OPEN LETTER TO MR SARKOZY LEADER (PRESIDENT)OF THE EUROPEAN UNION.
AND WHILE WERE AT IT HERES AN OPEN LETTER TO MR SARKOZY. PLEASE DISMISS THE USA FROM BEING IN THE ISRAELI-ARAB PEACE PROCESS. CONVINCE OBAMA AND HIS CREW THAT THE EU MUST BE THE GUARENTOR OF THE ISRAELIS. MAKE A 7 YEAR PEACE TREATY WITH ISRAEL AND THE ARABS. MR SARKOSKY IN THIS 7 YEAR TREATY YOU MUST HAVE IT STATED THAT ISRAEL WILL BE ABLE TO REBUILD THE 3RD TEMPLE WITH EUROPEAN UNION TROOPS PROTECTING THE SITE AS TO GUARENTEE ISRAELS SECURITY ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT. THE DOME OF THE ROCK DOES NOT HAVE TO BE DESTROYED AS THE ISRAELIS 3RD TEMPLE WILL FIT ALSO ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT BUT TO THE NORTH OF THE DOME BY THE DOME OF THE SPIRITS. THIS WILL GIVE THE ISRAELIS THEIR 3RD TEMPLE TO SACRIFCE TO THEIR GOD OF ISRAEL AND THE WHOLE WORLD. THE VATICAN COULD MAYBE BUILD A CHURCH ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT ALSO SO THE CHRISTIANS COULD ALSO PRAISE THE GOD OF ISRAEL AND THE WORLD KING JESUS FROM THE TEMPLE MOUNT ALSO. THE EUROPEAN UNION COULD PROTECT ALL 3 GROUPS OF WORSHIPPERS AND ESPECIALLY PROTECT ISRAEL WHILE THEY SACRIFICE THEIR ANIMALS IN THE 3RD TEMPLE. AND THE CHRISTIANS COULD MAYBE SOMEHOW WATCH AS THESE SACRIFICES REPRESENT THE BLOOD OF THEIR KING AND SAVIOUR CHRIST JESUS (ALL GOD AND ALL HUMAN). BUT MR SARKOZY LET ISRAEL BE IN CONTROL OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT, THEY HAVE THE SAY IN ALL THAT IS DONE ON THE MOUNT EXCEPT YOUR EUROPEAN UNION TROOPS ARE ALLOWED ON TO GUARENTEE ISRAELS SECURITY AND RIGHT TO PRAY AND SACRIFICE TO THEIR AWESOME GOD OF ISRAEL AND THE WHOLE EARTH. THANK YOU MR SARKOZY FOR SECURING ISRAELS SECURITY AS USE TAKE FULL AND ONLY CONTROL OF THE ISRAELI-ARAB PEACE PROCESS. REMEMBER MR SARKOZY THE TRUE MESSIAH OF ISRAEL WILL BE RULING FROM THERE IN THE FUTURE SO YOU PROTECT ISRAEL WITH YOUR RAPID REACTION FORCES AND PAVE THE WAY OF SAFETY AS THE TRUE MESSIAH SOON WILL RULE FROM DAVIDS THRONE FOREVER. OH AND ONE LAST THING MR SARKOZY LET THE ISRAELI SANHEDRIN HAVE THEIR ROLE IN THE REBUILDING AND BEING JUDGES LIKE IN BIBLE TIMES.
Rice: No deal yet, but peace talks continue By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
Gaza AP RAMALLAH, West Bank – It won't happen on President Bush's watch, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says his promise of an independent Palestinian state will be met.President-elect Obama shares the goal of Palestinian statehood and has pledged to tackle Mideast peacemaking earlier and more enthusiastically than Bush did.While not achieving their ultimate goal before Bush leaves office in January, peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have laid the groundwork for success as long as President-elect Obama and the two parties follow through on incremental progress made, Rice said Friday.The distance to that peace has been narrowed, although the peace has not yet been achieved, Rice said halfway through what could be her final mission to Israel and the West Bank.It is not surprising that a conflict that has now gone on for decades may take some more to resolve, but the right elements are there, she said.It was nearly a year ago, in late November 2007, that Bush convened an international peace summit in Annapolis, Md., and announced that he would help shepherd an agreement to end the long-standing conflict before the end of this year.Rice has made eight trips to the region since, but has not been directly involved in negotiations. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been meeting regularly, despite frustration over the pace and scope of the talks on the Palestinian side and internal political turmoil on the Israeli side.We knew ... that if that agreement was not reached by the end of the year, that there would be those who would say that the Annapolis process, the negotiations, had failed, Rice said during a news conference with the U.S.-backed Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas.
In fact, it is quite the opposite, she insisted.
The Annapolis process has laid the foundations for the eventual establishment of the state of Palestine. The Annapolis process ... is vital, it is vibrant, and it is continuing, and I am quite certain that, carried to its conclusion, it will produce a state of Palestine.A possible change of government in Israel and the transition to a new U.S. administration could stall the talks for months.In Israel's Feb. 10 election, hardline leader Benjamin Netanyahu is competing against moderate Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who leads the Israeli negotiating team.Rice and other Mideast mediators will meet in Egypt on Sunday to get a progress report — though not substantive because the discussions have been secret — from Livni and Palestinian negotiators. They are expected to pledge their continued support for the process.
The international quartet of Mideast mediators — the U.S., the U.N., the EU and Russia — is also expected to reaffirm its support for the Annapolis framework.The talks thus far have produced few tangible results, but Rice insisted there has been progress, and she held out hope that with the commitment of the Obama administration, the Israelis and Palestinians, a peace agreement is not too far off.
While we may not yet be at the finish line, I am quite certain that if Palestinians and Israelis stay on the Annapolis course, they are going to cross that finish line and can do so relatively soon, she said.Abbas also said the past year has not been in vain.We have not lost time. We have used every minute, Abbas said. That will allow us to move with a new (U.S.) administration and a new Israeli administration to peace.He urged the incoming U.S. administration to start immediately dealing with the Middle East issue ... so as not to waste time, without any benefit.We hope that the new administration will follow up on this and hear this point of view, he said.
Abbas complained to Rice about continued construction in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a violation of Israel's peace obligations. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Abbas expressed concern that Israel might use a possible political vacuum ahead of the Obama inauguration and its own elections to accelerate settlement building. Rice criticized settlement activity, saying, Both actions and announcements (of new plans) are damaging to the atmosphere of the negotiations.
Earlier Friday, Rice met in Jerusalem with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and with Netanyahu. Netanyahu later said he's proposing a new path to peace that will combine political negotiations with rapid economic development for the Palestinians.
However, Netanyahu's positions could make a peace deal harder to achieve, since he's willing to make fewer territorial concessions in the West Bank than the current government and opposes a partition of Jerusalem. Later Friday, Rice met in Jordan with King Abdullah II. As part of her itinerary, she is also visiting the West Bank town of Jenin, once a stronghold of Palestinian militants. Several months ago, Abbas' forces deployed in Jenin and it has become a showcase of his law and order campaign.Additional reporting by Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah.
European politicians defy Israel, sail to Gaza Fri Nov 7, 3:46 pm ET
LARNACA, Cyprus (Reuters) – Eleven European politicians sailed to Gaza from Cyprus Friday after saying attempts to get to the Palestinian territory via Egypt failed.
Members of parliament from Britain, Ireland, Switzerland and Italy left the Mediterranean island on a boat arranged by a pro-Palestinian group seeking to highlight the poor living conditions of 1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip.
We were going to witness the living conditions in Gaza. We were not allowed through the Rafah crossing so we are going by boat because it is the only way to get in, said British MP Clare Short.The parliamentarians said they expected to arrive in Gaza early Saturday. It is the third time the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement has sailed from Cyprus to Gaza since August, defying Israel which patrols waters off the coastal strip.They are taking a tonne of medical supplies and three medical scanners used for spinal injuries, said Arafat Shoukri, 37, a doctor based in Britain.We are taking very basic medical supplies like paracetamol and painkillers. We were shocked when we got the list from the Health Ministry in Gaza, it means they don't have anything, Shoukri said.International aid agencies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, have said virtually no medical supplies were reaching Gaza.The ICRC had blamed that on a lack of cooperation between Palestinian authorities in the West Bank, where Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction holds sway, and Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip in 2007.It also urged Israel, which tightened overland border restrictions after the Hamas takeover, to facilitate timely deliveries of medical supplies and equipment.Israel pulled its troops and settlers out of Gaza in 2005.Short, a former minister in Tony Blair's government, said: We want to witness the living conditions of these people, challenge the siege, and challenge the failure of our governments to uphold the Geneva convention.The whole of the EU is colluding to what is taking place in Gaza to our shame.Organizers of the boat shuttle said more activists would travel to Gaza in mid-December, and a boat of European musicians would travel there in January.
(Writing by Michele Kambas, editing by Diana Abdallah)
Gaza militants launch more rockets at Israel Fri Nov 7, 3:44 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Seven rockets and mortar bombs fired from the Gaza Strip struck inside Israel on Friday, causing no damage or casualties, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group said its gunmen had launched 14 rockets against Israel during the day in response to Israeli operations in the area.An Islamic Jihad spokesman said the group would consider stopping launching rockets if Israel ceased its actions.It depends on Israel, if they stop their aggression and abide by the truce we are ready to consider stopping firing, Abu Ahmed of the Islamic Jihad armed wing said.Palestinian militant groups fired rockets earlier this week after Israel killed six gunmen in a raid and in air strikes on Tuesday, in a first clash with Hamas Islamists since an Egyptian-brokered truce came into effect in June.(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; writing by Ori Lewis and Allyn Fisher-Ilan; editing by Michael Roddy)
Palestinian state coming soon, says Rice by Sylvie Lanteaume Sylvie Lanteaume – Fri Nov 7, 3:36 pm ET
AQABA, Jordan (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday Palestinians should soon have their own state, though she has made it clear she does not expect a breakthrough before Barack Obama moves into the White House.They are dignified people and I am certain the day is coming soon when they have a state that will be in accordance with that great national dignity, she said after meeting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah, the West Bank's political capital, before heading later to Jordan.Rice has nevertheless tacitly admitted that Israel and the Palestinians were unlikely to reach a peace deal by the time US President George W. Bush's mandate ends on January 20, despite earlier pledges to seek agreement by the end of this year.The distance to peace has been narrowed although peace has not been achieved, she said at Friday's news conference in Ramallah.In the absence of an accord, Rice is pushing the two sides to define the outlines of a deal before she hands over the thorny Middle East dossier to an Obama administration.
One of the things we must do is that we must show... that Annapolis has laid the foundation for the establishment of the state of Palestine, she said. Rice had played a key role in reviving the peace process at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, one year ago after a seven-year hiatus.The Annapolis process is vital, it is vibrant and it continues, she said, even though little tangible process has been achieved, with core issues dealing with the status of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the borders of a future Palestinian state still to be resolved.Rice criticised continued construction activity in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, calling it damaging to the atmosphere of negotiations -- and the parties' actions should encourage confidence, not undermine it.The top US diplomat later met over dinner in Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba with King Abdullah during which, according to a palace statement afterwards, the Jordanian monarch had urged a continuation of involvement by the incoming Obama administration in the peace process.Support for peace negotiations should be maintained, and the new US administration should be involved in the peace process as soon as possible, the statement cited the king as telling Rice.Peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel should continue based on a two-state solution, regardless of any results of the US and Israeli elections, he added.Peace efforts have been hobbled by the division of the Palestinian territories into a West Bank where the secular Abbas holds sway and a Gaza Strip run by the Islamist Hamas movement.The slow-moving peace process has been further affected by the political turmoil surrounding the resignation of Israel's scandal-plagued Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that led to the scheduling of snap elections in February.Since her arrival in the region on Thursday, Rice has held talks with Olmert as well as Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, the two frontrunners in the race for the prime minister's job.
Olmert has congratulated Obama over the telephone and discussed the need to continue and advance the peace process, while maintaining the security of the state of Israel, his office said.Rice also plans to visit Jenin to highlight the successful deployment of Palestinian security forces in the former flashpoint city in the northern West Bank.She will end her four-day visit on Sunday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh at a meeting of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet, comprising the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.Rice said the Israelis and the Palestinians were expected to reaffirm their commitment to a two-state solution when they brief the international mediators.
Police grill Israel's Olmert again Fri Nov 7, 10:48 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli police on Friday questioned outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for the ninth time since allegations of corruption emerged in May.The prime minister is being questioned at his official residence in Jerusalem, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.Olmert, 63, has handed in his resignation but will remain at the helm of a caretaker government until after general elections scheduled for February 10.Police in September recommended indicting Olmert over suspicions he had unlawfully accepted cash-stuffed envelopes from a US businessman and for allegedly billing the same overseas trips several times over and using the proceeds to pay for private trips.Olmert insists that he is innocent.
Hamas threatens to boycott Palestinian talks Fri Nov 7, 9:49 am ET
JABALIYA, Gaza Strip (AFP) – Hamas threatened on Friday to boycott next week's Palestinian reconciliation talks, accusing president Mahmud Abbas of arresting hundreds of members of the Islamist movement.We will not go to the Palestinian dialogue as long as this massacre against Hamas continues in the West Bank, Hamas MP Mushar al Masri told a crowd in the northern Gaza Strip city of Jabaliya.He said Hamas would decide later Friday whether to take part in the talks scheduled to start in Cairo on Monday.He accused Abbas, who also leads the Fatah movement, of arresting hundreds of Hamas members in the West Bank to please Israel and the United States.
If you persist with your injustice and your repression, Hamas and the people of the West Bank will trample you, Masri shouted.The two factions have been bitterly divided since Hamas violently seized power in Gaza in June 2007, confining Abbas's rule to the Israeli-occupied West Bank and cleaving Palestinians into two hostile camps.Representatives from all major Palestinian political movements have been invited to Cairo to discuss the reconciliation plan, which has been welcomed by Fatah and 11 other factions.Hamas expressed reservations about the plan, which calls for a politically independent transitional government to pave the way for new elections, saying Abbas would get an automatic extension of a term the Islamists insist ends in January.The 9th of January at midnight and one minute, the Palestinian people will no longer have a president called Mahmud Abbas, said Masri.
Abbas insisted his law enforcement forces arrested people who posed a security risk irrespective of political affiliation. They are arrested and brought to justice, he said at a joint news conference Friday with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Bush punts unfinished Mideast peace deal to Obama By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer – Fri Nov 7, 6:47 am ET
JERUSALEM – The Bush administration has conceded that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is no longer possible by the end of its term and is preparing to hand the fragile, unfinished U.S.-backed peace effort to President-elect Obama.Obama may not want it, at least as designed by the Republican Bush administration, seen as slow to embrace the role of honest Mideast broker. Many of Obama's foreign policy advisers were players in the Clinton administration's extensive Mideast peace efforts and are unenthusiastic about President Bush's hands-off approach.After months of publicly insisting that an agreement still could be sealed by the year-end deadline set by the two sides and Bush last November in Annapolis, Md., U.S. officials said Thursday for the first time it would have to wait.We do not think it is likely it will happen before the end of the year, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in Washington after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged as much at the start of a Mideast trip.Bush has employed Rice as a goad and monitor, but not a central negotiator. The administration said that to be viable, any deal should come from the Israelis and Palestinians themselves. Rice's eighth visit to the region since the Annapolis peace conference had been intended as a push for urgent progress on the modest gains from a year of U.S.-sponsored talks between Israel and one part of the fractured Palestinian leadership.Instead, amid political uncertainty in Israel, where a corruption scandal is forcing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from office, the administration is focused on keeping the two sides from backsliding. Rice wants them to produce a placeholding affirmation of their commitment to the peace process.
She said it remained an open question as to what form the affirmation would take, but said it was critical for the incoming Obama administration, as well as a new Israeli government to be elected in February, to inherit a solid framework to restart negotiations quickly.It should be carried forward, she said, stressing that progress, if not a full-on deal, had been achieved since Annapolis, including the fact that the two sides were talking again after years of Palestinian rebellion and international efforts to support the Palestinian people.She added that she hoped the Israelis and Palestinians would affirm that the Annapolis process and the framework it establishes is indeed the basis on which they believe they can come to a resolution of their conflict, regardless of anyone's timetables.It will be important to wrap up all of that work one way or another, she said.Negotiators from the two sides were to brief top officials from the international diplomatic quartet on the Middle East — the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia — in Egypt on Sunday on their progress to date.
But it was not clear whether that meeting, which Rice also will attend, would produce a document or verbal statement that fits her bill, as Israel appears reluctant to put anything in writing that could memorialize specific results of the talks thus far.We hope that the current American administration will give the upcoming administration a positive opinion to continue this process, and bring it to a success, said Ahmed Qureia, the chief Palestinian negotiator.Rice's comments at times took the tone of a concession speech and came at a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's chief negotiator in the talks. At it, the two women spoke of the importance of keeping the talks alive.It is important that we preserve the process within the structure that we have created, said Livni, a centrist who will be running against hardline former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Feb. 10 voting.Netanyahu currently is favored in most polls and has deep reservations about the peace process.Rice sees Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Friday before holding talks in Ramallah in the West Bank with Palestinian officials. She then makes a quick side trip to Aqaba, Jordan, to see Jordan's King Abdullah II before returning to the West Bank on Saturday and then heading to Egypt for the quartet meeting.Speaking to reporters aboard her plane en route to the Middle East, Rice lamented that Israel's political situation is a constraint on the ability of any government to conclude a deal. At the same time, she said it was the Bush administration's hope that Annapolis has laid groundwork which should make possible the establishment of a Palestinian state when the political circumstances permit. I think that whatever happens by the end of the year, you've got a firm foundation for quickly moving this forward to conclusion, she said. AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven in Washington contributed to this report.
Saudi ambassador denies inviting Israel to inter-faith meet Fri Nov 7, 6:17 am ET
RIYADH (AFP) – A Saudi diplomat denied in remarks published on Friday that Riyadh had invited Israel to a UN inter-faith meeting in New York next week, saying the invitation had come from the United Nations.The president of the UN General Assembly addressed invitations to all UN member states, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Lebanon, Abdul Aziz Khoja, was quoted as saying in Saudi and Lebanese newspapers.The November 13 conference is being held at the initiative of Saudi Arabia, which has no relations with Israel. Both Saudi King Abdullah and Israeli President Shimon Peres are due to attend.The meeting, which aims to promote dialogue among the world's monotheistic religions, will be a follow-up to a similar conference in Madrid in July. This was an initiative by King Abdullah, whose country hosts Islam's holiest shrines and does not permit the public practice of religions other than Islam.
Peres's office said on Wednesday that he will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and that they intended to use the conference to meet leaders from the Arab world.Khoja said Lebanese politicians who accused Saudi Arabia of inviting Israel should check their facts, according to the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat and other newspapers.Saudi Arabia is the author of an Arab blueprint offering Israel peace in return for withdrawal from occupied Arab lands but refuses to have ties or contacts with Israel in the absence of a Middle East peace settlement.
Israel urges US not to rule out military option in Iran Fri Nov 7, 5:55 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Friday issued a thinly veiled call for the United States not to rule out the possibility of a military strike against Iran because of its nuclear ambitions.We don't rule out any option. We recommend others don't rule out any option either, Barak told journalists after talks with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.We are convinced that Iran continues to try to obtain a nuclear weapon and continues to cheat everybody by holding negotiations on the control of such weapons, Barak said.Tehran denies it wants nuclear weapons, and says its atomic project is puirely peaceful.On Thursday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said possible US talks with Iran may be problematic, highlighting possible disagreements with a Barack Obama administration.Dialogue at this point may be interpreted as a sign of weakness... I think that premature dialogue at a time where Iran thinks that the world has given up on sanctions may be problematic, she said.Obama warned during a visit to Israel in July that a nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat, but he also reiterated his openness to meeting Tehran's representatives if the conditions were appropriate.Israel is widely considered to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, although it has never officially confirmed nor denied having such weapons.
Rice admits no Mideast peace deal in 2008 Thu Nov 6, 7:36 am ET
TEL AVIV (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel on Thursday in her latest bid to push Middle East peace, but tacitly admitted the sides may not achieve the goal of a deal by the year's end.Rice stressed the US-backed peace process will continue after George W. Bush hands over the presidency to Barack Obama on January 20.It is our expectation that the Annapolis process has laid groundwork which should make possible the establishment of a Palestinian state when political circumstances permit, Rice told reporters aboard her plane.I think that whatever happens by the end of the year, you've got a firm foundation for quickly moving forward to a conclusion, said Rice who played a key role in relaunching the peace process at a November 2007 conference in Annapolis, Maryland.She admitted the peace process is affected by the decision to hold February 20 elections in Israel, which is now under a caretaker government.Obviously Israel is in the middle of elections and that is a constraint on the ability of any government to conclude what is the core conflict for Israel and the Palestinians ... But I think we can sustain momentum, Rice said.
During her visit to the region, her 19th in two years, Rice will hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and attend a meeting in Egypt of the Middle East Quartet of peace mediators.Rice also hinted she wishes the sides to define the progress made so far in the talks.I think at some point it will be important to work to wrap all of that work up, one way or another.
Lebanese political rivals adjourn dialogue to December Wed Nov 5, 8:37 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon's rival political leaders met on Wednesday for a second round of talks on lingering disputes but no breakthrough was made given deep-seated differences, notably over Hezbollah's weapons.The 14 politicians, who assembled for some three and a half hours under the auspices of President Michel Sleiman, decided to gather again on December 22, a presidential spokesman told AFP.High on the agenda of Wednesday's talks, which brought together members of the pro- and anti-Syrian camps, was a demand by the Hezbollah militant group to expand the number of participants in the dialogue to include more of its allies.That suggestion has been rejected by members of the Western-backed parliamentary majority, who see in it an effort to torpedo the stated goal of the talks to forge a national defence strategy.
A major stumbling block in agreeing on a strategy has been Hezbollah's weapons, an issue highlighted last May when the Shiite group staged a spectacular takeover of mainly Sunni parts of west Beirut.Hezbollah has rejected calls to disarm, arguing that its weapons and militia are essential to defend the country against neighbouring Israel.Members of the parliamentary majority say Hezbollah's weapons undermine the authority of the state, which should be the sole decision-maker on matters of defence.The first session of the national dialogue on September 16 took place after Qatar brokered a deal in May that put an end to a damaging 18-month political crisis that brought the country close to civil war.That session was quickly wrapped up in an effort to give the various parties a chance to bridge their differences.Press baron and MP Ghassan Tueni, a member of the parliamentry majority, was taken ill during the session on Wednesday and taken to hospital. His office told AFP that Tueni, 82, had suffered a malady that was not serious and was being kept in hospital for observation.Tueni's son, prominent journalist and MP Gibran Tueni, was among a number anti-Syrian figures who have been assassinated in Lebanon in the last three years.
Arab League urges Obama to act quickly in Mideast Wed Nov 5, 5:41 am ET
BRUSSELS, Belgium – Arab League head Amr Moussa has urged President-elect Barack Obama to act swiftly to try to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.Moussa welcomed the result of the U.S. election and said it marked a watershed for the United States and for efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.Moussa says Obama's call for change is needed in the Middle East to ease tensions between Arabs and Israelis and to resolve the nuclear standoff with Iran.He told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Obama must bring a policy of honest brokership to the region. He said outgoing President George W. Bush's policies for the region had failed.Moussa was in Brussels for talks with EU officials and lawmakers.
Israel denounces UN Human Rights Council By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer – Tue Nov 4, 6:58 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS – Israel accused the U.N. Human Rights Council Tuesday of targeting the Jewish state in an obsessive and discriminatory fashion, but Egypt said it is imperative that the U.N. body investigate violations of Palestinian rights.The performance of the council, which replaced the discredited U.N. Human Rights Commission 2 1/2 years ago, was the subject of debate in the General Assembly which was considering the annual report of the Geneva-based council.Israel's deputy U.N. ambassador Daniel Carmon told the 192-nation world body that since it considered last year's report the council had adopted seven resolutions condemning Israel and held a one-sided special session against Israel — far more than any other member of the United Nations.We all witness a U.N. human rights body targeting Israel in an obsessive and discriminatory fashion, Carmon said.But Egypt's U.N. Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz told the assembly the council must ensure respect of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories. He added that it must also verify Israel's adherence to international obligations such as cooperating with the U.N. investigators in the Palestinian territories.Abdelaziz noted Israeli officials refused to cooperate with Archbishop Desmond Tutu's investigation into the 2006 shelling of the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun and the simultaneous firing by Palestinian militants of Qassam rockets at Israeli civilians.
One aim in replacing the highly politicized Human Rights Commission with the Human Rights Council was to keep some of the world's worst human rights offenders from becoming members.But the council has been widely criticized for failing to change many of the commission's practices, including putting much more emphasis on allegations of human rights abuses by Israel than on any other country.Muslim countries form a strong bloc on the council and have used their votes to push through resolutions against Israel and block condemnation of their allies, including Sudan. The United States argued against the council and has not sought to join it because rights-abusing countries remain members.
Israel marks anniversary of Rabin assassination Tue Nov 4, 11:14 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel commemorated on Tuesday the 1995 murder of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, with a cabinet minister warning there could be another assassination in the near future.The writing is once again on the wall, this time in bigger letters. The next political assassination is right around the corner, Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said at a ceremony at Rabin's grave on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl.His dire warning echoed similar comments by Yuval Diskin, head of the Shin Beth domestic intelligence agency, who said on Sunday that far right-wingers would not hesitate to use firearms in order to stop political processes and target political leaders.A rally was also held on Tuesday at the Tel Aviv park where Rabin was gunned down by a Jewish extremist opposed to the peace process with the Palestinians.Official ceremonies will be held on November 10 in accordance with the Jewish calender.Rabin is revered as a national hero, both for his legendary career as army chief and for peace efforts in the 1990s that earned him a Nobel peace prize shared with Israeli President Shimon Peres and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
