Iranian official says missing diplomats could be in Israel
TEHRAN - An Iranian official charged with hunting for three Iranian diplomats and a reporter who went missing in Lebanon more than two decades ago said that they could still be alive and in an Israeli jail, the student news agency ISNA said on March 4. "According to our latest information the four Iranians have been seen in the Zionist regime's jails. If it is said they have been martyred, it is only to cover up the Zionist regime involvement in this issue," said Raed Mousavi.
Israeli ambassador delivers 'peace message' to pope
ROME - Israel's ambassador to the Holy See, Oded Ben Hur, visited Pope John Paul II's hospital in Rome on March 4 to deliver what he called a "message of peace" from Israel's Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar. "This is not only a simple letter, it is a prayer, hoping that the pope gets better as soon as possible," Ben Hur said. "It is also a message of peace for the world and wishing that other religions take example from the pope's leadership."
Two in three Israelis back Gaza pullout
JERUSALEM - Two in three Israelis would back the government's plan to leave the occupied Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements if it was put to referendum, according to an opinion poll published on March 4. Nearly 69 percent of respondents said that they would vote for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, scheduled to begin in July, according to a survey in Ha'aretz newspaper. Just under 28 percent said that they would vote against the plan and 3 percent were undecided.
US man indicted for selling spy list to Saddam
WASHINGTON - A US citizen was indicted in Indiana on charges that he agreed in 2002 to sell the names of US spies in Iraq to Saddam Hussein's government for $3 million. "Seeking out those who would work with foreign governments and organizations hostile to this country is the top priority of the Department of Justice," US Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Susan Brooks said on March 3 when Shaaban Hafiz Ahmed Ali Shaaban appeared in court.
Kuwait freezes assets of suspected terror financier
KUWAIT CITY - The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has ordered local banks, financial companies and money exchange firms to freeze assets of a citizen suspected of financing terrorism, a newspaper reported on March 3. CBK also ordered a freeze on accounts and financial activities of Muhsin Al Fadhli, who is being hunted by Kuwaiti police for suspected links to Islamist militants involved in deadly gun-battles with security forces in January, Al Qabas said.
Abbas to visit White House in late March
RAMALLAH - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will hold talks with US President George W. Bush at the White House at the end of March, a Palestinian official said on March 3. It will be the first trip to the White House by a president of the Palestinian Authority since Bush took office in January 2001, following his administration's long-time boycott of Abbas' predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat. No specific date has yet been set, however.
Shots fired at Palestinian ex-minister's home
RAMALLAH - Unknown assailants fired shots at the home of a former Palestinian minister on March 3, causing no injuries, security officials said. Several rounds of automatic gunfire targeted the Ramallah home of the former civilian affairs minister, Jamil Al Tarifi, the officials added. The assailants escaped by car.
Lebanon examines Hariri bomb blast footage
BEIRUT - Lebanese authorities are examining footage of the bomb blast that killed ex-premier Rafiq Al Hariri last month, obtained from satellite and local surveillance cameras, a source said on March 3. "The cameras monitored the movement of all the cars on the street, including those of the Hariri motorcade, until the moment of the explosion," the source said. "This footage will be subject to scientific analysis, which will help determine the sort of explosives used in the crime."
Jews move back to Russia from Israel
MOSCOW - More Jews are migrating to Russia, including those who earlier left it to go to Israel, the Los Angeles Times reported on March 2. About 1 million Jews migrated to Israel in the face of discrimination in the Soviet Union. But now, as many as 57,000 have returned to Moscow. "It's a growing phenomenon. And the signs are that more and more people are going to come back," said Berel Lazar, one of Russia's two chief rabbis.
Zarqawi charged for 2003 Baghdad embassy bombing
AMMAN - Jordanian authorities have charged Iraq's most-wanted man Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi and another Jordanian for the deadly bombing of Jordan's embassy in Baghdad in August 2003, legal sources said on March 2. The fugitive Zarqawi, who has a $25-million US bounty on his head over a string of attacks in Iraq, has already been sentenced to death by a court in Jordan for the killing of a US diplomat.
Israel scraps plan for anti-smuggling trench
JERUSALEM - Israel has scrapped a plan to dig a vast anti-smuggling trench between Egypt and Gaza that would have entailed the destruction of hundreds of Palestinian homes, a judicial source said on March 2. The army put the plans on ice following objections from Israel's Attorney General Menahem Mazuz, the source said. "The army is studying different options to stop weapons smuggling," the source added.
Israeli master spy dies
JERUSALEM - Zvi Malchin, one of Israel's master spies who took part in the capture of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann, died on March 2 in the United States, aged 77, Israeli military radio reported. Malchin was an agent of Mossad, the Israeli secret service, who captured Eichmann in Buenos Aires on May 11, 1960, to bring him to Israel for trial. A master of disguise and a painter in his spare time - he took part in exhibitions under pseudonyms.
French media suspect Syrian role in Aubenas abduction
PARIS - French media voiced suspicions on March 2 that Syria had links to a group holding a French correspondent taken hostage in Iraq, after a video was broadcast of the journalist pleading for help from a French MP with close ties to Damascus. "The Syrian hypothesis," was how the newspaper Liberation put it. The newspaper is the employer of Florence Aubenas, 43, who went missing with her Iraqi interpreter in Baghdad on January 5.
Qatari emir hails Lebanese for bringing down government
DOHA - The emir of Qatar, on the eve of a visit to Damascus, hailed the Lebanese people on March 1 for forcing the resignation of their Syrian-backed cabinet, but also praised the Beirut government for stepping down. "I think the Arab peoples salute [the fact] that the Lebanese people were able to bring down a government, [but] also salute the government which agreed to fall in the interest of the Lebanese people," Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani said.
Saddam in good health but isolated
TOKYO - Saddam Hussein is isolated from the rest of the world but in good health and was overjoyed when he learned that Spanish troops had left Iraq, one of his lawyers said on March 1. "He is now in a very small cell. He is not allowed to meet either his attorneys or his family," Ziad Khassawneh said. "He doesn't have any TV, no radio and he is not allowed to read newspapers."
French journalist makes video plea for help
ROME - French journalist Florence Aubenas, who has been missing in Iraq since January 5, was shown making a desperate plea for her life in an undated video released by her captors on March 1 and broadcast on Italian television. "I am French. I am a journalist with Liberation. Please help me. My health is very bad. I'm very bad psychologically also," a gaunt and exhausted-looking Aubenas says in English.
Algeria gets $6mn to battle climate change
ALGIERS - The Global Environment Facility has granted Algeria $6 million to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost energy efficiency in the industrial sector, the government announced on March 1. The project is part of the facility's global campaign to battle climate change. "This financial contribution is to subsidize energy-efficient industrial investments" the ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement on its Website.
Syria should withdraw from Lebanon
BUDAPEST - Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom on March 1 called on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and urged the international community to isolate Damascus along with "other extremists in the region". "We don't think Syria should remain in Lebanon. Their occupation should come to an end," Shalom told reporters in Budapest.
Judge orders military to release Padilla
SPARTANBURG, SC, USA - A federal judge in South Carolina on February 28 ruled that President George W. Bush does not have the power to hold terror suspect Jose Padilla as an "enemy combatant". The judge ordered Padilla released from military custody within 45 days, saying, "simply stated, this is a law enforcement matter, not a military matter".
Libya denies Israel contacts
TRIPOLI, LIBYA - Libya denied on February 28 Israeli press reports that its intelligence chief, Gen. Mousa Kousa, visited Israel last week. Foreign ministry spokesman Hassouna Shawesh told reporters in Tripoli that the reports are the "work of imagination". An Israeli Website reported that Kousa made a secret visit to Israel last week during which he met Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Shawesh denied that such a meeting took place.
EU urges dialogue in Lebanon after PM resigns
BRUSSELS - The European Commission on February 28 appealed for dialogue among the various political groups in Lebanon following the resignation of pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami. "I hope that the situation in Lebanon remains calm and the channels of dialogue between the different political groups open," EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.
UN makes billion dollar appeal for Palestinian refugees
GENEVA - The United Nations will need $1.1 billion over five years to support Palestinian refugees as part of the Middle East peace process, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on February 28. Living conditions for the refugees have worsened in recent years, the outgoing UNRWA chief, Peter Hansen of Denmark, said, explaining that donations had failed to keep up with Palestinian population growth.
Jordan and Syria sign accord to settle border dispute
AMMAN - Jordan and Syria signed an agreement on February 28 settling a long-standing border dispute and which officials said would bolster relations between the two neighbors. Jordan has said that the Syrian border encroaches 125 square kilometers (50 square miles) inside Jordanian territory, while Jordan runs 2.5 square kilometers into Syria. Syria will be able to keep the 125 square kilometers in Jordan, giving Jordan an equivalent territory in the border area, Jordanian interior minister Samir Habashneh said.
Father of Tel Aviv bombing victim vows vengeance
JERUSALEM - The father of a victim of a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, who was killed just weeks before her wedding, vowed at her funeral on February 27 to avenge his daughter's death if the Israeli army did not do it for him. "I appeal to the army, without tears and in all conscience, to avenge the death of Yael, otherwise I will avenge her myself," said Israel Orbach, the father of Yael Orbach, 28.
Eight Israelis arrested on suspicion of Palestinian land theft
JERUSALEM - Israel police have arrested eight people on suspicion of stealing hundreds of plots of Palestinian-owned land by means of falsified documents, Israel private Channel 2 television reported on February 27. Police believe that the suspects forged ownership documents for plots of Palestinian land in the southern West Bank and around Jerusalem, then sold the land to a company called Himanuta, a subsidiary of the Jewish National Fund, which manages state land.
Iraqi girl in same hospital as pope prays for him
ROME - A four-year-old Iraqi girl, wounded in Iraq and lying in the same hospital as Pope John Paul II, is praying to Allah that his health improve as quickly as hers, her grandfather said on February 27. He said that his granddaughter, who had been evacuated from Iraq by Italian forces and brought to Rome's Gemelli hospital, had seen television reports on the pope. When she understood who he was "she prayed to Allah that he get better as quickly as she does".
Headless female corpse found in Baghdad
BAGHDAD - Iraqi police found the body of a headless woman in Baghdad on February 27, with a note attached denouncing her as a spy, security sources said. "A piece of paper, with the word spy written on it, was found near the body of the woman dressed in a black robe," said policeman Walid Khaled.
Ex-Israeli minister admits to drug charges
JERUSALEM - A former Israeli energy minister has reportedly admitted to trying to smuggle some 32,000 ecstasy pills into the country and forging a diplomatic passport. Gonen Segev made the admission on February 27 as part of a plea bargain, the Ha'aretz news service reported. As part of the deal he will be sentenced to five years imprisonment and fined $27,500, all of which will be donated to a drug fighting group.
Iraq says it is closing in on Zarqawi
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government said on February 27 that it was closing in on suspected Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi. minister of state for national security affairs Kassem Dawood said that the "noose is tightening" around Zarqawi, who has a $50-million bounty on his head. He is suspected of responsibility for a series of kidnappings, beheadings and suicide attacks in Iraq. Dawood told journalists in Baghdad, "You will hear good news very soon," but did not elaborate.
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