Syria has rejected calls by President Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to pursue the 2002 Saudi peace initiative, a plan touted by the more pragmatic moderate Arab elements across the Middle East. The initiative, a broad proposal for a comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, calls for Israel's withdrawal from territories captured in 1967 in return from normalized relations with the Arab world.
Syrian embassy spokesman in London Jihad Makdissi called Israel's recent revival of the initiative "another attempt to bluff and evade peace." Makdissi made his remarks in a letter to leading Syrian blog Syria comment. In his letter, he said that any pan-Arab initiative would not let anyone but Syria negotiate with Israel over the fate of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.
"As for the notion of weakening Syria and its allies simply by reviving the Arab peace initiative," the Syrian official wrote, "it is not consistent at all because any Pan Arab initiative will not enable any Arab country to negotiate on the Golan on behalf of Syria because comprehensiveness is the broader political umbrella for all tracks and not the substitution."
"All Israeli leaders negotiated with Syria starting with Shamir, until Olmert (whether directly or indirectly), none of them had a clear vision for peace with Syria or genuine conviction of peace per se, except maybe Rabin" Makdissi went on to say.
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#2
That Syrian denial sounds like it's aimed more the Saudis than the Israelis. The back and double back channel messages must be flying - I suspect Syria's got itself in a knot it's trying to untie, but cannot figure out how to without screwing more than one nominal ally.
I wonder if it's really in their interest to remain a frontline state vs. Israel, if the trigger finger is in Tehran instead of Cairo or similarly nearby neighbors.
There may be a slight wedge coming to make arab vs. persian somewhat as distasteful as arab vs. jew. If so, Syria is in much less danger, and only a nominal target of Iran, as opposed to 1st on the list if Israel is attacked.
Hezbollah has appointed a replacement for Imad Mughniyah, the Lebanese militant group's operations chief who was assassinated in February, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai Al Aam reported on Friday.
The paper identified the replacement as Mustafa Shahada, a member of the group's military apparatus since its founding. It should be noted that the report has not been corroborated by any other source.
According to the report, the decision was apparently reached ahead of Hezbollah's general convention a few weeks ago.
Al Rai Al Aam described Shahada as a professional fighter who is highly regarded by the group's guerillas and leadership. Shahada has kept a very low profile until today, and is credited with having good operational capabilities.
"This commander... is very aware of [Hezbollah's] aspirations, and knows how to carry out its purposes and vision in the medium and long term," the paper wrote.
The daily also confirmed earlier reports that should Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah become incapacitated in some way, his nephew Hasham Tzefi A-Din will stand in for him. It added that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has made a special religious decree allowing for Nasrallh to continue as Hezbollah's secretary general despite a limit set by the group's regulations.
Last month, Nasrallah reiterated his vow to avenge the assassination of Mughniyeh in a Damascus car bombing, for which he blames Israel. Israel has denied involvement in the incident.
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Mustafa, I served with Imad Mughniyah I knew Imad Mughniyah; Imad Mughniyah was a friend of mine. Mustafa, you're no Imad Mughniyah.
Posted by: Abu Benson ||
11/02/2008 10:26 Comments ||
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#2
I thought the Iranians picked one of their own for that position. This guy seems like the Shiite version of a walking Potemkin village.
Posted by: ed ||
11/02/2008 10:30 Comments ||
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Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari has announced that Iran will cut crude sale to France's Total company by 70,000 barrels per day.
"The cut comes on the heel of Iran's decision to slash its production by 199,000 bpd based on a newly specified OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) quota," IRNA quoted Nozari as saying. He referred to Total as one of the clients of the National Iranian Oil Company and maintained that other clients would be gradually notified of their share of reduction.
Without referring to the size of Total's oil purchase from Iran, he ruled out any political motivation in the sales cut. "Iran expected all OPEC members to lower their oil production according to the declared quota based on the decision made by the oil cartel last week," Nozari said on Friday, adding that "Until we are able to achieve stability in the oil market and OPEC makes a new decision on the issue, the trend will continue."
He also said OPEC may hold another emergency meeting prior to the December meeting in Algeria if crude oil prices continue falling.
Iran, which holds an estimated recoverable oil reserves of 138 billion barrels, produces 4.2 million barrels of oil per day.
At the emergency meeting in Vienna on Oct. 24, OPEC ministers agreed to reduce output by 1.5 million barrels a day to 27.3 million bpd from Nov. 1 in an attempt to prevent prices falling further.
Oil prices fell to below USD 65 a barrel in New York on Friday as the prospect of a shrinking global economic growth and weakening energy demand weighed on the market.
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2008 00:00 ||
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An Iranian man has filed for divorce and asked a court to protect him from his hefty wife, saying she lays into him every night when he gets home from work, the Etemad newspaper reported on Saturday.
"Every night when I get home my wife, who is tall and strong, hits me," the paper quoted the man, identified only by his first name Behrouz, as telling the family court in Tehran. "I am a cleaner at a hotel and get home late at night. But my wife thinks I do other things after work."
Behrouz, who is slightly built, said he no longer wanted to go home and pleaded for the court to save him from his wife, Etemad said. The judge has now summoned the wife to appear before the court before he gives a final ruling in the case.
Rights activists have long campaigned for changes to Iran's family law which is deemed discriminatory against women in matters of divorce and child custody. Men's refusal to pay maintenance, drug addiction and physical abuse are among the more common reasons for divorce in the Islamic republic.
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
There's plenty of guys in the same situation here, unfortunately. I hope he is granted the relief he needs from her.
Two people accused of spying for Israel have been arrested in Lebanon, the army said in a statement on Saturday.
The suspects, detained by army intelligence, had been found in possession of sophisticated cameras and communication devices, the army said in a statement. "They admitted gathering information on political party offices and monitoring the movements of party figures for this enemy," it said, adding that they were detained on Friday.
It did not give the nationality of the pair, who it said "belonged to a terrorism and spy network involved in dealing with the Israeli enemy". An army official declined further comment because of the continuing investigation.
They were detained after investigations in the Bekaa valley region of eastern Lebanon, where the Shiite Hezbollah resistance movement has a strong presence.
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/02/2008 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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Syria has rejected calls by President Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to pursue the 2002 Saudi peace initiative, a plan touted by the 
Two people accused of spying for Israel have been arrested in Lebanon, the army said in a statement on Saturday. 
