Israeli FM strengthens lead ahead of party vote: polls Fri Sep 12, 4:46 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni leads her closest rival by at least 15 points ahead of next week's ruling party election to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, opinion polls on Friday showed. The two polls were more favourable to Livni than another survey published on Thursday which showed her lead over Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz narrowed to just under five percentage points.A poll of registered Kadima party voters published by the Maariv daily saw Livni taking 46 percent of the ballots on Wednesday, with Mofaz scoring 28 percent.The Yediot Aharonot showed Livni garnering 47 percent and Mofaz, a hawkish former general, taking 32 percent.The polls suggest the Kadima leadership contest will be decided in the first round, with Livni easily passing the 40 percent hurdle to avoid a September 24 run-off.But experts say the reliability of opinion polls is uncertain in the case of a comparatively small and young party such as Kadima, which has never before held a leadership election.A poll published on Thursday indicated Livni would get just under 40 percent of the vote, with a lead of about five points over Mofaz.
In all three surveys, which they have a margin of error of four to five percentage points, two other ministers running in Wednesday's vote trail far behind.The Kadima election was called to replace Olmert who is dogged by several police corruption investigations that could see him indicted on criminal charges.The new party chairman will become prime minister if Kadima can form a new coalition government within 42 days. Should it be unable to garner enough parliamentary support in that period, early elections would be held within three months.Opinion polls indicate that right-wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, a former premier, would be the front-runner if snap elections were called.Olmert, meanwhile, has said he will step down after the Kadima vote.I will resign immediately after the primary and recommend to the president to assign the task of forming the government to whoever is elected in my place, he told a party meeting on Thursday.The transfer of power will be responsible and stately. I will not use any political manipulation that serves one person or another, he said.Olmert had already announced on July 30 that he planned to step down, but also insisted he was innocent of the allegations of graft, influence-peddling and cronyism.
Documents: Russia impeding South Ossetia monitors By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer SEPT 12,08
VIENNA, Austria - Russian forces and their separatist militia allies are keeping international monitors out of South Ossetia, according to confidential OSCE documents that cast doubts on hopes for a lasting resolution of the war over the breakaway region. The documents obtained Friday by The Associated Press say Russian troops stopped some observers from entering South Ossetia as recently as two days ago. Other Western diplomats warned that Moscow is also blocking attempts to quadruple the size of the observer mission.One diplomat said talks aimed at securing Russian permission to let the observers move beyond Georgia and have access to South Ossetia and Abkhazia are deadlocked by Russia's refusal to grant unimpeded access to the volatile area to monitors with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.The European Union has been racing to prepare a separate mission of 200 unarmed observers for Georgia by Oct. 1.Under an agreement brokered this week by French leader Nicolas Sarkozy, Russia would withdraw its forces from Georgian areas outside of South Ossetia and the separatist Abkhazia region after the EU observers are in place.The Kremlin's actions at the OSCE throw into question the sincerity of Moscow's overall commitment to allow in international monitors and pull back, the senior diplomat said Friday.Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Igor Frolov answered reporters' questions by saying the cease-fire agreement brokered by French leader Nicolas Sarkozy said nothing about increasing the number of OSCE observers.The permanent council of the 56-nation OSCE, which includes Russia, agreed Aug. 19 to boost the number of monitors to 100 to implement the Aug. 12 cease-fire.But in recent days Moscow appears to have been pulling back.
Russia has gotten more and more hard-line, said the diplomat, who has been intimately involved in three weeks of negotiations. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the talks.Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday the war was a moment as defining for Russia as the Sept. 11, attacks were for the U.S. He also warned that Russia would protect its interests in other ex-Soviet lands irrespective of Western opinion.Martin Nesirky, a spokesman for the Vienna-based OSCE, said efforts to reach agreement over the movements of current and future monitors remained under way.No one is suggesting that these talks are easy but they have not collapsed, he said.Diplomats, however, said delegates walked out in frustration after Russia rejected a compromise that would have sent the additional monitors initially to areas outside South Ossetia, while not precluding them from entering later.The OSCE has 28 monitors in the area, but has been trying to send in 80 more to observe military movements since Russia invaded Georgia last month after Georgia attacked South Ossetia.One document issued Thursday and obtained by the AP said all 28 observers continue to encounter difficulties in their movement to most of the areas of their deployment.They are denied access to South Ossetia by the Russian Armed Forces deployed in the southern part of the area, it said. The same report also said that South Ossetian forces had refused to let them cross the border into a district they had been allowed to visit in the past.Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent nations after last month's war with Georgia over the regions. A popular former ally of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on Friday questioned the wisdom of last month's war with Russia, calling for a national conversation about whether the conflict could have been avoided. Former parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze's remarks echoed widespread feelings among Georgians about the war.
An estimated 192,000 people were uprooted in the August fighting, but 68,000 are already back home, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees revised its figure upward from 158,000 people it previously said were displaced. A U.S. Defense Department team was expected to embark Friday on a delicate mission to determine Georgia's military needs after its war with Russia, a show of support that is certain to stoke Moscow's anger. NATO's leader said he will send a delegation to Georgia next week to show the alliance's support after Russia used disproportionate force in attacking the small country. On the Net:
OSCE, http://www.osce.org
Abbas vows to pursue talks after Olmert: report Fri Sep 12, 3:49 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has vowed to pursue peace talks with Ehud Olmert until the scandal-hit Israeli prime minister's last day in office, and with whoever succeeds him, an Israeli newspaper said on Friday. But Abbas told the Haaretz daily he doubted the sides could meet Washington's expectations of reaching even a limited peace accord before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January.Olmert, whom police have recommended indicting for corruption, has said he will resign after his Kadima party chooses a successor in a leadership contest next week.We will negotiate with any prime minister elected by Israel, Haaretz quoted Abbas as saying. But I intend to negotiate with him (Olmert) until his last moment in office.Olmert has also said he will pursue the U.S.-brokered peace talks for as long as he remains in office, but his expected departure has cast doubt on the negotiations, launched at an Annapolis summit last November.
Abbas told the Israeli daily that until now, there has been no achievement in negotiations between us. He added: I doubt we will be able to seal an agreement by the end of 2008.Olmert said Thursday he still hoped a significant agreement could be reached by that time.Despite his plans to resign, Olmert is likely to stay on as caretaker prime minister until a successor forms a new government, or a snap parliamentary election is held, a process that could take weeks or months.Olmert could also seek to suspend himself from duty if he is charged. He has denied wrongdoing in response to police allegations he submitted double travel receipts and accepted cash envelopes from a U.S. Jewish fundraiser.(Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan and Catherine Evans)
Israel's Olmert stresses he will quit after party election Fri Sep 12, 2:54 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has stressed his determination to step down immediately after his centrist Kadima party holds its leadership election, Israeli public radio reported on Friday. The vote will be on Wednesday, but would go to a September 24 second round if no candidate gets at least 40 percent.I will resign immediately after the primary and recommend to the president to assign the task of forming the government to whoever is elected in my place, Olmert told a party meeting on Thursday.The transfer of power will be responsible and stately. I will not use any political manipulation that serves one person or another, he said.
Olmert, who has been dogged by allegations of graft, had already announced on July 30that he would step down.
Italy appreciates Syria's role in Mideast: Italian foreign minister Thu Sep 11, 4:42 PM ET
ROME (AFP) - Italy values Syria's position in the Middle East and hopes to develop political and econonomic ties with Damascus, Italy's foreign minister said Thursday as he hosted his Syrian counterpart in Rome. Italy appreciates the role played by Syria and hopes to collaborate with Damascus toward finding peace in the whole region, said Franco Frattini during a press conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem.Frattini said he hoped an agreement signed which caters for permanent consultation would open the way for finalising a Euro-Mediterranean partnership originally laid out in 2003, but never ratified after former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri was assassinated in 2005.Moallem said Italy could also play a role in the Middle East.He insisted that Israel's restitution of the Golan Heights would be a pre-condition for peace in the Middle East, as well as for the success of indirect talks currently underway between Syria and Israel.
Gaza ceasefire rattled by explosions along border Thu Sep 11, 3:59 PM ET
GAZA (Reuters) - Two bombs exploded on Thursday near Israeli troops patrolling the border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, causing no injuries, in the first such incident since a ceasefire took hold in June. The first blast occurred near an Israeli army vehicle and caused damage to the border fence, an army spokeswoman said.
A Gaza witness said an Israeli ambulance was at the scene, at the border between Israel and the central Gaza Strip, but the army said nobody was injured.A second explosion went off minutes later in the same area, but also caused no injuries, the army said.The previously unknown Attawheed Brigades militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in response to Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.The incident could undercut an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas Islamists who seized control of the Gaza Strip more than a year ago.The truce has largely held since it took effect on June 19, halting fighting, though both sides accuse the other of sporadic violations.(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Avida Landau in Jerusalem; Writing by Adam Entous; Editing by Matthew Jones)
West Bank settlers take over more land: report By Ori Lewis
Thu Sep 11, 3:24 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli authorities and settlers have seized large tracts of land in the occupied West Bank for security zones around Jewish settlements beyond an Israeli-built barrier, a human rights group said on Thursday. In a new report, the Israeli B'Tselem group said some 12 settlements east of the barrier had been fenced off under an official Special Security Area (SSA) plan, blocking Palestinian farmers from reaching their fields.B'Tselem, which opposes Israeli settlement on territory occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, estimated that the overall area of some settlements in the plan had more than doubled.Some 70,000 settlers live beyond the barrier of barbed wire-tipped fences and cement walls Israel is constructing in the West Bank, and security authorities view their settlements as particularly vulnerable to attack.Asked about the B'Tselem report, the Israeli army said it had established security zones around settlements after they had been attacked repeatedly by Palestinians and dozens of Israeli civilians had been killed.The use of these zones has been approved a number of times by the Israeli Supreme Court. Any building in these zones is illegal, the army said.B'Tselem said it could give only a rough estimate of the total territory closed to Palestinians but that at least 1,126 acres had been unofficially annexed outside the 12 settlements.It said half of the closed-off land was privately owned by Palestinians.Control of the land, the report said, was achieved by fencing it off or through attacks by settlers and sometimes soldiers against Palestinians who ventured near it.A spokesman for the Yesha settler's council, an umbrella group for Israelis living in the West Bank, said taking control of the areas was a necessary security measure.
It must be clear to B'Tselem that if their demands are heeded, it will be easier to murder Jews, Yishai Hollander said.Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon has proposed offering compensation to settlers living beyond the West Bank barrier who agree to move to Israel or to major settlement enclaves it intends to keep in any peace deal with the Palestinians.Israel says the barrier, deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice because it is being built on occupied territory, keeps Palestinian suicide bombers out of its cities.The Palestinians call the project a land grab and say settlement expansion could deny them a viable and contiguous state in the West Bank.(Editing by Andrew Roche)
Israeli official: Militant Hamas like cancer By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 10, 10:19 AM ET
JERUSALEM - Israel's point man in indirect, Egyptian-mediated talks with Hamas said Wednesday the Islamic militant group is more powerful than the Western-backed Palestinian government and is like cancer.Senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad said talks with Hamas designed to secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier have gone better since a truce went into effect in June, but he added that a deal is not close.Since the truce we are discussing more seriously, but I am impressed only by results, he said.His comments came as a senior Hamas official warned that any Israeli military option in Gaza could lead to more kidnappings of Israeli soldiers.Gilad, making a rare appearance before foreign diplomats and journalists in Jerusalem, said current peace talks between Israel and the moderate Palestinian forces in charge of the West Bank are not likely to bear fruit until those forces retake Gaza from Hamas.It's very difficult to sign an agreement with half your body, he said.Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza 15 months ago resulted in militants ruling Gaza and their moderate Fatah rivals controlling the West Bank. The two territories, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, are located on opposite sides of Israel. The moderate Palestinian leadership seeks both areas for a future independent state.Hamas-stan is more powerful than the Palestinian Authority. It's like cancer, Gilad said.He said he believes Hamas' goal is to take over the West Bank as well. For the time being, however, he said the militants have decided to halt suicide bombings and rocket attacks on Israel because the price is too high — an apparent reference to harsh Israeli reprisals.
Gilad has made several trips to Egypt in recent weeks in an effort to win the release of Israeli Sgt. Gilad Schalit, captured by Hamas-linked militants in a cross-border attack in June 2006. The cease-fire is supposed to be part of a larger deal between Israel and Hamas in which Schalit would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and the Israeli and Egyptian-imposed closure of Gaza's border crossings would be eased.But while the violent cycle of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli military strikes has subsided, the punishing blockade of Gaza remains largely in place and little progress has been reported on a prisoner exchange.We are not close to the release of Gilad Schalit, Gilad said.Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, was quoted Wednesday in the London-based Asharq al Awsat newspaper as saying that Israeli military action in Gaza could lead to more abductions of Israeli soldiers.This, he said, could put Gazan resistance movements in a better position to demand the release of even more Palestinian prisoners. Israel holds some 9,000 Palestinians in its jails.
