Israel's Netanyahu denies asking MP to meet Syrian Wed Mar 11, 6:07 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu denies he had asked a MP from his hawkish Likud party to meet a Syrian figure, his spokeswoman said on Wednesday.We flatly deny Ayub Kara was sent on our behalf or that he transmitted a message from Netanyahu, Dina Libster told AFP.Ayub Kara, a Druze minority MP, said on Tuesday he had met an important Syrian Allawite leader who expressed interest in holding talks with Israel as Netanyahu's government was expected to be sworn in next week.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a member of the country's minority Allawite community.Likud MP Yuval Steinitz nevertheless said that the Syrian figure was a prominent exiled opponent of Assad's regime who has close ties with many Israeli officials.After a short inquiry, it appears he met my friend Farid Ghadry... he knows dozens of MPs because he visited Israel two years ago... The last thing you can say is that he is somehow connected to Syria's regime, Steinitz told AFP.Israel and Syria were engaged in indirect Turkish-brokered peace talks over several months last year until they were suspended in late December over Israel's war on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Assad says US could mediate Syria-Israel talks Wed Mar 11, 5:05 am ET
TOKYO (AFP) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said his country could hold direct peace talks with Israel if the United States acted as an arbitrator, according to an interview published on Wednesday.Assad also told Japan's Asahi Shimbun that he welcomed US President Barack Obama's new administration and wants to engage in dialogue for regional peace, but he also insisted on the return of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.We need the United States to act as an arbitrator when we move from the current indirect negotiations to direct negotiations (with Israel), he was quoted as saying in an interview with the Japanese-language newspaper.Syria held exploratory contacts with Israel through Turkish mediators last year about resuming peace negotiations that broke off in 2000 over the fate of the strategic Golan plateau.Assad cautioned that possible progress of such talks would depend on the next Israeli administration,the Asahi said.US-Syrian ties were especially tense under former president George W. Bush, who accused Damascus of supporting terrorism, helping Iran and of turning a blind eye to the flow of arms and supplies to insurgents in Iraq.Washington has not yet taken a decision about returning its ambassador to Syria, a senior US envoy said this month after visiting Damascus to mend ties.Assad harshly criticised the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and hit out at Bush for putting pressure on Syria, the Asahi said.But he also stressed his willingness to help work toward regional peace.Changes do not happen overnight, Assad was quoted saying. We must first start dialogue to clarify the shared interest, which is to achieve peace.The administration of Bush did not do that, and it only cared about the benefit of his own country.Assad welcomed the Obama administration's active engagement with Syria through sending envoys and US senators for meetings, the Asahi said.It is important that we first begin dialogue and both take part in resolving problems, he told the newspaper. It is not us who have changed. It is the Americans who have changed.To achieve regional peace, the Syrian president emphasised the importance of including major parties in the peace process, adding that he would work to bring Islamist militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah to the table.
Israel-Lebanon borders stable despite attacks By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer – Tue Mar 10, 10:56 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS – Southern Lebanon and northern Israel have experienced their longest period of stability in many years despite the violations of a 2006 cease-fire during the recent war in Gaza, the U.N.'s special coordinator for Lebanon said Tuesday.The cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah militants continues to hold but much remains to be done to fully implement Security Council resolution 1701 that ended their 34-day conflict, including disarming Hezbollah and all other militias, Michael Williams told reporters after a closed-door briefing to the U.N. Security Council.In a report to the council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the firing of rockets from southern Lebanon toward Israel during the Gaza conflict as serious violations of the cease-fire resolution. The fact that Israel returned fire without prior warning to U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon is also a cause of serious concern,he said.On the positive side, the resolution has continued to ensure a cessation of hostilities between the parties and the longest period of stability that south Lebanon has known in decades, he said.There is a stability on Israel's northern border which it has not known since the 1980s.In other positive developments, Williams said the internal political situation in Lebanon in the run-up to June 7 general elections remains good.
He also cited the establishment of diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Syria, and moves toward reconciliation in the Arab world which I think have an enormously positive effect on the situation on the ground in Lebanon.But Williams said there are many other issues in 1701 where very little progress has been achieved.The resolution reiterates a call for the disarming of all militias in Lebanon, bans arms transfers to any group except the Lebanese armed forces, and urges the Lebanese government to secure its borders to prevent arms smuggling.Williams said the national dialogue in Lebanon under President Michel Suleiman has had enormously beneficial effect on the country in enhancing national stability, but where the question of the disarmament of armed groups is making only slow process.He expressed hope that the government elected in June can move the issue forward.It's difficult to take the weapons out of politics. it needs to be done. it needs to be a Lebanese-led process,Williams said,
Israel bans Palestinian activist from travel By IAN DEITCH, Associated Press Writer – Tue Mar 10, 3:57 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Israel's Supreme Court banned a Palestinian human rights activist Tuesday from traveling to Amsterdam to receive a prize.Shawan Jabarin, the West Bank-based director of Palestinian human rights organization al-Haq, had hoped to travel to the Netherlands on Friday to receive the Geuzenpenning Prize, a human rights prize, on behalf of his group.But spokeswoman Ayelet Filo says the court ruled there was real evidence that he is involved with terror organizations, and therefore he will not be allowed to leave for security concerns.In 1985, Jabarin was convicted by an Israeli court of activity on behalf of the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He served nine months in prison. Israel put him in administrative detention in 1994, charging that he was still active in the PFLP, and has stopped him from traveling several times, according to Israeli documents.Jabarin denied the charges. I have been an activist in Al-Haq since 1987, and I am not an activist for the Popular Front,Jabarin told the Israeli Haaretz daily newspaper last week.Geuzen Resistance Foundation spokeswoman Edith Kwakernaak said Tuesday the organization was shocked and disappointed.Freedom of movement is a human right, too, she said.It's a shame that he can be held prisoner in this way.
Weaken Iran to help Mideast peace: Israel PM designate by Ron Bousso – Tue Mar 10, 2:14 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu believes that weakening Iran is key to ending the Middle East conflict as it would in turn weaken Hamas, a senior aide said on Tuesday.Iran's growing power and intransigence give great advantage to the radical elements among Palestinians and in Lebanon, the aide said, when asked about talks Netanyahu held with outgoing Defence Minister Ehud Barak earlier in the day.Any progress in the Middle East peace talks will require Hamas's weakening which can be achieved only if Iran is seen as weakened, he said.Israel accuses Iran of supplying weapons to both the Islamist rulers of Gaza and Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006.
Netanyahu, a hawkish former premier who heads the right-wing Likud party, said at the meeting, which was also attended by chief of staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi, that he intends to focus his efforts on ending Iran's nuclear programme.Israel, which is widely believed to have the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, suspects that the Iranian programme is cover for a weapons drive but Iran insists it is solely for peaceful purposes.It will be very difficult to stablilise the situation in Lebanon or to hold negotiations with the Palestinians as long as Iran's power is on the rise, the aide quoted Netanyahu as saying.The Likud leader, who is expected to form a narrow right-wing coalition next week, has rejected establishing a Palestinian state and has advocated what he calls an economic peace with the Palestinians.This could lead to tension with the new US administration after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week announced that Washington intends an aggressive pursuit of Middle East peace.While expressing support for international efforts to resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme by diplomatic means, Israel has repeatedly refused to rule out military action to prevent any possibility of Iran developing a bomb.The military option remains on the table because it gives more chance for dialogue that will lead to a compromise with Iran, the aide said.
US President Barack Obama has vowed to engage in dialogue with Iran in an effort to end the nuclear standoff, in a policy break with the administration of George W. Bush which refuse to deal with Tehran without a prior agreement to suspend nuclear enrichment.US intelligence chief Dennis Blair warned on Tuesday that it would be difficult to convince Iran to give up its quest for nuclear technology.Although we do not know whether Iran currently intends to develop nuclear weapons, we assess Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to develop them, said Blair.
Pope to visit Muslim, Jewish sites in Mideast trip By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer – Tue Mar 10, 12:55 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Pope Benedict XVI will show solidarity with Jews and Muslims during his first papal trip to the Holy Land with visits to Jerusalem's Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock, the papal envoy in Jerusalem said Tuesday.Benedict announced this week that he would visit in May. His presence could help ease the sometimes rocky relations between the Vatican and Israel, and between the Vatican and Muslims.It will be his first official visit to the region since he became pope in 2005.Archbishop Antonio Franco, the papal nuncio in Jerusalem, said visits to key Jewish and Muslim holy sites would be on the pope's agenda. The Dome of the Rock is one of Islam's most sacred shrines, and the nearby Western Wall is the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray.The intent of the Holy Father's visit is to express his solidarity and closeness to the people of Israel and Palestine, and through them all the people of this region,Franco said.Benedict will also visit Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, meet with top Palestinian and Israeli leaders and make a stop in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus. The pope will end his visit by celebrating Mass in Galilee — the area in northern Israel where Jesus lived and preached.Franco said the Vatican has asked Israeli authorities to ease movement restrictions on Palestinian Christians from the blockaded Gaza Strip to allow them to attend parts of the pope's visit.The papal envoy said Benedict's tour will be a religious pilgrimage, not a political mission. Still, the visit could help mend strained relations between Israel and the Roman Catholic Church.Ties were rattled recently when Benedict tried to reinstate an excommunicated bishop who denied the Holocaust. Benedict condemned the bishop's remarks, spoke out against anti-Semitism and called off the reinstatement until the bishop satisfies his demands.The controversy came shortly after a senior Vatican Cardinal, Renato Martino, described the Gaza Strip as a big concentration camp during Israel's fierce military assault on the blockaded territory in January. The offensive was meant to halt rocket fire into Israel.
The two sides also disagree over the legacy of the wartime pontiff Pius XII, who some historians say did not do everything in his power to prevent the Holocaust or limit its scope.We are trying to clarify the issues, Franco said.Benedict will also meet the top Muslim official in the Holy Land, Grand Mufti Mohammed Hussein, who will accompany the pope into the Dome of the Rock shrine.Vatican-Muslim ties were strained by a 2006 speech in which Benedict linked Islam to violence. Amid angry reactions from the Muslim world, he expressed regret for any offense caused by his remarks.
Franco said they asked Israeli authorities allow two busloads of Palestinian Christians from Gaza to attend the pope's Mass in Bethlehem.Local Christian officials said they expected at least 40,000 people to attend the Galilee Mass, which will take place on a hilltop outside the northern Israeli city of Nazareth.Palestinian Christians are a tiny, diminishing minority in the Holy Land, their community whittled away by low birthrates and emigration.
Galloway gives cars and cash to Hamas in Gaza Tue Mar 10, 7:06 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Firebrand MP George Galloway on Tuesday donated thousands of dollars and dozens of vehicles to the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip after arriving in an aid convoy.We are giving you now 100 vehicles and all of their contents, and we make no apology for what I am about to say. We are giving them to the elected government of Palestine,Galloway said at a press conference in Gaza City.
Galloway said he personally would be donating three cars and 25,000 pounds to Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya as he dared the West to try to prosecute him for aiding what it considers a terror group.I say now to the British and European governments, if you want to take me to court, I promise you there is no jury in all of Britain who will convict me. They will convict you.Galloway made the announcement at an outdoor conference in the presence of several senior Hamas officials, and his words were greeted by shouts of Allahu Akbar!(God is Great).Israel and Egypt have sealed Gaza off to all but limited humanitarian aid since Hamas seized power in June 2007 after a week of bloody street battles with forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.Despite Hamas' victory in 2006 parliamentary elections, Israel, the European Union and the United States consider the movement a terrorist organisation and have no direct contacts with the group.After arriving in Gaza on Monday, Galloway protested Israel's genocidal aggression against Gaza, referring to a massive 22-day Israeli offensive launched in December that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians.
The military offensive was aimed at halting Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel, which have continued despite a January 18 ceasefire.The convoy set out from London last month but was temporarily halted in Egypt when Cairo learned it was also bearing non-medical aid destined for the impoverished coastal territory's 1.5 million residents.The convoy included 12 ambulances and a fire engine and carried aid worth more than one million pounds.
Israel's Barak rejects joining Netanyahu cabinet Sun Mar 8, 7:44 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli defence minister and Labour party leader Ehud Barak on Sunday said he would not join a government led by Benjamin Netanyahu after the premier-designate reached a deal with an ultra-nationalist party.There is no basis for opening a dialogue on joining Labour party to join a coalition due to the sweeping adoption of the demands of Yisrael Beitenu's chairman Avigdor Lieberman, Barak was quoted as telling Netanyahu.Representatives of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and Lieberman's hardline Yisrael Beitenu party appear to have moved closer to a coalition deal in recent days, in which Lieberman would be named foreign minister.
Barak, in a phone conversation with Netanyahu, said Labour would not enter a coalition in which Lieberman -- who faces a police investigation over corruption suspicions -- would have power in the appointment of the heads of all law enforcement authorities, Barak's office said in a statement.Yisrael Beitenu was to hold several key portfolios in Netanyahu's cabinet, including the justice ministry and will also have a representative in a committee naming judges, according to media reports.
Labour suffered its worst ever showing in the February 10 election, winning just 13 seats in the 120-member parliament and slipping into fourth place after Kadima, Likud and Yisrael Beitenu.Immediately after last month's election defeat Barak indicated that Labour would join the ranks of the opposition, but he has since held several talks with Netanyahu to the great ire of many of his party members.Media reports suggested Barak wants to retain his post as defence minister.
