BROWN AGAINST IRAN - IN ISRAEL

ZAKARIA TRANSCRIPT OF DAN GILLERMAN, SAEB EREKAT INTERVIEW ON CNN SUN JULY 20,08

ZAKARIA: This week, Senator Barack Obama heads to the Middle East, to the front lines of one of the longest-running conflicts in the world. He will be visiting Israel and also the West Bank.

John McCain was recently in Israel, in March, though he did not go to the West Bank.

So, what are the Israeli and Palestinian leadership looking for from the next president?

Joining me now to discuss this and some other issues are the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Daniel Gillerman, and from Washington, the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat.

Welcome, gentlemen.

SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: Thank you.

DAN GILLERMAN, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Thank you. It's good to be here, Fareed.

ZAKARIA: Dan, let me ask you about something relating to Iran.

So, I've been watching Israel's recent moves. You've had a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah, which was quite unusual for Israel, in that you agreed to give up, really, a rather heinous killer, in a way that usually you do not, to Hezbollah. You're negotiating with Hamas. You're negotiating with the Syrians. You're having negotiations with the Egyptians.

Now, if I were a somewhat cynical man, I would say there seems to be some kind of clearing of the decks and conversations with all the key Arab players, perhaps to prepare the ground for a potential strike against Iran.

Would that be a reasonable interpretation of these diplomatic moves?

GILLERMAN: Well, they are diplomatic moves. And as someone who is still Israel's ambassador to the U.N., I believe very much in diplomacy, and I believe diplomacy should take its course.

But I also believe, as I said before, that Iran poses the major threat, not just to Israel -- and that has to be understood -- Iran is the major threat to world safety and security, to the survival of civilization as we know it. And to a great...

ZAKARIA: But if you feel that way, sure, then you're saying a military strike would be -- I mean, you're casting it in pretty dire terms. Would a military strike be appropriate in the next few months? GILLERMAN: I would very much hope that diplomacy takes its course. I would very much hope that the sanctions, the economic pressure, the international pressure will actually work.

I believe that they could, because I don't think Iran is indifferent to it.

But we must understand that, while comparing sometimes North Korea and Iran, there's a huge difference there, because North Korea attained nuclear weapons out of desperation. Iran is seeking them out of aspiration.

Those aspirations worry the moderate Muslim and Arab world, just as they worry us. They worry the international community, just as they worry us.

And therefore, I believe that Iran must be made to understand that the world, the international community, will not allow this regime that denies the Holocaust while preparing the next one, that threatens to wipe Israel off the face of the map, that is a threat to the world, to achieve nuclear weapons.

And if diplomacy fails, it must be made to understand that all other options are on the table.

ZAKARIA: Saeb, what would an Israeli strike on Iran do to the peace process?

ERAKAT: It would destroy it. It would destroy it.

And I really encourage and support the Israeli move towards reviving the negotiations with the Syrians. I believe dialogue and diplomacy are the language that should be used in this region.

I believe military solutions have proved all the time that they would just add to the complexities and give rise to extremism in the region.

But I believe, if somebody's thinking about using force against Iran they will solve problems, I think it will be just breaking hell loose and it will be disastrous, as did all other wars in this region.

ZAKARIA: You have in the Palestinian community your own extremists. You have Hamas ruling Gaza.

Do you believe they are now less popular? Have they been marginalized? Or has the isolation that the European Union and the United States imposed on them, has that made them stronger?

ERAKAT: Well, Fareed, let me say two things. One, democracy did not fail in the Palestinian society. Hamas is a Palestinian party. Hamas won the elections.

I remember the day Mr. Haniya came to our parliament to seek a vote of confidence. I told him, Today, you are the prime minister of all Palestinians, not the prime minister of Hamas. Please, you have to accept, like Khomeini did, like Mandela did, all the obligations of the Palestinian Authority, the two state solution, avoid violence, accept the Roadmap.

Unfortunately, they chose not to, and that's where the failure was.

ZAKARIA: A quick thought on Hamas?

GILLERMAN: Well, I think Hamas is...

ZAKARIA: Is it weaker today, or is it stronger today? Because there's lots of evidence that suggests that the isolation has made them some -- there's kind of a martyr complex surrounding them now.

GILLERMAN: I really have no way of judging whether they are weaker or closer -- or stronger.

What I can say -- and even if Saeb cannot say it, I'm sure he shares my thoughts -- is that Hamas is, indeed, one of the greatest tragedies that happened to the Palestinian people. They were dealt a very raw deal.

I believe, I honestly believe, that most Palestinians want peace. I believe that no baby is born wanting to be a suicide bomber. I believe that no mother ever gives birth to a baby, wanting him one day to blow himself up.

The fact that a part of the Palestinian territory is today ruled by a terror organization, which shows to make Gaza, rather than a paradise for its people -- I mean, you know, when we left Gaza over two years ago, every single inch of Gaza nearly three years ago, the Palestinians had two choices. One, to make it into a place where they look after the welfare and the wellbeing and the quality of life and the standard of living of their people, or to turn it into a terror base and a launching pad for missiles against Israel.

Sadly, they once again -- as my most illustrious predecessor at the U.N. used to say -- never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. That was a golden opportunity.

They could have shown the world, Here we are. The Israelis left. We are left to govern our own lives and decide our own destiny. We know how to do it. We care for our people. We will make Gaza prosperous and thriving and a model for what can be in a Palestinian state.

Instead of that, they turned it into a terror base.

So, I think Hamas is a tragedy, not just for Israel and not just for the Palestinians, but for the whole region.

ZAKARIA: And we will be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAKARIA: And we are back. Let me ask you both about one particular aspect of the final status negotiations.

The Clinton plan talked about a divided Jerusalem between the Arab section, which would be the capital of the Palestinian state, and the Jewish section, which would be the capital of Israel.

The presidential candidate, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, spoke to AIPAC -- the American- Israel Public Affairs Committee -- and he said he supported an undivided Jerusalem.

But I asked him on this program last week what he meant and to clarify that. And listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, D-ILLINOIS, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The truth is that this was an example where we had some poor phrasing in the speech. And we immediately tried to correct the interpretation that was given.

The point we were simply making was, is that we don't want barbed wire running through Jerusalem, similar to the way it was prior to the '67 war, that it is possible for us to create a Jerusalem that is cohesive and coherent.

I was not trying to predetermine what are essentially final status issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAKARIA: Dan, did Obama change his mind?

GILLERMAN: Well, I was there when Barack Obama made that very impressive speech. I heard that very clearly. I also heard his explanation.

I know Jerusalem, in the minds of many, is a very delicate subject. And it is, indeed, a city which means so much to so many people and to so many religions, and has to be dealt with wisely, delicately, cautiously.

But I do believe that Jerusalem -- that we can find a way of making Jerusalem a city which will cater to the wishes, to the aspirations, to the beliefs of all people -- Palestinians and Israelis -- and all religions, as it is today.

ZAKARIA: Saeb, do you think that a President Obama could bring something to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that has been missing so far?

ERAKAT: Well, on what he said on Jerusalem, Fareed, I agree with him. I think it's us an the Israelis who will decide. I believe there will be Jerusalem as the capital of the two states. There will be an East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, Al-Quds; West Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, capital of Israel.

And I believe that Mr. Obama -- I really would think that he wants us to reach an agreement before he's inaugurated, if he wins the presidency. So does Mr. McCain.

I really believe that Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain wants Palestinians and Israelis to reach the agreement before January 9, 2009. This is the truth. And I hope that we can do it.

The question today is not about what this president's position is, and what that president's position is. Today, the world is not divided between those who are pro-Israel and those who are pro- Palestinian. The world is divided between those who are pro-peace and those who are against peace.

And those who are pro-peace, they know it's going to be a two state solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, with West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, whereby then we can talk about the modalities (ph) of having an open city, free movement, the coherence of the city, the uniqueness of the city, to all.

And I believe that we can do it. And we must do it before the next president of the United States is inaugurated, whether it's Mr. Obama or Mr. McCain.

ZAKARIA: I mean, I feel as though we could have had this conversation two years ago, or perhaps 20 years ago.

What's different now? Why is it possible? Why is Saeb Erakat seeming more optimistic?

ERAKAT: Because Saeb Erakat...

GILLERMAN: First of all...

ZAKARIA: All right. Why don't you go first, Saeb, because that was a question to you. And then we'll let Dan get in.

ERAKAT: Because Saeb Erakat, like all Palestinians, does realize that it's his need and interest. I did not wake up one morning, Fareed, and feel my conscience aching for the Israelis. And they did not wake up one morning and feel their conscience aching for my suffering.

We both do realize now that we need peace.

ZAKARIA: Are you optimistic?

GILLERMAN: I agree with Saeb. There's only one reality. It's a two state solution. It's a two state solution which will finally bring peace and security to our area, make our two peoples live side by side in peace and security, and assure that Israel is the solution for the Jewish people, just as Palestine is the solution for the Jewish refugees -- for the Palestinian refugees.

ZAKARIA: On that note, thank you, Saeb Erakat, Dan Gillerman. A real pleasure to have you both on.

ERAKAT: Thank you.

GILLERMAN: Thank you very much. And just maybe one last word.

Saeb mentioned at the beginning that he was a father. I believe he also became a grandfather just two weeks ago. I hope we won't have to wait for his granddaughter to grow up until we see peace, and that his children and my children will enjoy it very soon.

ERAKAT: Thank you, Dan.

ZAKARIA: On that happy note, thank you both.

We'll be back.

British PM's Knesset stand against abhorrent Ahmadinejad by Robin Millard Sun Jul 20, 7:18 PM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was to attack the Iranian president's abhorrent threats towards Israel and threaten further sanctions on Tehran in a key speech to the Knesset on Monday. In the first address to the Israeli parliament by a British premier, Brown was to spell out that Britain stood alongside Israel when in danger and ratchet up the pressure on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over Iran's disputed nuclear programme.Brown was to warn Tehran it faced growing isolation and a collective international response if it did not comply with UN demands over its uranium enrichment activities -- which Israel fears will be used for a nuclear weapon.Sanctions could be slapped on the oil and gas sectors to hit the domestic Iranian market.To those who question Israel's very right to exist, and threaten the lives of its citizens through terror, we say: the people of Israel have a right to live here, to live freely and to live in security, Brown was to say, according to excerpts released in advance.And to those who believe that threatening statements fall upon indifferent ears, we say in one voice that it is totally abhorrent for the president of Iran to call for Israel to be wiped from the map of the world.

The stand was to come the day after Brown visited Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the six million Jews murdered in the Nazi Holocaust.I promise that just as we have led the work on three mandatory sanctions resolutions of the UN, the UK will continue to lead -- with the United States and our European Union partners -- in our determination to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapons programme, Brown was to say.The EU has gone beyond each of these resolutions. Last month we took action against an Iranian bank involved in proliferation.And Iran now has a clear choice to make: suspend its nuclear programme and accept our offer of negotiations or face growing isolation and the collective response not of one nation but of many nations.The prime minister's spokesman said Brown did not rule out extended sanctions in some form on the oil and gas sector.Sources said that could involve sanctions on the constant flow of spare parts for Tehran's fairly limited domestic oil refining capacity, to have an impact within Iran.Brown's spokesman said: We should rule nothing out at this point, as he has always made clear, but our focus at the moment is on strengthening the sanctions regime to keep up the pressure on Iran.In his speech, Brown was to praise Israel's achievements in the 60 years since the state's creation.To have achieved all this in the face of the war, the terror, the violence, the threats, the intimidation and the security is truly monumental, he was to say.Britain and Israel continue to stand together in believing that history sides with those who fight for liberty -- and if the great conflict of ideas of the 21st century is between those who believe in closed societies who would turn back the clock of progress and those who believe in open societies, then we are together on the side of openness.Let me tell the people of Israel today: Britain is your true friend.

A friend in difficult times as well as in good times, a friend who will stand beside you whenever your peace, your stability and your existence are under threat; a friend who shares an unbreakable partnership based on shared values of liberty, democracy and justice. And I am proud to say for the whole of my life, I have counted myself a friend of your country.Brown was making his first visit to Israel and the West Bank since becoming prime minister last June. His trip is focused on giving momentum to the Middle East peace process and boosting investment in the Palestinian territories to kick-start the economy there.

Middle East deal doable, says British PM by Robin Millard
Sun Jul 20, 3:59 PM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown insisted Sunday that the gap between Israel and the Palestinians can be bridged and that a landmark Middle East peace deal is achieveable.

After talks in Jerusalem and Bethlehem with leaders from both sides, Brown said he was confident that all outstanding issues preventing an agreement could be hammered out.Brown clashed with his Israeli counterpart Ehud Olmert over his demand to freeze the building of settlements in the West Bank and pledged new aid to the Palestinians as part of efforts to kick-start their economy .Brown was making his first visit to Israel and the West Bank since becoming premier in June last year.US-sponsored talks between the two sides are aimed at resolving the conflict before US President George W. Bush leaves office next January.However, the talks have become bogged down amid violence in the Islamist Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the expansion of Jewish settlements.Asked by AFP whether he was confident that a deal could be reached on schedule, Brown said: When I say the difficulties can be bridged, that the problems that I have had described to me I believe can be solved, then I think there is an opportunity within our grasp.There is a sense from what I have heard today that people feel that they can get to a solution. The sooner that happens, the better. I'm urging people to move forward with as great speed as possible.He told reporters that stakeholders should not lose sight of the big prize of a comprehensive settlement.What separates the sides is not unbridgeable. My own view is that there is good will to move these things forward.My advice is to concentrate on the main elements of a final peace agreement but...all the central issues that are preventing a resolution of the whole Israeli-Palestinian issue will have to be sorted out.Brown crossed Israel's separation barrier for talks in the West Bank town of Bethlehem with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and prime minister Salam Fayyad.We have pledged 500 million dollars for economic development in Palestine over three years to 2011, Brown said after meeting Abbas.I can announce today a further commitment of 60 million dollars, Brown said, bringing total British aid in 2008 to 175 million dollars.

Abbas thanked Brown for his support as the Scot called on Israel to lift checkpoints in the West Bank and halt the growth of Jewish settlements.Brown said their expansion had made peace harder to achieve.Settlement expansion erodes trust, it heightens Palestinian suffering, it makes the compromises Israel will need to make for peace more difficult, Brown said, adding that there must also be a halt to violence on both sides.Olmert admitted Brown had criticised Israel's settlement policy to his face. I tried to explain to you the restraint which we put on ourselves on the one hand and the need to keep the pace of life going on the other, he said. While you disagree with us, I hope you understand better the position of Israel.In keeping with his economic roadmap to peace, Brown pledged support for a new mortgage finance authority which he said would help to finance some 30,000 new Palestinian homes and generate up to 50,000 new jobs. Brown called for increased international investment in the territories, saying Palestine is open for business.He and former World Bank economist Fayyad hosted a meeting of top British and Palestinian business leaders to boost investment in Gaza and the West Bank. Prosperity would make the cost of ever returning to violence so high and so unacceptable that the vast majority will not want to have anything to do with those who preach violence, Brown said.

Fayyad who said the Palestinian economy had been ravaged for many, many years and was performing way below potential, blaming the Israeli military crackdown that followed the 2000 Palestinian uprising. Brown has been invited to address the Israeli parliament on Monday -- the first time a British premier will make a speech to the Knesset.

Brown due for talks in Israel, West Bank by Robin Millard
Sun Jul 20, 12:18 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Gordon Brown prepared for talks on Sunday during his first visit to Israel and the West Bank since becoming prime minister in a bid to bolster peace negotiations and economic development. Brown was to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an attempt to revitalise the sluggish peace process between the two sides and push his economic roadmap to peace via giving Palestinians a financial stake in the territories' future.He has been invited to address the Israeli parliament on Monday -- the first time a British prime minister will have spoken to the Knesset.

Brown flew in to Tel Aviv late Saturday on a previously unannounced visit, having made a surprise trip to Baghdad and Basra in southern Iraq earlier in the day.Brown was due to speak to Israel's President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, plus their Palestinian counterparts Mahmud Abbas and Salam Fayyad on Sunday to discuss the way forward on the peace process and economic reconstruction and development, the premier's spokesman Michael Ellam told reporters.On Monday he will become the first British prime minister to address the Israeli parliament, he added.Brown will also meet with senior Israeli ministers and opposition figures during his trip.Brown -- who spent 10 years as finance minister under Tony Blair, whom he succeeded as premier in June 2007 -- is keen to discuss boosting growth in the Palestinian Territories and financial incentives for stamping out militants.Last September, he set out an economic roadmap for peace in the Middle East, in which he said it was his strong personal belief that kick-starting growth in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was crucial to establishing peace.By giving ordinary Palestinians an economic stake in their future, we support the forces of peace and moderation, he said.

The report identified five building blocks: reducing public expenditure, a more stable relationship between the Palestinian and Israeli economies, a balance between short-term security and movement and access, diversification of trade links, and an enhanced investment climate.Britain has already pledged to provide almost 500 million dollars (315 million euros) to help build the Palestinian economy and Brown may pledge more during his trip.His predecessor Blair is now the Middle East Quartet's envoy, representing the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States in efforts to advance peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.The two -- whose relationship soured over the years -- will not meet during the visit.Brown reiterated last month that he saw the main issue preventing greater stability in the wider Middle East as being the lack of a deal giving Israel security and the Palestinians a viable state.The US-sponsored talks between the two sides in Annapolis, Maryland in late November 2007, were aimed at resolving the conflict before US President George W. Bush leaves office next January.However, no concrete progress has yet been announced, and outside Israel, many fear that Olmert's deepening political troubles in corruption probes could scupper the slow-moving peace talks.

Brown will be keen to find out what progress the two sides will be able to make towards achieving a landmark settlement. Brown and Olmert met in London on October 23, when the 57-year-old Scot backed his counterpart's push for tougher sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear programme. Last week he reiterated his distaste and outrage at Iranian threats towards Israel. He is expected to hammer out a tough line on Tehran while in Jerusalem.

Abbas, who held talks with Brown in London last December, praised Britain's funding pledge, saying the British premier played a pivotal role in the region and his personal involvement was a source of power for Palestinians.

Israeli PM vows to recover captured soldier in Gaza Sun Jul 20, 4:57AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on Sunday to bring back a soldier captured by Gaza militants more than two years ago, following a prisoner exchange with the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. We've promised the Shalit family in our name to do everything to bring Gilad Shalit home alive and in good health as quickly as possible. Let me tell you it is not easy, Olmert told a weekly cabinet meeting.I believe Gilad Shalit will return home safe and sound. We will not rest and not stop until we get him back, he added.The Islamist Hamas movement has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, who was captured in a deadly cross-border raid by Gaza militants in June 2006.Shalit's captors have over the past two years released several letters written by the 21-year-old corporal in captivity, where he said his health was deteriorating.On Wednesday, Israel handed over five Lebanese prisoners to Hezbollah in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers captured in a similar raid that sparked the 34-day Lebanon war in July 2006.The two soldiers' fate was unknown until they appeared at the border in two black coffins, and the prisoner exchange was widely criticised in Israel because it included the release of Samir Kuntar, convicted of the 1979 murder of three civilians, including a little girl.A senior Israeli government official said Olmert will hold a series of talks with Defence Minister Ehud Barak and other senior security officials to discuss the negotiations for Shalit's release.

Last update - 14:34 14/07/2008 Ahead of Mideast trip, Obama backtracks on undivided Jerusalem By Reuters, The Associated Press

Barack Obama will visit Israel and the West Bank next week, Israeli and Palestinian officials said Monday. The announcement came a day after the Democratic presidential hopeful sought to downplay his recent remarks on the contentious issue of dividing Jerusalem.

Obama will be in Israel on July 22 and 23 and hold talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, President Shimon Peres and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, an Israeli official said. Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat said Obama would also meet President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah next Wednesday. The Palestinians welcome this meeting, said Erekat. He also said that if Obama is elected U.S. president, the Palestinians hope he will stay the course between Israel and the Palestinians in reaching peace. Obama's Republican opponent, John McCain, visited Israel last March but did not meet with the Palestinians. Obama had been widely expected to visit the Middle East this summer. He has faced wariness among some Jewish voters over his commitment to Israel, fuelled by suspicion over comments indicating willingness to talk to Iranian leaders. Obama said on Sunday he used poor phrasing in a speech supporting Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. You know, the truth is that this was an example where we had some poor phrasing in the speech. And we immediately tried to correct the interpretation that was given, he said in an interview aired Sunday on CNN's Fareed Zakaria - GPS.The point we were simply making was, is that we don't want barbed wire running through Jerusalem, similar to the way it was prior to the 67 war, that it is possible for us to create a Jerusalem that is cohesive and coherent, Obama said. Obama's campaign has issued similar clarifications since the candidate's speech to pro-Israel lobby group after he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination early last month. In the speech, Obama told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that if elected president in November, he would work for peace with a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided, the Illinois senator said. Palestinian leaders reacted with anger and dismay.

Israel calls the city its undivided and eternal capital, but this status has never been recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, for a future capital.

The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1995 describing Jerusalem as capital of Israel and saying it should not be divided, but successive presidents have used their foreign policy powers to maintain the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and to back negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the status of Jerusalem.

CNN INTERVIEWS

Sunday, July 20, 2008 FAREED ZAKARIA INTERVIEWS
Cristobal nears Outer Banks 0:50 Tropical Storm Cristobal is moving along the North Carolina coast and could dump several inches of rain in dry areas.• Cristobal moves parallel to North Carolina coast

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Cristobal nears Outer Banks 0:50 JULY 20,08

Tropical Storm Cristobal is moving along the North Carolina coast and could dump several inches of rain in dry areas.
• Cristobal moves parallel to North Carolina coast

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Zakaria interviews Obama pt. 1 19:26
CNN's Fareed Zakaria sits down with Barack Obama for an exclusive interview on foreign policy and other issues. (Part 1)
• Fareed Zakaria GPS

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Zakaria interviews Obama pt. 2 7:45
CNN's Fareed Zakaria sits down with Barack Obama for an exclusive interview on foreign policy and other issues. (Part 2)
• Fareed Zakaria GPS

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Zakaria interviews Rice 22:45
CNN's Fareed Zakaria interviews Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for her first in-depth interview in nearly 2 years.
• Fareed Zakaria GPS - CNN.com
• World News from CNN.com

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Preparing for war? 7:33
CNN's Candy Crowley talked with Seymour Hirsch about his explosive article about Iran.
• CNN Programs - Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer

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IRAN TALKS FAIL

Gunbattle at Palestinian camp in Lebanon kills two JULY 19,08

EIN AL-HILWEH, Lebanon (Reuters) - Two people were killed on Saturday in a gunbattle between members of the Fatah faction and Sunni Islamist militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon, camp officials said. One man was shot while trying to intervene to halt the clash at Ein al-Hilweh camp between Fatah and Jund al-Sham, a small al Qaeda-inspired Islamist group. The second dead man was a member of the group.Another Jund al-Sham fighter was seriously wounded in the fighting at the camp, which is near the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon.Sunni Islamist groups have substantial influence in the camp, which is off limits to Lebanese security forces.(Writing by Tom Perry in Beirut, editing by Mary Gabriel)

IRAN TALKS FAIL
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8890085&ch=4226714&src=news

Iran nuclear talks stall — even with US at table By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer JULY 19,08

GENEVA - A U.S. decision to bend policy and sit down with Iran at nuclear talks fizzled Saturday, with Iran stonewalling Washington and five other world powers on their call to freeze uranium enrichment. In response, the six gave Iran two weeks to respond to their demand, setting the stage for a new round of U.N. sanctions.

Officials and diplomats refused to characterize the timeframe as an ultimatum, but it appeared clear that Iran now has a de-facto deadline to show flexibility.EU envoy Javier Solana said that Iran still has to answer a request made on behalf of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members plus Germany to refrain from any new nuclear activity.We have not gotten all the answers to the questions, Solana told reporters. He said the two-week timeframe was meant to give Iran the space to come up with the answers that will allow us to continue.He said the contact might be on the phone, or through aides, reflecting the lack of success of Saturday's highest-level discussions.A Western diplomat familiar with the substance of the talks was blunter.Unless Iran shows some flexibility on suspension, he said, the six powers will look to strengthen measures in the U.N. and the European Union — shorthand for economic and political sanctions. He demanded anonymity because his information on the outcome of the closed meeting was confidential, along with the planned response if Iran remains defiant.Chief Iranian negotiator Saeed Jalili evaded the issue of suspension, demanded as part of the six-power proposal that carries a commitment of no new U.N. sanctions in exchange for an Iranian pledge to stop expanding its enrichment program.Instead he spoke in generalities about the need for cooperation that reflected Iran's reluctance to focus on the six-power offer.Iran is calling on the Western powers to resume the dialogue, he said.Iran already is under three sets of U.N. sanctions for its refusal to suspend enrichment, which can generate both nuclear fuel and the fissile material at the core of nuclear warheads. While Tehran says it has a right to enrich for peaceful purposes, the sanctions reflect international concern that it might use its program to make weapons.

The offer delivered to Iranian officials last month by Solana envisions a six-week commitment from Iran to stop expanding enrichment and from their interlocutors to agree to a moratorium on new sanctions for up to six weeks.That is meant to create the framework for formal negotiations which the six nations hope would secure Iran's commitment to an indefinite ban on enrichment.Iran's apparent stonewalling was an indirect affront to the U.S., which had sent Undersecretary of State William Burns to the talks in hopes the first-time American presence would encourage concessions.

Recent Iranian statements had suggested the country is looking to improve ties with the United States, with officials speaking positively of deliberations by the Bush administration to open an interests section — an informal diplomatic presence — in Tehran after closing its embassy decades ago.Burns' decision to attend the Geneva talks showed that Washington was willing to accept something less than fully dismantling the program as it had always demanded — at least as a first step.U.S officials had insisted Burns was at the table to listen only, describing his presence as a one-time occasion. But State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said otherwise. Burns delivered a clear simple message when it was his turn to speak, McCormack told reporters in Washington. He cited Burns as telling the his Tehran counterpart: Iran must suspend uranium enrichment to have negotiations involving the United States.
Iran needed now to make a choice between cooperation, which would bring benefits to all, and confrontation, which can only led to further isolation, McCormack said. Iran and the United States broke off diplomatic relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Official contacts between the two countries are extremely rare. Keyvan Imani, a member of the Iranian delegation, said Tehran had not yet received a proposal from the U.S. on a representation but would study it positively if it did. He downplayed the presence of Burns — even though the Americans had previously said they would not talk with the Iranians on nuclear issues unless Tehran was ready to stop all enrichment activity. He is (just) a member of the delegation of the six countries engaging Iran on the nuclear issue, Imani said. He also cast doubt over the value of talks less then an hour after they started. Suspension — there is no chance for that, he told reporters gathered in the courtyard of Geneva's ornate City Hall, the venue of the negotiations. Associated Press Writer Bradley S. Klapper contributed to this report from Geneva.

Powers wield sanction threat after Iran stalemate By Mark John and Parisa Hafezi JULY 19,08

GENEVA (Reuters) - Major powers gave Iran two weeks to answer calls to rein in its nuclear programme on Saturday or face tougher sanctions after talks ended in stalemate despite unprecedented U.S. participation. A U.S. State Department spokesman said Washington hoped Iran now understood that it had a choice between cooperation and confrontation, which can only lead to further isolation.But prospects of ending a row that has triggered regional tensions and rattled oil markets looked dim as Iran's top nuclear negotiator insisted Tehran would not even discuss a demand to freeze uranium enrichment at the next meeting.We still didn't get the answer we were looking for, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said after some six hours of talks in Geneva with Iran's Saeed Jalili and envoys from the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain -- the so-called sextet of world powers.Solana said he hoped for a clear answer from Tehran in around two weeks to a month-old sextet offer of trade and technical incentives to halt enrichment.Asked whether Tehran would otherwise face a new round of the U.N. Security Council sanctions that analysts say are already beginning to bite on its economy, he told a news conference:The Iranians know very well what will continue to happen if nothing happens otherwise.Diplomats said the presence of senior U.S. envoy William Burns at the talks underlined the unity of major powers in the dispute, and stressed that patience was running out with Iran.

There is nothing more to talk about. The Iranians are running the risk of foreclosing their options, said one diplomat in Gevena, warning they risked going down the path which means further measures in the EU and the U.N.Solana said he hoped for more contacts with Iran telephonically or physically, but officials made clear that any subsequent contacts would be at a lower level than Saturday's talks.

COOPERATION OR CONFRONTATION

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: We hope the Iranian people understand that their leaders need to make a choice between cooperation, which would bring benefits to all, and confrontation, which can only lead to further isolation.The U.N. has imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran in a stand-off that goes back to the revelation in 2002 by an exiled opposition group of the existence of a uranium enrichment facility and heavy water plant in the country.Those political and economic sanctions already target the country's banks and include visa bans on officials and measures against companies seen as linked to the nuclear programme.Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, rejects suspicions that it wants the atom bomb and says its nuclear programme is intended to generate electricity.Asked by Reuters if Tehran would consider a demand to suspend enrichment as a precondition for full negotiations on its nuclear programme, Saeed Jalili said: We will only discuss common points of the package.In a bid to kickstart those negotiations, world powers have also proposed that Tehran first freeze expansion of its nuclear programme in return for the U.N. Security Council halting further sanctions measures.But a senior Iranian diplomat ruled that out too. Of course we will not discuss the freeze-for-freeze topic in the next meeting with Solana ... The freeze-for-freeze issue cannot be accepted because this (enrichment) is our right and we will never abandon our nuclear right. The high-level U.S. participation in the meeting, together with Iranian comments playing down the likelihood of an attack by the United States or Israel, had earlier in the week raised hopes of progress and helped lower oil prices from record highs. Yet that optimism was tempered even before the meeting as both the United States and Iran insisted their policy would not change. (Reporting by Mark John, editing by Tim Pearce)

Israel didn't know of cluster bomb use Sat Jul 19, 7:11 AM ET

JERUSALEM - A former Israeli defense official says the Israeli military used cluster bombs for two weeks during the 2006 Lebanon war without telling the Israeli government. Hagai Alon, an adviser to then-Defense Minister Amir Peretz, says the government only learned of the cluster bomb use when European countries raised the issue after the war.Alon spoke on Israel Radio on Saturday.The military said in response that it updated the government on all issues throughout the war.Cluster bombs open in flight and scatter dozens of bomblets over wide areas. U.N. experts say that of millions dropped over Lebanon, up to 1 million failed to explode.

An Israeli war inquiry had raised questions about the army's use of the weapons, noting a lack of operational discipline, oversight and control.

Israeli troops kill Syrian drugs smuggler: army Sat Jul 19, 4:19 AM ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed a drugs smuggler from Syria and wounded another on Saturday as they crossed a fence into territory controlled by Israel on the occupied Golan Heights, the Israeli army said. An army spokesman said troops on routine patrol along the heavily fortified fence in the northern part of the Golan Heights spotted four men in the area and opened fire at them, they later found large quantities of drugs at the scene.A routine joint army and police patrol working in the area to prevent smuggling spotted a group of men and opened fire at them ... one of the suspects was killed and another was wounded. Two others were apprehended shortly afterwards, the spokesman said.He added that the two men who had been hit were Syrian nationals and that the body of the dead man and the wounded, who was being treated in hospital, were taken to Israel. He said the two other men were Israeli nationals.The army considers any approach towards the border from Syria as a threat against the state and its citizens, the spokesman added.The border between Syria and areas controlled by Israel is relatively quiet and violent incidents are rare.

Israel and Syria recently restarted indirect peace talks brokered by Turkey which centre on the future of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau which overlooks northern Israel that the Jewish state captured in the 1967 Middle East war.(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Dominic Evans)

Obama to meet with leaders in Mideast, Europe By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent Fri Jul 18, 6:11 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama intends to sit down with European leaders as well as King Abdullah of Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as part of a campaign-season trip that aides described Friday as substantive rather than political. The Illinois senator also is slated to meet with opposition leaders in Israel and Britain.Officials have yet to provide precise dates for the trip, and have confirmed few details about the itinerary, citing security details. On a conference call with reporters, they said they were not yet ready to disclose where in Berlin Obama will speak when he delivers an address on U.S.-European relations.The trip is not at all a campaign trip, a rally of any sort, said spokesman Robert Gibbs. He said Obama would hold a series of substantive meetings with our friends and our allies to talk about the common challenges that we face and the national security dangers for the 21st century.Denis McDonough, a senior foreign policy adviser, said Obama would meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Germany, President Nicolas Sarkozy in France and Prime Minister Gordon Brown as well as Conservative Party Leader David Cameron in Britain.

In Israel, he said, Obama will meet with Olmert as well as President Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. He also will talk with Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party.Palestinian leaders have said Obama will visit the West Bank for his talks with Abbas, but campaign aides declined to confirm a location. In addition to Abbas, they said he will meet with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.Obama intends to travel aboard a jet chartered by his presidential campaign. His trip has drawn intense media interest in the United States as well as overseas, where officials are anticipating the end of President Bush's tenure in January.Republicans have cast Obama's trip as political stagecraft rather than a substantive trip.And while his own aides insist politics is not involved, Democrats sharply criticized Republican rival John McCain this spring when he flew to Canada aboard his campaign jet for a brief trip that he described as non-political. While in Ottawa, McCain implicitly criticized Obama as part of a speech defending the North American Free Trade Agreement.The issue of a location for a speech in Germany has proven nettlesome for Obama. German media reported several days ago his aides were hoping to arrange for a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of the Cold War and the spot where former President Reagan delivered a memorable speech.Merkel let it be known she had other ideas, and Obama's campaign has sought to minimize any controversy.We're looking at a variety of locations in Germany and we'll pick one that we believe meets our needs and also the needs of our German hosts, McDonough said.In addition to his trip to the Middle East and Europe, Obama has also said he intends to visit Iraq and Afghanistan this summer.

Prisoner swap gives Hezbollah domestic kudos: analysts by Rima Abushakra Fri Jul 18, 3:32 PM ET

BEIRUT (AFP) - As Hezbollah boasted of victory in this week's prisoner swap with Israel, analysts said that the exchange gave the Shiite group increased political leverage at home. On Wednesday Israel handed over its last five Lebanese prisoners, including convicted murderer Samir Kantar, and the bodies of 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters.In exchange Hezbollah returned the bodies of Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev who were captured on July 12, 2006, sparking a devastating 34-day war.This doesn't change anything in the equation of Hezbollah and Israel, said Timur Goksel, former spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).It just closes one subject, but there are still other issues. I don't expect peace to break out.Tens of thousands of people attended celebrations on Wednesday after the swap, including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah making a rare live appearance.In Israel the picture was one of sadness.

Israel came out of it looking like the humanitarian country, receiving bodies in mourning and playing the victim, while the other side looked like the aggressors, celebrating death, said Nadim Shehadi, a Lebanon expert at Chatham House in London.This image is far from reality where Lebanon was the victim of Israeli brutality in 2006 and Israel was the aggressor.The 2006 war killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.Israelis were particularly appalled by the welcome for Kantar, who had been serving five life terms for a 1979 triple murder viewed as one of the most brutal attacks in the country's history.The joy that was expressed in Lebanon was mostly psychological and wasn't about one man, Goksel said, however.They don't think very much about the content of the exchange, but the fact that Hezbollah was able to impose its own demands on the Israelis and get away with it. It made people say Hey -- we won something for a change.Kantar belonged to a secular Palestinian faction and was jailed four years before Hezbollah was even formed. He was the longest-serving Arab prisoner in Israel.His release was a major feat for Hezbollah... It is precisely that he is Druze and not a Hezbollah fighter that his release has added value aside from the symbolism of it all, said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, author of Hezbollah: Politics and Religion.The fact that Hezbollah fought so hard for a prisoner that was not one of their own, who belonged to a secular group... is healing the wounds of the May clashes" this year, she said.Fierce sectarian fighting killed 65 people in May after the Hezbollah-led opposition, backed by Syria and Iran, took over large swathes of predominantly Sunni west Beirut.The fighting led to an accord being signed in Qatar that saw the election of Michel Sleiman as president after a six-month vacuum and the later formation of a national unity government. Sleiman joined usually divided political leaders including Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, parliament speaker Nabih Berri and the entire cabinet in presenting a united front to greet the returning prisoners at Beirut airport. The swap burnishes its (Hezbollah's) national credentials, especially since it was able to unify the Lebanese, even on a very cosmetic level, Saad-Ghorayeb said.

Hezbollah was able to impose that unity... There was no Lebanese politician that could have possibly not greeted the prisoners. It was because it was Kantar that they all had to show up.Hezbollah's arsenal, which it maintains is necessary to resist Israel, caused great controversy after the May clashes. The swap puts us one small step closer to an extended period in which there will be discussion of Hezbollah's arms, said Paul Salem, head of the Carnegie Middle East Centre. The discussion will be about the relationship between the armed resistance and the state and not about disarmament.

Nasrallah said on Wednesday that he was open to dialogue on all issues, including Hezbollah weaponry. Saad-Ghorayeb sees this as evidence that Hezbollah is at the peak of its power.Now more than ever, Hezbollah feels vindicated regarding its arms, the use of force and the logic of force and resistance, she said. It will be very hard for the other side to persuade the Lebanese or at least the opposition that there is an alternative more effective than resistance in defending Lebanon.

Olmert lawyers say key US witness's claims debunked by Albion Land Fri Jul 18, 11:24 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's lawyers said on Friday they have discredited claims by a US businessman that he gave Olmert thousands of dollars in cash to finance election campaigns and an expensive lifestyle. The Jerusalem court had earlier rejected a request by a visibly tired and seemingly exasperated Morris Talansky, 75, to cut short his five-day cross-examination by Olmert's legal team.I simply don't have the energy... to stay more than Sunday. My wife, my life and business is absolutely in shambles because of this. This has just worn me out... I can't do it any more, he pleaded on day two of the questioning.In a case that could bring about Olmert's downfall, the American testified in May that he had given Olmert some 150,000 dollars during the 13 years before he became premier in 2006, much of it stuffed into envelopes.Talansky described Olmert as someone with a taste for first-class hotels and luxury items.Olmert acknowledges having received campaign funds from Talansky, but has denied any wrongdoing.

Lawyer Eli Zohar focused on Talansky's claim in May that he had handed Olmert cash and cheques in envelopes, after the US businessman told the court on Friday that he had given Olmert only cash.After Zohar accused him of lying several times, Talansky admitted sometimes contradicting himself but insisted that the general picture was true.All the horrible impressions that were created from this case I think, I suspect... are dispelled and damaged, Zohar said. His (Talansky's) entire version, in terms of his reliability, has fallen today.Navot Tel-Zur, also representing Olmert, said that the heart of the version about ongoing raising of contributions over years in cash, has collapsed.What has been revealed today, as soon as the documents were shown that the same witness raised funds for all the campaigns in cheques and even when the money was given in cash, it was recorded, Tel-Zur said.

Talansky's lawyer Jackie Chen said after the hearing that despite the discrepencies, Talansky's version stood firm over the basic facts.Is the heart of his testimony correct? Did he come and tell a true story about the contributions and the support over the years? Yes of course, Chen told reporters.State prosecutor Moshe Lador criticised the Olmert team for pressing Talansky on financial dealings that had nothing to do with the premier.These included various personal loans that he had made and an unsuccessful attempt to get the court to order that he turn over notes related to them.

A new probe emerged last week over whether Olmert illegally billed multiple private organisations and the state for the same airline tickets when he was Jerusalem mayor and trade minister.On a third front, there are allegations Olmert received a hefty discount in buying a Jerusalem apartment in exchange for using his influence to get a developer permission to build on a historic site.Olmert has denied all the allegations against him. Talansky's court appearance brought threats from Olmert's key coalition partner, the Labour party, to quit government if the premier did not step down. Without Labour, the coalition would not have the required 61 seats for a majority in the 120-member parliament. But neither Olmert's Kadima party nor Labour wants early elections because both are trailing the right-wing opposition Likud party in opinion polls. Olmert was able to save the coalition last month by cutting a deal to hold a party leadership poll in mid-September. Outside Israel, many fear Olmert's deepening political troubles could scupper slow-moving Middle East peace talks relaunched in November and aimed at resolving the decades-old conflict by the end of the year.

Blair: Cease-fire should pave way to Mideast peace Fri Jul 18, 11:15AM ET

OSLO, Norway - Mideast envoy Tony Blair is urging the Israelis and Palestinians to use the cease-fire that took effect June 19 as an opportunity to try to reach a peace agreement. The former British prime minister says a two-state solution is the only way to solve the conflict.During a visit to Norway on Friday, Blair also reiterated his calls for a new plan to provide humanitarian help to people in Gaza.Earlier this week Blair called off a planned visit to Hamas-ruled Gaza after Israel's Shin Bet security service warned he might come under attack there.Blair said Friday he wanted to go to Gaza to tell people there that you are not alone.

In Israel, a nation mourns with the families of slain soldiers By Ilene R. Prusher Fri Jul 18, 4:00 AM ET

Nahariya, Israel - For Israelis, their Second Lebanon War, fought in summer 2006, came to a close only on Thursday, when the two soldiers whose capture became the cause for launching the conflict were laid to rest before their families and the eyes of a solemn nation. But even in their return – which transpired a day earlier as part of a swap with Hezbollah, who traded the men's bodies for the remains of some 200 Lebanese plus five Lebanese prisoners – there is still unease about the lopsided trade-off and questions about balancing the interests of affected families against those of the state.Under a sweltering July sky at the Nahariya military cemetery, which overlooks the same Mediterranean that hugs the Beirut coastline where Hezbollah continued victory celebrations Thursday, many family members and friends who eulogized Udi – Ehud Goldwasser – seemed to want to shift the sentiment that Israel had somehow lost to Hezbollah.I stand at attention before you with my eyes lifted toward my people with the request: Stand tall, lift your heads in national pride, mother Miki Goldwasser said at her son's graveside.They say because of you, a war broke out. I hope we can see this war as a victory. Through this, we have discovered that we are a strong people. We have discovered bereaved families with an undefeatable, powerful spirit. We have discovered kindness.

The most powerful words to the gathering of a few thousand came from widow Karnit Goldwasser, who has been the spokeswoman of an international campaign to release her husband and Eldad Regev, then believed to be alive. They say time heals all wounds, she said. But is this really so? Two years have passed since that debilitating moment that cut through our life's thread, the moment in which the worst scenario became a threatening reality that forced us to dive into a dark and convoluted world. I believed and hoped that the moment would come where I would wake up and say it was all just a bad dream.But Israelis have been waking up to find that many of their goals have gone unrealized. The prisoner exchange has Israel feeling like it was played. Some wondered why Israel agreed to the swap, if Hezbollah wasn't straight with Israel about whether the two were alive and whether they had information about Ron Arad, who was captured in Lebanon in 1986 and is considered missing in action.

Groundswell of public pressure
Part of the answer, analysts say, is that the families succeeded in creating a groundswell of public pressure to bring their sons home, dead or alive, even at the cost of releasing Lebanon's Samir Kuntar, convicted of killing four Israelis in a 1979 raid here.What we witnessed in the last two years and more is that the families of those soldiers and the involvement of the Israeli media and public opinion is very strong in affecting the decisionmakers, says Yitzhak Reiter, a professor of political science and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.It affects the ability to negotiate on a fair bargain, he says. This is something that Israel should handle differently. Perhaps the government in the near future will make an official decision that dead bodies will be exchanged only for dead bodies, and live soldiers for live soldiers.If the other side doesn't give you complete information about your soldiers, such as whether they are dead or alive, then you just don't do it. The government could put this criteria in place, and then if a situation occurs in the future, the enemy knows our principles and won't expect otherwise, Mr. Reiter says.

Israel's principle is that it is immoral to leave any soldier or citizen on foreign soil. It has, as a result, sometimes traded hundreds of prisoners for the release of one man. This ethos has come under some criticism in recent days. But Defense Minister Ehud Barak, speaking at Goldwasser's funeral, defended it vehemently.We were prepared to pay a high price, even higher than what seemed logical, in order to see our sons sent home, Mr. Barak said. If any of you, God forbid, should be captured, or should anything worse happen in the fight against the terror, Israel, its government, and the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will do everything just and possible to bring you home.But Aviva Cavaille, a young woman who came to the funeral, said most Israelis could not understand how their government had agreed to a swap that didn't include Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Hamas more than two years ago while on duty close to the Gaza Strip.From the ethical point of view, it's not acceptable that we got the bodies of two men, and for that we released a murderer who is alive and celebrating in Lebanon, says Ms. Cavaille. It creates a greater danger for kidnappings in the future. It shows the weakness of our leadership.

Family persistence
At the same time, many others give Karnit Goldwasser credit for keeping the case of the abducted soldiers on the agenda, traveling globally and trying to force leaders to push for progress on an issue that could have easily have disappeared from the headlines. Among the partners in this were leaders in the American Jewish community, who had made dog tags with the names of the soldiers on them and asked people to wear them in solidarity.Karnit singlehandedly raised this level of awareness through her own public presence, and I think that's what got us to this point, says Lori Klinghoffer, the chairwoman of National Women's Philanthropy in the United Jewish Communities, a US umbrella group. There have been other missing soldiers, and they usually stay in the news for a week or two.Some Israelis bristled at the public's questioning over the way the swap tallied up. Columnis Yair Lapid wrote in the Yediot Ahronoth newspaper that even in Israel's hyperactive democracy people should occasionally assume that the right decision was made. The deal that ended yesterday wasn't good or bad, only necessary. Anyone who thinks there were other options, deludes himself, Mr. Lapid wrote. While it's true that Hezbollah is more calculated in its attitude toward the fate of its people, who would want to be Hezbollah today? The clamorous debate over the question of Did we get a good price or not, should be kept for buying cars.

Israel buries soldiers recovered in prisoner swap by Michael Blum Thu Jul 17, 1:45 PM ET

HAIFA, Israel (AFP) - Two Israeli soldiers whose bodies were returned home two years after being killed by Hezbollah guerillas in an ambush that unleashed a vicious war in Lebanon were laid to rest Thursday in emotionally charged military funerals. President Shimon Peres also paid a condolence visit to the families of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose remains were handed over in an exchange that saw four Hezbollah fighters freed along with Lebanese killer Samir Kantar and the bodies of some 200 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters.The exchange had an ethical aspect with a price to pay, he said.It will not be easy to release terrorists who have blood on their hands, but that has already been done, said Peres, in a clear allusion to Kantar, who had been sentenced to five life terms for a 1979 triple murder in one of the most notorious attacks in Israeli history.The seizure of Goldwasser and Regev in a July 12, 2006 cross-border raid sparked a devastating 34-day war in Lebanon in which Israel failed in one of its key objectives, to recover the soldiers.And the swap raised concerns in Israel that it was paying too high a price for the return of the slain soldiers, with some warning it would only embolden the Jewish state's regional enemies.Thousands of people gathered for Goldwasser's funeral at the cemetery in his northern coastal hometown of Nahariya, including his widow Karnit, his parents, friends and senior politicians.His coffin, draped in the blue and white Israeli flag, was carried to the graveside by his comrades from the elite Golani infantry brigade, as Karnit followed and a military rabbi read from the psalms.Among the mourners was Defence Minister and former army chief Ehud Barak.

We wanted to welcome you again with your comrade Eldad (Regev), he said. We wanted to embrace you and see you smile. But it is our tears that accompany you today, and our heart is heavy.He renewed a commitment that Israel would do everything humanly possible to bring home any soldier who falls into the hands of the enemy.Until their coffins were brought to the border for exchange on Wednesday, the Lebanese militant group never revealed whether they were alive or dead.But press reports said the army now believed they were both killed in the ambush in which they were taken from their burning Humvee, or that one may have died shortly afterwards.The Jerusalem Post quoted officials as saying they both died in the ambush. Goldwasser suffered a lethal wound to the chest from a rocket-propelled grenade.Regev appeared to have been shot in the head, perhaps as he attempted to escape the burning vehicle.Haaretz said the two were killed during the ambush, or died shortly afterwards. It said Goldwasser took most of the impact from the RPG, and that Regev was probably also hit, before being shot at close range when the attackers reached the vehicle.Yediot Aharonot said forensic pathologists had difficulty reaching their conclusions because the bodies had not been refrigerated.Regev, 27, was buried in an afternoon service at Haifa cemetery with his parents and family looking on among several hundred mourners, who included Barak and the Shalit family. Regev's father, Tsvi, and his brothers joined together to recite the kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead.

There followed tributes from his brothers and comrades, as well as from Barak. Brother Ofer Regev spoke of his pride in a country that fought to bring him home, to count himself among those who love rather than hate, pride in his army and in you Eldad, my little brother, a true patriot. Rest in peace, Eldad. You are home.

Triumphal cortege in Lebanon for fighters handed over by Israel Thu Jul 17, 3:51 AM ET

NAQURA, Lebanon (AFP) - The remains of some 200 Arab fighters handed over by Israel in a prisoner swap with Hezbollah were carried to the Lebanese capital on Thursday in a triumphal cortege.

Residents of this town on the Israeli border threw rose petals and rice and some cheered as the makeshift hearses carrying the bodies of the Lebanese and Palestinian fighters passed on its journey to Beirut.The remains were handed over by Israel on Wednesday along with five Lebanese prisoners, four of them Hezbollah fighters, in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers captured by the Shiite militant group two years ago.Funerals were being held for the two soldiers in Israel on Thursday.

PRISONER SWAP TERRIBLE NEWS

REVELATION 13:1-3
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea,(IN THE BIBLE THE SEA IS THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA) and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU IS THE ONE STARTED THIS TRADE BLOCK JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS HERE).
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

PRISONER EXCHANGE
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8840864&ch=4226714&src=news

THIS IS JUST THE MOST REDICULAS THING I HAVE EVER HEARD OF. DEAD ISRAELI SOLDIERS FOR LIVE ARAB(MUSLIM)MURDERERS. ISRAEL IS SUPPOSE TO BE A LIGHT TO THE NATIONS, NOT A GIVER IN TO ARAB ENEMIES.

AND IN YESTERDAYS STORY WE SEE THAT AMERICA NEVER EVEN HAD A SEAT AT THE MEDITERRANEAN SUMMIT, JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS:IT WILL BE THE EUROPEAN UNION, NOT THE USA THAT MAKES THE FINAL 7 YEAR PEACE TREATY SIGNING OF DANIEL 9:27 WITH THE ISRAELIS - ARABS AND MANY, WE NOW KNOW THE MANY ARE THE ARAB AND AFRICAN NATIONS AROUND THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA ALSO INVOLVED IN THIS NEW TRADE BLOC UNDER THE EU (EUROPEAN UNION)CONTROL.

Freed Lebanese prisoners at a glance By The Associated Press JULY 16,08

A look at five Lebanese prisoners freed by Israel on Wednesday as part of an exchange deal with Hezbollah:

SAMIR KANTAR — Born on July 20, 1952. Kantar was serving multiple life terms for a 1979 attack in the northern Israeli coastal town of Nahariya in which a policeman and a man and his 4-year-old daughter were killed.

Prosecutors said he killed the girl by bashing her head with a rifle. Kantar denies this, saying the girl was killed in crossfire. As the attack unfolded, the child's mother hid in a crawl space and accidentally smothered her 2-year-old daughter while trying to muffle her cries.

Two other guerrillas were killed in a shootout with police. A third was convicted, but freed in the 1980s as part of a prisoner swap. Kantar was a member of the radical Palestine Liberation Front.

MAHER KOURANI — Hezbollah guerrilla born in 1981 in the southern village of Yater. He is married and has a son born after his capture. His family named the boy Hassan after the Hezbollah leader. Kourani was captured by Israeli troops on July 29, 2006, in the southern town of Shiheen near Naqoura.

HUSSEIN SULEIMAN — Hezbollah guerrilla born in 1985 in the coastal region of Byblos. He was captured during the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

KHADER ZEIDAN — Hezbollah guerrilla born in 1982 in the southern town of Marwaniyeh. He was captured by Israeli troops in the nearby village of Ghandouriyeh during the 2006 war.

MOHAMMED SUROUR — Hezbollah guerrilla born in 1987. He comes from the border village of Aita al-Shaab where Hezbollah guerrillas crossed into Israel on July 12, 2006, and captured two Israeli soldiers whose bodies were returned Wednesday. He was captured during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

HIBOLLAH RETURN BODIES TO ISRAEL
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8839296&ch=4226714&src=news

Lebanese militant released in Israel prisoner swap By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer JULY 16,08

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Five Lebanese militants freed from prisons in Israel in exchange for the bodies of two captured Israeli soldiers returned home Wednesday to a boisterous welcome from hundreds of cheering spectators. Israel released Samir Kantar and four others after Hezbollah handed over two black coffins with the bodies of the Israeli soldiers, closing a painful chapter from the 2006 war in Lebanon.Kantar, who had been serving multiple life terms in Israel for a grisly 1979 attack, wiped away tears as he stood before a crowd in the coastal border town of Naqoura.The five later flew to Beirut, where they received an official welcome from the president and were congratulated by Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, who was last seen in public in January.Your return is a new victory and the future with you will only be a shinning march in which we achieve the sovereignty of our land and the freedom of people, President Michel Suleiman said in his address. I congratulate the resistance (Hezbollah) for this new achievement.

Winning freedom for Kantar was one of the reasons Hezbollah's leader cited at the time for going to war with Israel in 2006.

Kantar was convicted in a nighttime attack that killed a 4-year-old girl, her father and a policeman. Although polls showed Israelis solidly endorsed the exchange, many see Kantar as the embodiment of evil.Samir Kantar is a brutal murderer of children and anybody celebrating him as a hero is trampling on basic human decency, said Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli prime minister.Wednesday's exchange was also a wrenching end to the war for Israel. The soldiers' capture by Hezbollah fighters in a cross-border raid in 2006 triggered the 34-day war. The campaign to bring Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev home had become a national crusade.The soldiers' Hezbollah captors had withheld any information about them since they were taken, refusing to release pictures or allow the Red Cross to see them. It was not clear if Regev and Goldwasser were killed in the original raid or if they died in captivity. Evidence at the scene indicated both were seriously wounded.Though officials had suspected they were dead, the sight of the coffins was the first confirmation of their fate.Regev's father, Zvi, said he fell apart the moment he saw Hezbollah take the coffins out of a van and place them on the ground.It was horrible to see it. I didn't want to, I asked them to turn off the TV, he said, choking back tears.We were always hoping that Udi and Eldad were alive and that they would come home and we would hug them, he added, using Ehud Goldwasser's nickname. We had this hope all the time.An aunt of Regev's sank to the ground when she saw the coffins appear on a small TV hooked up outside the soldier's father's house. Some 50 friends, neighbors and family who had gathered there sobbed, rocked back and forth in prayer, lit candles or tugged at their hair. Nasrallah, you will pay, several of the mourners vowed.

Other people in the crowd criticized Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, saying the soldiers died for nothing.The swap was mediated by a U.N.-appointed German official who shuttled between the sides for 18 months.On Wednesday, Israeli forensic experts examined the remains for several hours, checking dental records among other things, before confirming the soldiers' identities. Israeli generals then went to the families' homes to deliver the news.

After the confirmation, Israel released Kantar and the four other Lebanese prisoners to Hezbollah. In the dead of night on April 22, 1979, Kantar and three other gunmen made their way in a rubber dinghy from Lebanon to the sleepy Israeli coastal town of Nahariya, 5 miles south of the Lebanese border. There, in a hail of gunfire and exploding grenades, they killed a policeman who stumbled upon them, then burst into the apartment of Danny Haran, herding him and his 4-year-old daughter outside at gunpoint to the beach below, where they were killed. An Israeli court found that Kantar shot Danny Haran in front of his child, then smashed her head with his rifle butt. Haran's wife, Smadar, who had fled into a crawl space in the family apartment with her 2-year-old daughter, accidentally smothered the child with her hand while trying to stifle her cries.

Kantar, a Lebanese Druse who acted on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Front, a small faction of the PLO, denies killing the older child. He says she was killed in the crossfire as he battled Israeli police, and he has never expressed remorse. Kantar was 16 years old at the time. Two members of his squad were killed in the raid, and the third, taken alive, was released in a 1985 prisoner swap. Israel held on to Kantar for decades, hoping to use him as a bargaining chip to win new information about an Israeli airman whose plane crashed in Lebanon in 1986. But despite dissatisfaction over Hezbollah's report on the airman, provided over the weekend, and under pressure from the captured soldiers' families to bring them home, Israel's Cabinet voted on Tuesday to release Kantar.

Hezbollah's commander in south Lebanon, Sheik Nabil Kaouk, called the swap an official admission of defeat for Israel. Also Wednesday, a Red Cross tractor-trailer arrived in Lebanon carrying wooden coffins containing the bodies of Lebanese and Palestinian fighters. Part of the swap included Israel handing over the remains of some 199 fighters. In addition to the two soldiers, Hezbollah also handed to ICRC officials body parts belonging to Israeli soldiers killed during the 2006 war. Associated Press writers Hussein Dakroub in Naqoura, Lebanon; Aron Heller in Rosh Hanikra, Israel; Sam F. Ghattas in Beirut and Ian Deitch in Kiryat Motzkin contributed to this report.

Hezbollah celebrates prisoner swap, Israel mourns By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent JULY 16,08

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Five Lebanese freed from captivity in Israel were flown to a heroes' welcome in Beirut on Wednesday after Hezbollah returned the bodies of two Israeli soldiers seized in a cross-border raid in 2006. A grim mood prevailed in Israel, where the prisoner swap was widely seen as a painful necessity two years after the capture of the two Israeli army reservists sparked a 34-day war in which about 1,200 people in Lebanon and 159 Israelis were killed.Among the released captives was Samir Qantar, who had been Israel's longest-serving Lebanese prisoner and whom Israelis revile for his part in a 1979 Palestinian guerrilla attack.The International Committee of the Red Cross brought the men to the border town of Naqoura. After changing into military fatigues, they appeared on a red carpet flanked by a Hezbollah honor guard.This is a moment of divine victory, said Sayyed Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, a senior Hezbollah leader, told cheering crowds.Two Lebanese army helicopters then flew the men to Beirut, where President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri kissed them at the airport.Your return is a new victory, Suleiman declared.Israel retrieved the corpses of the two soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, only after agreeing to release Qantar, who had been serving a life term for the deaths of four Israelis, including a 4-year-old girl and her father.Woe betide the people who celebrate the release of a beastly man who bludgeoned the skull of a 4-year-old toddler, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a statement before a private meeting with the families of the soldiers.Tens of thousands of flag-waving Hezbollah supporters gathered in Beirut ahead of a rally to celebrate the release of Qantar and four Hezbollah fighters captured in the 2006 war.

FORENSIC TESTS

Hezbollah earlier handed over two black coffins containing the Israeli soldiers in Naqoura.The Israeli army said forensic teams had identified the bodies as those of its missing men. Hezbollah had never disclosed whether they were alive or dead, but Israeli officials had said they were badly wounded at the time of their capture.The release of the Lebanese prisoners, said by Hezbollah to be the last held in Israel, closes a file that has motivated repeated attempts by Shi'ite guerrillas over the past quarter of a century to capture Israelis to use as bargaining counters.The fathers of the two Israeli soldiers spoke of their pain at watching the transfer of their sons' coffins on television.It is not easy to see this, although there was not much surprise to it. But ... confronting this reality was difficult, yes, Shlomo Goldwasser told Israel radio.Zvi Regev said on Army Radio: It was a terrible thing to see, really terrible. I was always optimistic, and I hoped all the time that I would meet Eldad and hug him.Under the deal arranged by a U.N.-appointed German mediator, Israel also returned the bodies of eight Hezbollah fighters slain in the 2006 war and those of four Palestinians, including Dalal Mughrabi, a woman guerrilla who led a 1978 raid on Israel. The four were among nearly 200 Arabs killed trying to attack Israel whose bodies were delivered to Lebanon in ICRC trucks as part of the delicately orchestrated swap. Hezbollah returned the remains of other Israeli troops killed in the south. Israel will also free scores of Palestinian prisoners at a later date as a gesture to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Hezbollah has dubbed the exchange Operation Radwan, in honor of Hajj Radwan, or Imad Moughniyah, the group's military commander assassinated in Syria in February.

Yellow Hezbollah flags fluttered across south Lebanon and on the coastal highway from Naqoura to Beirut. Liberation of the captives: a new dawn for Lebanon and Palestine, a banner read. Olmert said the exchange revealed the moral and ethical might of the people of Israel.It was due to this might that we decided to recover our sons, despite the heavy price of releasing a despicable murderer, his statement said. For some Lebanese, the swap showed the futility of the conflict with Israel two summers ago. There shouldn't have been a war in 2006. A lot of lives were lost, said Rami Nasereddine, 18, lamenting Israel's refusal to trade captives at the time. The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said the Hezbollah deal strengthened its own hand in demanding freedom for hundreds of prisoners in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

(Additional reporting by Nadim Ladki, Tom Perry and Laila Bassam in Beirut, Jeffrey Heller, Ori Lewis, Jospeh Nasr and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Avida Landau in Rosh Hanikra and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

Turkey sees Israeli, Syrian commitment for peace Wed Jul 16, 9:47 AM ET

ANKARA (AFP) - Turkey believes that both Israel and Syria are committed to peace, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Wednesday ahead of a fourth round of indirect talks between the two sides under Turkish auspices. The talks so far took place in a sincere and constructive atmosphere, Babacan said in an interview on NTV television. Our prevailing opinion is that both parties have a genuine political will to reach a settlement.A date was set for a fourth round of indirect talks in Istanbul, Babacan said, but declined to disclose it, saying only that they would be held in a few weeks.Under the format of the talks, Israeli and Syrian officials do not see each other and Turkish diplomats shuttle between them.Babacan said the success of the talks would have wider regional impact and could lead to peace talks also between Israel and Lebanon.The Israeli-Syrian talks started in May after an eight-year freeze. The latest round was held in early July.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held indirect talks through Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Paris on Sunday on the sidelines of a summit to launch a Mediterranean union.Syria said in May that it had received Israeli commitment for full withdrawal from the Golan Heights it seized four decades ago, although Israeli officials have been tight-lipped on the controversial issue.Olmert has said Israel is willing to make major concessions, seen as a reference to the Golan Heights, seized in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981 -- a move never recognised by the international community.

US CAUTIOUS OF MED UNION

FRANCE CELEBRATES BASTTILE DAY
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Israel okays Hezbollah prisoner swap despite Arad snag by Albion Land JULY 15,08

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel's cabinet gave the final go-ahead on Tuesday for a prisoner swap with Hezbollah, despite complaining that the Lebanese Shiite movement had not fully kept its side of the bargain. The decision set the ball rolling for the release on Wednesday of five Lebanese prisoners, including the perpetrator of a brutal 1979 triple murder, in exchange for two soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerrillas in a deadly 2006 raid that sparked a 34-day war.The government has ratified the deal, Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai told reporters after the cabinet meeting, which adopted the measure by a vote of 22-3.The families of the Two Israeli soldiers -- Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev -- have never been told by Hezbollah of their fate, although both are widely believed to be dead.The cabinet first approved the swap deal in June, but was asked to endorse it again after Israel received a Hezbollah report on missing airman Ron Arad, whose fate has long been a cause celebre in the Jewish state.Arad has been missing since his plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986 during that country's civil war, and although the report said he was probably dead, Israel has rejected its findings.A cabinet statement said the report does not meet the conditions of the agreement over the fate of Ron Arad. The Israeli government will continue in its efforts to retrieve any possible information over the fate of Ron Arad.

Yishai said the swap came at a much lower price than what we had to pay in the past, with all the pain involved in it. We did not want to put the Regev and Goldwasser families in the same situation as the Arad family.Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog said we should make every possible effort to get more information on Ron Arad and secure the release of Gilad Shalit.Shalit was captured in a 2006 raid by several Gaza militant groups including the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas that now rules the territory, and he is still being held.The issue of Ron Arad is an open wound that will not be solved through the release of Samir Kantar, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said. We will have to continue working in order to bring an answer to his family, the nation and the army.The UN-brokered swap, the eighth between Israel and Hezbollah since 1991, stirred controversy over the decision to release Samir Kantar , a Lebanese militant who murdered three Israeli civilians including a child in 1979.Israel will also hand over the remains of 200 Lebanese and Palestinians.Before the exchange can proceed, Israel's Supreme Court must also hear three petitions against it, and President Shimon Peres must formally pardon the five Lebanese.Peres said it was not a happy day for having to free such murderers but we have a moral responsibility to bring our soldiers home.His spokeswoman, Ayelet Frish, said he would sign the pardons Tuesday night.Meanwhile, there was still no word on how the Supreme Court ruled, but the tribunal was not expected to delay the swap.

The Goldwasser and Regev families have been pushing hard for the swap. Goldwasser's father Shlomo told AFP that if his son comes home in a coffin, Hezbollah must pay the price. Our basic assumption has been that they were kidnapped alive. If they return in coffins it would mean they were killed. Those who killed them must pay with their lives and should join Imad Mughnieh if that is the case.Mughnieh was a top Hezbollah commander murdered in Damascus in February. Hezbollah blamed Israel for his death, but the Jewish state denied involvement. Come what may we are simply happy that the affair will be over, Goldwasser said. While the mood in Israel is sombre, Hezbollah plans a hero's welcome for its fighters, with celebratory banners and flags lining the main highway from the border with Israel at Naqura to Lebanon's southern port city of Sidon. We are a people who will not abandon our detainees in prison, reads one banner, taken from a pledge by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. Thanks to the weapons of the resistance, we will free our prisoners, says another.

Blair postpones Gaza visit, cites specific threat By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer JULY 15,08

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip - Mideast envoy Tony Blair on Tuesday called off what would have been the first visit of a top Western diplomat to Hamas-ruled Gaza, after Israel's Shin Bet security service said he might come under attack there. The Shin Bet security service said it had received pinpoint information that Palestinians were planning to attack Blair in Gaza, so the relevant services alerted him to the fact.Blair told The Associated Press that the threat was specific and credible, forcing him to call off the trip but he said it was a postponement, not a cancellation.I intend to go to Gaza as soon as I can, and I will continue to press for help for the people there, he said.Blair's visit Tuesday was to have included a tour of a Gaza waste water project and meetings with traders and U.N. officials, but not with leaders of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that seized Gaza by force more than a year ago.

Hamas made security arrangements for Blair, setting up checkpoints in areas he was expected to tour, banning cars from using roads and lining streets with black-clad policemen carrying AK-47s.Since the Hamas takeover, Gaza has been virtually sealed off from the world by Israel and Egypt, a policy that has received tacit international backing.Blair has said in recent weeks that a new policy toward Gaza needs to be developed, pointing to the growing suffering of Gaza's people, but has not offered a plan. The options are limited because much of the international community considers Hamas a terrorist group and has shunned its government.Blair's spokesman, Matthew Doyle, said the envoy called off the visit due to a specific security threat which would have made it irresponsible to proceed, not just for those visiting but also the local community.

Blair denied that the Israeli government pressed him to call off the trip. It was a pity, because it would have been important to go and see for myself the situation in Gaza, he said.Taher Nunu, a Hamas government spokesman denied there were any security threats against Blair. Gaza is still open for all visitors, to break the siege and see the extent of suffering here, he said.Although the once lawless Gaza has been mostly pacified under Hamas' stern rule, there are still shadowy extremist Muslim groups in the territory. On an Islamist forum popular with Gaza residents, some users slammed Blair's expected visit, but there were no direct threats of violence against him. Those comments were later removed from the Web site.A key stop on Blair's trip would have been a northern Gaza waste water project being built with international funds. The Mideast envoy had not been expected to meet officials from Hamas, which is committed to Israel's destruction and is considered a terrorist group by the U.S., European Union and Israel.We are very disappointed, said John Ging, Gaza director of the U.N. agency in charge of aiding Palestinian refugees.Blair, a former British prime minister, is trying to revive the struggling Palestinian economy to lay the groundwork for a future independent Palestinian state. He represents the Mideast Quartet — the U.S., Russia, the EU and the United Nations — which is trying to push the Palestinians and Israel toward a peace agreement.Blair also canceled a visit to Sderot expected on Tuesday, a town in southern Israel which is the frequent target of rockets fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

US cautiously supports Mediterranean summit Mon Jul 14, 2:44PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US State Department gave cautious support Monday to a Mediterranean summit in Paris aimed at spurring on Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations. We don't have an observer there. We don't have a place at the table. But I think, generally, it's an effort that we can, at the least, be supportive of, spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.What the specific outcomes of this grouping will be, you now, we'll see. We'll see. But it would appear that they had a good first meeting, he said.The United States hosted an international conference in Annapolis, Maryland last November that launched the first serious Palestinian-Israeli peace talks in seven years, but no concrete progress has been announced.In Paris on Sunday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and more than 40 leaders launched a new Union for the Mediterranean, hoping to inject momentum in Middle East peace efforts.The new forum brings together the 27 countries of the European Union with states from north Africa, the Balkans and Arab nations with Israel to foster cooperation in one of the world's most volatile regions.

In Paris, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad scored a comeback on the international stage after years of isolation, taking his seat alongside Arab leaders at the same table with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.A strong proponent of isolating Damascus, Washington has been lukewarm toward new Turkish-brokered indirect peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, adding the Israeli-Palestinian track is the most mature.French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday that Israel and the Palestinians disagreed over the final declaration at the Mediterranean summit and the wording will have to be changed.

The Syrians Take Paris By ANDREW LEE BUTTERS/DAMASCUS
Mon Jul 14, 12:05 PM ET

For the head of state of a former French colony, an official visit to Paris is always a good chance do a little shopping, take in some culture, and impress the folks back home. So it was for Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria (which was once ruled by France under a League of Nations Mandate). Over the past weekend, Syrian state television has been beaming round-the-clock images of the Syrian President and his tres chic First Lady making the scene in the City of Light: Bashar at a summit for Mediterranean leaders, Asma at the Louvre and Centre Pompidou, and both of them as official guests of French President Nicholas Sarkozy at Bastille Day celebrations on Monday. From all the high wattage smiles, it's clear they're having a blast.And well they should. Not so long ago the Syrian First couple were personae non gratae in Western capitals. The U.S., which accuses Syria of sponsoring terrorism, led an effort to isolate the country diplomatically and economically. And in a rare instance of Franco-American harmony, France had its own grudge against Syria: the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hiriri, the former Lebanese prime minister and close friend of former French President Jacques Chirac, an act for which many in the West blamed Syria.But now Syria is back in style. The invitation to Paris is ostensibly a reward for the the start of indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel (through Turkish mediation.) But it's also recognition that attempts to isolate Syria have failed, and that the West needs Syrian help for resolving some of the biggest problems in the Middle East. For its part, Syria wants to come even further out of the cold. While in Paris, President Assad told French television that in the event of direct talks under American sponsorship, there could be peace between Syria and Israel within two years. So on the Fourth of July 2010, will Bashar be celebrating Independence Day in Washington?

Maybe, but maybe not. Of all the Middle Eastern conflicts, the rift between Israel and Syria would appear to be the easiest to mend. Israel would just have to return the Golan Heights, a rocky Syrian plateau that Israel captured in 1967. If Israel had a strong leader with a popular mandate (admittedly a big if) this wouldn't be impossible given that Israeli settlement in the Golan is relatively sparse and the Heights are no longer so strategically important thanks to advances in Israeli defense technology. But the tougher question is what Israel should get in return for the Golan.Israel and the U.S. want more than just an end to a state of war between Syria and Israel. They also wants Syria to stop supporting anti-Israeli militant groups in Palestine and Lebanon (Hamas and Hizballah respectively.) In other words, they want Syria to break away from its strategic partnership with Iran, the senior member of what's sometimes referred to as the Rejectionist Crescent, the arc of governments and militias stretching from Tehran to Gaza that oppose American and Israeli dominance in the Middle East.But Syria isn't going to abandon Iran, according to figures close to the Assad regime here in Damascus. It's not just that the elite of Iran and Syria have a long history of cooperation going back to 1979, when Syria was the first country to recognize the newly established Islamic Republic of Iran. It's also because Syria has no reason to switch sides just when its team is winning. From the fiasco of America's invasion of Iraq, to Hamas's victory in Gaza and Hizballah's victory in Lebanon, Iranian and Syrian power is on the rise in the Middle East. Defying America and Israel is the most popular position in most of the Arab world, and has helped keep the Assad regime in power all these years. Why change now? Assad only wants a package deal, a grand bargain between Syria and Iran on the one hand, and American and Israel on the other, that would settle the cold war for the Middle East. This means that the United States would have to give up once and for all its project for a new Middle East, and its penchant for regime change. That might happen on its own in November if Barack Obama becomes president. But a package deal would also have to solve the Iranian nuclear issue, map out the future of post-American Iraq, solve the Syrian-Israeli conflict, the Lebanese-Israeli conflict and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict all in one go. Would any American President, or any world leader, be able to pull that off in two years? Despite President Assad's rosy prediction, it's hard to imagine him shaking hands in the Rose Garden anytime soon. But at least he'll always have Paris. View this article on Time.com

Syria, Israel leaders mark Bastille Day in France By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer Mon Jul 14, 11:56 AM ET

PARIS - The leaders of Syria and Israel, countries with a bitter enmity, as well as the Palestinian and Lebanese presidents together marked France's Bastille Day on Monday in a diplomatic coup for French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Other leaders from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also attended the traditional Bastille Day parade, where troops in their finery marched down the tree-lined Champs-Elysees, and jets trailing smoke of red, white and blue roared overhead.

Syrian President Bashar Assad, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and more than two dozen other leaders stood on the official grandstand, looking up the Champs-Elysees toward the Arch of Triumph. The leaders had stayed over following a summit Sunday that launched an unprecedented Union for the Mediterranean, a brainchild of Sarkozy's aimed at securing peace across the restive region.

In launching the Mediterranean union, 43 nations, including Israel and Arab states, agreed to work for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction.Deep divisions still slice through the region and its population of 800 million people, and surfaced during Sunday's summit, highlighting how hard it will be to parlay the meeting's good will and words into real progress.Assad refused to shake Olmert's hand, and Morocco's king snubbed the meeting attended by the president of rival Algeria. It was also unclear how the countries would enforce their pledge to pursue a mutually and effectively verifiable Middle East Zone free of weapons of mass destruction.Still, Sarkozy reveled at having brought so many leaders to the same table for the first time. His office brushed off critics' complaints that Assad should not have been allowed to stay for Monday's ceremonies because of Syrian human rights failings and suspicions that Syria was implicated in a 1983 bombing in Lebanon that killed 58 French soldiers.Campaign group Reporters Without Borders called Assad an enemy of press freedom whose government is guilty of ruthless censorship.Assad, in dark glasses, showed no emotion as French actor Kad Merad read aloud an extract from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in front of the grandstand where the leaders stood.Associated Press Writer Christine Ollivier in Paris contibuted to this report.

Palestinians: Obama to visit West Bank By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer Mon Jul 14, 11:27 AM ET

PARIS - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will visit the West Bank next week as part of a swing through the Middle East, a Palestinian official said Monday, giving an important diplomatic boost to the Palestinians at a sensitive time in peace talks. The Palestinians expressed satisfaction over the planned meeting with the presumed Democratic nominee, which comes months after Obama's likely Republican opponent, John McCain, passed on meeting with the Palestinians during a brief visit to Israel.Obama is scheduled to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his July 23 stop in Ramallah, said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who was in Paris for a Mediterranean summit.We welcome this meeting, Erekat said. If Obama is elected, he added, we hope he will stay the course between Israel and the Palestinians in reaching peace and a two-state solution.During the same visit, Obama is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other Israeli officials. The Obama campaign declined to comment.The visit will be closely watched. The U.S. is the key broker in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, and officials on both sides are trying to get a feel on whether Obama will change U.S. policy in the region.President Bush is trying to broker a peace agreement before he leaves office.In Paris on Sunday, Olmert said the sides are closer than ever to achieving peace, but it is uncertain whether they can meet Bush's target date for at least the outline of a final deal. Israel and the Palestinians remain at odds over key issues, such as the fate of Jerusalem, and a burgeoning corruption scandal has threatened to drive Olmert from office.

Palestinians have privately complained that they suspect Bush is biased toward Israel, and expressed hope the next U.S. leader will be more sympathetic to their cause. While they have been careful not to take sides, officials were disappointed when McCain did not meet with them during his trip to Israel last March.McCain has long been a strong supporter of Israel in the Senate, and it appears unlikely he will radically change Bush's policies. During his visit, McCain said he would personally be engaged in peace talks if he's elected and make the matter his highest priority.

Obama's positions are far less clear.

In a recent speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, he offered such ardent support for Israel that he had to backtrack just a few days later. Obama, working to woo Jewish voters, told the lobbying group that he supported Israel retaining control of an undivided Jerusalem. The comment so infuriated many Arab leaders that he was forced to issue a clarification that he didn't oppose Israeli-Palestinian negotiations over the future of the city.Obama also has raised concerns among Israel's supporters because of his willingness to speak to Iran, while some have expressed concern about his Muslim roots. Obama's father and stepfather were Muslim and he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country. But he is a Christian.Few details of Obama's overseas travel schedule have been released. Obama's campaign has said he will travel to Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain.In London on Monday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters he will meet Obama there for talks in the coming weeks. I think we will discuss what we can do about oil prices and food, Brown said during his monthly news conference.Associated Press Writer David Stringer contributed to this story from London.

Israel PM under fire as corruption probe widens by Charly Wegman Mon Jul 14, 9:30 AM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced mounting calls to resign and increased pressure from within his own party on Monday as the latest corruption probe into the embattled premier widened. A senior minister from Olmert's centrist Kadima party warned that Israel's foes view the multiple corruption investigations into the premier's affairs as a sign of weakness.
Many of our enemies consider these affairs as a sign of weakness in Israel, and in my opinion security is the most important thing, Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz told public radio.Iran is trying to get a nuclear weapon, Hezbollah is rearming and the truce with Hamas is fragile. We have to prove that we are strong, said Mofaz, who is expected to run for Kadima's leadership in a September party vote.Israeli media have been abuzz with speculation that Olmert's political career will soon be over in the wake of the latest corruption investigation to be launched against him.Attorney General Menahem Mazuz meanwhile rejected suggestions that he might suspend the 62-year-old Olmert, telling The Jerusalem Post daily that it was not his job to appoint prime ministers or dismiss them.

However, he said the question of whether the prime minister, given his present circumstances of all the investigations and allegations against him, can continue to serve is a legitimate one.Mazuz said that question had to be answered by the prime minister himself, and by the public and political echelons.Last week, under pressure from its coalition partner the Labour party, Kadima scheduled a leadership election for mid- or late September.Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is viewed as front-runner, but former defence minister and army chief Mofaz is also jockeying for the top job, as are Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit.It remains unclear whether Olmert himself will run, but one Labour minister said last week that his party would pull out of the coalition if Olmert was a candidate -- a move that would effectively bring down the government.However neither Kadima nor Labour wants early elections because both are outweighed by the conservative opposition Likud party in public opinion polls.In the latest probe, Olmert was accused on Friday of having billed the state and various private organisations for the same airline tickets when he was Jerusalem mayor and trade minister.He is also accused of using allegedly ill-gotten gains from the trips to finance private family travel in what the media have dubbed the Olmert Tours affair.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on Monday that detectives were following up on new leads in New York, Washington and Las Vegas.Olmert was questioned on Friday for the third time since May over allegations he illegally received tens of thousands of dollars from US millionaire financier Morris Talansky before he became prime minister in 2006.The premier's lawyers are due to begin cross-examining Talansky on Thursday.On a third front, Olmert's former secretary Shula Zaken was being questioned on Monday over allegations Olmert received a hefty discount on the price of a Jerusalem apartment in exchange for using his influence to get a developer permission to build on a historic site. In the past, Zaken has consistently refused to answer police questions, claiming her right not to incriminate herself. Olmert, who has adamantly denied all the allegations against him, has been in Paris for the launch of the Mediterranean Union and is due home on Monday night.

Asia-Africa talks on Palestine open in Jakarta Mon Jul 14, 5:15 AM ET

JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened an Asia-Africa conference on capacity building for Palestine alongside Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad here Monday. The president of the world's most populous Muslim country said the ministerial-level talks aimed to offer help to prepare Palestinians to govern and administer their own state.Yudhoyono said the 53 countries and organisations at the Asia-Africa conference would reiterate calls for the implementation of the 2003 Middle East peace roadmap.The international community must work together in concert to realise the goal of an independent, viable Palestinian state in the very near future, he said.He backed what he called their courageous struggle against Israeli occupation of the their territories.It is a bitter struggle. There are now some four million Palestinians living in distress. They suffer all kinds of violence... Their human rights and their human dignity are violated, he said.The one-day conference is being held under the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership framework, intended to promote peace, prosperity and progress in the two regions.It comes after the Israelis and Palestinians held talks on the sidelines of a summit of Mediterranean leaders in Paris at the weekend.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said after talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on Sunday: We have never been as close to an accord as we are today.Fayyad referred to ongoing negotiations with the Israelis but he made no reference to the Paris talks.He said the Palestinians needed help from Asia and Africa to realise the vision of Palestine that is democratic, that respects human rights and that guarantees equal rights for all citizens.Many of your states have recently passed through the phase we are in right now, or indeed are going through it. We Palestinians are inspired by your success stories, he said, referring to independence struggles.

Israel, Palestinians clash over summit text Mon Jul 14, 5:12AM ET

PARIS (AFP) - Israel and the Palestinians disagreed over the final declaration at a Mediterranean summit and the wording will have to be changed, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday. Kouchner said in a radio interview that the last-minute dispute between Israel and the Palestinians meant that the founding text of the Union for the Mediterranean will have to be corrected a bit.The dispute touched on the use of the term national and democratic state to describe Israel, a term that entails difficulties in terms of refugee return, Jewish or non-Jewish state, the foreign minister said.President Nicolas Sarkozy and some 40 leaders launched the new union at a Paris summit on Sunday, hoping to inject new momentum in Middle East peace efforts and bolster cooperation in the troubled region.There are words, or a phrasing of words that are not suitable because they invoke a historical legacy, a legacy of tragedy and murder also, said Kouchner.The final declaration was adopted with vague wording but negotiations on a definite formulation will continue along with talks on other details on the workings of the union such as the location of its permanent offices.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki said his delegation categorically opposed wording in the text submitted by Israel that referred to a state of the Jewish people.It was out of the question for us to accept this, he told AFP.Kouchner nevertheless hailed the inaugural summit of the union as a magnificent event, saying it was held against a backdrop of peace.Leaders agreed on a batch of modest projects such as cleaning up pollution in the Mediterranean Sea, improving shipping routes and developing solar energy.But the Middle East peace process loomed large over the gathering, with a flurry of meetings on the sidelines underscoring the need for progress.

Israel's Olmert says peace deal closer than ever By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer Sun Jul 13, 1:39 PM ET

PARIS - Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared Sunday that Israel and the Palestinians have never been closer to making peace — even as a widening corruption probe brings him closer than ever to being ousted from office. To help build confidence between the two sides, Olmert agreed in a one-on-one meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to release an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, an Israeli official said.Abbas, who met with Olmert at the French presidential palace ahead of a summit of European, Middle Eastern and African leaders, also sounded a positive note about the troubled peace talks, saying both sides were serious and want to achieve peace.The two men met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy before sitting down together one-on-one.We have never been as close to a possible (peace) agreement as we are today, Olmert told reporters before the three leaders entered their meeting.Repeated rounds of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks since a peace conference in Annapolis, Md., last year have produced little change on the ground.Israel has continued its contentious construction of homes on lands the Palestinians want for a future state, and has done little to scale back a network of roadblocks in the West Bank that hinder Palestinian movement and have severely handicapped prospects for the Palestinian economy.Israel, meanwhile, says Abbas hasn't done enough to curb militants bent on attacking Israel, and the Palestinian president remains powerless against Hamas militants who wrested control of the Gaza Strip last year. Abbas rules only the West Bank, but Israel says no peace deal could be implemented as long as Hamas holds sway in Gaza.

Despite the troubles on both sides, the atmosphere was friendly when Olmert and Abbas posed on the steps of the Elysee Palace with Sarkozy in the center. Olmert and Abbas each rested an arm on the other's back.After the meeting, Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said Israel was committed to try to reach a historic agreement by the end of this year. Such an agreement, he said, would outline what a two-state solution would look like.That's a far less ambitious aim than the original objective set at the U.S.-hosted conference of reaching a detailed final deal by December.As a gesture to Abbas, Olmert agreed in principle to release some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners it holds, Regev said.Because many Palestinian families have members in Israeli jails, prisoner releases are of paramount importance to the Palestinian people. Previous releases designed to bolster Abbas' standing among the Palestinian people haven't satisfied the Palestinians, because they have numbered in the dozens or hundreds.Regev had no details on how many prisoners would be released or when, adding only that these prisoners would be separate from any freed as part of any prisoner swap for captured Israelis.Israel plans on Wednesday to free five Lebanese prisoners in exchange for two soldiers captured by Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006. The soldiers are believed to have been killed during or shortly after their capture, which touched off a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah.In addition, Gaza's Hamas rulers have demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Schalit, an Israeli sergeant with French citizenship whose release Sarkozy has urged.

Talks on Schalit's release are to be stepped up as part of a rocky truce Israel reached with Gaza militants last month.Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat confirmed that Olmert promised to review Abbas' request for a prisoner release very positively. He said the meeting — one of a series of get-togethers the two leaders hold every few weeks — was conducted in a good atmosphere.Asked to comment on Olmert's observation that the two sides were closer than ever to clinching a deal, Erekat replied, We are having serious, in-depth negotiations on all issues.The main issues that have tormented peace talks for years have been the final borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state, the status of disputed Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes in the Arab war on Israel that followed the Jewish state's creation in 1948. Erekat said peace talks weren't affected by Olmert's domestic troubles. On Friday, police announced that a corruption probe of Olmert had branched out into a new direction, and that the prime minister was suspected of billing multiple sources for identical trips, and pocketing the difference. In May, Olmert saw his political fortunes plunge when a Jewish-American businessman testified in a Jerusalem court that he gave the Israeli leader hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash before he became prime minister in 2006 — testimony that has raised suspicions of influence peddling. Some of the money, businessman Morris Talansky claimed, bankrolled Olmert's lavish tastes in cigars, pens and travel. Olmert's lawyers are to cross-examine Talansky this week, but Israeli political commentators have predicted that Olmert will not be able to survive the latest allegations against him. Olmert has denied wrongdoing and promised to resign if indicted, but in the meantime, rivals in his governing Kadima Party are working on holding primaries in September to replace him as party leader.

Under Israel's political system, the leader of the governing party usually serves as prime minister.