Hisham Matar
The International Herald Tribune Published: February 5, 2007
PARIS: Sheep or wolf?
Since 2003, Libyan diplomats have been hard at work convincing the West that Libya is no longer interested in amassing weapons of mass destruction, blowing up Western airplanes or covertly financing armed movements abroad. Presenting this new face has been largely effective: Sanctions, in place since 1982, have been lifted; Libya has been removed from the U.S. roster of terrorist nations; and the list of international trade agreements continues to grow.
As part of this public relations drive, Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi and his officials have been keen to reassure Libyan critics that it is now safe to return to Libya. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of exiled Libyans have not returned. However, one did: Idrees Boufayed, a doctor living and working in Switzerland.
On Sept. 30, 2006, he returned to Libya for the first time in 16 years. And on Nov. 5, he disappeared.
Throughout its 37-year rule, the Qaddafi government has found as many reasons to arrest its citizens as Libyans have found to abandon their country. Thousands of critics of the Qaddafi regime, inside and outside Libya, have either disappeared or been assassinated. My father, the political dissident Jaballa Matar, disappeared from his home in Cairo in March 1990. We still do not know whether he is alive or dead.
Astonishingly, on Dec. 29 — 55 days after his arrest — Boufayed was released. The Libyan authorities offered no explanation for his detention. And Boufayed, who had been a regular contributor to dissident Web sites, has remained uncharacteristically silent ever since. This change in behavior is not unusual: Almost all political dissidents fortunate enough to be released have given up their criticism of the regime. The machinery of Qaddafi's government is as effective as ever.
Now that the United States has incorporated the Libyan regime into its so-called war on terrorism, it is difficult to see what political pressure it can exert on the Libyan government to reform. Western governments have had the power to effect change in Libya only as long as the dictator's government has hungered for the West's acceptance.
The short-sighted paranoia with which the war on terrorism has been managed has weakened any moral advantage the United States might once have had.
The cards surrendered were hugely undervalued: The United States could have compelled the Libyan dictatorship to do much more than just hand over its outdated weapons of mass destruction and compensate the families of the victims of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, with $2.7 billion — a sum that would be earned back in trade deals during the first week after sanctions were lifted.
Although America has highlighted the issue of human rights in its negotiations with Libya, none of the countries that now profit from a close association with the Libyan leadership has demanded the release, or even the trial, of the silenced political prisoners who crowd Libya's prisons. No country made it a condition in negotiations that Libya investigate the countless cases of the "disappeared." None of them compelled the Qaddafi government even to address the massacre at Abu Salim prison, where, one night in June 1996, more than 1,000 political prisoners were shot and killed. In its 2003 negotiations with Libya, the United States lost a golden opportunity to link the improvement of Libya's dismal human-rights situation to its acceptance into the international community. Indeed, it can be argued that the United States has instead helped worsen human rights in Libya. It has not only defended torture, which has softened the critical gaze on Libya's own practice of torture, but also encouraged the practice by sending Libyans suspected of terrorism to Tripoli for "interrogation."
Furthermore, Qaddafi has used the new panic — that the Islamist bogeyman will imminently shroud the world under his dark beard — as an excuse to silence critics. That tactic has fomented rather than curbed religious extremism in Libya as elsewhere.
The impression that a bloodless battle has been won in Libya rests on an inflated notion of the threat the country, even with its rusty weapons of mass destruction, ever posed to the West. It misreads an act of diplomatic negligence toward the rights of the Libyan people as a victory for world peace.
Qaddafi deserves sole credit for Libya's foreign policy U-turn. He has never found it necessary to devote himself to a single political ideology; his only consistent policy has been to guard his personal political survival. The United States and Britain understand this, but have only exploited it for their own myopic objectives, forgetting that Libya's political development can lie only with its people.
more here http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/05/opinion/edmatar.php?page=2
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/05/opinion/edmatar.php
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
These moderates are in fact fanatics, torturers and killers
The longer the US and Britain back dictatorial regimes in the Middle East the more explosive the region will become
Mai Yamani
· Mai Yamani is author of Cradle of Islam, and Changed Identities: The Challenge of the New Generation in Saudi Arabia myamani@btinternet.com
The Guardian Tuesday February 6, 2007
Politicians, especially in times of geopolitical deadlock, adopt a word or a concept to sell to the public. In 1973, at the peak of cold-war tensions, the US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, coined the term "detente". Such words gain a currency and become useful political tools to escape policy quagmires. As the Middle East lurches from crisis to crisis, Tony Blair, George Bush and Condoleezza Rice compulsively repeat the word "moderates" to describe their allies in the region. But the concept of moderate is merely the latest attempt to market a failed policy, while offering a facile hedge against accusations of Islamophobia and anti-Islamic policies.
Western leaders have simply chosen a few Arab rulers they believe are still saleable to western audiences. And, as the word moderate has been repeated by western leaders and echoed in the international media, these rulers have begun to believe their own billing. But who are they, and are they moderate? Their selection has been fluid at the periphery but solid at the core. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt clearly qualify, whereas Syria, an ally during the 1990-91 Gulf war, was once at the periphery but fell out of step with US interests after 9/11. Likewise, after the death of Arafat and the victory of Hamas, Fatah became moderate, while Iran, moderate under the shah, became "radical" after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
This minuet of political marketing may play well in the west, but not in the Arab world, where the double standards and manipulation are all too plain to see. The Saudi Wahhabis are, after all, fanatics; Egypt's Hosni Mubarak is intolerant of dissent; and Jordan, the state closest to the western ideal, is a marginal player. These countries' appalling human rights records, lack of transparency and repression rank them among the world's least moderate. Is there such a thing as a "moderate public beheading"? For the US and UK governments there clearly is, because all departures from the ideals of liberal democracy and social justice are rooted in "tradition". Hence bribes, beheadings and the oppression of women and minorities are traditional, and because whatever is traditional is not radical, it must be moderate.
Nothing, it seems, is more moderate than inertia. So inertia pays. Egypt has received an average of $1.3bn a year in military aid from the US since 1979, and $815m a year in economic assistance. Saudi Arabia relies on oil revenues and the international legitimacy provided by membership of such moderate bulwarks as the WTO and the IMF.
But at home, all other hallmarks of moderation are missing. Amnesty International describes Saudi Arabia as a country where "there are no political parties, no elections, no independent legislature, no trade unions ... no independent judiciary, no independent human rights organisations. The government allows no international human rights organisations to carry out research in the country ... there is strict censorship of media within the country, and strict control of access to the internet, satellite television and other forms of communication with the outside world."
Likewise, Human Rights Watch's report on Egypt describes Mubarak's government as using a "heavy hand against political dissent in 2006. In April 2006, the government renewed emergency rule for an additional two years, providing a continued basis for arbitrary detention and trials before military and state security courts. Torture at the hands of security forces remains a serious problem." Amnesty's report on Egypt concurred: "Torture continued to be used systematically in detention centres ... Several people died in custody in circumstances suggesting that torture or ill-treatment may have caused or contributed to their deaths."
The use of moderate to describe such leaders is necessary to mask the death of Bush's "freedom agenda" in the Middle East, with its lofty goal of regionwide democratisation. Indeed, Rice's visit to Egypt in January emphasised the word moderate and completely ignored the word democracy.
The moderates are not democrats, but they are politically useful because of what else they are not: they are not Persian and not Shia, not defiant and not able to act independently of the US. They are moderate only because they do not need to be more radical to achieve absolute power. Mubarak already exercises it, and the al-Sauds are satisfied with the current level of fanaticism in the kingdom. Some are armchair jihadis, but their Islamism serves only to prop up their domestic legitimacy.
What the moderates do need is continued western military and financial cover. So they remain ideological stalwarts. If communism was the enemy of the US, then it was their enemy. If Shia Iran is America's enemy today, it is also the enemy of America's moderate allies.
The relationship with the west is a two-way street. The Saudis invest billions in the US, buy weapons they don't need or cannot use, and provide a thriving market for western goods. But, like Mubarak, the Saudi rulers are old and on the defensive against their own people. The more the US shelters them, the more their legitimacy erodes. And the longer Washington and London prolong the state of denial with the help of pithy and amorphous buzzwords, the more explosive the Middle East will become.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2006728,00.html
Mai Yamani
· Mai Yamani is author of Cradle of Islam, and Changed Identities: The Challenge of the New Generation in Saudi Arabia myamani@btinternet.com
The Guardian Tuesday February 6, 2007
Politicians, especially in times of geopolitical deadlock, adopt a word or a concept to sell to the public. In 1973, at the peak of cold-war tensions, the US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, coined the term "detente". Such words gain a currency and become useful political tools to escape policy quagmires. As the Middle East lurches from crisis to crisis, Tony Blair, George Bush and Condoleezza Rice compulsively repeat the word "moderates" to describe their allies in the region. But the concept of moderate is merely the latest attempt to market a failed policy, while offering a facile hedge against accusations of Islamophobia and anti-Islamic policies.
Western leaders have simply chosen a few Arab rulers they believe are still saleable to western audiences. And, as the word moderate has been repeated by western leaders and echoed in the international media, these rulers have begun to believe their own billing. But who are they, and are they moderate? Their selection has been fluid at the periphery but solid at the core. Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt clearly qualify, whereas Syria, an ally during the 1990-91 Gulf war, was once at the periphery but fell out of step with US interests after 9/11. Likewise, after the death of Arafat and the victory of Hamas, Fatah became moderate, while Iran, moderate under the shah, became "radical" after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
This minuet of political marketing may play well in the west, but not in the Arab world, where the double standards and manipulation are all too plain to see. The Saudi Wahhabis are, after all, fanatics; Egypt's Hosni Mubarak is intolerant of dissent; and Jordan, the state closest to the western ideal, is a marginal player. These countries' appalling human rights records, lack of transparency and repression rank them among the world's least moderate. Is there such a thing as a "moderate public beheading"? For the US and UK governments there clearly is, because all departures from the ideals of liberal democracy and social justice are rooted in "tradition". Hence bribes, beheadings and the oppression of women and minorities are traditional, and because whatever is traditional is not radical, it must be moderate.
Nothing, it seems, is more moderate than inertia. So inertia pays. Egypt has received an average of $1.3bn a year in military aid from the US since 1979, and $815m a year in economic assistance. Saudi Arabia relies on oil revenues and the international legitimacy provided by membership of such moderate bulwarks as the WTO and the IMF.
But at home, all other hallmarks of moderation are missing. Amnesty International describes Saudi Arabia as a country where "there are no political parties, no elections, no independent legislature, no trade unions ... no independent judiciary, no independent human rights organisations. The government allows no international human rights organisations to carry out research in the country ... there is strict censorship of media within the country, and strict control of access to the internet, satellite television and other forms of communication with the outside world."
Likewise, Human Rights Watch's report on Egypt describes Mubarak's government as using a "heavy hand against political dissent in 2006. In April 2006, the government renewed emergency rule for an additional two years, providing a continued basis for arbitrary detention and trials before military and state security courts. Torture at the hands of security forces remains a serious problem." Amnesty's report on Egypt concurred: "Torture continued to be used systematically in detention centres ... Several people died in custody in circumstances suggesting that torture or ill-treatment may have caused or contributed to their deaths."
The use of moderate to describe such leaders is necessary to mask the death of Bush's "freedom agenda" in the Middle East, with its lofty goal of regionwide democratisation. Indeed, Rice's visit to Egypt in January emphasised the word moderate and completely ignored the word democracy.
The moderates are not democrats, but they are politically useful because of what else they are not: they are not Persian and not Shia, not defiant and not able to act independently of the US. They are moderate only because they do not need to be more radical to achieve absolute power. Mubarak already exercises it, and the al-Sauds are satisfied with the current level of fanaticism in the kingdom. Some are armchair jihadis, but their Islamism serves only to prop up their domestic legitimacy.
What the moderates do need is continued western military and financial cover. So they remain ideological stalwarts. If communism was the enemy of the US, then it was their enemy. If Shia Iran is America's enemy today, it is also the enemy of America's moderate allies.
The relationship with the west is a two-way street. The Saudis invest billions in the US, buy weapons they don't need or cannot use, and provide a thriving market for western goods. But, like Mubarak, the Saudi rulers are old and on the defensive against their own people. The more the US shelters them, the more their legitimacy erodes. And the longer Washington and London prolong the state of denial with the help of pithy and amorphous buzzwords, the more explosive the Middle East will become.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2006728,00.html
Archbishop in police state warning
Press Association
Guardian Monday February 5, 2007 6:43 AM
The Archbishop of York has warned that Britain was in danger of "coming close to a police state" in the wake of the arrest of suspected terrorists in Birmingham.
Dr John Sentamu, who fled Uganda in the 1970s, criticised 90-day detention, likening it with his home country under the tyrannical rule of Idi Amin.
"If you detain people, you must have good enough reason for detaining them and have a chance for there being a successful prosecution," he said.
He continued: "The Home Secretary has not produced the evidence that shows that in 90 days you're capable of getting somebody prosecuted.
"Why does he want these days, so the police do what? Gather more evidence? To me that becomes, if you're not very careful, very close to a police state in which they pick you up and then they say later on we'll find evidence against you. That's what happened in Uganda with Idi Amin."
He spoke out in an interview with ITV News as West Midlands Police continued to question nine people arrested in Birmingham over an alleged plot to kidnap and murder a Muslim soldier.
The Archbishop also urged people coming to live in the UK to adopt and "cherish" British values.
The second most senior cleric in the Church of England said: "If you are in Britain and you're British, you should really cherish the traditions that are here.
"In a (democratic) country like this to then say: I am going to kidnap somebody, I'm going to kill somebody, I will blow people up - for whatever ideology that is about - it isn't good citizenship.
"If you don't actually subscribe to the things that make Britain, you're going to be in trouble."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6394619,00.html
Guardian Monday February 5, 2007 6:43 AM
The Archbishop of York has warned that Britain was in danger of "coming close to a police state" in the wake of the arrest of suspected terrorists in Birmingham.
Dr John Sentamu, who fled Uganda in the 1970s, criticised 90-day detention, likening it with his home country under the tyrannical rule of Idi Amin.
"If you detain people, you must have good enough reason for detaining them and have a chance for there being a successful prosecution," he said.
He continued: "The Home Secretary has not produced the evidence that shows that in 90 days you're capable of getting somebody prosecuted.
"Why does he want these days, so the police do what? Gather more evidence? To me that becomes, if you're not very careful, very close to a police state in which they pick you up and then they say later on we'll find evidence against you. That's what happened in Uganda with Idi Amin."
He spoke out in an interview with ITV News as West Midlands Police continued to question nine people arrested in Birmingham over an alleged plot to kidnap and murder a Muslim soldier.
The Archbishop also urged people coming to live in the UK to adopt and "cherish" British values.
The second most senior cleric in the Church of England said: "If you are in Britain and you're British, you should really cherish the traditions that are here.
"In a (democratic) country like this to then say: I am going to kidnap somebody, I'm going to kill somebody, I will blow people up - for whatever ideology that is about - it isn't good citizenship.
"If you don't actually subscribe to the things that make Britain, you're going to be in trouble."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6394619,00.html
British Embassy funded study of separation barrier
By Aluf Benn
Haaretz Tue., February 06, 2007
The British Embassy in Israel is helping to fund research on the enclaves created by the separation barrier around Palestinian villages in the West Bank. The study is being carried out by the non-governmental organization Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights. Officials from Bimkom say that the embassy contributed about 10,000 pounds sterling for the research and the report on the study, but did not interfere in its content.
A source in Israel's Foreign Ministry yesterday criticized the action. "It is interference by Britain in an internal Israeli matter. How would they react in London if our embassy was to fund research on a British organization that is trying to promote an agenda that is critical of [the government]? This is not acceptable in international relations."
The British Embassy issued the following response: "We recognize Israel's need and right to defend itself, but we believe the route of the separation fence should follow the Green Line. [Our] funding of the research was intended to examine the implications of the current route of the fence on the Palestinian population."
Bimkom's study, which was completed a few months ago, describes the difficulties that the fence causes for Palestinians in the enclaves on either side of the barrier. The authors of the report conclude that in addition to the security aims of the fence, it is also intended to aid the Jewish settlements and permit them to expand at the expense of the quality of life of the Palestinian residents.
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett is currently on her first official visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In Israel she will meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and the chairman of the opposition, Benjamin Netanyahu. In Ramallah, Beckett will meet with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
In an announcement issued before her trip to "Israel and the Occupied Territories," Beckett said, "I want to see for myself the prospects for moving forward the political process."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/822205.html
Haaretz Tue., February 06, 2007
The British Embassy in Israel is helping to fund research on the enclaves created by the separation barrier around Palestinian villages in the West Bank. The study is being carried out by the non-governmental organization Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights. Officials from Bimkom say that the embassy contributed about 10,000 pounds sterling for the research and the report on the study, but did not interfere in its content.
A source in Israel's Foreign Ministry yesterday criticized the action. "It is interference by Britain in an internal Israeli matter. How would they react in London if our embassy was to fund research on a British organization that is trying to promote an agenda that is critical of [the government]? This is not acceptable in international relations."
The British Embassy issued the following response: "We recognize Israel's need and right to defend itself, but we believe the route of the separation fence should follow the Green Line. [Our] funding of the research was intended to examine the implications of the current route of the fence on the Palestinian population."
Bimkom's study, which was completed a few months ago, describes the difficulties that the fence causes for Palestinians in the enclaves on either side of the barrier. The authors of the report conclude that in addition to the security aims of the fence, it is also intended to aid the Jewish settlements and permit them to expand at the expense of the quality of life of the Palestinian residents.
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett is currently on her first official visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In Israel she will meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and the chairman of the opposition, Benjamin Netanyahu. In Ramallah, Beckett will meet with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
In an announcement issued before her trip to "Israel and the Occupied Territories," Beckett said, "I want to see for myself the prospects for moving forward the political process."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/822205.html
Giuliani joins race for president
BBC Monday, 5 February 2007, 20:26 GMT
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has officially joined the running for the Republican nomination for the 2008 US presidential election.
The Federal Election Commission said Mr Giuliani had filed a "statement of candidacy" - a one-page form outlining a candidate's wish to seek office.
Mr Giuliani was widely praised for his response to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.
He has remained in the public eye and is known as a moderate Republican.
The so-called statement of candidacy filed on Monday puts Mr Giuliani on the same level, legally, as Republican candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney.
Unlike his main rivals, Mr Giuliani has been ambiguous about whether he would ultimately put himself forward for the Republican nomination.
Mr Giuliani set up an exploratory committee in November last year and said that he was "testing the waters".
Under US law, setting up such a committee allowed Mr Giuliani to travel the country to gauge support for a candidacy without formally declaring himself as a candidate.
'America's mayor'
Correspondents say being mayor, even in a city as big and important as New York, is not commonly regarded as normal preparation for a presidential campaign.
But in the chaos which followed the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center, Mr Giuliani emerged as a defiant and unifying leader, earning him the honorary, but unofficial, title of "America's mayor".
Since then, Mr Giuliani has remained in the public eye and is popular with the American people, particularly Republicans.
However, his relatively moderate views may make it difficult for him to persuade mainstream Republicans that he should be their presidential candidate.
His support for same-sex civil unions and embryonic stem cell research would put him to the left of most of his party members.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6333437.stm
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has officially joined the running for the Republican nomination for the 2008 US presidential election.
The Federal Election Commission said Mr Giuliani had filed a "statement of candidacy" - a one-page form outlining a candidate's wish to seek office.
Mr Giuliani was widely praised for his response to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.
He has remained in the public eye and is known as a moderate Republican.
The so-called statement of candidacy filed on Monday puts Mr Giuliani on the same level, legally, as Republican candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney.
Unlike his main rivals, Mr Giuliani has been ambiguous about whether he would ultimately put himself forward for the Republican nomination.
Mr Giuliani set up an exploratory committee in November last year and said that he was "testing the waters".
Under US law, setting up such a committee allowed Mr Giuliani to travel the country to gauge support for a candidacy without formally declaring himself as a candidate.
'America's mayor'
Correspondents say being mayor, even in a city as big and important as New York, is not commonly regarded as normal preparation for a presidential campaign.
But in the chaos which followed the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center, Mr Giuliani emerged as a defiant and unifying leader, earning him the honorary, but unofficial, title of "America's mayor".
Since then, Mr Giuliani has remained in the public eye and is popular with the American people, particularly Republicans.
However, his relatively moderate views may make it difficult for him to persuade mainstream Republicans that he should be their presidential candidate.
His support for same-sex civil unions and embryonic stem cell research would put him to the left of most of his party members.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6333437.stm
Israeli minister: Free Barghouti
Al Jazeera MONDAY, FEBRUARY 05,2007
A senior political ally of the Israeli prime minister has said that Israel should release its most prominent Palestinian prisoner - a man convicted in fatal attacks on Israelis - in a bid to prop up Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. Gideon Ezra, the environment minister, is the second senior Israeli official to recently advocate the release of Marwan Barghouti of Abbas's Fatah movement.
Barghouti is the most popular leader in the Palestinian territories, and is widely regarded as the only figure able to unify clashing Palestinian factions, rein in militants and get peacemaking with Israel moving again. "If we want to blunt Hamas's capabilities ... and if we ultimately want a civil rather than a religious government like those taking shape across the Arab world, we have to make a contribution," Ezra told Army Radio, in defence of freeing Barghouti. "I think it could definitely help Abu Mazen [Abbas]." Power vacuum Abbas and his Fatah loyalists are engaged in an increasingly deadly power struggle with the ruling Hamas faction, which rejects Israel's right to exist and unseated Fatah in elections last year. The infighting has weakened Abbas as he tries to relaunch long-stalled peace talks with Israel, which considers him a legitimate negotiating alternative to Hamas. Miri Eisin, Ehud Olmert's spokeswoman, said the release of Barghouti - who is serving five life sentences for the murders of four Israelis and a Greek monk - was "not on the agenda". But Ezra, a member of Olmert's Kadima party, said Israel has freed "much worse murderers" in the past. Several weeks ago, the deputy defence minister, Ephraim Sneh of the Labour party, also championed Barghouti's release.
http://english.aljazeera.net/News/Templates/Postings/DetailedPage.aspx?FRAMELESS=false&NRNODEGUID=%7b9900A9A6-4C31-4055-81C8-18759B16CE47%7d&NRORIGINALURL=%2fNR%2fexeres%2f9900A9A6-4C31-4055-81C8-18759B16CE47%2ehtm&NRCACHEHINT=NoModifyGuest
A senior political ally of the Israeli prime minister has said that Israel should release its most prominent Palestinian prisoner - a man convicted in fatal attacks on Israelis - in a bid to prop up Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. Gideon Ezra, the environment minister, is the second senior Israeli official to recently advocate the release of Marwan Barghouti of Abbas's Fatah movement.
Barghouti is the most popular leader in the Palestinian territories, and is widely regarded as the only figure able to unify clashing Palestinian factions, rein in militants and get peacemaking with Israel moving again. "If we want to blunt Hamas's capabilities ... and if we ultimately want a civil rather than a religious government like those taking shape across the Arab world, we have to make a contribution," Ezra told Army Radio, in defence of freeing Barghouti. "I think it could definitely help Abu Mazen [Abbas]." Power vacuum Abbas and his Fatah loyalists are engaged in an increasingly deadly power struggle with the ruling Hamas faction, which rejects Israel's right to exist and unseated Fatah in elections last year. The infighting has weakened Abbas as he tries to relaunch long-stalled peace talks with Israel, which considers him a legitimate negotiating alternative to Hamas. Miri Eisin, Ehud Olmert's spokeswoman, said the release of Barghouti - who is serving five life sentences for the murders of four Israelis and a Greek monk - was "not on the agenda". But Ezra, a member of Olmert's Kadima party, said Israel has freed "much worse murderers" in the past. Several weeks ago, the deputy defence minister, Ephraim Sneh of the Labour party, also championed Barghouti's release.
http://english.aljazeera.net/News/Templates/Postings/DetailedPage.aspx?FRAMELESS=false&NRNODEGUID=%7b9900A9A6-4C31-4055-81C8-18759B16CE47%7d&NRORIGINALURL=%2fNR%2fexeres%2f9900A9A6-4C31-4055-81C8-18759B16CE47%2ehtm&NRCACHEHINT=NoModifyGuest
Fitzgerald Targets Cheney in Libby Tapes
By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer Tuesday February 6, 2007 1:01 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) - Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, in tapes played Monday in the CIA leak trial, pressed Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff on whether Cheney had directed him to leak the identity of a CIA operative to reporters.
The audiotapes showed that Fitzgerald, just two months into his leak investigation, was asking pointed questions about the highest levels of government.
The first 90 minutes of audiotapes, recorded during the 2003 grand jury testimony of top Cheney aide I. Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, were played for jurors in Libby's perjury and obstruction trial. More than six hours of additional tapes were to be played Tuesday.
Fitzgerald began his questioning by determining what he already knew to be true - that Libby was not the source of syndicated columnist Robert Novak's story revealing that the wife of an outspoken Bush administration critic worked for the CIA.
Almost immediately after that, however, Fitzgerald steered the discussion toward Cheney and how his office responded to the growing criticism from former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who claimed to have led a fact-finding mission that refuted some prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Cheney's former spokeswoman, Cathie Martin, has testified that Cheney's office viewed Wilson's criticism as a direct attack on the president's credibility and was focused on beating it back.
During that effort, Libby said, Cheney mentioned in an offhand way in June 2003 that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, worked for the CIA. Fitzgerald asked whether Cheney was upset by the apparent ``nepotism'' in the fact Plame may have arranged the trip. Libby said he did not recall.
Fitzgerald, who questioned Libby in a non-confrontational, sometimes even casual manner, also asked whether Cheney expected Libby to share that with reporters, specifically Walter Pincus of The Washington Post. Libby said he did not.
Fitzgerald asked four times and in four different ways whether Libby could be absolutely sure he did not disclose the information to Pincus. Pincus never revealed Plame's identity.
``The vice president obviously thought it was important enough to share with you or interesting enough to color the background, correct?'' Fitzgerald said.
``Yes,'' Libby replied.
Fitzgerald never brought a leak charge. Libby, who is accused of lying about his conversations with reporters regarding Plame, is the only person charged in the case. Fitzgerald believes Libby lied to protect his job and reputation. Fitzgerald has never accused Libby of lying to protect Cheney.
Prosecutors say Libby learned about Plame from Cheney, passed it on to reporters, then concocted a story about learning her identity from NBC reporter Tim Russert. Defense attorneys say Libby forgot the information after hearing it from Cheney and learned it again from Russert as if it were new.
Fitzgerald has presented several witnesses, including former State Department Undersecretary Marc Grossman and CIA official Robert Grenier, who say they spoke to Libby about Plame well before he could have learned about her from Russert. In his grand jury testimony, Libby said he had no recollection of such conversations.
``Do you recall any conversation at any time when Secretary Grossman told you that the former ambassador's wife worked at the CIA?''
``I don't recall,'' Libby said.
``You have no memory of that whatsoever?'' Fitzgerald responded.
``I'm sorry sir, I don't,'' Libby replied.
Jurors followed along in their transcripts as Libby's testimony was played through the court speakers. Libby sat expressionless at the defense table, occasionally following along himself.
It is unusual for the government to make such extensive use of a defendant's taped grand jury testimony. The federal government did so 17 years ago in another high-profile criminal case in Washington, D.C., the drug trial of Washington Mayor Marion Barry.
^---
Associated Press writer Pete Yost contributed to this report.
Associated Press Writer Tuesday February 6, 2007 1:01 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) - Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, in tapes played Monday in the CIA leak trial, pressed Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff on whether Cheney had directed him to leak the identity of a CIA operative to reporters.
The audiotapes showed that Fitzgerald, just two months into his leak investigation, was asking pointed questions about the highest levels of government.
The first 90 minutes of audiotapes, recorded during the 2003 grand jury testimony of top Cheney aide I. Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, were played for jurors in Libby's perjury and obstruction trial. More than six hours of additional tapes were to be played Tuesday.
Fitzgerald began his questioning by determining what he already knew to be true - that Libby was not the source of syndicated columnist Robert Novak's story revealing that the wife of an outspoken Bush administration critic worked for the CIA.
Almost immediately after that, however, Fitzgerald steered the discussion toward Cheney and how his office responded to the growing criticism from former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who claimed to have led a fact-finding mission that refuted some prewar intelligence on Iraq.
Cheney's former spokeswoman, Cathie Martin, has testified that Cheney's office viewed Wilson's criticism as a direct attack on the president's credibility and was focused on beating it back.
During that effort, Libby said, Cheney mentioned in an offhand way in June 2003 that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, worked for the CIA. Fitzgerald asked whether Cheney was upset by the apparent ``nepotism'' in the fact Plame may have arranged the trip. Libby said he did not recall.
Fitzgerald, who questioned Libby in a non-confrontational, sometimes even casual manner, also asked whether Cheney expected Libby to share that with reporters, specifically Walter Pincus of The Washington Post. Libby said he did not.
Fitzgerald asked four times and in four different ways whether Libby could be absolutely sure he did not disclose the information to Pincus. Pincus never revealed Plame's identity.
``The vice president obviously thought it was important enough to share with you or interesting enough to color the background, correct?'' Fitzgerald said.
``Yes,'' Libby replied.
Fitzgerald never brought a leak charge. Libby, who is accused of lying about his conversations with reporters regarding Plame, is the only person charged in the case. Fitzgerald believes Libby lied to protect his job and reputation. Fitzgerald has never accused Libby of lying to protect Cheney.
Prosecutors say Libby learned about Plame from Cheney, passed it on to reporters, then concocted a story about learning her identity from NBC reporter Tim Russert. Defense attorneys say Libby forgot the information after hearing it from Cheney and learned it again from Russert as if it were new.
Fitzgerald has presented several witnesses, including former State Department Undersecretary Marc Grossman and CIA official Robert Grenier, who say they spoke to Libby about Plame well before he could have learned about her from Russert. In his grand jury testimony, Libby said he had no recollection of such conversations.
``Do you recall any conversation at any time when Secretary Grossman told you that the former ambassador's wife worked at the CIA?''
``I don't recall,'' Libby said.
``You have no memory of that whatsoever?'' Fitzgerald responded.
``I'm sorry sir, I don't,'' Libby replied.
Jurors followed along in their transcripts as Libby's testimony was played through the court speakers. Libby sat expressionless at the defense table, occasionally following along himself.
It is unusual for the government to make such extensive use of a defendant's taped grand jury testimony. The federal government did so 17 years ago in another high-profile criminal case in Washington, D.C., the drug trial of Washington Mayor Marion Barry.
^---
Associated Press writer Pete Yost contributed to this report.
Muslims hurl stones at J'lem dig underway near Temple Mount
Haaretz Tue., February 06, 2007
Police on Tuesday arrested four Muslim worshipers who threw stones at an Israel Antiquities Authority excavation underneath Mugrabi gate in Jerusalem's Old City.
The dig as part of a plan to rebuild the Mugrabi bridge walkway planned to run from the Dung gate to the Mugrabi gate, which serves as the primary entrance to the compound referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as al-Haram al-Sherif, the Noble Sanctuary.
The digging will use smaller excavating tools, and will be supervised by a team of archaeologists. The excavations are intended to strengthen the support columns of the Mugrabi bridge.
The four additional columns to be built will be located on the grounds of the "Archaeological Garden" next to the Dung Gate.
The project will replace the temporary wooden bridge built after the collapse of the previous ramp in 2004.
The Islamic Movement announced on Tuesday that it planned to hold a demonstration Friday against the excavations.
MK Talab El-Sana (United Arab List) warned on Tuesday that the excavations are likely to ignite a third intifada, that will include protests and conflict throughout the Arab and Muslim world.
"The Israeli government is again provoking the Muslim world and the Palestinian people, and is not hesitating to ignite the region on behalf of irresponsible decisions," El-Sana said.
According to El-Sana, the government is trying to "deflect attention away from their failures in the war in Lebanon."
Head of the northern branch of the Islamic movement Sheik Ra'ad Salah, and the head of Jerusalem's Supreme Muslim Council Ikrima Sabri called this week for all Muslims in Israel to flock to the Temple Mount complex to prevent Israel from actions that they say are meant to destroy the Mugrabi Gate.
In response, Police on Tuesday decided to restrict access to the Temple Mount and deployed security forces throughout the Old City of Jerusalem. Police fear that violent protest, specifically by members of the Israeli Islamic Movement, may break out in the city and have restricted all men under the age of 45 from Tuesday's prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. All Jews and tourists are also forbidden from the compound as part of the restrictions.
Jerusalem area Archaeologist Yuval Baruch stated that there is no intention to dig underneath the Temple Mount or to cause any damage to the Western Wall of the Mount. A source at the Israel Antiquities Authority stated today that "The incitement occurring in the Muslim world over the excavations is merely an attempt to twist a non-political act into something religious and divisive."
"The excavations are being carried out according to procedure by a team of professional archaeologists and experts," the source added.
Police markedly beefed up their presence Tuesday in Jerusalem's Old City, as tensions rose over Israeli construction work aimed at restoring the pathway leading from the Western Wall to the adjacent Temple Mount, Israel Radio reported.
The bridge is planned to run from the Dung gate to the Mugrabi gate, which serves as the primary entrance to the compound.
The Al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques sit above the Western Wall in the compound referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as al-Haram al-Sherif, the Noble Sanctuary. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam's third holiest shrine and has been a flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the past.
The digging will use smaller excavating tools, and will be supervised by a team of archaeologists. The excavations are intended to strengthen the support columns of the Mugrabi bridge.
The project, meant to replace the temporary wooden bridge built after the collapse of the previous ramp in 2004, will install four additional support columns on the grounds of the 'Jerusalem Archaeological Park' next to the Dung Gate.
In recent weeks, militant Islamic leaders have warned that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is under threat from Israeli archeological excavation. They have urged followers to mobilize to block Israeli work near the compound.
MK Talab El-Sana (United Arab List) warned on Tuesday that the excavations are likely to ignite a third intifada, which will include protests and conflict throughout the Arab and Muslim world.
"The Israeli government is again provoking the Muslim world and the Palestinian people, and is not hesitating to ignite the region on behalf of irresponsible decisions," El-Sana said.
According to El-Sana, the government is trying to "deflect attention away from their failures in the war in Lebanon."
Head of the northern branch of the Islamic movement Sheik Ra'ad Salah, and the head of Jerusalem's Supreme Muslim Council Ikrima Sabri called this week for all Muslims in Israel to flock to the Temple Mount complex to prevent Israel from actions that they say are meant to destroy the Mugrabi Gate.
Mohammed Hussein, the top Muslim cleric in Jerusalem, told the Gaza Strip radio station of the Hamas militant movement that 'what is happening is an aggression, We call on the Palestinian people to unite and unify the efforts to protect Jerusalem.'
Adnan Husseini, the director of the Islamic Waqf, the trust that oversees that complex, said he was concerned the new walkway could damage the original earthen ramp, which he said was Waqf property and contained ruins of archaeological significance. The new construction constituted a violation of the site, he said.
This is a very dangerous project that will damage things of great historical value in this very sensitive place, Husseini said.
Husseini said he suspected that the excavations around the holy site were attempts to tunnel under it - a common allegation among Muslims, though one never substantiated - and demanded that Israel cease all digs immediately.
We call for an end to all excavations, he said.
Jordan, which has a custodial role over the site, expressed concern about the work there, according to the kingdom's official Petra news agency.
Jordanian government spokesman Nasser Judeh quoted Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit as saying that the dig was a big concern to Jordan, its king, people and government, Petra reported.
The site is part of east Jerusalem, which was ruled by Jordan until Israel captured it and the adjacent West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war.
In 1988, the current's king's father, King Hussein, renounced his country's claim to the West Bank, but maintained Jordan's authority to look after the mosques - a custodial role that Israel recognizes.
Jerusalem area Archaeologist Yuval Baruch stated that there is no intention to dig underneath the Temple Mount or to cause any damage to the Western Wall of the Mount. A source at the Israel Antiquities Authority stated today that "The incitement occurring in the Muslim world over the excavations is merely an attempt to twist a non-political act into something religious and divisive."
"The excavations are being carried out according to procedure by a team of professional archaeologists and experts," the source added.
Israeli officials have denied the allegations, saying that the charges are a ploy by Palestinians to help quell Fatah-Hamas infighting.
In a attempt to diffuse tension, Israeli authorities barred Jews and tourists from visiting the Temple Mount on Tuesday. In addition, 2,000 police were deployed in and around the Old City to maintain order, Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Authorities also limited entry to the compound to Muslim worshippers 45 years of age or older, who carry Israeli identification cards showing them to be residents of the city's eastern half.
Meshal condemns digsThe leader of Hamas Sunday condemned excavations by Israeli archaeologists near the Al-Aqsa mosque and warned they were "playing with fire."
"I have a stern warning for the enemy," Khaled Meshal said at a news conference in the Syrian capital.
"Sharon's desecration of the Aqsa sparked the 2000 uprising. The Israeli leadership must learn from this lesson. We have confidence in our people, its masses, all of its groups and military wings," he added.
The Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000 after a visit, condemned in the Arab world, by then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the mosque compound in East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied and annexed after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. "Israel knows what its violation of the holy Aqsa will bring. It is playing with fire," Meshal said.
In the 1980s, Israel uncovered a plot by a group of Jews to blow up Al-Aqsa in the hope that a new Jewish temple could be built at the site.
Muslim scholars say the excavations violate Aqsa's sanctity. Israeli officials say the work would not harm the structure of the mosque, which dates from the 7th century.
"We are facing a dangerous action. Jerusalem's Muslim and Christian holy sites are dear to all Palestinians. Israel is trying to take advantage of the Palestinian internal conflict to commit its crimes," Meshal said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/822535.html
Police on Tuesday arrested four Muslim worshipers who threw stones at an Israel Antiquities Authority excavation underneath Mugrabi gate in Jerusalem's Old City.
The dig as part of a plan to rebuild the Mugrabi bridge walkway planned to run from the Dung gate to the Mugrabi gate, which serves as the primary entrance to the compound referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as al-Haram al-Sherif, the Noble Sanctuary.
The digging will use smaller excavating tools, and will be supervised by a team of archaeologists. The excavations are intended to strengthen the support columns of the Mugrabi bridge.
The four additional columns to be built will be located on the grounds of the "Archaeological Garden" next to the Dung Gate.
The project will replace the temporary wooden bridge built after the collapse of the previous ramp in 2004.
The Islamic Movement announced on Tuesday that it planned to hold a demonstration Friday against the excavations.
MK Talab El-Sana (United Arab List) warned on Tuesday that the excavations are likely to ignite a third intifada, that will include protests and conflict throughout the Arab and Muslim world.
"The Israeli government is again provoking the Muslim world and the Palestinian people, and is not hesitating to ignite the region on behalf of irresponsible decisions," El-Sana said.
According to El-Sana, the government is trying to "deflect attention away from their failures in the war in Lebanon."
Head of the northern branch of the Islamic movement Sheik Ra'ad Salah, and the head of Jerusalem's Supreme Muslim Council Ikrima Sabri called this week for all Muslims in Israel to flock to the Temple Mount complex to prevent Israel from actions that they say are meant to destroy the Mugrabi Gate.
In response, Police on Tuesday decided to restrict access to the Temple Mount and deployed security forces throughout the Old City of Jerusalem. Police fear that violent protest, specifically by members of the Israeli Islamic Movement, may break out in the city and have restricted all men under the age of 45 from Tuesday's prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. All Jews and tourists are also forbidden from the compound as part of the restrictions.
Jerusalem area Archaeologist Yuval Baruch stated that there is no intention to dig underneath the Temple Mount or to cause any damage to the Western Wall of the Mount. A source at the Israel Antiquities Authority stated today that "The incitement occurring in the Muslim world over the excavations is merely an attempt to twist a non-political act into something religious and divisive."
"The excavations are being carried out according to procedure by a team of professional archaeologists and experts," the source added.
Police markedly beefed up their presence Tuesday in Jerusalem's Old City, as tensions rose over Israeli construction work aimed at restoring the pathway leading from the Western Wall to the adjacent Temple Mount, Israel Radio reported.
The bridge is planned to run from the Dung gate to the Mugrabi gate, which serves as the primary entrance to the compound.
The Al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques sit above the Western Wall in the compound referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as al-Haram al-Sherif, the Noble Sanctuary. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam's third holiest shrine and has been a flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the past.
The digging will use smaller excavating tools, and will be supervised by a team of archaeologists. The excavations are intended to strengthen the support columns of the Mugrabi bridge.
The project, meant to replace the temporary wooden bridge built after the collapse of the previous ramp in 2004, will install four additional support columns on the grounds of the 'Jerusalem Archaeological Park' next to the Dung Gate.
In recent weeks, militant Islamic leaders have warned that the Al-Aqsa Mosque is under threat from Israeli archeological excavation. They have urged followers to mobilize to block Israeli work near the compound.
MK Talab El-Sana (United Arab List) warned on Tuesday that the excavations are likely to ignite a third intifada, which will include protests and conflict throughout the Arab and Muslim world.
"The Israeli government is again provoking the Muslim world and the Palestinian people, and is not hesitating to ignite the region on behalf of irresponsible decisions," El-Sana said.
According to El-Sana, the government is trying to "deflect attention away from their failures in the war in Lebanon."
Head of the northern branch of the Islamic movement Sheik Ra'ad Salah, and the head of Jerusalem's Supreme Muslim Council Ikrima Sabri called this week for all Muslims in Israel to flock to the Temple Mount complex to prevent Israel from actions that they say are meant to destroy the Mugrabi Gate.
Mohammed Hussein, the top Muslim cleric in Jerusalem, told the Gaza Strip radio station of the Hamas militant movement that 'what is happening is an aggression, We call on the Palestinian people to unite and unify the efforts to protect Jerusalem.'
Adnan Husseini, the director of the Islamic Waqf, the trust that oversees that complex, said he was concerned the new walkway could damage the original earthen ramp, which he said was Waqf property and contained ruins of archaeological significance. The new construction constituted a violation of the site, he said.
This is a very dangerous project that will damage things of great historical value in this very sensitive place, Husseini said.
Husseini said he suspected that the excavations around the holy site were attempts to tunnel under it - a common allegation among Muslims, though one never substantiated - and demanded that Israel cease all digs immediately.
We call for an end to all excavations, he said.
Jordan, which has a custodial role over the site, expressed concern about the work there, according to the kingdom's official Petra news agency.
Jordanian government spokesman Nasser Judeh quoted Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit as saying that the dig was a big concern to Jordan, its king, people and government, Petra reported.
The site is part of east Jerusalem, which was ruled by Jordan until Israel captured it and the adjacent West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war.
In 1988, the current's king's father, King Hussein, renounced his country's claim to the West Bank, but maintained Jordan's authority to look after the mosques - a custodial role that Israel recognizes.
Jerusalem area Archaeologist Yuval Baruch stated that there is no intention to dig underneath the Temple Mount or to cause any damage to the Western Wall of the Mount. A source at the Israel Antiquities Authority stated today that "The incitement occurring in the Muslim world over the excavations is merely an attempt to twist a non-political act into something religious and divisive."
"The excavations are being carried out according to procedure by a team of professional archaeologists and experts," the source added.
Israeli officials have denied the allegations, saying that the charges are a ploy by Palestinians to help quell Fatah-Hamas infighting.
In a attempt to diffuse tension, Israeli authorities barred Jews and tourists from visiting the Temple Mount on Tuesday. In addition, 2,000 police were deployed in and around the Old City to maintain order, Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Authorities also limited entry to the compound to Muslim worshippers 45 years of age or older, who carry Israeli identification cards showing them to be residents of the city's eastern half.
Meshal condemns digsThe leader of Hamas Sunday condemned excavations by Israeli archaeologists near the Al-Aqsa mosque and warned they were "playing with fire."
"I have a stern warning for the enemy," Khaled Meshal said at a news conference in the Syrian capital.
"Sharon's desecration of the Aqsa sparked the 2000 uprising. The Israeli leadership must learn from this lesson. We have confidence in our people, its masses, all of its groups and military wings," he added.
The Palestinian uprising erupted in September 2000 after a visit, condemned in the Arab world, by then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the mosque compound in East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied and annexed after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. "Israel knows what its violation of the holy Aqsa will bring. It is playing with fire," Meshal said.
In the 1980s, Israel uncovered a plot by a group of Jews to blow up Al-Aqsa in the hope that a new Jewish temple could be built at the site.
Muslim scholars say the excavations violate Aqsa's sanctity. Israeli officials say the work would not harm the structure of the mosque, which dates from the 7th century.
"We are facing a dangerous action. Jerusalem's Muslim and Christian holy sites are dear to all Palestinians. Israel is trying to take advantage of the Palestinian internal conflict to commit its crimes," Meshal said.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/822535.html
While Palestinians are distracted by meeting in Mecca, Israeli forces surround Al Aqsa Mosque and conduct excavations
Maan News Date: 06 / 02 / 2007 Time: 10:00
Jerusalem - Ma'an - The Israeli occupation forces closed the gates to the Al Aqsa Mosque and the old city of Jerusalem and deployed troops intensively in the streets and the area of Magharba (Moroccan or 'Dung') Gate on Tuesday morning.
Ma'an's correspondent reported that the Israeli forces began the operation in the early hours of Tuesday morning, in an attempt to prevent Palestinians from entering the mosque.
The Israeli forces deployed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in the area of the old city and prevented Palestinians from approaching the area or entering the old city, and the students from going to their schools inside the city.
The higher Fatwa Council expressed worries that the Israeli authorities will demolish part of the Magharba gate, taking advantage of the internal strife between Fatah and Hamas and the Palestinian focus on the meeting in Mecca on Tuesday, as a distraction, while they execute plans to bulldoze Palestinian areas in east Jerusalem and continue to judaize Jerusalem.
Palestine Supreme Judge Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi called on Palestinians to go to the mosque in order to protect it from Israeli bulldozers. He also called upon Arab and Muslim countries to immediately move to defend the mosque. He told Al Jazeera satellite channel that the "Israelis are threatening the mosque and endangering it."
Tamimi added that Israel is taking advantage of the internal strife in the Palestinian territories to execute plans in the holy city of Jerusalem.
Israeli bulldozers have started demolishing a wooden fence and two rooms near the Wailing Wall after days of excavating a new tunnel under the holy Al Aqsa Mosque.
Ma'an's reporter said that the Israeli police force was deployed intensively in the old city as a precautionary measure. The Israeli police said that the work is intended to support a stairwell that leads to Al Magharba gate, which was weathered by a snow storm two years ago.
The Israeli forces prevented all Palestinians under the age of 45 from entering the old city or the mosque to avoid any confrontation between angered Palestinians and the Israeli forces. According to the Islamic Waqf administration, two halls beneath the mosque will threaten the mosque's foundations, if they are removed.
Excavation director in the Israeli authority of excavations, told Al Jazeera satellite channel that the excavations are not in the mosque and will not threaten it, he said it is a simple maintenance operation.
Imam of the Al Aqsa Mosque, Dr Yousef Salama, called upon Arabs and Muslims throughout the world to "protect the mosque from the threat to its foundations and Israeli plans to demolish it and build an alleged temple."
Salama warned of the consequences of this act, saying that "almost a billion-and-a-half Muslims in this world are watching Israeli acts and their hearts and eyes are looking at the holy mosque." He condemned Israeli aggressions against the mosque and said that "Israel has decided to demolish the mosque, even the Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz, said that the settlers finished making a golden lantern in 2001 to put in the temple after it is built on the ruins of the mosque."
Salama added that "the relationship between Muslims and the mosque should be based on a strong faith," he called on Arabs and Muslims to go out into the streets to demonstrate against Israeli acts in the city .
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=19261
Jerusalem - Ma'an - The Israeli occupation forces closed the gates to the Al Aqsa Mosque and the old city of Jerusalem and deployed troops intensively in the streets and the area of Magharba (Moroccan or 'Dung') Gate on Tuesday morning.
Ma'an's correspondent reported that the Israeli forces began the operation in the early hours of Tuesday morning, in an attempt to prevent Palestinians from entering the mosque.
The Israeli forces deployed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in the area of the old city and prevented Palestinians from approaching the area or entering the old city, and the students from going to their schools inside the city.
The higher Fatwa Council expressed worries that the Israeli authorities will demolish part of the Magharba gate, taking advantage of the internal strife between Fatah and Hamas and the Palestinian focus on the meeting in Mecca on Tuesday, as a distraction, while they execute plans to bulldoze Palestinian areas in east Jerusalem and continue to judaize Jerusalem.
Palestine Supreme Judge Sheikh Tayseer Tamimi called on Palestinians to go to the mosque in order to protect it from Israeli bulldozers. He also called upon Arab and Muslim countries to immediately move to defend the mosque. He told Al Jazeera satellite channel that the "Israelis are threatening the mosque and endangering it."
Tamimi added that Israel is taking advantage of the internal strife in the Palestinian territories to execute plans in the holy city of Jerusalem.
Israeli bulldozers have started demolishing a wooden fence and two rooms near the Wailing Wall after days of excavating a new tunnel under the holy Al Aqsa Mosque.
Ma'an's reporter said that the Israeli police force was deployed intensively in the old city as a precautionary measure. The Israeli police said that the work is intended to support a stairwell that leads to Al Magharba gate, which was weathered by a snow storm two years ago.
The Israeli forces prevented all Palestinians under the age of 45 from entering the old city or the mosque to avoid any confrontation between angered Palestinians and the Israeli forces. According to the Islamic Waqf administration, two halls beneath the mosque will threaten the mosque's foundations, if they are removed.
Excavation director in the Israeli authority of excavations, told Al Jazeera satellite channel that the excavations are not in the mosque and will not threaten it, he said it is a simple maintenance operation.
Imam of the Al Aqsa Mosque, Dr Yousef Salama, called upon Arabs and Muslims throughout the world to "protect the mosque from the threat to its foundations and Israeli plans to demolish it and build an alleged temple."
Salama warned of the consequences of this act, saying that "almost a billion-and-a-half Muslims in this world are watching Israeli acts and their hearts and eyes are looking at the holy mosque." He condemned Israeli aggressions against the mosque and said that "Israel has decided to demolish the mosque, even the Israeli daily newspaper, Haaretz, said that the settlers finished making a golden lantern in 2001 to put in the temple after it is built on the ruins of the mosque."
Salama added that "the relationship between Muslims and the mosque should be based on a strong faith," he called on Arabs and Muslims to go out into the streets to demonstrate against Israeli acts in the city .
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=19261
Canadian government forming pro-Israel lobby
Etgar Lefkovits,
THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 4, 2007
The Canadian government is establishing an "Israel Allies Caucus" this week meant to mobilize support for the State of Israel and promote Judeo-Christian values amid a groundswell of Christian support for Israel around the world.
The launching of the Canadian parliamentary lobby, which is based on the formation of the Knesset's "Christian Allies Caucus" three years ago, comes less than six months after a similar lobby was established in the US Congress.
The establishment of the new pro-Israel lobby will be officially announced in Ottawa on Tuesday in the presence of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canadian and Israeli parliamentarians, including MK Benny Elon (National Union-National Religious Party) MK Orit Noked (Labor) and MK Ran Cohen (Meretz), as well as members of the Canadian-Israel Friendship League.
The event comes at a time of burgeoning relations between Israel and the largely supportive evangelical Christian community around the world.
"The launching of the Canadian Parliamentary Israel Allies Caucus is a sign of things to come," said Josh Reinstein, director of the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus in an interview from Canada on Sunday.
"We hope that one day every parliament and government around the world will form a sister caucus to the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus which will mobilize support for Israel around the world and promote Judeo-Christian values."
Over the next six months, similar parliamentary lobbies are expected to be established in the Philippines, South Korea, Malawi, South Africa and Finland.
The increasingly influential Israeli parliamentary lobby, which is currently made up of 12 MKs from seven parties across the political spectrum, has come to epitomize Israel's newfound interest in garnering the support of the Christian world in the 21st century, especially the largely pro-Israel evangelical Christian community around the world, at a time when radical Islam is on the rise.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359780973&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer
THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 4, 2007
The Canadian government is establishing an "Israel Allies Caucus" this week meant to mobilize support for the State of Israel and promote Judeo-Christian values amid a groundswell of Christian support for Israel around the world.
The launching of the Canadian parliamentary lobby, which is based on the formation of the Knesset's "Christian Allies Caucus" three years ago, comes less than six months after a similar lobby was established in the US Congress.
The establishment of the new pro-Israel lobby will be officially announced in Ottawa on Tuesday in the presence of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canadian and Israeli parliamentarians, including MK Benny Elon (National Union-National Religious Party) MK Orit Noked (Labor) and MK Ran Cohen (Meretz), as well as members of the Canadian-Israel Friendship League.
The event comes at a time of burgeoning relations between Israel and the largely supportive evangelical Christian community around the world.
"The launching of the Canadian Parliamentary Israel Allies Caucus is a sign of things to come," said Josh Reinstein, director of the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus in an interview from Canada on Sunday.
"We hope that one day every parliament and government around the world will form a sister caucus to the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus which will mobilize support for Israel around the world and promote Judeo-Christian values."
Over the next six months, similar parliamentary lobbies are expected to be established in the Philippines, South Korea, Malawi, South Africa and Finland.
The increasingly influential Israeli parliamentary lobby, which is currently made up of 12 MKs from seven parties across the political spectrum, has come to epitomize Israel's newfound interest in garnering the support of the Christian world in the 21st century, especially the largely pro-Israel evangelical Christian community around the world, at a time when radical Islam is on the rise.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359780973&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/Printer
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