Al-Hayat (London): Abbas: 'Obama Told Me Israelis Crazy Not To Accept Arab Initiative' – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the Palestinian community in Cairo that US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama had told him Israel would be "crazy if they don't accept" the Arab peace initiative, "because that would allow them to live in peace and security from Mauritania to Indonesia." Abbas said this was Obama's response when he explained to him the 2002 initiative, in which the Arabs offered to normalize relations with Israel in return for the latter's withdrawal from the territories it captured in 1967.
Al-Gomhuriya (Egypt): Peres Calls for Isolating Palestinians in Jerusalem – Israeli President Shimon Peres yesterday called for separating the Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem by building a bridge and wall to stop what he called the Palestinian attacks that have recently escalated in the city. Peres warned that Hamas was gradually taking control of the Arab street in Jerusalem, which is causing fear among the residents there.
Okaz (Saudi Arabia): Hamas Warns of a New Intifada – Hamas has warned of a new intifada (uprising) against Israel and its "client security forces" in the West Bank if they continued their campaign in the territories. The warning came as Palestinian security and medical sources said that Israeli soldiers opened fire at a group of young Palestinians in the West Bank, killing a nine-year-old boy.
As-Safir (Lebanon): Fatah Official Escapes Assassination in Ain el-Helweh Camp – Security was high last night amid armed mobilization among the different factions in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Helweh in southern Lebanon following an assassination attempt against a senior Fatah officer. Major Talal Asmar survived miraculously after he was injured in the face by an explosive device detonated by remote control while he was taking a walk with his bodyguards in the camp, after which he was rushed to an intensive care unit at a hospital and was reported in stable condition.
Akhbar al-Khaleej (Bahrain): Moussa: Iran's Nuclear Program Peaceful, Not a Threat – Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Tuesday that the International Atomic Energy Agency's reports show that Iran's nuclear activities are not for military purposes and are non-threatening. He said this as Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned the United States against abandoning the military option against Iran. Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at the opening of the foreign ministers' conference of the Non-Aligned Movement that the powerful nations were collapsing.