RUSSIAS STILL QUIET ABOUT THIS SITUATION LOOKOUT ARABS FOR YOUR DESTRUCTION IF RUSSIA LEADS USE AGAINST ISRAEL ANYTIME SOON. THEN ISRAEL WILL BE ABLE TO REBUILD THE 3RD TEMPLE WITH NO HASSELS.....YEAH.
KEEP UP WITH ARAB/MUSLIM HATE AGAINST ISRAEL WITH PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH
http://www.pmw.org.il/
THESE COWARDS HAMAS USE WOMEN AND CHILDREN AS SHIELDS AGAINST ISRAEL,THEN BLAME ISRAEL FOR KILLING CIVILIANS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTu-AUE9ycs
HAMAS RESPONSIBLE FOR WAR - ARAB GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLIdxF-GHWw
EZEKIEL 38:1-23
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
EZEKIEL 39:1-29
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:
10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog.
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.
24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;
26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.
27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
ISRAEL ONLY KILLED 15 CIVILIANS IN THIS BOMBING,HAMAS COWARDS HIDE BEHIND WOMEN,CHILDREN AS SHIELDS.
RUSSIAS STILL QUIET ABOUT THIS SITUATION LOOKOUT ARABS FOR YOUR DESTRUCTION IF RUSSIA LEADS USE AGAINST ISRAEL ANYTIME SOON.
Protesters worldwide keep up pressure over Gaza violence Updated at: 0800 PST, Wednesday, December 31, 2008
PARIS: Protesters denouncing Israel's deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip returned to the streets Tuesday in demonstrations around the world to keep up the pressure for an end to the violence. As Israel, under increasing diplomatic pressure, mulled a proposed 48-hour truce and the death toll from its onslaught rose to at least 373 Palestinians, the protesters made their voices heard again. In France, more than 7,000 protesters marched in a dozen cities across the country to denounce the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which continued for the fourth day running Tuesday.In Paris, around 3,500 people according to police -- 5,000 according to the organisers -- marched towards the French foreign ministry on the Quai D'Orsay by the River Seine, shouting slogans and carrying banners denouncing Israel. Police said another 700 marched in the western city of Nantes, while demonstrations in at least a dozen cities and towns across the country each attracted hundreds of protesters.
In London, between 200 and 300 demonstrators protested peacefully outside the Israeli embassy, after the two previous days' rallies had descended into violence. This demonstration was smaller than on Sunday and Monday, when scuffles erupted between police and protestors against Israel's air raids, leading to a total of 17 arrests over the two days.Iranian demonstrators stormed the British diplomatic compound in Tehran Tuesday evening to protest London's stance towards the Israeli onslaught, state news agency reported. A large group of people and students entered the Gholhak gardens, which are occupied by the British embassy to protest at Britain's policies in supporting the Zionist regime and put up the Palestinian flag there, media said. A media officer at the British embassy in Tehran confirmed the report. In Tunis, hundreds of lawyers and trade unionists joined opposition activists to defy a police ban and protest the bombing of Gaza, several sources reported. As some protesters shouted slogans denouncing the lack of response from Arab countries in general and Egypt in particular, police headed off the demonstration as it headed towards the courthouse, said witnesses. Tunisia's government has already condemned the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.Saudi Arabia's interior ministry denied a report by a news website that hundreds had demonstrated Monday afternoon in heavily Shiite Al Qatif, just west of Dammam, leading to several arrests.
Israel weighs 48-hour halt to Gaza air campaign By IBRAHIM BARZAK and JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writers DEC 30,08
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel, under international pressure, is considering a 48-hour halt to its punishing four-day air campaign on Hamas targets in Gaza to see if Palestinian militants will stop their rocket attacks on southern Israel, Israeli officials said Tuesday. Any offer would be coupled with a threat to send in ground troops if the rocket fire continues.Prime Minister Ehud Olmert discussed the proposal — floated by France's foreign minister — and other possible next steps with his foreign and defense ministers, Israeli officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to make the information public.President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called leaders in the Middle East to press for a durable solution beyond any immediate truce.And members of the Quartet of world powers trying to promote Mideast peace concluded a conference call with an appeal for an immediate cease-fire. The Quartet powers are the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.The European Union itself late Tuesday also urged an immediate truce and for Israel to reopen borders to allow vital supplies to reach Gazans. The Paris statement by the 27-member bloc avoided blaming either side for the current fighting.In its Tuesday night meeting, Israel's leadership trio stepped up preparations for a ground offensive, conducting a telephone survey among Cabinet ministers on a plan to call up an additional 2,500 reserve soldiers, if required. Earlier this week, the Cabinet authorized a callup of 6,700 soldiers.After the four-hour meeting, Olmert's office issued a statement early Wednesday saying no details of the discussion would be made public because of the sensitivity of the subject matter.But Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release information on the meeting, said the leaders wanted Hamas to agree to stop the rocket fire before Israel considers a truce.And even amid talk of a truce, Israeli warplanes continued to unload bombs on targets in Gaza. Powerful airstrikes caused Gaza City's high-rise apartment buildings to sway and showered streets with broken glass and pulverized concrete. Israel's ground forces on Gaza's border also used artillery for the first time.Hamas kept up its rocket barrages, which have killed four Israelis since the weekend, and sent many more in running for bomb shelters — some of them in cities under threat of attack for the first time, as the range of the rockets grows.
A medium-range rocket hit the city of Beersheba for the first time ever, zooming 28 miles deep into Israel and slamming into an empty kindergarten. A second rocket landed in an open area near the desert city, Israel's fifth-largest. The military said later it successfully struck the group that launched those rockets.A pattern of daytime lulls and nighttime spikes in rocket fire appeared to be emerging as militants found safer launch cover in darkness.Four days into a campaign that has killed 374 Palestinians and prompted Arab and international condemnation, a diplomatic push to end the fighting gathered pace.In two phone calls to Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday and Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner appealed to him to consider a truce to allow time for humanitarian relief supplies to enter the beleaguered Gaza Strip, two senior officials in Barak's office said.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was expected to travel Thursday to Paris for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has put his growing international stature to use in other conflict zones, most recently to help halt fighting between Russia and Georgia in August.Israeli media reported that Sarkozy would also travel to Jerusalem Monday for talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.A Hamas spokesman said any halt to militant rocket and mortar fire would require an end to Israel's crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip. If they halt the aggression and the blockade, then Hamas will study these suggestions,said Mushir Masri.Any cease-fire between Israel and Hamas would face questions about its long-term viability. In the past, Hamas has been unable or unwilling to rein in all the militants, some of which belong to different factions. Israel has angered the Palestinians by continuing to target its leaders and by maintaining a blockade of the Gaza Strip. It's certainly difficult for Hamas because, having witnessed the losses that they have just suffered on large scale, their credibility is on the line and they're not going to easily agree to a cease-fire that goes back to the conditions that prevailed before, after all these losses, said Shibley Telhami, professor of political science at the University of Maryland and senior fellow at the Brookings Institute. So, we're likely to see more bloodshed, and I think that is where we are in a way, events on the ground are going to dictate.Israel's military, meanwhile, pressed on, sending warplanes to strike a Gaza government complex that includes the ministries of interior, foreign affairs and justice. Bombs ripped the tops and sides from buildings that had already been evacuated and left fires blazing in upper floors. It was the largest government target hit so far and involved the largest number of bombs dropped in a single strike — at least 16 in all. The airstrikes have sent the people of densely populated Gaza on a zigzagging desperate search for safer ground — hard to find with no way out of the blockaded territory. I don't know what's safe anymore, said university student Rasha Khaldeh of Gaza City. She fled her home, fearing Israel would target her Hamas neighbors, then had to leave her uncle's house because of nearby shelling. She listens intently for the approach of pilotless Israeli drones.
After nightfall, Israel destroyed 40 tunnels under the sealed Gaza-Egypt border in another attempt to cut the vital lifeline that supplies Gaza with both commercial goods and weapons for Hamas and other militant groups. Israel kept up the attack on the tunnels early Wednesday, as other aircraft hit Hamas positions in Gaza City.
Israel's military said it hit 31 targets on Tuesday, including a Cabinet building, rocket-launching sites, and places were missiles were being built. Some of the hits on sites with weapons stockpiles triggered secondary explosions. The question still hanging over the Israeli operation is how it can halt rocket fire. Israel has never found a military solution to the barrage of missiles. The Iron Dome, a system to guard against short-range missiles, will take years to build. Beyond delivering Hamas a deep blow and protecting border communities, the assault's broader objectives remained cloudy. Israeli President Shimon Peres acknowledged the challenge, saying the operation was unavoidable but more difficult than many people anticipated. War against terrorists is harder in some aspects than fighting armies, Peres said. Hamas also said it would take more to cripple it. A spokesman for Hamas' military wing, Abu Obeida, said the group remained strong, and he vowed to fight on as long as Israel continues its airstrikes. He noted that even while under heavy airstrikes, militants had fired rockets that reached Israeli towns farther from Gaza than ever. Rockets will be on your daily agenda, he said in a message to Israelis.
And if there's a ground invasion, he promised worse: If you enter Gaza, the children will collect your flesh and the remains of your tanks which will be spread out through the streets.The offensive came shortly after a rocky, six-month truce expired. Emad Falluji, a former Hamas leader working at a Gaza-based think tank, said he believes Hamas had wanted to renew the truce but felt humiliated by Israel's decision to maintain a tight blockade on Gaza. Israel didn't want to give Hamas anything in return for the cease-fire, which was effectively free, he said. Egypt, which has been blockading Gaza from its southern end, has come under pressure from the rest of the Arab world to reopen its border with the territory because of the Israeli campaign. Egypt has pried open the border to let in some of Gaza's wounded and to allow some humanitarian supplies into the territory. But it quickly sealed the border when Gazans tried to push through forcefully. In a televised speech Tuesday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak responded to critics, including the leader of the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, who have accused him of collaborating with Israel. We tell anybody who seeks political profits on the account of the Palestinian people: The Palestinian blood is not cheap, he said, describing such comments as exploiting the blood of the Palestinians.Mubarak said his country would not throw open the border crossing unless Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas — a Hamas rival — regains control of the border post. Mubarak has been rattled by the presence of a neighboring Islamic ministate in Gaza, fearing it would fuel more Islamic dissidence in Egypt. Most of the Palestinians killed since Saturday were members of Hamas security forces but the number included at least 64 civilians, according to U.N. figures. Among those killed were two sisters, Haya and Lama Hamdan, ages 4 and 12, who died in an airstrike on a rocket squad in northern Gaza on Tuesday. Throughout the offensive, Israel's military has released video taken by hovering drone aircraft showing its missiles and bombs hurtling into Gaza targets, including one on Tuesday that sent about a half-dozen bombs simultaneously into a smuggling tunnel under the Gaza-Egypt border. During brief lulls between airstrikes, Gazans tentatively ventured into the streets to buy goods and collect belongings from homes they had abandoned after Israel's aerial onslaught began Saturday. The campaign has brought a new reality to southern Israel, too, where one-tenth of the country's population of 7 million has suddenly found itself within rocket range.
It's very scary, said Yaacov Pardida, a 55-year-old resident of Ashdod, southern Israel's largest city, which was hit Monday. I never imagined that this could happen, that they could reach us here.Barzak reported from Gaza City, Keyser from Jerusalem.
Israel posts video of Gaza air strikes on YouTube DEC 30,08
WASHINGTON, (AFP) – The Israeli military has launched its own channel on video-sharing website YouTube, posting footage of air strikes and other attacks on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.The spokesman's office of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it created the channel -- youtube.com/user/idfnadesk -- on Monday to help us bring our message to the world.The channel currently has more than 2,600 subscribers and hosts 10 videos, some of which have been viewed more than 26,000 times.The black-and-white videos include aerial footage of Israeli Air Force attacks on what are described as rocket launching sites, weapons storage facilities, a Hamas government complex and smuggling tunnels.One video shows what is described as a Hamas patrol boat being destroyed by a rocket fired from an Israeli naval vessel.
The IDF spokesman's office said that some of the videos it had posted to the channel had been removed by YouTube but were later reinstated.We were saddened earlier today that YouTube took down some of our exclusive footage showing the IDF's operational success in operation Cast Lead against Hamas extremists in the Gaza Strip, the IDF spokesman's office said.Fortunately, due to blogger and viewer support, YouTube has returned some of the footage they removed, it added.YouTube, as a matter of policy, does not comment on individual videos.Four days of intensive Israeli bombardment have killed several senior Hamas officials and reduced much of the Islamist movement's infrastructure in Gaza to rubble, but have failed to stop rocket fire into Israel.Since the massive aerial attack was unleashed on Saturday, at least 373 Palestinians, including 39 children, have been killed and 1,720 wounded, according to Gaza medics.Palestinian militants have also fired more than 250 rockets and mortar shells, killing four people inside Israel and wounding around two dozen more.
Hundreds in Mich., NYC protest strikes on Gaza By BEN LEUBSDORF, Associated Press Writer DEC 30,08
DEARBORN, Mich. – Close to 1,000 Arab-Americans and others marched through the Detroit suburb of Dearborn on Tuesday evening, waving Palestinian flags and shouting slogans to protest Israeli military strikes against the Gaza Strip.Protesters braving 30-degree weather filled eight blocks of a major thoroughfare in Dearborn, widely seen as the heart of Arab America. Hundreds more gathered in New York City and Los Angeles outside the Israeli consulate, with rallies also reported in two cities in Florida.Since Saturday, 374 Palestinians have died in the Israeli air onslaught against Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers. Most of the dead were members of Hamas security forces but the United Nations says at least 64 civilians have been killed.The offensive came shortly after a rocky six-month truce expired. Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets and mortars at Israel before and during the Israeli offensive.Marchers in Dearborn waved flags and carried signs condemning Israel and showing pictures of casualties of the fighting. One group of protesters carried a mock coffin decorated with pictures of dead and injured children and labeled U.S. Tax Dollars at Work and Victims of Zionism.Some marchers chanted in English, Gaza, Gaza don't cry, Palestine will never die and Israel is a terrorist state.Others chanted, in Arabic, God is Great and a martyr is beloved of God.One protester carried a sign saying Dearborn, take your shoes off! a reference to the action of an Iraqi protester who threw shoes at President George W. Bush during his recent visit to Iraq.Southeastern Michigan is home to around 300,000 people with roots in the Arab world, the result of more than a century of immigration.About 50 people gathered Tuesday on the University of Michigan-Flint campus to protest the Israeli attacks, The Flint Journal reported.The Tampa Tribune reported that University of South Florida sophomore Jehad Saleh, 19, started a group on social networking site Facebook on Sunday, encouraging Palestinian supporters to gather for the protest.
Demonstrators lined a Tampa highway Tuesday, waving Palestinian and American flags and yelling through megaphones.I've had cousins in the Gaza Strip who died, Saleh told the newspaper. If their voice can't be heard, mine will.Further south in Fort Lauderdale, at least 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators and a smaller group of pro-Israel protesters lobbed charges at each other Tuesday evening at an intersection, according to the Miami Herald.Palestinian supporters yelled: You kill our children!
No! You kill your own children! Israel supporters responded.Outside the Israeli consulates in Manhattan and Los Angeles, protesters Tuesday waved Palestinian flags and chanted Free Palestine.New York demonstrator Dalia Mahmoud said she was shocked at Israel's actions and that it was punishing an entire population for the actions of a few.Police barricades separated the protesters from a smaller pro-Israel rally across the street, where one demonstrator carried a sign reading Israel must defend itself.A few miles south at City Hall, Israeli Consul General Asaf Shariv met with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, displaying for reporters an exploded rocket that killed an Israeli woman out for a walk. We are obligated to defend our people, and that is what we are doing, Shariv said. Bloomberg voiced his support. I can only think what would happen in this country if somebody was lobbing missiles onto our shores or across the border, he said. On Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening, one pro-Israel sign read, Hamas, stop using children as human shields. A Palestinian supporter's sign declared, End the siege, end the bloodshed.The Dearborn protest was organized by the Congress of Arab American Organizations. Group spokesman Osama Siblani, who is also publisher of the Arab American News, said it was the first in a series of actions being planned in response to the Gaza fighting, including a candlelight vigil for peace and a petition calling for a cease-fire. There is disappointment and anger in our community and we need to express it toward the current U.S. administration that has given a blank check to the Israelis, Siblani said. A memorial service for victims of the fighting scheduled for Tuesday was delayed because the reception hall could not fit all the protesters.
Iranians raid British diplomatic compound in Gaza protest DEC 30,08
TEHRAN (AFP) – A group of Iranian demonstrators stormed the British diplomatic compound in Tehran to protest London's stance towards the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, state news agency IRNA reported.A large group of people and students entered the Gholhak gardens, which are occupied by the British embassy to protest at Britain's policies in supporting the Zionist regime and put up the Palestinian flag there, IRNA said Tuesday.A media officer at the British embassy in Tehran confirmed the report adding that diplomatic police had driven the demonstrators out.We do confirm the raid on our premises. We are in contact with Islamic republic authorities to resolve the matter, Mitra Behnam told AFP.Gholhak gardens, a sprawling compound in north Tehran, provides accommodation for British diplomats and their families.
Britain has called for an urgent ceasefire by both sides in Gaza , where Israeli warplanes have launched waves of airstrikes against the Islamist Hamas movement since Saturday, killing at least 368 Palestinians, and Hamas militants have been firing volleys of rockets into Israel.Several kilometres (miles) from the British embassy complex in central Tehran, the Gholhak gardens complex also houses the British Council and a school.Islamist students have frequently protested in front of the British embassy, throwing stones and petrol bombs at the building.In Tuesday's protest, demonstrators torched British, US and Israeli flags in front the Gholhak compound before moving towards the Egyptian interest section where they staged another protest and chanted Death to (Egyptian President) Hosni Mubarak, the Fars news agency said.Egypt has come in for strong criticism from Hamas and their sympathisers around the Muslim world for not fully opening its border with Gaza in the face of Israel's devastating four-day-old air blitz.Fresh protests against the Israeli offensive were Tuesday held across Iran, which is a staunch supporter of the Islamist movement and does not recognise its archfoe Israel.Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei decreed on Sunday that anyone who died in the defence of Gaza would be deemed a martyr.
Bush calls Abbas to discuss Gaza By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer – Tue Dec 30, 6:29 pm ET
CRAWFORD, Texas – President George W. Bush and his top advisers conducted an urgent round of telephone diplomacy Tuesday to help end the deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas, but insisted that if any new cease-fire is to work, it must be honored by the Islamic militant group.We want to see an end to the violence for the long term, not just the immediate, White House deputy press secretary Gordon Johndroe said, briefing reporters in Crawford, where Bush is staying at his ranch. We don't want a cease-fire agreement that isn't worth the piece of paper it's written on. We want something that's lasting, and most importantly, respected by Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.Under international pressure, Israel is considering a 48-hour halt to its punishing air campaign on Hamas targets in Gaza to see whether the Palestinian militants will stop their rocket attacks on southern Israel. The United Nations said that during a teleconference Tuesday, the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia appealed for an immediate cease-fire that would be fully respected, and called for the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza to be addressed.Since Saturday, more than 350 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli air onslaught against Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers. The offensive came shortly after a rocky, six-month truce expired. The U.S. blames Hamas for breaking the truce. It says Israel has a right to defend its citizens from the attacks, yet the Arab world has been enraged by the four days of bombings by Israeli warplanes.Despite the bombings, Hamas has kept up its barrage of rockets, which have killed at least four Israelis since the weekend. Many more Israelis have been sent running for bomb shelters — some of them in cities under threat of attack for the first time because the range of Hamas' rockets has grown.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that regional and international partners had not done enough to help end the Israeli-Hamas conflict. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad called Ban's criticism unfair, saying the United States has been very active diplomatically.
From the ranch, where he was clearing brush and relaxing with first lady Laura Bush, Bush had a briefing via a secured video conference with top advisers. He later called moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who help govern the West Bank, but not Gaza. They are rivals of Hamas, a group the U.S. considers a terrorist organization, which in June 2007 seized control of Gaza, a crowded, coastal territory that is home to 1.5 million people.Bush and Abbas agreed that if any new cease-fire agreement is to be effective in the Mideast, it must be respected by Hamas, Johndroe said.He said that Fayyed thanked the United States for an $85 million contribution that it made this week to a special United Nations fund to assist Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. The president is concerned about the citizens of Gaza, but not the Hamas terrorist leaders who are doing this to the people of Gaza, Johndroe said.Bush also called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to thank him for his peacemaking role there. Bush talked on the phone Monday with Jordan's King Abdullah II and took a call on Saturday from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Bush last talked to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before the crisis began.These other governments in the region, such as Egypt, the officials in the Palestinian Authority, Jordanians, others who are in touch with the various Hamas factions, will make it clear that this is in no one's interests — certainly not the Palestinian people, certainly not the people of Gaza, and definitely not the people of the entire Middle East region, Johndroe said. All those governments, as they have been in the past, are committed to assisting with the current situation.
The State Department said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was keeping up steady U.S. calls for a durable and sustainable — but not necessarily immediate — cease-fire to end Israel's assault on Gaza and rocket attacks by Palestinian militants based there. In phone calls with Israeli and Arab leaders, including the Jordanian king as well as other interested regional and international officials, Rice pressed for a durable solution to the fighting that is not used by Hamas to launch more rockets into Israel, spokesman Gordon Duguid said.Rice called King Abdullah on Tuesday. On Monday, she spoke to Olmert and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as well as the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington, Edith Lederer at the United Nations and Ibrahim Barzak and Jason Keyser in Gaza City, contributed to this report.
US, UN, EU and Russia urge immediate Gaza truce By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer – Tue Dec 30, 5:49 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS – Key world powers trying to promote Mideast peace urged Israel and Hamas on Tuesday to immediately stop fighting in Gaza and southern Israel, the United Nations announced as international efforts to calm the conflict picked up pace.The Quartet of Mideast peacemakers — the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia — appealed for an immediate cease-fire that would be fully respected, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.The statement came four days after Israeli warplanes started bombing in Gaza, targeting Hamas-related installations and homes in an attempt to force a halt to militant rocket attacks on towns in southern Israel.The Quartet also called on all parties to address the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza and to take necessary measures to ensure the continuous provision of humanitarian supplies, Okabe said.They agreed on the urgent need for Israelis and Palestinians to continue on the road to peace, she said.U.N. officials said Quartet members were following up individually with Israel and the other parties.Robert Serry, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, canceled a video news conference from Jerusalem with reporters at U.N. headquarters to pursue the issue. French President Nicolas Sarkozy planned to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday.Israeli officials said earlier Tuesday that Israel was considering a 48-hour suspension of its punishing air campaign to see if Palestinian militants would stop rocket attacks.Okabe said the Quartet's appeal was agreed on during a teleconference involving U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the EU presidency, and the group's Mideast envoy, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Earlier Tuesday in Paris, Kouchner, who spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, said an immediate cease-fire was needed to allow aid and medical help into Gaza and to evacuate wounded.What do we want? We want, and there are no differences, a cease-fire, that it be permanent, that it be respected, Kouchner said on TF1 television.Hours later, EU foreign ministers holding an emergency meeting in Paris to discuss the Gaza crisis endorsed a call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire. Food, medical aid and fuel also should be allowed into Gaza, their statement said.The 27-member bloc said the peace process must be stepped up. There is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in Gaza or elsewhere, it said, in the statement's sole allusion to the Israeli offensive.The carefully worded statement also did not level any blame for the conflict, referring instead to tragic events in Israel and Gaza.Ban had complained to reporters Monday that regional and international partners were not doing enough to help end the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
They should do more, he said. They should use all possible means to end the violence and encourage political dialogue, emphasizing peaceful ways of resolving differences.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to the U.N., called Ban's criticism unfair. He said the United States had been very active diplomatically. Rice, for one, had been on the phone with the Israelis, the Palestinians, the Europeans, the Russians and others, he said.Everyone is of the view that two things are important — an end to violence, a cease-fire, an enduring cease-fire, and two ... the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians in Gaza, Khalilzad told The Associated Press.
Khalilzad stressed that a cease-fire must deal not only with what we're seeing now, of course, but also what has caused it, which from our point of view is the sequencing — it is the rockets, it's the smuggling of arms by Hamas and the other (Palestinian militant) groups.Rice has called for a durable and sustainable cease-fire, with stronger provisions than the rocky six-month truce between Hamas and Israel that expired earlier this month after Hamas refused to extend it. Critics of Israel's bombing campaign called it a disproportionate reaction to Hamas' rocket attacks and feared Israel would transform the aerial assault into a ground offensive like its 2006 war with the Iranian-backed militants of Hezbollah in Lebanon. The concerns were highlighted by Ban's complaint about the slowness of major nations to push for a halt to the fighting. Rosemary Hollis, a Middle East expert at the City University of London, said the slow response from the West might be based on the hope that the Israelis would be able to deal a critical blow to Hamas before a cease-fire was put in place. There is a perception that what they have called the bad guys — Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas — are getting stronger, so leave it to the Israelis to blunt their hubris and show that victory is not theirs, Hollis said.
Francois Heisbourg of the French government-backed Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris, said such views put Western governments in a difficult position. It's a very tricky one ..., he said. Condemning an operation against a terrorist organization has some complications.Germany, for one, firmly pinned the blame for the conflict on Hamas, which seized power in Gaza and rules in defiance of the moderate Palestinian Authority, headquartered in the West Bank. Associated Press writer Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed to this report.
Anxiety, satisfaction in Israel over Gaza assault By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer – Tue Dec 30, 4:21 pm ET
SDEROT, Israel – This working-class border town has been pounded with several thousand missiles fired out of Gaza since 2001. Now anxiety is mixed with satisfaction that Israel's military is finally getting even with its tormentors.It's about time, said Victor Turjeman, a 33-year-old electrician. We've been waiting for this for eight years.In that time, rockets have killed eight people here, injured hundreds more and made daily life unbearable.Turjeman said his four children have been traumatized by the near daily attacks, his home has been damaged and his brother had a heart attack after a rocket exploded nearby. He fears escalation, but said he was pleased that the militant group Hamas was finally being punished.We should keep pounding them until they beg for mercy, he said. As far as I'm concerned, all of Gaza can be erased.Israeli warplanes have struck furiously at Hamas positions in Gaza since Saturday, killing about 380 people, according to Palestinian health officials.Elsewhere in southern Israel, however, people were increasingly fearful, and many followed army instructions to begin preparing bomb shelters. Four Israelis were killed by rockets since the Israeli offensive began, some in attacks that struck farther into Israel than ever before.In Beersheba, the largest city in southern Israel, streets and malls were alive with movement, even after the Israeli military extended its rocket warning system to include the city Monday.Ortal Levy, a 30-year-old mother of two, said she had never even entertained the idea that her bustling city could be within rocket range. Now she was preparing her bomb shelter.
Outside the central bus station, Mazal Ivgi, 62, said she couldn't believe their city, 28 miles from Gaza, would be hit.When the first 'boom' comes, we'll have to get used to a new situation, she said.That first attack on Beersheba came Tuesday. One long-range rocket hit it an open area outside the city, and the mayor told Israel television that a second missile struck an empty kindergarten.Unlike the new targets of Gaza's militants, the residents of Sderot are well versed with life under fire. Sderot Mayor David Buskila said his 24,000 citizens were still scared but mostly overjoyed that something was being done to strike at Hamas.We felt abandoned for so long, that our despair was ignored. We felt like we weren't even a part of Israel, he said. Now we feel like the army is actively protecting us.Israel Katz, a social psychologist at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said the reaction in Sderot was a natural one.Fear and rage are often intertwined, he said. These are people who feel vulnerable and all of a sudden they feel empowered. It's the same kind of satisfaction that a child who has been picked on gets when he hits back.In Ashkelon, a city of 120,000 people 11 miles north of Gaza, the reality that Sderot has faced for years began to sink in after a missile crashed into a construction site Monday, killing one worker and wounding several others.It was the first rocket death ever in the city. Looking at the damaged site later, Yitzhak Daboosh shook his head in disbelief. The 58-year-old father of two has spent his entire life in Ashkelon, and he said he now fears for his family's safety. These missiles have no address. Only God is watching over us now, he said. We've been through a lot of things here, a lot of wars. But something like this? Never.
Activists urge Obama to rethink US role in Mideast By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer – Tue Dec 30, 3:53 pm ET
KAILUA, Hawaii – A handful of pro-Palestinian activists protested outside President-elect Barack Obama's vacation home on Tuesday and urged a new approach to the Middle East. Obama did not acknowledge them.Eight activists marched with signs to the edge of the property's security perimeter, telling reporters that they want the incoming administration to take a fresh look at the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories, especially given the current fighting in the Gaza Strip. They also said Obama needs to take a more active role in the conflict, even though he doesn't take office until Jan. 20.We feel there's a great need for change. We need to stop giving Israel a blank check to do what it's doing, said Margaret Brown, a 66-year-old Honolulu resident who held a handmade sign that read Yes we can change U.S. policy toward Israel and Palestine.We just gave them a blank check to oppress the Palestinians, and this is the result, she said.Obama's motorcade rolled past the protesters as it headed on a morning trip to Punahou School, his former high school where the president-elect was playing basketball. Aides said he was playing basketball with friends.Israel continued its air attacks on Gaza on Tuesday and warned that a ground invasion could follow if rocket launches didn't stop. The United States has called for the militant group Hamas to stop launching rockets into Israel.Gazans need food, medicine, not war, read one sign carried by an activist to the Obama vacation retreat. Free Palestine, read another. A third: No U.S. support for Israel.Brown said politicians need to speak what they believe, not what is expedient.It's political suicide to challenge Israel in this country, she said.
Obama has declined to inject himself publicly into the situation, although during the campaign he spoke in strong support of Israel's right to defend itself from Palestinian attacks. His aides say he has been in touch with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and has received regular national security briefings.What you don't say says a lot about your priorities, said Pete Shimazaki Doktor, a Honolulu resident who served as a medic during the first Gulf War and now teaches at a public school.Doktor said he studied history after leaving the Army and came to believe the U.S. policy was misguided. He said Obama's top advisers give him pause.His Cabinet has been a message of continuity. There's no change there, said 40-year-old Doktor, who didn't support Obama but liked candidates Reps. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and Ron Paul, R-Texas.He said he had concerns about future U.S. military engagement in that region.I realized that as a soldier, said Doktor, wearing a Vets for Peace T-shirt, I had been used.Obama and his family are near the end of a 12-day vacation in his native Hawaii. He has maintained no public schedule, has sought to keep low-key and had his aides guard his privacy. Since arriving on the island of Oahu on Dec. 20, Obama has limited his travel mostly to trips to the gym, golf course and dinner with friends.Obama, wife Michelle and their two young daughters are scheduled to return to Chicago on Thursday.
Egypt rejects calls to open border with war-battered Gaza by Mona Salem Mona Salem – Tue Dec 30, 2:10 pm ET
CAIRO (AFP) – President Hosni Mubarak Tuesday ruled out reopening Egypt's border with war-battered Gaza until representatives of the Palestinian Authority and EU observers are deployed at the crossing point.Mubarak also hit back at critics of Cairo's response to the Israeli offensive, accusing them of playing politics with Palestinian suffering.We in Egypt are not going to contribute to perpetuating the rift (between the Palestinian Authority of Mahmud Abbas and Gaza's Hamas rulers) by opening the Rafah crossing in the absence of the Palestinian Authority and EU observers in violation of the 2005 deal, Mubarak said in a televised speech.He was referring to an international agreement which Abbas signed with Israel when it withdrew its troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005.The deal provided for EU observers to monitor the border and operate surveillance cameras to allow Israel to keep an eye on comings and goings.It fell into abeyance when Hamas ousted forces loyal to Abbas from the gaza Strip in June last year.Egypt has come in for strong criticism from the Islamists and their sympathisers around the Muslim world for not fully opening the border in the face of Israel's devastating four-day-old air blitz.
It has allowed a handful of wounded Gazans to leave for treatment and allowed some medical supplies in.But on Sunday Egyptian police fired warning shots in the air to prevent large numbers of civilians fleeing Gaza.Mubarak held talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni just two days before the start of the offensive, sparking charges of collusion that have seen Egyptian diplomatic missions attacked in both Beirut and the Yemeni port city of Aden.Mubarak insisted that he was totally opposed to the Israeli operation.We say to Israel that we reject and condemn its assaults which must cease immediately, he said in the speech broadcast on state television.We say to the (Israeli) leaders: you carry the responsibility for your barbarian aggression against the Palestinians, whatever pretext you use as justification. And we say to them: your bloodstained hands provoke feelings of intense anger, Mubarak said.He added: We say to our Palestinian brothers: restore your unity. We warned you several times that any refusal to renew the truce would push Israel to attack Gaza.He was referring to a six-month truce between Israel and Hamas which Egypt brokered and which expired on December 19.Mubarak hit out at Arab politicians such as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who have slammed his government's stance and called on the Egyptian people to take to the streets to change it.We say to those who are trying to make political capital out of the plight of the Palestinian people that Palestinian blood has a price, he said.We say loud and clear that Egypt is above such pettinesses and will not allow anyone to extend their influence over its affairs.Lebanon, meanwhile, has tightened security around the Egyptian embassy in Beirut. The roads leading to the building have been blocked and the area surrounded by cement blocks and barbed wire. A security official told AFP on condition of anonymity the measures were preventative in case of future protests in the area.
Gaza dominates Gulf leaders summit By SAEED EL-NAHDY and TAREK EL-TABLAWY, Associated Press Writers – Tue Dec 30, 11:46 am ET
MUSCAT, Oman – Gulf Arab leaders wrapping up a two-day summit on Tuesday, strongly condemning Israel's attacks on Gaza and endorsing an agreement to set up a long-sought after monetary union that would go into effect before the end of 2009.In a summit ostensibly aimed at discussing a unified monetary pact that would pave the way for a single currency, leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council devoted much of their time to the Israeli air strikes on Hamas-ruled Gaza. The attacks have left more than 360 Palestinians dead and sparked outrage throughout the Middle East.Gulf leaders were determined to exit the meeting with unified stance about the attacks, and their final statement reflected the widespread anger in the region.The statement condemned Israel's unjustified aggression and its inhumane practices against the Palestinians in Gaza and held Israel responsible for the recent escalation.The 22-nation Arab League was expected to hold an extraordinary meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, and GCC officials looked to unify their stance going into that meeting. But rifts had emerged about the need for a follow-up Arab summit in Qatar on Friday on the presidential level, with some Gulf states supporting it while Arab powerhouse Saudi Arabia arguing that a summit of statements was a futile gesture.
Oman's Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah told reporters the GCC nations are committed to the Arab peace initiative, referring to the Saudi Arabian plan that calls on Israel to return land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war in exchange for normal relations with Arabs.He said council members also urged rival Palestinian factions to end their fighting and agree on a peaceful settlement with Israel that would enable them to create an independent state of their own.The statement also said the monetary pact, which includes a unified monitory council and a central bank, will speed up their economic integration efforts. The monetary union is a crucial step toward their ultimate goal of setting up a single currency by 2010 — a date which many analysts had viewed with skepticism.GCC leaders stressed the need to tackle and overcome barriers to the implementation of their economic integration plan by the end of December 2009, the statement said.Kuwaiti Finance Minister Mostafa al-Shimali, earlier Tuesday, was quoted by the Kuwait News Agency as saying that while an agreement on the monetary union had been reached, with implementation no later than the following December, the unified currency is considered a next stage and has its own timetable.Summit host Oman has repeatedly said it will not join in the unified currency, saying the step was not necessary at this time and required greater planning.GCC leaders also discussed a range of other issues, from Iran's nuclear program to India-Pakistan relations. The meeting was also aimed at helping the countries craft plans for combating the impact of the global financial meltdown.Oman's ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, during his opening comments Monday night, called for cooperation between all nations to overcome the impact of the international financial crisis.He also stressed the necessity to balance the needs of oil producers and consumers, saying such cooperation should be based on stable prices that will not burden the consumers, does not harm the producers and (helps them) maintain their economic development.Gulf nations have been hit hard by the roughly 70 percent slide in oil prices from their mid-July highs of $150 per barrel. Many of the countries rely on crude sales for as much as 90 percent of their foreign revenue.El-Tablawy reported from Cairo, Egypt.
Libya orders oil cuts of 270K bpd By TAREK EL-TABLAWY and KHALED EL-DEEB, Associated Press Writers DEC 30,08
TRIPOLI, Libya – Libya has asked oil companies to slash production by 270,000 barrels per day from Jan. 1, the latest such reduction by an OPEC member as the producer group struggles to boost faltering oil prices.The announcement Tuesday by the head of the National Oil company came as the 13-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries appears to have stepped up compliance with a series of production cuts over the past three months. The group is trying to halt a nearly 70 percent plunge in crude prices since mid-July highs of nearly $150 per barrel.
Shukri Ghanem, Libya's oil chief, told The Associated Press the country would cut almost 20,000 more than the 252,000 barrel per day reduction it was committed to under the group's quota system. The cuts, effective Jan. 1, would be from September levels.The corporation has asked oil companies (in Libya) to cut output by 270,000 barrels per day, which is more than Libya is required to do under the OPEC-brokered agreement in Oran, Algeria, Ghanem said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.This is a positive step for boosting oil prices, and I believe that all the (OPEC) countries will abide with the agreement, Ghanem said.In its Dec. 17 meeting in Algeria, the group agreed to slash output by a further 2.2 million barrels per day from January 2009, bringing its total cuts since September to 4.2 million barrels per day. OPEC produces over 40 percent of the world's crude.The group has implemented two solid cuts in the last three months. A 1.5 million barrel per day reduction in October failed to halt the slide in crude prices, as did the record reduction in Algeria that was to take effect from Jan. 1. In September, it had implemented so-called paper cuts of 500,000 barrels per day, mainly aimed at ensuring output compliance.
It's been pretty good. I was surprised, said Conrad Gerber, head of the Geneva, Switzerland-based oil tanker-tracker firm Petro-Logistics SA. But I think they're living in desperate times and, for once, they're doing what they intended to do. The 1.5 million cut, plus the 500,000 barrel per day cut agreed to in September, seems to have been achieved.Despite its history of cheating on quotas, analysts say the group appears to be making a sincere bid to curb production as it struggles to engineer a rebound in crude prices.The United Arab Emirates, OPEC's fourth largest producer, was the first to indicate its compliance with production cuts last week.
The Gulf nation's Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. told customers in letters dated Dec. 25 that it was cutting its main Murban crude allocation by 15 percent and Upper Zakum crude allowance by 3 percent in January in accordance with the OPEC cutbacks.The letters, also provided to The AP, outlined cuts of 10 to 15 percent of all types of ADNOC crude in February.On Saturday, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said the South American nation would suspend crude production by Italy's Agip and reduce quotas for other companies to comply with new OPEC cuts. Agip produces 28,000 barrels of oil a day from Ecuador's Amazon jungle.It seems that we are being fed each day with another OPEC country sending out a PR piece about how they are enforcing the cuts, observed analyst Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix in Switzerland.The push to comply with the December decision reflects efforts by the group to put a floor under the plummeting prices, and bring them more in line with the $75 per barrel figure that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah indicated would be fair for both consumers and producers.Libya's cut is the latest such effort.Under the October cut, which was to be fully implemented by December, Libya's quota was 1.62 million barrels per day, said Gerber, adding that the group had been working hard to limit their output.According to Gerber's figures — which come from carefully monitoring tanker shipments and do not include oil in storage — OPEC had already cut output by 1.56 million barrels per day by the end of November, and has slashed another 320,000 barrels per day in December.
Many officials at the Vienna-based organization were unavailable for comment because of the New Year holiday. The OPEC 11 — minus Indonesia and Iraq, which are not bound by quotas — are currently producing 27.1 million barrels per day, he said, about 200,000 barrels per day below the target they set in their October meeting in Vienna. Iraq's oil minister, meanwhile, said Monday that the war-ravaged country averaged exports of about 1.85 million barrels per day in December, nearly 90,000 barrels a day more than the previous month. So far, the brunt of the cuts have been borne by OPEC heavy hitters Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. Gerber said that the current level is at least partly linked to the inability of some other members like Venezuela and Nigeria to even meet their allocations. Saudi output was down about 1 million barrels between October and December, he said, and the kingdom — the only OPEC member with significant spare production capacity — was expected to cut another 300,000 barrels per day in December, bringing it down to 8.2 million barrels a day, he said. Gerber said Venezuela's production is closer to 2.3 million barrels per day, well below the 3.1 million barrels the country says it is producing. Similarly, Nigeria was producing about 100,000 barrels per day under its 2.05 million barrel target, he said, noting that this was linked to political instability and rebel attacks in the African country that have repeatedly undercut production efforts.
Venezuela and Iran are known as the price hawks in the group, and are traditionally the least likely to comply with output cuts as they depend heavily on oil revenue. Venezuela also needs high oil prices for its heavier oil projects to be economically feasible, analysts say. Saudi Arabia has really come down heavily, said Gerber. It remains to be seen where they go from there. They've got to be convinced, first, that everybody else is going along. They've seen this before — where they've done the cutting and others have done the cheating.AP Business Writers Tarek El-Tablawy in Cairo, Egypt, and Adam Schreck in Dubai, UAE, contributed to this report.
Lavrov, Rice discuss Gaza ceasefire: Russian ministry Tue Dec 30, 8:46 am ET
MOSCOW (AFP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US counterpart Condoleezza Rice both stressed the need for an end to the conflict in Gaza in a phone conversation, Russia's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.The sides called for an immediate stop to violence and a resumption of the state of calm, the ministry said following the phone conversation, which took place on Monday.The two exchanged views on coordinating efforts to facilitate the end of violent confrontation and creating conditions to continue negotiations, the ministry said.The phone conversation came before representatives of the diplomatic Quartet for Middle East peace, comprising the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations were expected to hold a conference call on the crisis in Gaza on Tuesday.
Iranian group recruits volunteers to fight Israel By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer - Mon Dec 29, 4:23 pm ET
TEHRAN, Iran – A group of influential conservative Iranian clerics launched an online registration drive on Monday seeking volunteers to fight against Israel in response to its air assault on the Gaza Strip. About 3,550 people registered Monday with the Combatant Clergy Society's Web site. The weeklong online campaign gives volunteers three options on ways they can fight Israel: military, financial and propaganda.The group, which has considerable political and economic power in Iran, did not provide further details on the program including how it would contact the volunteers or implement the program.The conservative clerics decided to sign up volunteers after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious decree on Sunday that said anyone killed while defending Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip against Israeli attacks would be considered a martyr.Khamenei's religious decree was not considered a government decision and did not oblige the government to launch attacks against Israel.But Iran considers Israel its archenemy, and its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of the Jewish state. Iran also is Hamas' main backer, though Tehran denies sending weapons to the Islamic militant group that took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have sparked outrage in Iran and throughout the rest of the Muslim world. About 300 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded since the air assault began Saturday. Israel says it launched its campaign in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns.
Also Monday, the Iranian Red Crescent sent a ship carrying 2,000 tons of food to Palestinians living in Gaza to be delivered via Egypt. An Iranian military plane also landed at Cairo International Airport carrying 24 tons of food and medicine destined for Gaza.The head of Iran's Red Crescent, Masoud Khatami, said three more ships were waiting to be loaded with humanitarian aid, and Iranian hospitals were ready to receive injured Gazans, according to the official Iran news agency, IRNA.On the Web:http://www.rohaniatmobarez.com
US backs Israel but strives for durable Gaza ceasefire by Olivier Knox Olivier Knox –Mon Dec 29, 3:27 pm ET
CRAWFORD, Texas (AFP) – Rebuffing Arab appeals, the United States on Monday gave its blessing to Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip but said it was working behind the scenes to forge a durable ceasefire.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was reaching out by telephone to key world leaders and diplomats to find a lasting way to end the violence, which has left at least 345 people dead in Gaza, officials said.
President George W. Bush stayed out of sight on his Texas ranch but discussed the crisis with Jordan's King Abdullah II one day after speaking by telephone with Saudi King Abdullah, the White House said.The president's message to King Abdullah, his overall message, is that we want to see the violence stop, but in a way that leads to a durable and sustainable cessation of violence. We can't have the violence stop now only for it to start up again in the near future, said spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
While both kings reportedly pressed Bush to help stop Israeli aggression in Gaza, widely denounced in the Arab world, Johndroe blamed recent Hamas rocket fire for triggering the bloodshed and defended the Israeli retaliation.The United States understands that Israel needs to take actions to defend itself, he told reporters in Texas. They are taking the steps that they feel are necessary to deal with the terrorist threat.In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable ceasefire, said Johndroe. That is what the United States is working towards.To that end, Rice spoke to UN chief Ban Ki-Moon, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, EU special envoy Javier Solana as well as her French, British, Canadian, Egyptian, Russian, Saudi, Turkish and Israeli counterparts, said US State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid.She had not yet spoken with West Bank based Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, whose forces in the Gaza Strip were ousted by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in June 2007, said Duguid.Johndroe said he was unaware of any attempt by Abbas to reach out to Bush, who has yet to speak publicly on the conflict that erupted after Hamas refused to renew a shaky Egypt-brokered truce when it expired December 19, and fired rockets and mortars at Israeli targets.
Hamas has once again shown its true colors as a terrorist organization that refuses to even recognize Israel's right to exist, said Johndroe, who declined to comment directly on Israeli ground forces massing in a possible prelude to an incursion into Gaza.But he said Israel had made public statements and given private assurances to the United States that they don't want to retake Gaza, that they simply want to protect their people.I can't speak to any potential ground operation, he said. We'll just have to see how this unfolds. Obviously, as I've said we want civilian casualties to be avoided.US president-elect Barack Obama was receiving regular intelligence briefings and has spoken to Rice about the situation, said Johndroe.The spokesman reiterated US worries about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and asked all parties involved to allow food and medical supplies to reach the people there.
Peppered with questions about whether the United States would eventually ask for restraint from its staunch Middle East ally, Johndroe repeated his defense of the Israeli actions as steps to defend their people.Jordan's king urged Bush to help stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza and end the suffering of the Palestinians, a palace statement said, echoing the message from the Saudi monarch as reported by Saudi state news agency SPA.We're obviously very familiar with the Arab position, but I think ultimately they want to see a peaceful end to this that leads to a Palestinian state, said Johndroe.
Brown urges aid breathing space in Gaza Mon Dec 29, 1:34 pm ET
LONDON (AFP) – Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders Monday to let urgent medical aid into Gaza, to provide a humanitarian breathing space amid the fighting, his spokesman said.Brown spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, as Israeli air attacks rocked the Palestinian enclave for a third straight day.We are appalled by the continuing violence in Gaza and reiterate our call to Israel and Hamas for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further loss of innocent life, said a spokesman for the British prime minister.In his discussions today with Prime Minister Olmert and president Abbas, the prime minister has also pressed for full, unimpeded and urgent access for medical teams: a humanitarian breathing space.
Britain was in close contact with the United Nations to assess how best this support can reach those who need it, he added.And he said: There is no military solution to this situation. The prime minister and foreign secretary remain in constant touch with international and regional partners to establish the parameters for a sustainable peace.We must redouble the international effort to ensure that both Israel and Palestine have the land, rights and security to live in peace.
UN chief urges end to unacceptable Gaza violence Mon Dec 29, 1:21 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Monday urged Arab and world leaders to do more to immediately end the unacceptable violence in the Gaza Strip as Israel bombed the region for the third day.Both Israel and Hamas must halt their acts of violence and take all necessary measures to avoid civilian casualties. A ceasefire must be declared immediately, Ban said.The suffering caused to civilian populations as a result of the large-scale violence and destruction that have taken place over the past few days has saddened me profoundly.At least 345 people have been killed since Israel unleashed its bombing campaign on the Strip on Saturday after increased rocket and mortar fire from Gaza on southern Israel.Ban said he was deeply alarmed by the current escalation of violence in and around Gaza. This is unacceptable.I have been repeatedly condemning the rocket attacks against Israel while recognizing Israel's right to defend itself. I have also condemned the excessive use of force by Israel in Gaza, he said.He said he had been in touch with regional and world leaders to underscore the need to restore calm in full.But he chided them saying: I think regional and international partners have not done enough. They should do more.Arab foreign ministers are going to meet soon in emergency session. I urge them to act swiftly and decisively to bring an early end to this impasse.At the same time, other world leaders must also step up efforts to support a longer term resolution of the issue, Ban said.
Israel has made it clear its military offensive was just beginning and vowed it would destroy every building used by the Hamas militants who control the impoverished and overcrowded sliver of coastal land.With Israeli tanks idling just meters (yards) away from Gaza, the army has declared the area a closed military zone -- a move that in the past has often been followed by ground operations.Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who has warned of a possible ground attack, declared Israel was in an all-out war with Hamas and its proxies, but stressed everything would be done to spare civilians.Ban said he had been given a guarantee by the Israeli government that humanitarian supplies and personnel would still be allowed into Gaza.The frightening nature of what is happening on the ground, in particular its effects on children -- who are more than half of the population -- troubles me greatly, he said.I have continuously stressed the need for strict observance of international humanitarian law, Ban said, adding he was also saddened by the deaths and injuries caused to UN personnel on the ground.
