An-Nahar (Lebanon): First assassination of a military leader … Al-Hajj martyrdom a message of terror to army and consensus candidate – The assassination of Lebanese army General Francois al-Hajj in a car bomb is a terrorist precedent that carries various security and political messages. The assassination is a serious development to the series of terrorist attacks that have targeted political leaders and journalists since January 2004, aimed at terrorizing the army and a consensus presidential candidate.
Tishreen (Syria): Widespread condemnations to the assignation of General al-Hajj … He escaped Israeli attempts several times and was martyred yesterday – The assassination of General al-Hajj has drawn widespread condemnation and Lebanese speculation that Israel's Mossad (intelligence service) is behind this terrorist act. He had escaped several Israeli attempts on his life, including in 1976 when the Israelis bombed his car in southern Lebanon because he refused to cooperate with the Israel's Lebanese proxy militia, and they threatened him in the July 2006 war.
Al-Arab al-Yawm (Jordan): Al-Qaida in the Maghreb seeks Islamic unity in the region – Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which claimed responsibility for the double bombing in Algiers Tuesday, is seeking to unify armed Islamic elements in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. The group is led by Abu Musab Abdel Wadood, who considers Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by U.S. forces in Iraq, as his role model.
Al-Hayat (London): Zibari: Number of infiltrators from Syrian border declines to under 30 a month – Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zibari told al-Hayat that the number of infiltrating fighters into Iraq through the Syrian border has dropped from 100 to less than 30 a month "due to the security measures by Damascus, and more importantly because of the political will in Syria." He also said the next round of U.S.-Iranian talks on Iraq that were due on Dec. 18 has been delayed until after the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.
Al-Quds al-Arabi (London): Record high prices for donkeys in Gaza due to shortage of fuel and spare parts – The blockade imposed on Gaza and Israel's freezing of fuel supplies more than a week ago has raised the prices of donkeys to record highs as the residents of the strip exchanged their cars with donkeys since they don't need spare parts or fuel to work them. Local sources said the price of a donkey has risen by 60 percent since Israel imposed the blockade following Hamas' takeover of Gaza in June.