Abbas gets European, Arab backing in Gaza showdown By Nidal al-Mughrabi JAN 28,08
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas won European and Arab backing on Monday for taking control of Gaza's breached border with Egypt, intensifying his power struggle with the Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave. The Rafah border crossing with Egypt has largely been closed since June after Hamas seized control of the territory and the European Union pulled its monitors out of the Gaza Strip. The EU said on Monday it would consider returning them to the crossing.Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit endorsed Abbas's proposal to deploy his own, Western-trained forces at the crossing along with the EU monitors, though the presence of neither force was imminent, given Hamas's command on the ground.Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians poured into Egypt after Hamas militants blew up the border wall to allow the territory's 1.5 million people to stock up on food in short supply due to a blockade, which Israel said was tightened in response to cross border rocket attacks.Hamas fighters cooperated with Egyptian forces on Monday to patch up the frontier barrier.
Gaza's border crossings have become the main battleground in a larger factional power struggle pitting Hamas against Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank, home to 2.5 million Palestinians.Of course they should give the border to Abbas. But where is he? asked 28-year-old school teacher Ahmed Zaqtan as he returned to Gaza from the Egyptian side on Monday.
Before Hamas's takeover, EU monitors had been posted at Rafah under a deal with Egypt and Israel in 2005 that aimed to allay the Jewish state's concerns about arms and fighters coming into Gaza when it pulled out its own troops and settlers.In a statement on Monday, EU foreign ministers said the bloc was ready to consider resuming its monitoring mission in Rafah under that deal -- provided Abbas, Egypt and Israel all approve.At Rafah, traffic was back down to a trickle, partly due to Egypt's efforts to stem the flow of goods to the border area.Egyptian and Hamas forces used concrete and fencing to close two gaps. Two other breaches in the frontier remain open, an entry and an exit, under joint Hamas and Egyptian guard.
CAIRO TALKS
A Hamas source said those openings could be closed on Wednesday provided talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials prove positive for Hamas by giving it a say on the border in future.Hamas has rejected Abbas's proposal to run the border. Rafah is an Egyptian-Palestinian crossing, official Sami Abu Zuhri said. It must be reopened under a new arrangement.Salam Fayyad, prime minister of Abbas's West Bank-based government, countered that there was no need for new arrangements and cautioned Hamas against interfering in a way that could obstruct the reopening of the border crossings.
Both Hamas leaders and Abbas are expected in Cairo on Wednesday. Egypt, the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, does not want to be seen as aiding the Israeli blockade. However, it also fears the spread of Islamist influence and the effects of hosting so many Palestinians without identity papers.Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak put the onus on Egypt to close its border, adding: The crossings on our side will remain closed except for the transfer of humanitarian items.European diplomats said the EU, which like Israel shuns Hamas as a terrorist organization, would only send monitors back to the border crossing at Rafah under the auspices of Abbas's Palestinian Authority, and provided there would be assurances they would not be at risk from Hamas. It is unclear how EU security concerns can be addressed. Israel's Foreign Ministry held preliminary talks over the weekend with members of the EU mission. While Israeli officials were considering Abbas's proposal for taking over the crossings, including Rafah, they doubted his forces were strong enough. (Additional reporting by Adam Entous and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem, Wafa Amr in Ramallah, Will Rasmussen in Rafah, Egypt and Aziz El-Kaissouni in Cairo; Writing by Adam Entous; Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Sami Aboudi)
US roadmap monitor meets Israeli FM Mon Jan 28, 6:38 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Monday met a former US general appointed by US President George W. Bush to monitor compliance with the Middle East peace blueprint known as the roadmap. During the talks with Lieutenant General William Fraser, Livni reiterated Israel's position that the Palestinians must crack down on militants in order to implement any peace deal, her ministry said in a statement.The implementation of the roadmap is crucial for the success of the process... because the road to the creation of a Palestinian state runs through guaranteeing Israel's security, Livni was quoted as telling Fraser.Bush earlier this month appointed Fraser to monitor the implementation of the first stage of the 2003 internationally-drafted blueprint, which calls for Palestinians to end violence and for Israelis to freeze settlement construction in occupied Palestinian land.
Israel and the Palestinians reaffirmed their commitment to the roadmap at a US-hosted conference last November where the two sides revived Middle East peace talks after a seven-year hiatus.Livni briefed Fraser on the current security situation and stressed that the implementation of the roadmap also concerns the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip from where militants regularly fire rockets against Israel, the statement said.We are sincere in our desire to reach an agreement and there are certain security parametres we cannot compromise. The world cannot afford a new terror state and the implementation of the roadmap is crucial in preventing it, Livni said.Fraser was also set to meet Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak before holding talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Tuesday.Although Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has ordered a freeze of all West Bank settlement expansion, Israel continues construction in occupied east Jerusalem and has yet to dismantle over 100 wildcat outposts in Palestinian areas.
Blair wants Mideast peace in 2008 By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer Sun Jan 27, 8:08 PM ET
DAVOS, Switzerland - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the final session of the World Economic Forum on Sunday that he wants an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and a pact on climate change by the end of 2008. Sharing the same level of ambition, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel called for China to open its doors to the Dalai Lama and for an end to the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.The final session of this year's forum seemed to shrug off any pessimism about what can be achieved in the coming months despite fears that the U.S. economic downturn could lead to a global recession.The mood was moderately optimistic because we have many, many opportunities, said Klaus Schwab, the forum's founder. But if we do not address the challenges, one day even the greatest opportunities will not be enough to guarantee our continuation as humankind if you look at climate change, terrorism, poverty.The five-day political and economic brainstorming session that brought nearly 2,500 of the world's movers and shakers to this Swiss ski resort was short on glitz this year — with the exception of rock star Bono and Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, who are both also anti-poverty campaigners.Politically, there was much talk about whether President Bush's goal of a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of the year will be reached.
I would like to see an agreement that gives us the prospect of a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine because I do think that would be the greatest signal of reconciliation with which the 21st century could start, said Blair, who is now the chief envoy for the key international Mideast mediators known as the Quartet.Wiesel said he also wanted to see Mideast peace this year, and to alleviate the suffering in Darfur which has become the capital of human suffering in the world today.I'd like China to open its doors to the Dalai Lama so I could accompany him to go to Tibet. That would be a great, great victory, Wiesel said, as the audience burst into applause.Blair said he'd also like to see us get the climate change deal or framework of it.PepsiCo Inc. chief Indra Nooyi said she'd also like to see a climate policy and efforts to bring down rising food prices.We've taken years to get people out of poverty, give them a couple of meals a day when they were only eating one meal a day or less, she said. We run the risk of slipping back to poverty if food prices are escalating much too fast.
Many participants touched on another major theme at Davos this year: how to stem terrorism.Afghanistan's president warned that the world could suffer terribly from the wildfire of terrorism engulfing his region. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf pledged to carry on the fight against terrorism and extremism.Wiesel said the greatest threat to humanity today is the globalization of fear because of terrorism — especially suicide bombings and fanaticism.
Somehow the future today is much more dangerous than it used to be because of people we don't know who have a cult of death ... and practice the cult of death, he said.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended Bush's push for democracy in the Middle East and elsewhere, and tried to calm economic fears, stressing that the U.S. economy is resilient and would remain an engine of growth.
Whether the U.S. economy is heading toward recession — or just slowing down — and the likely impact on the rest of the world was the subject of intense discussion. There was much speculation about whether Asia's two giants, China and India, would be able to absorb some of the shock. I am optimistic about the future, Wang Jianzhou, chairman and CEO of China Mobile Communications Corp., told Sunday's closing session. If there is the recession in the world, generally speaking it will have an impact on China, but I don't think it will be very big.There would be a reduction in Chinese exports, but we still have very, very strong domestic consumption, Wang said.
Gazan exodus slows as Egypt tries to seal border by Ines Bel Aiba JAN 28,08
RAFAH, Egypt (AFP) - The number of Palestinians crossing into Egypt from the Gaza Strip slowed on Monday as security forces tried to seal the border blown up by militants six days ago, an AFP correspondent reported. Egyptian security forces erected barbed wire along one crossing in the divided border town of Rafah as Hamas militants stood nearby, although hundreds of Palestinians managed to cross through other breaches, mainly on foot.Several hundred thousand Palestinians have swarmed into Egypt since militants blew up the Rafah barricades on Tuesday night after a punishing Israeli lockdown of the Hamas-run territory cut vital fuel and aid supplies.Shops in Rafah are running out of stocks after Egypt on Sunday began preventing trucks coming from Cairo to border towns, where the authorities have imposed a security cordon to prevent Palestinians travelling further afield.Israel said on Sunday it was in talks with Egypt on how to seal the border with Gaza, which has been increasingly isolated since the Islamist movement Hamas violently seized control of the tiny strip in June.
Israel imposed a full blockade of the impoverished territory on January 17 but began allowing supplies of fuel and aid back in five days later amid international alarm over the situation.Israel, which imposed the blockade in response to militant rocket fire, has become increasingly concerned about unfettered access in and out of Gaza by Hamas, a group pledged to the destruction of the Jewish state.Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Sunday his country would take all the appropriate measures to control border as soon as possible.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had told Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas at a meeting on Sunday that Israel would allow vital goods to enter territory, where most of the population rely on aid.Rights groups asked Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday to order the state to restore full fuel supplies to prevent a humanitarian crisis from erupting in the territory.At the hearing, Israel promised to supply fuel to keep its sole power plant running in Gaza, which continues to suffer power cuts.The amount of fuel oil supplied to the power plant will remain at this point at 2.2 million litres per week, the state said, according to a copy of its response seen by AFP.This amount is considered the minimum required for the plant, which provides power to the main population centre of Gaza City, to remain in operation.But the rights groups dismissed the state's pledge as the latest in a series of promises that have not been kept.
LUKE 16:19-31(THE WAITING CELL FOR SINNERS)(THE LOCAL JAIL)
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
REVELATION 20:11-15(THE FINAL JUDGEMENT OF SINNERS)(THE PENITENARY)
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
THE TORMENTS THIS MURDERER IS IN, IN HELL RIGHT NOW IS HIS REWARD FOR STARTING THE MURDEROUS GROUP HE DID. THE DEMONS WILL BE ENJOYING RIPPING HIS FLESH OFF HIS BODY. HE CAN SEE HITLER AND ALL THE OTHER MURDERERS THAT CAME AGAINST ISRAEL ALSO DOWN THERE IN TORMENTS. HE CAN SEE ALL THE SO CALLED MARTYRS OF ISLAM DOWN THERE ALSO THAT WERE DECIEVED INTO THINKING THEY WOULD GO TO PARADISE FOR MURDERING IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, MEANWHILE ENDING UP IN TORMENTS IN THE WAITING CELL OF HELL UNTIL JESUS LATER ON IN THE FUTURE SENDS THEM ALL TO THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER. THESE ARE NOT MY WORDS, THE BIBLE SAYS MURDERERS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE WILL BE SENT TO HELL (1ST),THE LOCAL JAIL, THEN AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGEMENT IN JESUS' PRESENCE, THEIR DEEDS AND MOTIVES AND SINS WILL BE REVEALED AND THEY WILL BE THROWN IN TO THE LAKE OF FIRE FOREVER, THE PENITENTARY OF HELL THE FINAL BURNING FOR ALL TIME TO COME.
Thousands bid farewell to Palestinian leader Habash JAN 28,08
AMMAN (Reuters) - Thousands attended the burial of Palestinian Marxist leader George Habash in Jordan on Monday, chanting against Israel and vowing to carry on his struggle for a Palestinian state.
Veteran supporters mingled with leading Palestinian politicians and representatives of secular and leftist Arab groups at a cemetery outside Amman to pay their respects to Habash, who died on Saturday from a heart condition.Hailed as a hero by many Palestinians but branded a terrorist by Israel, Habash's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) carried out a string of airline hijackings and kidnappings to publicize the Palestinian cause in the 1970s.No to a peaceful settlement and yes to armed struggle, supporters chanted in the Sahab cemetery east of the Jordanian capital.They waved pictures of Habash which had the slogan: He lived as a fighter and died a fighter for his people.Before his burial, a religious ceremony had been held in a Greek Orthodox church where his coffin was draped in Palestinian flag.Habash, who was in his early 80s, was born in the town of Lydda in what was then British-ruled Palestine and is now part of Israel.He was in medical school at the American University of Beirut when war broke out in 1948 over the creation of Israel, turning his wealthy Christian family and thousands of other Palestinians into refugees.
Habash founded the PFLP in the late 1960s, building the group into a force in the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), second in size to Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.He opposed peace deals with Israel and strongly believed in the right of Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948 to return to their homes.The PFLP adopted the Marxist-Leninist creed of revolutionary violence. In 1970, the PFLP destroyed three hijacked Western airliners in Jordan in front of the world's press, leading King Hussein to crack down on the guerrillas.In 1976, some PFLP members were involved in the hijacking of an Air France plane to Entebbe, Uganda, where Israeli commandos stormed the plane and rescued Israeli and Jewish hostages. The PFLP disavowed the hijacking, which experts say was carried out by Wadi Haddad, a leader of a PFLP splinter group.
Habash stepped down as PFLP leader in 2000, handing over to Abu Ali Mustafa, who was later killed by Israel.(Writing by Suleiman al-Khalidi; Editing by Keith Weir and David Cutler) ((Reuters Messaging: suleiman.al-khalidi.reuters.com@reuters.net; Amman Newsroom +9626 4623776)
