Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday that his country would eventually embark on direct peace talks with Israel, but they must be based on U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The comments by Bashar al-Assad reflect a softer stance of the Syrian leader, who only recently rebuked Israel by claiming the Jewish state is not genuine in its professed desire for peace with its Arab neighbors.
"Peace cannot be achieved through indirect negotiations alone. But if indirect talks succeed then direct negotiations will also, and peace will come naturally," Assad told a news conference with visiting Croatian President Stipe Mesic.
He compared the peace process to the construction of a building, and said Syria and Israel are "now laying the foundations" for peace through the Turkey-mediated indirect talks. "We should first lay solid foundations and then construct the building, and not vice versa," he said and added: "If the bases are successful, then direct negotiations will be successful."
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Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
How about direct FAE hit on your palace, pencilneck?
Russia on Monday denied that it was delivering sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran, following reports it was about to supply the weapons to the U.S. arch-foe.
"The information on the delivery of S-300 air-defense systems to Iran, which has appeared in certain media outlets, does not correspond to reality," Russia's military-technical cooperation agency said in a statement.
Any arms sales to Iran would be carried out "abiding by all international obligations," the agency added.
There have been contradictory reports about whether Russia was to supply S-300s which Iran could use to defend against an airstrike on its nuclear facilities.
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Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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So RUSSIA is trying hard NOT to say the IRANIAN MINISTER LIED???
As hordes of bachelors return home to Lebanon for the holiday season, young eligible women who far outnumber their male counterparts in this tradition-bound country are angling for the perfect catch. "This is the time when many young men come back for the holidays and the women want to find that catch," said Samir Khalaf, professor of sociology and head of the Center for Behavioral Research at the American University of Beirut.
"We really have a lopsided demographic problem," he added.
Throughout Lebanon's history young men have tended to emigrate in search of economic prosperity, but the phenomenon became acute during the country's 1975-1990 civil war and subsequent economic downturn and accelerated again after the July-August 2006 war between the militant group Hezbollah and Israel.
Five women for each man
" There are no boys here anymore so you can pick and choose "
Alaa Manasski
Estimates are that for every eligible man there are five women available in this small country of four million people. That makes for tough competition among women as they try to find Prince Charming.
This year the rivalry is especially pronounced with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha falling close to the Christian holiday of Christmas, and making for an even larger number of expatriate men than usual returning home.
"The competition among the women is not on how to outwit each other but how to find that catch, or lakta as you say in Arabic," Khalaf said. "And that lakta is a guy who has studied and works abroad, has a good career and is unmarried."
Alaa Manasski, 27, is one such candidate. Manasski is a businessman in Qatar and just recently came back to Beirut to spend the holidays with his family. "There are no boys here anymore so you can pick and choose," Manasski said as he surveyed the scene at a trendy nightclub in Beirut's downtown area one recent evening.
Pressure to marry before 30
" But the problem in Lebanon is that if a woman is not married by age 32, the men think she has a problem or can't have children anymore "
Solange Sraih
"The problem is that first they (the women) want a serious relationship and then a month later they want to get married especially if they know that you live in a Persian Gulf country," he added. "I meet many young women and I tell them that I'm not in a hurry to get married, I'm still young. But when I'm ready she'll definitely be Lebanese."
Solange Sraih, who runs a matchmaking company called Pom D'Amour, said business has been brisk this season as time-strapped bachelors seek to meet the perfect match during their brief visit home.
"I've been very busy and since I set up the company at the end of 2006 I've had four couples marry and two more are planning to wed next year," Sraih told AFP. "But the problem in Lebanon is that if a woman is not married by age 32, the men think she has a problem or can't have children anymore. So there is a lot of pressure on women to marry before they reach 30."
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Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Judging from the Lebanese women I've met here in Canada, they're welcome to emigrate. Just leave the hijabs at home.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
