezbollah government minister refused Friday to confirm or deny Israeli allegations that the militant Lebanese group has acquired Scud missiles.In the first Hezbollah comment on the Israeli charges, Minister Hussein Haj Hassan said the group was always arming and preparing itself but, what we have is not their business.Israeli defense officials have said they believe Hezbollah has obtained Scud missiles capable of hitting targets anywhere in Israel. Israel's President Shimon Peres earlier this week directly accused Damascus of providing the weapons.
Israel has not offered proof to back up the claim, and Syria's Foreign Ministry strongly denied the charge, saying it believes that Israel aims through these claims to further strain the atmosphere in the region.It added that Israel could be setting the stage for a possible aggression in order to run away from the requirements of a just and comprehensive peace.Haj Hassan also told Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV Friday that Israel possessed all kinds of weapons, including nuclear warheads.It's only natural for Lebanon to have the means to defend itself against an Israeli attack,he said.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.
Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, has said his militants have more than 30,000 rockets and are capable of hitting anywhere in Israel. Those claims match Israeli intelligence assessments.Some Scud missiles have a range of hundreds of miles (kilometers), meaning that guerrillas could launch them from deeper inside Lebanon and farther from Israel's reach. Scuds can carry a warhead of up to 1 ton, making them far larger than the biggest rockets previously in Hezbollah's arsenal, and are also more accurate.Also Friday, around 20 villagers from the southern Lebanese town of Abbasiyeh removed a barbed wire that was set up three days earlier by Israeli troops just south of the Blue Line, which separates Israeli and Lebanese forces.A spokesman for Israel's armed forces said the military is aware of the demonstration but unaware of any damage caused to the fence.He would not comment further.The demonstration was a protest against the fence, placed by the Israelis earlier this week. Some Lebanese says the blue line is not accurate and had given parts of Lebanon to Israel. The villagers were led by a lawmaker close to Hezbollah, Qassem Hashem.U.N. spokesman, Andrea Teneti said the villagers also removed a minefield sign and placed Lebanese flags near the location.
Israel warns visitors to leave their iPads at home
Fri Apr 16, 9:58 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel on Friday warned visitors to leave their iPads at home or have the hot-selling tablet computer seized on arrival as the device's wireless signal is 40 times stronger than allowed.Communications ministry spokesman Yechiel Shavi said several of the appliances already impounded by officials at Israel's Ben Gurion airport would be returned to their owners on departure.In the case of Israeli residents whose Apple device was confiscated, they can sell them to Americans, he told AFP.The touchscreen gadget is so far only on sale in the United States, where federal regulations allow much higher Wi-Fi signal strength than the European standard followed in Israel.At least 10 iPads have so far been taken from travellers who declared them at Israeli customs, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported. An unknown number could have entered undeclared.When a version of the device set to European standards goes on the market it would be welcome in Israel, the communications ministry said.But the onus was on the individual to ascertain that any Wi-Fi equipment they plan to bring into the country meets local standards.
Around the world thousands of models of computers are manufactured and therefore a customer who buys a device abroad must check that it is suitable for use in Israel, a ministry statement said.
Olmert, ex-mayor set for interrogation room face-off by Patrick Moser – Fri Apr 16, 4:49 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert is set for an interrogation room face-off in the Holyland real estate scandal with a fellow suspect, who like him is an ex-Jerusalem mayor, YNet news said Friday.The investigators are expected to face them off because each one of them says the other is responsible, the online news site reported.Just hours after he was officially named in the corruption affair, Olmert, 64, on Thursday called the claims against him an attempt at character assassination.In a brief television statement, the former prime minister appeared to blame Uri Lupolianski, who succeeded him as mayor of the Holy City in 2003, and who is under house arrest as a suspect in the scandal.The affair revolves around the upscale Holyland, a residential complex which media has lambasted as a monstrous blot on Jerusalem's landscape.On Thursday, police lifted a gag order that had prevented the naming of Olmert among the suspects in the scandal in which officials are alleged to have received bribes to smooth the way for construction of the grandiose hilltop complex in the 1990s.Israeli media say Olmert is suspected of having taken a bribe of 3.5 million shekels (almost one million dollars at the current exchange rate).Police last week also arrested former Olmert associate Uri Messer and several other suspects, including Lupolianski.
Messer is himself a witness in a separate graft trial currently under way against Olmert.In December, Olmert pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption linked to three other cases. He resigned under pressure in September 2008 after police recommended he be indicted.He is accused of unlawfully accepting gifts of cash-stuffed envelopes from Jewish-American businessman Morris Talanski and of multiple-billing for foreign trips.Olmert has also been charged with cronyism in relation to an investment centre which he oversaw when he was trade and industry minister between 2003 and 2006.The 61-page indictment includes allegations of fraud, breach of trust, registering false corporate documents and concealing fraudulent earnings.
That case is expected to drag on for several months, if not years. If found guilty, Olmert could face a prison term, although it is unclear for how long.Attorney General Menachem Mazuz dropped three other corruption probes against Olmert, who was named by Time Magazine as Israel's most able politician when he took over as premier from the ailing Ariel Sharon in May 2006.All the charges relate to a period before Olmert became premier. Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003 and then served as trade and industry minister.
Israel PM must show sincerity on peace: Clinton by Shaun Tandon – Thu Apr 15, 11:13 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prove his commitment to a Palestinian state, warning that prolonged conflict only strengthened extremists.Amid US tensions with Netanyahu, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged bold leadership from all sides to resolve one of the world's most intractable disputes and also pressed Arab states to show they wanted to make peace.Speaking at a dinner attended by the ambassadors of Israel and several Arab states, Clinton was forthright in her demands of Netanyahu, urging Israel to refrain from unilateral statements and actions that could undermine peace.Prime Minister Netanyahu has embraced the vision of the two-state solution,Clinton said.
But easing up on access and movement in the West Bank, in response to credible Palestinian security performance, is not sufficient to prove to the Palestinians that this embrace is sincere,she said.We encourage Israel to continue building momentum toward a comprehensive peace by demonstrating respect for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, stopping settlement activity and addressing the humanitarian needs in Gaza.Clinton warned that the long freeze in the peace process was strengthening hardliners, including Iran's firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.Praising efforts by Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to tackle violence, corruption and economic woes, Clinton said she feared his constituents would look to the Islamist movement Hamas if he is unable to show achievements.What I worry about is that the failure to act now when there are changed circumstances... will not just set us back but may irreversibly prevent us from going forward,she said.Clinton was speaking at the dedication of a Center for Middle East Peace named after US entrepreneur Danny Abraham, a longtime advocate for Israeli peace efforts who created the Slim-Fast dieting drink.President Barack Obama's administration has vowed to remain steadfast in US support for Israel but has also pushed to resolve the Middle East conflict, saying it was a vital interest for the United States.
Clinton said that when she was first lady in the 1990s, the Middle East was rarely a top issue on travels to far-flung parts of the world.Now it is the first, second or third item on nearly every agenda of every country I visit,she said.On a visit to Israel last month, Vice President Joe Biden was said to have argued that Middle East peace would help improve the safety of the tens of thousands of US troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq.Biden's trip turned into a fiasco when Israeli officials announced plans to build 1,600 Jewish settlements in annexed east Jerusalem while he was still on the visit. Clinton later called the Israeli move insulting.The Obama administration has come under harsh attack by some of Israel's US supporters, who say that the United States is putting the Jewish state at risk.Representative Eric Cantor, the number two Republican in the House, said the White House has applied a severe double standard that refuses to hold the Palestinians accountable for their many provocations.It makes one wonder where the responsible adults are in the administration,said Cantor, the only Jewish House member from the minority party.
Cantor accused the Obama administration of manufacturing fights with Israel to ingratiate itself with some in the Arab world.By confusing the firefighter with the arsonist we only dilute our moral standing on the world stage,Cantor said. Clinton in her speech also pressed the Arab world, calling on the Palestinian Authority to increase efforts against anti-Israeli incitement and violence and for Arab leaders to do more to reconcile with Israel. She called for action, not just rhetoric on the so-called Arab Peace Initiative in which Arab states agreed in general terms to normalize ties with Israel in return for its withdrawal from Palestinian lands. If the Arab Peace Initiative is indeed the genuine offer it appears to be, we should not face threats by certain Arab states that it will be taken off the table each time there is a setback,Clinton said.
Hamas executes 2 suspected informers for Israel By RIZEK ABDEL JAWAD, Associated Press Writer – Thu Apr 15, 3:41 pm ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – The Hamas government on Thursday executed two men accused of collaborating with Israel, signaling an escalation in the militant Palestinian group's method of controlling the Gaza Strip.It was the first time the death penalty has been carried out in Gaza since Hamas violently seized power in the coastal area in 2007.The bullet-riddled bodies of the men, convicted by military tribunals in 2008 and 2009, were dumped by armed men at Gaza City's main hospital before dawn on Thursday, a hospital employee said. A brother of one of the men said both families were summoned to the prison late Wednesday for a visit but were not told of the pending executions.The killings drew condemnations from human rights groups and were likely to deepen Hamas' international isolation. Human rights groups have criticized the Hamas military tribunals, saying they often rely on confessions obtained through torture.Amnesty International called the military proceedings unfair and said it was gravely concerned about the fate of other Palestinian prisoners held by Hamas.Three more convicted informers remain on death row in Gaza, along with six murderers. Six other men have been sentenced to death in absentia, according to the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights.
In addition, Amnesty International and other human rights organizations accused Hamas gunmen of killing suspected collaborators during the chaos surrounding Israel's Gaza offensive in the winter of 2008-2009.During the war, 17 people were found dead after fleeing a Gaza prison damaged in an Israeli airstrike. Most had been held as suspected collaborators.Palestinian law allows the death penalty for those convicted of collaborating with Israel and other offenses. Technically, execution orders require a signature by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Since taking office in 2005, Abbas has signed such an order once, approving the execution of four convicted murderers in June 2005.Hamas' takeover of Gaza left Abbas' Western-backed government in control only of the West Bank, and Hamas did not ask for or receive Abbas' approval for Thursday's executions.Ghassan Khatib, a spokesman for Abbas' government in the West Bank, said Hamas has made many changes to Gaza's legal system since its violent takeover.For us, all its resolutions and activities are illegal and unacceptable,Khatib said, adding that carrying out an execution without Abbas' approval deepens the Palestinian rift.The executions were announced by Ahmed Atallah, the head of Gaza's military court. In a statement on the Hamas Interior Ministry Web site, Atallah said the two defendants had provided information to Israel and helped with attacks on Gaza militants for several years.
Atallah said Mohammed Ismail, 36, was convicted of planting devices in the cars of militants, presumably to help track them. Nasser Abu Freh, 33, a former Palestinian police captain before the Hamas takeover, allegedly started receiving money to work with Israel in 1998.A brother of one of the men said both families were summoned by Hamas police for a prison visit late Wednesday but were not told of the pending executions.He said his family was called back to the prison after daybreak Thursday and was briefly shown the body, covered by a sheet from the nose down. He said the family was not allowed to take the body, but was later informed his brother had been buried in a Gaza cemetery. He spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his safety.Israel's Shin Bet security service maintains a network of informers in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Collaborators are often recruited through blackmail, payment or the promise of entry and work permits to Israel.Associated Press Writer Ben Hubbard in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.
Syria says Israel may strike after Scud accusation By Khaled Yacoub Oweis – Thu Apr 15, 11:20 am ET
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Israel might be preparing a military strike against Syria by accusing Damascus of supplying Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon with long-range Scud missiles, the Syrian government said on Thursday.Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday accused Syria of sending Hezbollah long-range Scuds. The United States said on Wednesday it was increasingly concerned about the transfer of more sophisticated weaponry to the Syrian and Iranian-backed Islamist group that fought a war with Israel in 2006.Israel aims from this to raise tension further in the region and to create an atmosphere for probable Israeli aggression,the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.The Syrian Arab Republic denies these fabrications.Hezbollah hit Israel with shorter range rockets during the 2006 war as at that time it lacked a longer-ranger missile capability.An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Scuds were smuggled to Hezbollah in the past two months.The United States said the move would have a possible destabilizing effect on the region. The presence of more advanced missiles in Lebanon could raise the prospects of a pre-emptive strike by Israel.Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in February that if Israel struck Beirut's airport, the group would hit Israel's Ben-Gurion airport.While tension between Syria and Israel has increased this year, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said last month he remained committed to seeking peace with the Jewish state.
Syrian and Israeli forces last fought each other in Lebanon in the 1980s. A 1974 ceasefire has kept the front between the two quiet on the Golan Heights, which Israeli occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.The two sides held four rounds of indirect peace talks in 2008, only eight months after Israeli planes bombed a target in eastern Syria the United States, Israel's chief ally, said was an illegal nuclear project.Syria said the target was a non-nuclear military installation, and reserved the right to respond in the appropriate time and place.(Editing by Jon Hemming)
Former Jerusalem mayor arrested in bribery scandal By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer – Wed Apr 14, 7:26 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Israeli police arrested a former mayor of Jerusalem on Wednesday in connection with a multimillion-dollar bribery scandal that has been linked to a key confidant of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.The arrest of Uri Lupolianski marks the latest twist in a scandal that has riveted Israel.Last week, a longtime Olmert associate and five others were arrested in the affair, in which huge sums of money allegedly changed hands to promote several real-estate projects, including a large development in Jerusalem that required a radical change in zoning laws.Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem when the bribery allegedly took place, and the construction was done during Lupolianski's tenure.Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Lupolianski was arrested and appeared before a court in central Israel. The court ordered he be held in custody for five days.This is part of the ongoing Holyland investigation, Rosenfeld said, referring to the gigantic Jerusalem housing complex at the center of the affair.
Olmert was forced to resign in 2008 to battle separate corruption charges. Last week, an Israeli court suspended his trial on those charges for four weeks after his lawyers said the former Israeli leader couldn't receive a fair hearing in the current climate.The formal charges against Olmert include fraud and breach of trust. Israel's Justice Ministry has not said what penalties Olmert could face, but the fraud charge alone could carry a prison term of up to five years.The incidents in question, which include illegally accepting funds from an American supporter and double-billing Jewish groups for trips abroad, date from his time as Jerusalem mayor and later as a Cabinet minister, but emerged after he was elected prime minister in 2006.The American supporter, businessman Morris Talansky, said he had given Olmert hundreds of thousands of dollars, some of it in envelopes stuffed with bills.The 63-year-old Olmert returned to Israel from Europe early Thursday and went home without talking to reporters at the airport, Israel Radio reported.Olmert has denied any connection to the latest scandal. In a statement, Olmert's spokesman Amir Dan said Olmert would cut his trip short and return to Israel late Wednesday because of reports that police are interested in questioning him.Olmert's lawyer Eli Zohar has said he does not expect the ex-premier to be arrested when he returns.Olmert has not been implicated directly in the latest case, and there is a partial gag order on it. But local newspapers have identified a senior personality matching Olmert's initials as the official who received the bribes.
Among those arrested in the latest scandal was Uri Messer, a longtime Olmert confidant, whom police suspect acted as a middleman, funneling bribes to a high-ranking city hall official who was not identified.The other suspects arrested were a former city hall official and property developers. Messer was responsible for Olmert's campaign finances, and the two were partners in a law office.
