A regularly updated column of news briefs from around the region
US navy announces Swift boat comeback
WASHINGTON - The US navy has announced plans to deploy new versions of the Swift boats used in the Vietnam War to patrol Iraq's Euphrates River. The 12-meter (39-foot) boats, which each hold 16 sailors, are expected to be deployed next year for the first time in more than 30 years to help combat the Iraqi insurgency, the Los Angeles Times reported on July 6.
Navy Rear Adm. Donald Bullard, leader of the Expeditionary Combat Command, said the boats will help to close a gap in US military security in the region. "We need to be able to control the maritime environment where terrorists can operate, to deny them freedom of movement, to deny them sanctuary," he said.
Turkish support for EU plummets
ANKARA - The image of the European Union among Turkish citizens has plunged 17 percent to 43 percent in the past six months, an EU poll published on July 7 said. The results were published by the official EU public polling organization, Eurobarometer, which polled 1,000 people in Turkey. Turkey is seeking to become an EU member.
As to whether they trust the union, 35 percent of Turks asked said they did, which is down 15 percent from last year, the Hurriyet news agency reported.
Libya commits $17mn to fight AIDS
TRIPOLI - Libya has contributed $17 million to a program to help fight HIV-AIDS in the northern town of Benghazi where hundreds have contracted the disease, a senior official said on July 6. "We have released $17 million for the application of the agreement between the Qadhafi Charitable Foundation and the European Union," the foundation's executive director Salah Abdel Salam said. The foundation is headed by Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi's eldest son Seif Al Islam.
Abdel Salam said the EU had only given $2 million to finance the program, aimed at providing technical assistance in the fight against AIDS and HIV as well as help for sufferers of the disease and their relatives.
Six perish in shipwreck off Yemen
SANAA - Six seamen perished and 13 were rescued when their Panama-flagged vessel sank in bad weather in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Yemen, the official Yemeni news agency Saba reported on July 6.
The ship, owned by a company in the United Arab Emirates, was carrying 5,000 tons of cement from Oman to Tanzania when it went down on July 5 near Yemen's Socotra island, the agency said. Maritime traffic at this time of year is frequently disturbed by waves four to nine meters (yards) high off Socotra.
Gaza gateway temporarily reopens
GAZA CITY - The Gaza Strip's sole gateway to the world that bypasses Israel, its border with Egypt, temporarily reopened on July 6 to allow people to cross on a humanitarian basis, an EU spokeswoman said. The Rafah passenger terminal, which has been closed since the Israeli soldier crisis broke out on June 25, was to stay open from 1000 am (0700 GMT) until 2:00 pm, the source said.
Around 250 people considered humanitarian cases and stranded on the Egyptian side of the terminal would be allowed to cross into the Gaza Strip during the day, the spokeswoman said. A Palestinian official at the Rafah border said that those being allowed to cross were principally the sick, the elderly, women, and children.
Pan-Islamic body to open Baghdad office
BAGHDAD - A delegation from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) announced on July 5 that the 57-member OIC is to open an office in Baghdad for the first time. "We have taken this step after concluding that the timing was right," head of the visiting delegation Mohammed Mahdi Fatehallah told reporters.
The office will be based inside the Iraqi foreign ministry compound and a special ministerial committee made up of six member countries from the Arab world, Africa, and Asia would be created to deal with Iraqi issues.
Egypt Brotherhood calls to expel Israeli envoys
CAIRO - Egypt's opposition Muslim Brotherhood joined leftist opposition groups on July 5 in calling on Arab countries to expel their Israeli ambassadors and to boycott Israeli goods, the Islamist group's Website said. Egypt, Jordan, and Mauritania are the only Arab countries to have diplomatic relations with Israel.
A delegation of Muslim Brotherhood and leftist opposition members hand-delivered a letter - excerpts from which were posted on the Brotherhood Website - to the deputy secretary-general of the Arab League, Ahmed Ben Hilli, calling for "expelling ambassadors, political and economic representatives and all those attached to the Zionist entity from Arab countries."
Third Saudi 'tries to end life' at Guantanamo
RIYADH - Just weeks after two Saudi prisoners at Guantanamo committed suicide, a third inmate attempted to end his life amid an outcry over detention conditions. Saudi daily Al Yom on July 5 quoted US lawyer, Joshe Natreen, as saying that prison officials refrained from identifying the inmate, saying that he is Saudi but not among her seven Saudi clients.
Joshe Natreen said that she was skeptical about the reported attempt, noting that "three cases of suicide took place in the prison and the defense lawyers were not able to have a look at the investigation reports." Two Saudis and a Yemeni were found dead in their cells in Guantanamo on June 10. US authorities said that they conducted an investigation and established that the three inmates had committed suicide.
Yemen to seek nuclear energy
SANAA - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on July 4 that he would seek to produce nuclear energy in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula republic as he registered his candidacy for a new term in office. "My future tasks include the huge development file ... and that of the energy production required to meet growing needs, including producing electricity through nuclear energy," Saleh said, quoted by the state Saba news agency.
Speaking last month amid a standoff between Iran and the international community over Tehran's nuclear program, Salah defended "the right of Arab countries to produce nuclear energy for peaceful purposes."
EU names first ambassador to Arab League
CAIRO - The European Union (EU) has named its first ambassador to the Arab League to boost cooperation between the organizations, the two sides said on July 4. Klaus Ebermann, currently head of the European Commission delegation in Egypt, has been appointed ambassador and made "the official responsible for relations with the Arab League," the European Commission said.
Relations between the Cairo-based Arab League and the European Commission were formalized in 1984. The league is an observer in the Barcelona process, a Euro-Mediterranean partnership, while the European Commission has participated in two Arab summits in 2005 and 2006.
Arab League transfers $50mn to Palestinians
CAIRO - The Arab League has transferred $50 million to the cash-strapped Palestinian territories, League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on July 4 at a joint press conference with Nabil Shaath, an envoy representing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The funds, which were transferred to the account of the Palestinian presidency, are "the first Arab payments to reach the territories since the Israeli siege," said Shaath, adding that the Arab League had already sent $15 million to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and to employees and diplomats in Palestinian embassies.
Ethiopia chides rival for border stalemate
ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on July 4 renewed accusations against arch-foe Eritrea for obstructing efforts aimed at resolving a stalemate on their disputed border and threatening regional stability. Meles said that Ethiopia had duly complied with the international boundary commission meetings held in London in March and May and blamed Asmara for inflexibility.
"The process has been cut short before getting off the ground because of Eritrea's intransigence, which was responsible for lack of any outcome from the meetings and because of Asmara's rejection of any invitation to meetings relating to the dispute," Meles told parliament.
Turkish publishers to stand trial over leftist's book
ISTANBUL - Three Turkish publishers risk up to six years in prison on charges of "denigrating national identity" and "inciting hatred" by publishing a book by prominent US leftist Noam Chomsky. Fatih Tas, owner of the Aram publishing house, said on July 4 that he and two colleagues, Omer Faruk Kurhan and Taylan Tosun, had been charged over the book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, co-authored by Chomsky and Edward S. Herman.
Tas has already stood trial - which resulted in acquittal in 2002 - for publishing a Chomsky book, American Interventionism, in which the author criticizes Ankara's treatment of its Kurdish minority and US arms sales to the Turkish government. A professor of linguistics Chomsky is well-known for his attacks on US foreign policy.
One dead in Druze gunbattle in Lebanon
BEIRUT - One person was killed and five others were wounded in a gunbattle on July 4 between supporters of rival Druze leaders in the Shouf mountains southeast of the Lebanese capital. The clash in Jahiliyeh village pitted supporters of anti-Syrian Druze chief Walid Jumblatt against those of the Tawhid party of pro-Syrian former minister Wiam Wahab, the state news agency ANI said. A Lebanese army unit intervened to restore calm, it said.
Arab legislators demonstrate in Israel
JERUSALEM - Arab members of the Israeli parliament participated in a demonstration on July 3 calling for the release of recently detained Hamas leaders. Some relatives of the detainees also joined the protest outside Ofer military prison,
Ha'aretz reported. Shweiki Khatib of the Israeli Arab Higher Follow-Up Committee accused the Israeli government of "trying to create Palestinian leaders who fit its own parameters."
On July 3, the Knesset or parliament rejected a no-confidence motion sponsored by Arab members by a 75-10 vote.
Egypt MPs call for expulsion of Israel ambassador
CAIRO - Egyptian MPs called on July 3 for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and his Egyptian counterpart to be recalled from Tel Aviv in protest against Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. The official news agency MENA said that several deputies supported the call from Ibrahim Al Gugari, head of the house's constitutional committee. Some MPs went further, calling for a freeze on Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
Parliament speaker Fathi Surour said that the motion would be passed on to the foreign affairs committee "because it relates to the sovereignty" of Egypt, the only Arab state apart from Jordan to have made peace with Israel.
Bodies of 21 would-be immigrants found in W.Sahara
RABAT - The bodies of 21 would-be illegal immigrants seeking to make the perilous trip to Europe have been found on a beach in the Western Sahara, Morocco's news agency MAP said on July 3. The victims died after their boat sank as they set out for the Canary Islands, the Spanish-controlled archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa, according to the report. They were found on a beach near to the regional capital El Ayoun. Seven passengers survived, swimming to shore, it said.
Earlier on July 3 two people were killed, one of them apparently shot, as migrants attempted a desperate stampede on the Spanish enclave of Melilla in Morocco, local security sources said. Migrants from North and West Africa are camped in their thousands in Morocco, hoping to escape poverty and conflict for a new life in Europe.
Dubai court to rule on US hip-hop producer drugs trial
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A court in the Gulf emirate of Dubai will issue a verdict on July 4 in the case of American hip-hop producer Dallas Austin who has pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine, newspapers said on July 3. Austin, who was detained on arrival at Dubai airport on May 19 to attend a birthday party for British supermodel Naomi Campbell, was charged with possessing drugs for personal use, the English-language Gulf News said.
Austin, 33, who has crafted beats for Madonna and Michael Jackson among others, pleaded guilty in court on July 2 to possessing 1.26 grams and five-and-a-half capsules of cocaine, it said. But Austin said that he had not intended to use the drugs in the country and brought them in "by mistake." The daily Khaleej Times reported that a conviction for possessing drugs for personal use carries a jail term of between four and 12 years.
Eight die in Turkey floods
ANKARA - Torrential rains killed at least eight people in Turkey over the weekend and has caused serious damage. The worst hit areas were in the northeast on the Black Sea where the weather continued to be severe on July 3. The floods swept away many houses, farms, and bridges in and near Samsun and Giresun where six people died, according to television reports. In the east, at Bitlis and Van, two other people died in the torrential rains.
Lebanese denies recruiting fighters for Iraq
BEIRUT - A Lebanese man named on a most-wanted list in Iraq denied on July 3 charges that he recruited fighters and insisted that his organization was assisting the insurgency only politically. Maan Bashur, an Arab nationalist, was named on July 2 on a new Iraqi government list of 41 most wanted people accused of supporting the insurgency, and whose extradition Iraq has demanded. Bashur chairs two nationalist organizations, the Arab Nationalist Forum and the Grouping of Popular Committees and Associations.
Drug money 'from Britain' laundered in UAE
AL AIN, United Arab Emirates - Britain and other West European countries are the main sources of drug money laundered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the governor of the UAE central bank said on July 2. "Drug money comes from developed Western [European] countries ... Some of the dirty money that comes here is made in Britain," Sultan Bin Nasser Al Suwaidi told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting on combating money laundering. The drug money "goes into banking and wire transfers," he said.
"There are over 100,000 British nationals living in the UAE ... It's related to business activities," he said, referring to what he termed "bad money" filtering through business deals. Suwaidi would not provide figures for the amount of money reportedly laundered in the UAE.
India rejects Israeli request for pistols
NEW DELHI - The Indian government has denied a request by the Israeli embassy to import 20 handguns for its security staff. Indian security agencies also asked the embassy and the Israeli consulate in Mumbai to send 48 Glock pistols already in the country back to Tel Aviv, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. The agencies said that security for embassies and diplomats is the responsibility of India, not of their home countries.
Israel is reportedly the only country that maintains its own security staff in India, and officials told PTI that they fear that other countries will demand similar accommodation if the Israelis are allowed to import weapons and arm their staff.
Court 'hampered' terror fight
CAIRO - A US Supreme Court ruling on military tribunals "hampered" the government's ability to deal with terrorists, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said. The court ruled on June 29 that President George W. Bush lacks authority to establish military tribunals for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In a 5-3 ruling, the justices said that the tribunals are illegal under military justice law and the Geneva Conventions.
Gonzales, in Cairo for a meeting with top legal officials from other nations, told CNN that the administration plans to work with Congress on legislation to address the court's objections. "What this decision has done is, it's hampered our ability to move forward with a tool which we had hoped would be available to the president of the United States in dealing with terrorists," Gonzales said on July 1.
Afghanistan probes lawmaker beating
KABUL - The Afghan government has launched a probe into the beating last month of a lawmaker, allegedly by men loyal to a powerful northern warlord, an official at the interior ministry said on July 1. Faizullah Zaki was on holiday in his hometown in northern Jozjan province when he was attacked, apparently for violating the line of Jambush-i-milli, Abdul Rashid Dostam's ethnic Uzbek party, parliamentary sources said.
A government delegation has been sent from Kabul to investigate the incident, which occurred some three weeks ago, said interior ministry official Abdul Wahab Khetab.
Blair says Afghanistan 'very dangerous'
KABUL - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is urging other NATO countries to send more troops and equipment to fight resurgent Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Blair considers the Afghan situation "very dangerous" and believes that the West has failed to grasp how high the stakes are, the Times of London has reported.
British-led NATO forces are scheduled to coordinate a peacekeeping and reconstruction mission in southern Afghanistan on July 31. But instead of peacekeeping, they find themselves fighting insurgent Taliban forces, which are increasingly attacking foreign forces, the Times reported.
Rabbis warn against hitchhiking
JERUSALEM - A group of Israeli rabbis issued a ruling warning conscientious Jews that they should abstain from hitchhiking during the current crisis with the Palestinians. The rabbis were inspired by a series of incidents, including the recent killing of Eliyahu Asheri, who was abducted while trying to hitch a ride, Arutz Sheva has reported.
Two weeks ago, two teenage girls were almost kidnapped while hitchhiking, and three months ago a suicide bomber killed four Jews who picked him up while he was hitchhiking. Rabbi Chaim Druckman, one of the signers, was Asheri's adopted grandfather. In their ruling, the rabbis said that drivers should continue to pick up hitchhikers, because of the need when public transportation is spotty. But they urged caution.
Regional Roundups
TOOLBAR
To add a comment,
Please log in:
Don't have an account?
Register now to comment on stories and stay up to date on important events and issues in the Middle East with our newsletter.