DDMA Headline Animator

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Mideast urges Obama focus on Palestinian conflict

By JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writer

CAIRO, Egypt – Mideast leaders urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to dive into peace efforts and make the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians one of his top priorities.

Some in the region were heartened by Obama's attempt to reach out to Muslims in his inaugural address Tuesday, saying he wanted to put relations on a new path. But he followed that overture immediately with a stern warning to those who foment violence.

"I would like to stress that the region has high hopes that your administration will deal with the Palestinian issue from its first day as an immediate priority and a key for solving other issues in the Middle East," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in a congratulatory message to Obama.

But others were more pessimistic as newspaper editorials and political commentators laid out the challenges facing Obama, from rebuilding the wreckage in Gaza to ending the war in Iraq and confronting a strengthening Taliban in Afghanistan.

"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy," Obama said Tuesday.

"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist," he added.

Iran, which was shunned by the Bush administration, said it was hoping to see new policies from Obama.

The two nations have been deeply at odds over Iran's nuclear program and what the U.S. says is its support for militiamen in neighboring Iraq — a charge Iran denies. Obama has spoken of a need to engage the country.

"We are ready for new approaches by the United States," Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the English-language Press TV, part of Iran's state media.

"A new Middle East is in the making," Mottaki said, according to the official IRNA news agency. "The new generation in this region seeks justice and rejects domination."

Mottaki also said Iran will study the idea of setting up a U.S. interests section office in Tehran if there is a formal U.S. request to do so, after nearly three decades without diplomatic ties.

Obama and his senior commanders were to meet in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama promised during the campaign to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office and said in Tuesday's speech that he would "begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people."

"We feel that we are liberated with Obama's victory," said Ahmed Araak, a 53-year-old retired teacher in Iraq.

Israelis were also watching for Obama's first moves in the Middle East. Israel's military completed a withdrawal from Gaza Wednesday, reflecting its hopes of defusing that crisis before Obama took office. Some Israelis were wary during the campaign that Obama would be less supportive than Bush.

Prominent commentator Nahum Barnea wrote in Israel's Yediot Ahronot daily that one of the first stops in Obama's foreign policy would be Iran, also a pressing issue for Israel, which fears Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.

"If Obama succeeds by diplomatic means in closing down the Iranian nuclear project, more power to him," Barnea wrote. "If he fails, his willingness to act by less diplomatic means will be tested."

A newspaper in U.S. ally Saudi Arabia said the Middle East should not expect Obama to solve every problem.

"Yesterday was a day of hope, a day to dream. Today, the crowds have gone, the flags have come down, but, half a world away, Gaza still smolders, insurgents still plot in Iraq, the Taliban grow stronger in Afghanistan," read an editorial in the English-language Arab News. "It is time for Obama to get down to work, to deliver on the promises he made, the hopes he kindled."

A Jordanian doctor of Palestinian origin said the moment was right for the Middle East to take steps to build better ties with the United States.

"Arabs, both ordinary people and their leaders, should stop their defiance and insults of the U.S.," said Jihad Barghouti.

Judge grants Obama request to suspend Gitmo trial

By BEN FOX, Associated Press Writer

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba – A judge on Wednesday quickly granted President Barack Obama's request to suspend the war crimes trial of a young Canadian in what may be the beginning of the end for the Bush administration's system of trying alleged terrorists.

The judge, Army Col. Patrick Parrish, issued a one-sentence written order for the 120-day continuance, without even holding a hearing on the question. Another judge was expected to rule later Wednesday on a similar motion to suspend the trial of five men charged in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Prosecutors submitted the motions just hours after Obama's inauguration at the direction of the president and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

U.S. military prosecutor Clay Trivett said all pending cases should be suspended because a review of the military commissions system may result in significant changes. Obama has said he will close Guantanamo and many expect he will scrap the special war crimes court and direct that cases be prosecuted in the U.S.

The 120-day suspension "has the practical effect of stopping the process, probably forever," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, Omar Khadr's defense lawyer.

Khadr, a Toronto native, faces charges that include supporting terrorism and murder for allegedly killing U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer of Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a grenade during a 2002 battle in Afghanistan when he was 15.

Khadr, the son of an alleged al-Qaida militant who was slain by Pakistani forces in 2003, has faced up to life in prison if convicted by the military commission. His lawyer says he should now be prosecuted, if at all, in a civilian court, though he would prefer that be repatriated to Canada.

"He is anxious. He doesn't know what's going to happen, none of us knows what's going to happen," Kuebler said after discussing the delay with the 22-year-old prisoner. "But we are all hopeful and somewhat optimistic that this ruling now creates a space for the two governments to do something constructive to solve this case."

War crimes charges are pending against 21 men being held at Guantanamo, including the five charged with murder and other crimes in the Sept. 11 case. Before Obama became president, the U.S. had said it planned to try dozens of detainees in a system created by former President George W. Bush and Congress in 2006.

Relatives of victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, who were at the base this week to observe pretrial hearings, told reporters they oppose any delay. But human rights groups and others welcomed the development.

Jamil Dakwar, director of the human rights program at the American Civil Liberties Union, said it was a positive step but "the president's order leaves open the option of this discredited system remaining in existence."

The decision was also welcomed by the European Union, which repeatedly criticized the Bush administration over alleged human rights abuses at Guantanamo as well as for the military commissions.

The European Commission "has been very pleased that one of the first actions of Mr. Obama has been to turn the page on this sad episode of Guantanamo," said Michele Cercone, spokesman for the EU Justice and Home Affairs Commission.

Syria protests Israeli UN gift

January 14, 2009
William Morris

Syria has protested to UN leaders that an Israeli gift of Golan Heights wine was 'provocative and irresponsible'.

Israel sent the bottles of wine, produced in the disputed Golan Heights, region as gifts to members of UN staff.

In letters to the UN press secretary and general assembly president, the Syrian ambassador called the gesture 'provocative and irresponsible' and urged UN staff 'to refrain from accepting these Israeli gifts produced illegally in occupied Syrian territory.'

An Israeli mission spokesperson responded to Syrian criticism by confirming the wine's origin and adding that 'The Golan Heights is an integral part of the state of Israel and the wine produced in that region is some of the best in the country. As such, we were pleased to share it with our colleagues.'

The Golan Heights were captured by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War and were later annexed in 1981, a move rejected by the UN.

The future of the area would be a key issue in any plan for reconciliation between Syria and Israel.

The bottles were intended for staff over the recent holiday period. Letters from the Syrian ambassador were dated 31 Dec but were only made public last Friday.

World bids farewell to 'Bush-isms'

US President George W. Bush may be passing out of the White House and into history, but he has bequeathed to the nation and the world volumes of unforgettable quotes.

Herewith are some of the more memorable "Bush-isms:"

JUST A TEXAS COWBOY

"They misunderestimated me,"

-- Bentonville, Arkansas, November 6, 2000

"There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again,"

-- Nashville, Tennessee, September 17, 2002

"I want to thank my friend, Senator Bill Frist, for joining us today ... He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me,"

-- Nashville, Tennessee, May 27, 2004

"I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office,"

-- to Israeli journalists in Washington in an interview published May 12, 2008.

ON WAR

"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace,"

-- Washington, June 18, 2002

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we," -- Washington, August 5, 2004

"You know, when I campaigned here in 2000, I said, I want to be a war president. No president wants to be a war president, but I am one,"

-- Des Moines, Iowa, October 26, 2006

FRIENDS AND FOES

"For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times,"

-- Tokyo, February 18, 2002

"I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep on the soil of a friend,"

-- on the prospect of visiting Denmark, Washington, June 29, 2005

"Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech,"

-- Washington April 16, 2008 to Pope Benedict XVI.

"I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office,"

-- Washington, June 26, 2008

ECO-BUSH

"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully,"

-- Saginaw, Michigan, September 29, 2000

DOC BUSH

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country,"

-- Poplar Bluff, Missouri, September 6, 2004

"It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber,"

-- Washington, April 10, 2002

THE EDUCATOR

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"

-- Florence, South Carolina, January 11, 2000

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test,"

-- Townsend, Tennessee, February 21, 2001

THE ENFORCER

"Those who enter the country illegally violate the law,"

-- Tucson, Arizona, November 28, 2005

AND ON A MORE SERIOUS NOTE

"We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them,"

-- Washington, September 11, 2001

"The deliberate and deadly attacks which were carried out yesterday against our country were more than acts of terror. They were acts of war,"

-- Washington, September 12, 2001

"I can hear you. I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon,"

-- New York, September 14, 2001

"I want justice. There's an old poster out west, as I recall, that said, "Wanted: Dead or Alive,"

-- Washington, September 17, 2001

"Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists,"

-- Washington, September 20, 2001

"States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world,"

-- Washington, January 29, 2002

"My fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended... The tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free,"

-- USS Abraham Lincoln at sea off the coast of San Diego, California, May 1, 2003

"There are some who feel like -- that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring them on,"

-- Washington, July 2, 2003

"I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the Secretary of Defense,"

-- Washington, April 18, 2006

Iran students say time for U.S. to change policy

By Zahra Hosseinian

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Nariman Mostafavi says many Iranian students no longer hold the fierce anti-American views that drove their predecessors to seize the U.S. embassy in 1979.

Now the student activist says it's time for Washington to change and consider new policies toward the Islamic Republic.

As Barack Obama moves into the White House promising more engagement with Iran's rulers while threatening tougher sanctions, the radicalism of the embassy hostage-takers has given way to cautious hope among many in Iran's universities.

"If Obama sticks to his promise of change, there will be hope for the establishment of ties," said Mostafavi, who advocates reform in the Islamic Republic.

But like others, he is wary of predicting a big U.S. shift and also says much will hinge on Iran's own election in June, when hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who often rails against the West, is expected to seek a second term.

"The election of Obama is only one factor," said Reza Sharifi, a member of Iran's main reformist student body. "Healing ties also greatly depends on who takes power in Iran."

Obama is likely to find Iran near the top of his foreign policy in-tray. Washington says Tehran wants to build a nuclear bomb. Iran, the world's fourth biggest oil producer, denies this and says its goal is building power plants to generate electricity.

George W. Bush led an aggressive drive to isolate the Islamic Republic but Tehran has shown no sign of halting its disputed nuclear work. Instead, its activities have gathered pace.

Obama has promised a different approach, emphasizing respect for the Iranian people and spelling out what Washington expects of its leaders. However, Obama's choice for secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, has not ruled out military action if needed.

For some students, now may be the time to end the isolation of their country, where "Death to America" resounds at rallies.

"America is a superpower. It is a mistake not to restore ties with America," said Minu Samadi, a 24-year-old art student. "The embassy seizure was necessary 30 years ago. Now it is necessary to restore relations."

Students helped spearhead the ousting of the U.S.-backed Shah in the 1979 revolution. Then in November that year they stormed the U.S. embassy and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. That prompted Washington to cut diplomatic ties in 1980.

Mostafavi said there was now a different mood among students: "Since the revolution, students have changed. Those radical actions are no longer seen."

'FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE'

Debate in Iran about restoring ties has grown as politicians start maneuvering before Iran's presidential race.

Some politicians in past votes have talked of restoring U.S. relations to attract voters, albeit based on Washington agreeing to respect Iran's regional status and meet other demands. Politicians still demand "fundamental change" from Washington.

Some students, a powerful force for reform during President Mohammad Khatami's eight-year term, say if another moderate is elected in June it could help improve Iran's international ties. Ahmadinejad's critics say his fiery speeches have isolated Iran.

"But if the current (state of political) conditions continue in Iran, relations are unlikely to normalize," said Sharifi.

The student reform movement has been blunted by Ahmadinejad, who came to power after Khatami in 2005 and who critics say has cracked down on dissent, including pro-reform student bodies.

But analysts says students may now be emerging from their silence to play a bigger role in this year's vote.

"In the previous presidential election, the students were in a coma. Now they have come out of it," said Tehran University sociology Professor Hamidreza Jalaiepour.

Changing attitudes among some of today's students are mirrored among some of those who stormed the embassy in 1979.

"Never did we imagine that our act of protest would have a far reaching impact on the political history of our country, and of the region," former hostage-taker Massoumeh Ebtekar said in her 2000 account of the siege "Takeover in Tehran."

She was also part of Khatami's government that started to build better ties with the West. Under Ahmadinejad, ties have deteriorated.

AMERICA NOT A FRIEND

But students are not a single voice. Radicals remain a force. During protests over Israel's attacks on Gaza, some radical student groups, echoing actions of 1979, threatened to storm the diplomatic missions of moderate Arab states they said were not doing enough to stop Palestinian suffering.

One group broke into a British embassy residential compound, and Iranian media said they erected a Palestinian flag, before police ejected them. In the absence of a U.S. embassy, the mission of Washington's close ally is often a protest target.

The more radical students see little hope of change, even with Obama in office, and vow to uphold revolutionary values.

"We do not consider America a friend. Our revolution's goals should be kept alive," said conservative student activist Mohammad Saleh Meftah, whose own group opposed threats to storm embassies but held other rallies in support of Gaza.

"Ties with America should only be restored if Iran's interests and the revolution's goals are met," he said.

Revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini hailed the students for launching "a second revolution, greater than the first" by storming the U.S. embassy. Analysts say that silenced more moderate voices in the first post-revolution government.

Khomeini remains revered and the United States is still the "Great Satan" or "global arrogance" in political speeches.

But many students, when asked about America now, do not talk about hostility. For them, it is a land of opportunity.

"I love American technology and the American way of life. Why should we be enemies with America?" said Soheila Sadr, a 21- year-old English literature student.

Though not the only view, such young opinions are a major constituency in a country where 70 percent of the population is under 30. These youths have no personal memory of the revolution or the embassy siege. Instead, they are just living the results.

Israel to probe white phosphorus use in Gaza

JERUSALEM – The Israeli army says it has launched an internal investigation into allegations about its use of white phosphorus weapons during its offensive in the Gaza Strip.

White phosphorus is an incendiary agent used to illuminate targets or create smoke screens. International law does not prohibit its use in battle, but it can inflict serious burn wounds.

U.N. officials and human rights groups have alleged Israel used it in the 22-day Gaza campaign against the territory's Hamas rulers. Amnesty International has called Israel's firing of white phosphorus shells in densely populated residential areas of Gaza a war crime.

Israel has not publicly acknowledged using white phosphorus. But in response to the claims, the military said in a statement Wednesday that an "investigative team has been established ... to look into this issue."

Arabs: Israel ammo in Gaza had depleted uranium

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer

VIENNA, Austria – Arab nations accused Israel on Monday of blasting Gaza with ammunition containing depleted uranium and urged the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate reports that traces of it had been found in victims of the shelling.

In a letter on behalf of Arab ambassadors accredited in Austria, Prince Mansour Al-Saoud, the Saudi Ambassador, expressed "our deep concern regarding the information ... that traces of depleted uranium have been found in Palestinian victims."

A final draft of the letter was made available to The Associated Press on Monday. It urgently requested IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to "carry out a radiological and physical assessment in order to verify the presence of depleted uranium in the weaponry used by Israel ... in the Gaza Strip."

Officials at the Israeli mission to the IAEA said they were in no position to comment without having seen the letter.

IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming confirmed receipt of the letter and said a response might be issued later in the day.

The letter — which spoke of "medical and media sources" as the origin of its allegations — appeared to be alluding to health concerns related to depleted uranium but the effects of exposure to the substance are unclear.

An IAEA article on the issue says that while the substance "is assumed to be potentially carcinogenic ... the lack of evidence for a definite cancer risk in studies over many decades is significant and should put the results of assessments in perspective."

Still, says the article, "there is a risk of developing cancer from exposure to radiation emitted by ... depleted uranium. This risk is assumed to be proportional to the dose received."

It is not the first time Israel has been accused of using ordnance containing depleted uranium, which makes shells and bombs harder and increases their penetrating power. The Israeli army declined comment. But the U.S. and NATO have used uranium-depleted rounds in Bosnia and Iraq.

According to the World Health Organization, the weapons are lightly radioactive, though "under most circumstances, use of DU will make a negligible contribution to the overall natural background levels of uranium in the environment."

But researchers have suspected depleted uranium may be behind a range of chronic symptoms suffered by veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War. Some of the symptoms include memory and thinking problems, debilitating fatigue, severe muscle and joint pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia, headaches and rashes.

Syria, which is being investigated by the Vienna-based agency for alleged secret nuclear activities, says traces of uranium found by IAEA experts at a site bombed by Israel jets Sept. 6, 2007 likely came from bombs or missiles used by the Israelis.

The Israelis have denied using such weaponry in that raid, and on Monday two diplomats accredited to the IAEA and familiar with its Syria investigations told the AP that the agency has virtually ruled out Israeli munitions as the source of the uranium. They asked for anonymity for discussing confidential information.

The IAEA investigation is based in part on intelligence from the U.S., Israel and a third, unidentified country, alleging that the bombed site was a nearly completed nuclear reactor built with North Korean help and meant to produce plutonium — which can be used as the payload of nuclear weapons.

The uranium traces were revealed by an analysis of environmental samples collected by IAEA experts during a visit to the site, in a remote part of the Syrian desert. Since that initial trip in June 2008, Syria has refused or deflected requests for follow up inspections both to the site and others allegedly linked to it.

Egyptians Sick Of Own Government, Media Over Gaza Claims

19-1-2009

By JOSEPH MAYTON

CAIRO (Middle East Times) -- Egyptians say they are sick of the "official line" fed them by their national media and government officials on the three-week Israeli war on Gaza, which ended early Sunday morning when Israel unilaterally ceased military operations.

Throughout the attacks, which left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead and another 5,000 wounded, Egyptians had to filter the officials' comments and government media reports about the diplomatic efforts the Hosni Mubarak administration was making to end the war.

National news media continued to pump out government statements onto the airwaves since the Israeli attacks began on Dec 27.

Although the Egyptian president and his officials voiced their criticisms of Israel, they maintained that Hamas was responsible for the carnage taking place in Gaza.

"Biased, biased, biased. They are very supportive of Mubarak and his policies. That is why they attacked [Hezbollah head Hassan] Nasrallah and Iran or whoever considers questioning his 'wisdom,'" independent Al-Dustour newspaper journalist Mohamed Abdel Salam told the Middle East Times.

He argued that the national media were taken aback by the quick public outpouring of anger and frustration against Cairo that they responded defensively.

"The Egyptian media have the right to defend their country against what they think are attacks from Syria, Lebanon and Qatar against the Egyptian position" concerning Rafah and the ongoing diplomatic efforts in Cairo," he continued.

The question is whether the national news is giving Egyptians the opportunity to formulate their own opinions over the "facts" on the ground.

One of the most contentious issues has been the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip in Sinai. The Egyptian government argues that it was unable to open the border due to international agreements previously agreed to with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the European Union.

This had largely been the excuse handed down to Egyptian viewers, despite the growing consternation among opposition forces within Egypt and across the Arab world. Here in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood demanded that the government open the borders in order to allow Palestinians to escape the Israeli bombardment.

"We demanded over and over again, in our statements and in our demonstrations, for the border to remain open and accessible to Palestinians. It is our duty as Arabs," Brotherhood spokesman Mohammed Badr said.

Others question how the government could argue that international law and agreements figured into the equation, despite Cairo's constant ignoring of basic human rights. An editorial in The Daily News Egypt, the argument was such.

"Contrast the Egyptian regime's absolute adherence to this insignificant treaty which it did not even sign, with its domestic disregard for the constitution, laws, and basic principles of human rights," the editorial ran. "Contrast that posture also with the number and intensity of Israeli violations of international law, human rights conventions, and Security Council resolutions over six decades," it continued.

Gaining much international praise throughout the three-week war for its nearly constant coverage of the action, Al-Jazeera's popularity was undeniable. As one of the few news networks with reporters inside Gaza, they had been able to report from the frontlines of the battle, which brought new viewers to the network.

But, Abdel Salam believes the network took advantage of the mass Arab support for Hamas.

"For example, a news channel like Al-Jazeera Arabic is making a bad situation worse," and he pointed out the irony that at the same time "Qatar has an American military base that sends weapons to Israel."

But others appreciate Al-Jazeera. Ahmed, a 41-year-old waiter in a trendy Cairo restaurant, argued that Al-Jazeera was the only means for him getting information that he could "trust." The national news, he says, is just the arm of the government and since "all our government wants to do is walk with Washington," he believes new sources are needed.

It highlights the growing divide between citizen and government in Egypt and across the world. Arabs want their leaders across the region to step up and take action against Israel. Thousands have taken to the streets in protest of Israel's actions, but regional governments have not avoided condemnation. A number of demonstrations have called out Egypt for its "complicity" with Israel's war.

Revealing the angst among many in the country, especially within the media was a recent headline in the Egyptian independent weekly Youm 7 read "Why is God not on our side?"

"I do not understand how the government believes this will turn out good for them. Many of us are fed up with the government and this war has shown us the reality," Ahmed said.

Guns Fall Silent on Gaza's Ruins

By SANA ABDALLAH

AMMAN -- The guns fell silent upon Gaza overnight after Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian factions separately declared their own ceasefires, revealing the shocking extent of devastation as rescue workers pulled out more bodies from under the rubble brought about by the deadliest Israeli war on the strip since 1967.

Ten more Palestinian corpses were dug out from under the ruins on Monday, according to medical sources, who said that rescue teams were still searching for survivors and bodies under homes demolished across the Gaza Strip.

On Sunday, hours after Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire, almost 100 bodies were recovered, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 1,300 killed since Israel unleashed its war on Dec. 27, as Gaza hospitals struggled to treat 5,300 wounded. Rescue workers expected the number to be higher.

Gaza emergency sources said the vast majority of victims were civilians, and 32 percent of the dead, or 410, were children, and 104 were women. About 1,855 children and 795 women were among the injured during the 22-day onslaught, they said.

Meanwhile, Hamas' military wing, the Ezzeddine al-Qassam Brigades, said Monday that 48 of its fighters were killed, including one suicide bomber, and insisted it had killed at least 80 Israeli soldiers, disputing Israeli army figures that 10 of its troops were killed in combat and three civilians by Palestinian rocket fire. Hamas' armed wing said it had fired 900 rockets during the war.

Islamic Jihad's military group, Saraya al-Quds, reported Sunday that 34 of its fighters died, including two suicide attackers.

Israel said it killed 500 Hamas members, and its outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared the offensive had achieved the goals it had set out for Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since ousting the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in June 2007.

Hamas and its allies, however, claimed a "victory" against Israel, saying that the offensive neither reduced its rocket capabilities nor the will of the resistance, accusing Israel of only having destroyed the civilian infrastructure and killing defenseless civilians.

Olmert declared a unilateral ceasefire as of 2 am on Sunday and Israeli tanks withdrew from the cities to the borders, but remained some two to three kilometers within the boundaries of the Gaza Strip.

Until Hamas declared its own one-week ceasefire on Sunday afternoon to allow humanitarian assistance into the strip, militants had fired more than 15 rockets at Israel.

The Islamist group said it gave Israel one week to pull its forces completely from the positions it occupied along the frontiers and will work on initiatives that entail the opening of the border crossings and lifting the Israeli blockade that had preceded the military operations.

Israeli sources said the tanks were expected to pull out completely before U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian National Department of Statistics estimated the material losses at $1.6 billion, saying the Israeli offensive completely demolished 4,000 buildings and severely damaged 20,000 others, leaving at least 100,000 people homeless.

The reconstruction of the impoverished strip was taken up at a regular Arab economic summit in Kuwait Monday, where the leaders were expected to set up a $2 billion fund for rebuilding what Israel destroyed.

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz announced a donation of $1 billion in his opening remarks at the summit, a week after Qatar donated $250 million.

Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, pledged $34 million to the U.N. relief agency for refugees, UNRWA, after coming under pressure from Kuwaiti MPs not to give assistance to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' PA, accusing his authority of corruption.

As Gaza seemed to have turned into a charity case in the wake of the devastating war, at least on the surface, Arab diplomats said that serious political moves are needed to avoid yet another Israeli war in the Middle East, which they say requires a lot of work in healing inter-Palestinian and internal Arab divisions.

"We have to overcome Arab political differences that led to a division in the Arab ranks, which can be exploited by those who want to achieve their regional ambitions," the Saudi monarch said at the Kuwait summit opening.

He warned that the Saudi-sponsored Arab peace initiative of 2002 – which offered Israel peace with all the Arab nations and normal ties in return for its withdrawal from the Arab territories it occupied in 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state – "will not remain on the table forever."

At another summit held in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh on Gaza Sunday, which also gathered some European leaders, Jordan's King Abdullah II warned: "If we do not take action toward a permanent solution based on the two-state solution, the world leaders will find themselves once again forced to convene to address a new Israeli aggression on the Palestinians."

Report: NKorea could give up nukes for US ties

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea is willing to give up its nuclear weapons if President Barack Obama agrees to conditions imposed by the communist regime, including establishing formal diplomatic relations between the two countries, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper said.

The Japan-based Choson Sinbo paper — considered a mouthpiece of Pyongyang — said in a story posted on its Web site hours before Obama's inauguration Tuesday that the North was waiting to see what position the new president would take on the nuclear standoff.

"It is too early to predict whether the Obama administration will endorse the North's nuclear possession or try to realize denuclearization through normalization of relations," the paper said. "But what is sure is that the North side is ready to deal with any choice by the enemy nation."

The paper is closely linked to Pyongyang and its articles are considered a reflection of the North's positions.

The U.S., South Korea, Japan, Russia and China have been trying for years to coax North Korea into giving up its atomic ambitions. Pyongyang agreed in 2007 to dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for aid, but the process has been stalled since August.

Last week, the North's Foreign Ministry said it would give up its nuclear weapons only if Washington establishes diplomatic relations with the regime and the U.S. ceases to pose a nuclear threat to the North — an apparent reference to Pyongyang's long-standing claim that American nuclear weapons are hidden in South Korea. Both Seoul and Washington deny the accusation.

In its statement, apparently aimed at the incoming U.S. leader, the ministry also rejected U.S. demands to verify its list of nuclear programs.

The North wants verification to take place later in the disarmament process than the U.S. has requested.

The pro-Pyongyang paper said Tuesday that the North put forward conditions for its nuclear abandonment "ahead of the launch of the Obama administration" and it was now up to Washington to act. It appeared to be referring to last week's statement.

The North has ratcheted up tension on the peninsula in recent days, accusing the South of plotting war and warning that it would respond to any South Korean aggression with "one strike" capable of annihilation.

Analysts say the North's military saber rattling — just as Obama takes office in Washington — is a well-timed negotiating tactic aimed at getting the new president's attention.

Obama has said he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il if it helps the international process to disarm Pyongyang.

Afghanistan seeks control over NATO deployments

By JASON STRAZIUSO and AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer

KABUL, Afghanistan – The Afghan government has sent NATO headquarters a draft agreement that would give Afghanistan more control over future NATO deployments in the country — including the deployment of some U.S. troops, officials said Tuesday.

The draft technical agreement would put into place rules of conduct for NATO-led troops in Afghanistan and the number of additional NATO troops and their location would have to be approved by the Afghan government.

The agreement — an attempt by Afghanistan to gain more control over international military operations — would also prohibit NATO troops from conducting any searches of Afghan homes, according to a copy of the draft obtained by The Associated Press.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that his government sent the draft agreement to NATO about two weeks ago.

Addressing parliament at its opening session, a frustrated Karzai said the U.S. and other Western military allies have not heeded his calls to stop airstrikes in civilian areas in Afghanistan. He warned that the fight against militants cannot be won without popular support from Afghans.

The Afghan president urged the U.S. and NATO to follow a new military strategy in Afghanistan that would increase cooperation with Afghan forces and officials to prevent the killing and maiming of civilians.

"We will not accept civilian casualties on our soil during the fight against terrorism and we cannot tolerate it," Karzai told parliament.

U.S. and NATO-led troops say militants deliberately use civilians as human shields in their fight against foreign and Afghan troops, and there have been multiple disputes over whether some of those killed in operations were civilians or militants.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the letter from the Afghan government has been shared with NATO nations but no discussions about it have yet taken place.

"The bottom line here is we are very much willing to engage in discussion to see how we can, in cooperation with them (Afghan authorities), improve how we do business," Appathurai said.

The draft technical agreement calls for:

• The deployment of additional NATO troops and their location carried out only with Afghan government approval.

• Full coordination between Afghan and NATO defense authorities "at the highest possible level for all phases of military and ground operations."

• House searches and detention operations to be carried out only by Afghan security forces.

If approved, the agreement would apply to all 48,000 NATO-led forces who operate under the International Security Assistance Force, including some 17,000 Americans. It's not clear if the agreement would apply to the separate U.S. coalition and its 15,000 U.S. troops, said U.S. spokesman Col. Greg Julian.

The latest dispute over civilian casualties arose two weeks ago, when the U.S. military said its troops killed 32 militants in the eastern province of Nangarhar, while Karzai said 17 of those killed were civilians.

Civilian deaths undermine Karzai's support ahead of his re-election bid this year. They also sap the support that foreign troops need to help the government extend its reach across the country.

U.S. Gen. David McKiernan, the commanding officer of all NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan, issued a directive to troops in September meant to reduce the number of casualties. Commanders have said they are advising troops to break off a battle with militants rather than risk firing into a civilian area.

Appathurai, the NATO spokesman, said that directive is meant to convoy NATO's concerns over civilian casualties.

India test fires missile in province near Pakistan

NEW DELHI (AP) — India tested its nuclear-capable Brahmos supersonic cruise missile Tuesday in a province bordering Pakistan, despite already tense relations with Islamabad following the Mumbai terror attacks, a news report said.

India's Defense Minister A.K. Antony said the test was pre-planned and not directed at any country, the Press Trust of India news agency reported

New Delhi and Islamabad regularly test missiles, but normally only give each other prior notice for long-range launches. It was not immediately clear whether India informed Pakistan ahead of Tuesday's test.

Defense Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.

The test comes amid increased tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

India says Pakistan-based militants plotted and executed the Nov. 26 Mumbai attacks that killed 164 people and has repeatedly insinuated that Pakistani intelligence agents were involved.

The Brahmos missile, jointly developed with Russia, can carry a 440-pound nuclear warhead and has a maximum range of 180 miles (290 kilometers).

Tuesday's test was carried out in the western desert state of Rajasthan that borders Pakistan, PTI said.

The missile, which has already been test-fired more than a dozen times, can fly at 2.8 times the speed of sound and can be launched from land, ships, submarines and aircraft.

India's missile arsenal also includes the short-range Prithvi missile, the anti-tank Nag missile, the short-range surface-to-air Trishul missile, and the medium-range Agni missile.

Pakistan Islamist party welcomes Obama's 'new way'

ISLAMABAD (AFP) – Pakistan's main Islamist party on Wednesday welcomed a pledge from US President Barack Obama to seek a "new way forward" with the Muslim world after eight turbulent years at the White House.

"We welcome it very much," said Khurshid Ahmed, a senior leader in the fundamentalist Jamaat-i-Islami -- the main religious political party in Pakistan and an organizer of angry demonstrations against the US and Israel.

Ahmed slammed outgoing US president George W. Bush, accusing him of "alienating the US and Americans from the Muslim world."

"Obama has to face the real issues, go into the causes and work seriously for the abdication of Bush's policies," Ahmed told AFP.

"Unless he does that, mere words will not be sufficient."

Ahmed, who, as senior party vice president deals with foreign and economic affairs, said Obama's move towards suspending cases before Guantanamo Bay courts was "good".

The hated US military detention centre that is used to hold suspects in the United States' "war on terror" has become a symbol of US excesses around the world.

Several Pakistanis are among those detained at the camp.

Ahmed called for detainees to be released immediately and said for "those who had been suffering there must be compensation and an apology".

He hailed Obama's promise for a fresh balance in using diplomatic and military powers, but questioned the extent to which political lobbies in the United States would restrain the new president.

"I am conscious of the difficulties Obama faces, I can only pray. I have some hopes but with due caution," he said.

Ahmed also voiced concern in the Muslim world about what he called Obama's "silence over the carnage of the Palestinians in Gaza."

Pakistan tells powers to stop demanding more

By Robert Birsel

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan's military issued a blunt call on Tuesday for outside powers to stop demanding it do more and prove its sincerity in the campaign against militancy as the U.S. regional military chief visited.

Pakistan has been a close ally in U.S.-led efforts against terrorism since the September 11 attacks on the United States although it has never been able to dispel suspicion in some quarters that it had maintained links to some militants.

Such suspicion has been renewed by Indian accusations that some Pakistani state agencies were linked to November's militant attacks on Mumbai.

Western powers have not supported those Indian accusations, although they often call on Pakistan to do more in fighting Taliban and al Qaeda militants, especially those on the Afghan border in northwest Pakistan.

The chief of the Pakistani armed forces, General Tariq Majid, bemoaned "repetitive rhetoric by some of the external players asking Pakistan to do more and prove sincerity."

"Such unhelpful statements must stop," Majid said.

He did not refer to any country or to U.S. Central Command chief General David Petraeus, who arrived in Pakistan earlier for talks with government and military leaders.

British Defence Secretary John Hutton was also in Pakistan this week. Britain has the second largest contingent of soldiers in Afghanistan, behind the United States, and is also worried about militant infiltration from Pakistan.

Both the United States and Britain are major donors of aid to Pakistan, including help to tackle terrorism.

"International players must come out from the coercive mindset and instead start delivering on the promised capacity assistance," Majid said in a statement.

The thinly veiled criticism of the United States follows Pakistani anger over about 30 U.S. air strikes on militants on the Pakistani side of the border last year.

Pakistan says the attacks violate its sovereignty and are counter-productive. Support for the U.S. campaign against militancy is deeply unpopular with many Pakistanis.

"CAN'T MATCH SACRIFICES"

Pakistan has in the past used Islamist militants to further foreign policy objectives and it was the main supporter of the Taliban until the September 11 attacks.

But Majid said Pakistan did not need to prove its sincerity considering the sacrifices it was making "which cannot be matched by any of those players making these demands."

About 1,000 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in fighting against militants in the northwest since 2001.

Petraeus met President Asif Ali Zardari and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani for talks that included Pakistan's response to the Mumbai attacks, which India and the United States said was carried out by a banned Pakistani-based militant group.

"It is clearly in the interests of all countries involved that Pakistan succeed in dealing with its internal problems," Petraeus told reporters.

He did not refer to Majid's statement.

Petraeus said he had also discussed cross-border movement of militants and U.S. reinforcements in Afghanistan. The United States has about 32,000 troops in Afghanistan but that number is expected to go up considerably this year.

Petraeus has been credited with helping pull Iraq back from the brink of civil war with a strategy that brought a "surge" of 30,000 extra U.S. troops. President-elect Barack Obama has said he would put more focus on defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Iraq willing to see US troops leave early

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD – Iraq is willing to have the U.S. withdraw its troops and assume security for the country before the end of 2011, the departure date agreed to by former President George W. Bush, the Iraqi prime minister's spokesman said.

Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh made the comment Tuesday, a day before President Barack Obama and his senior commanders were to meet in Washington to discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama promised during the campaign to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office. The new president said in his inaugural address Tuesday that he would "begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people."

Al-Dabbagh told Associated Press Television News that Iraqis had been worried about a quick U.S. departure.

But with the emphasis on a responsible withdrawal, al-Dabbagh said the Iraqi government was willing for the U.S. to leave "even before the end of 2011." The Bush administration agreed in November to remove all U.S. troops by the end of 2011.

U.S. commanders are concerned that a rapid departure would threaten the fragile security established since 2007 after years of military and political setbacks.

The war has left many Iraqis conflicted — anxious to see the Americans leave but fearful of the future if they depart too soon. Distrust of rival sectarian and ethnic groups still runs deep, along with doubts about Iraq's political leadership.

Across this war-shattered country, many Iraqis watched the transfer of power in Washington on Arab satellite television stations. Many of them expressed hope that the departure of the president who launched the Iraq war in 2003 would speed the return of peace.

"I think that the U.S. image and policies will improve because Obama will try to avoid the awful mistakes committed by Bush," said Ripwar Karim, 26, a Kurdish merchant who watched the inauguration in a cafe in Sulaimaniyah.

Several others in the cafe cheered when Obama appeared on the TV screen but gave a "thumbs-down" sign when the camera honed in on Bush.

"Bush was as a nightmare on the chests of the Iraqis for the last eight years," said Ahmed Salih, an engineer in Fallujah. "Today we got rid of a problem that lasted eight years. Bush divided Iraq instead of uniting it. He proclaimed democracy but we haven't seen it."

U.S. officials are carefully watching the Jan. 31 provincial elections as a sign of whether the country is moving sectarian and ethnic conflicts from the battlefield to the ballot box.

Violence is down sharply in Iraq but attacks still continue.

A roadside bomb exploded early Wednesday in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing one civilian and wounding another, police Col. Baldar Shukir said.

A blast late Tuesday killed an Iraqi soldier and wounded another, police in the capital said.

Obama seeks halt to Guantanamo trials

By Jane Sutton

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) – Hours after taking office on Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama ordered military prosecutors in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals to ask for a 120-day halt in all pending cases.

Military judges were expected to rule on the request on Wednesday at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an official involved in the trials said.

The request would halt proceedings in 21 pending cases, including the death penalty case against five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 hijacked plane attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Prosecutors said in their written request that the halt was "in the interests of justice."

Obama has pledged to shut down the Guantanamo prison camp that was widely seen as a stain on the United States' human rights record and a symbol of detainee abuse and detention without charge under the administration of his predecessor, former President George W. Bush.

Human rights activists and military defense lawyers had urged him to halt the special tribunals that are formally known as military commissions and urged him to move the prosecutions into the regular U.S. courts for trial under long-established rules.

"In order to permit the newly inaugurated president and his administration time to review the military commission process, generally, and the cases currently pending before the military commissions, specifically, the secretary of defense has, by order of the president directed the chief prosecutor to seek continuances of 120 days in all pending case," prosecutor Clay Trivett said in the written request to the judges.

The request said freezing the trials until May 20 would give the new administration time to evaluate the cases and decide what forum best suits any future prosecution.

About 245 foreign captives are still held at the detention center that opened in January 2002. The Bush administration had said it planned to try 80 prisoners on war crimes charges, but only three cases have been completed.

Defense lawyers expected and supported a freeze of the tribunals, which have moved in fits and spurts amid numerous legal challenges. They had complained that the tribunals allowed hearsay evidence and coerced testimony and were subject of so much political interference that fairness was impossible.

Obama's order was widely anticipated. Jamil Dakwar, who is monitoring the tribunals for the American Civil Liberties Union, had said earlier Tuesday that waiting for the order was comparable to a death watch for a patient whose demise was certain.

"We're just waiting for the reading of the will," Dakwar said.

Israeli army says Gaza pullout completed

JERUSALEM, (AFP) – Israeli troops have completed their withdrawal from the Gaza Strip after a 22-day offensive against the Islamist Hamas movement, an army spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.

"The last soldier left the Gaza Strip this morning," the spokesman said. "However the army remains deployed all around the Gaza Strip to meet any eventuality."

The pullout began Sunday after Israel declared a ceasefire and Palestinian militants matched it. Hamas gave Israel a week to remove all troops and open crossing points into Gaza or face renewed hostilities.

Israel launched its massive assault on December 27, bombarding the narrow coastal strip where 1.5 million Palestinians live from land, air and sea.

Palestinian health ministry figures list more than 1,300 people dead, including 410 children and about 100 women. Another 5,300 people were wounded -- 1,855 of them children and 795 women.

The Palestinian bureau of statistics reported 4,100 homes totally destroyed and 17,000 others damaged in the offensive.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon became Tuesday the first world leader to visit the enclave since Israel halted the deadliest offensive it has ever launched on the Palestinian territory, which has been ruled by Hamas since June 2007.

He accused Israel of using "excessive force" in the conflict, but he also condemned Palestinian rocket fire on southern Israel which sparked the invasion.

Eight Israeli human rights groups who accused the army of ignoring the rules of war.

They urged prosecutor general and government legal adviser Menachem Mazuz to act, describing the scale of casualties among women and children as "terrifying."

The Washington Post reported that President Barack Obama plans this week to name former Northern Ireland peacemaker George Mitchell as his Middle East envoy to deal immediately with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Lebanon army gets boost from Russian jets

By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer

BEIRUT, Lebanon – With Israel in a fragile cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza to the south, the army of this tiny country bordering Israel's north is for the first time getting some serious military muscle, including its first fighter jets in decades.

The influx of hardware begins with Russia, which is trying to increase its influence again in the Mideast.

Moscow's decision last month to provide Lebanon with 10 MiG-29 fighter jets comes at a sensitive time, with Israel just out of its second major armed confrontation in two years against neighboring militant groups.

The offer was made before Israel launched its offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers on Dec. 27 to stop rocket fire from militants on southern Israeli communities, but the conflict has made it all the more significant.

Separate cease-fires declared by Israel and the militant Islamic group went into effect Sunday, ending fighting that has killed about 1,300 Palestinians, according to Palestinian medical officials. Thirteen Israelis also have been killed.

Lebanon says it needs more hardware to ensure control of its southern border. During the Gaza fighting, militants fired rockets from southern Lebanon into Israel, prompting Israeli artillery fire.

The United States and Europe have long had an ambivalent attitude toward Lebanon's 60,000-member army — wanting to beef it up as a lever against Hezbollah militants who control much of southern Lebanon.

At the same time, the U.S. and Europe fear that too much military hardware could enable the Lebanese to use it against Israel.

Either way, Russia's military grant to Lebanon triggered an immediate reaction, with Washington promising Beirut a few days later to deliver tanks.

"Support for the Lebanese armed forces remains a pillar of our Lebanon policy," said David Hale, a deputy U.S. assistant secretary of state. "We are working ... to deliver modern M-60 tanks to Lebanon by the spring of 2009 and we're preparing a new package of assistance including close air support capability with precision weapons and urban combat gear."

The U.S. has committed $410 million in security assistance to Lebanon since 2006. Most has gone to logistics, communications, equipment, flak jackets, vehicles and training. In late December, the U.S. delivered 72 Humvees to Lebanon, bringing the total to 350 since 2006. A U.S. Embassy statement said 275 more Humvees will be sent by the end of this year.

For years, Lebanon's military was dismissed at home and abroad as little more than an internal security force. The army was rebuilt after splintering along sectarian lines during the 1975-1990 civil war and has primarily taken the role of paramilitary police.

It has largely stayed out of the frequent battles between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, the militants in southern Lebanon. But after the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, the army sent thousands of troops to southern Lebanon alongside U.N. peacekeepers in the border zone.

Lebanon has virtually no air force — about 30 unarmed helicopters and several 1950s-era British-made Hawker Hunter jets — and no effective air defense system. Israel routinely flies reconnaissance missions over Lebanon unchallenged.

But Mideast analysts don't believe that 10 Russian-made fighter jets will tip the regional military balance, which remains heavily in Israel's favor.

"The acquisition of 10 aircraft has more morale impact than material impact in the field," said retired Lebanese general Amin Hteit.

The Russian offer gives Moscow an opportunity to play a role in the Middle East, where its influence waned after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Many Lebanese see the move as a sign of international commitment to their government as it seeks to control the south, and stop the fire toward Israel coming from Hezbollah and small Palestinian militant groups there.

"Russia wants to be on the Mediterranean. It seeks to play a role, but it also wants to stress Lebanese sovereignty," Charles Ayoub, a former air force pilot and publisher of Lebanon's pro-Syrian newspaper Addiyar, said in a TV interview.

Israeli analyst Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, said Moscow's move "is part of the distancing of Lebanon from the West."

Nevertheless, Israeli government reaction has been supportive because Israel would prefer to have the Lebanese army and not Hezbollah in charge of the south.

"The Lebanese state needs to be able to meet the challenges of armed militia, who under U.N. resolutions need to be disarmed," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said in Jerusalem, alluding to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, backed by Russia-allied Syria and Iran, maintains a heavily armed force with more than 30,000 rockets and some bigger missiles in its arsenal.

U.N. office destroyed in Darfur violence

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Recent violence in the Darfur region of Sudan has forced a U.N. operation to relocate after fresh ground violence destroyed a U.N. office.

Kenro Oshidari, acting U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, said the U.N. office in the Muhajeria area in south Darfur burned to the ground after a new surge in fighting broke out between the rebel Justice and Equality Movement and Sudan Liberation Army/Minni Minawi, the United Nations reported.

The United Nations estimates the lives of as many as 30,000 civilians in the Muhajeria region are under threat. Oshidari called for an immediate halt in the violence.

"The hostilities must stop so that aid agencies can get back to the town to continue their life-saving work," Oshidari said in a statement.

The rebel clash destroying the U.N. office follows an aerial bombing in the region by Sudanese government forces Thursday. Officials say the new wave of violence is threatening the ability of aid workers to distribute humanitarian aid in the war-ravaged southern Darfur region.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2009/01/19/UN_office_destroyed_in_Darfur_violence/UPI-48801232407693/.

Somalia bomb targets AU peacekeepers

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- An explosion has rocked a convoy of African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu, Somalia, damaging a truck, officials said Tuesday.

A spokesman for the peacekeeping force, known as AMISOM, told the Shabelle Media Network there were no casualties from the roadside bomb attack.

Witnesses said the AU soldiers fired their guns after the remote-controlled explosives were detonated.

The Islamist insurgent group Al-Shabaab claimed the responsibility for the attack, Shabelle reported.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/01/20/Somalia_bomb_targets_AU_peacekeepers/UPI-58111232465674/.

SKorea approves troop dispatch near Somalia

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea decided Tuesday to send a warship to waters off Somalia to help fight piracy.

The presidential office said the Cabinet approved a plan to dispatch a 4,500-ton navy vessel with 310 soldiers to the Gulf of Aden on a mission to protect South Korean commercial vessels from Somali pirates.

The planned dispatch is subject to parliamentary approval. The government plans to submit the proposal to the National Assembly later this week.

The proposal is expected to pass, since the opposition party does not oppose it.

The Defense Ministry said the warship will be equipped with a helicopter and three high-speed boats.

Calls for a troop dispatch to the region have risen in South Korea following a series of piracy cases involving its nationals. Since 2006, four South Korean vessels have been hijacked, though later released.

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991 and its lawless coastline is a haven for pirates. Multimillion-dollar ransoms have become one of the only ways to make money in the impoverished nation. The pirates' biggest prize yet, a Saudi oil tanker, was released earlier this month.

An international flotilla including U.S. warships has stopped many attacks off Somalia in recent weeks, but the area is too vast to keep all ships safe in the vital sea lane that links Asia to Europe.

Somalia is located along the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean and is one of the world's busiest waterways with some 20,000 ships passing through each year.

Obama: Amaze us!

By Michael Carmichael

URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11908

Global Research, January 20, 2009
planetarymovement.com

As Barack Obama approaches the helm of the American ship of state, he is facing many challenges.

Just as she was being born at the dawn of her journey into history, the American nation is poised on the brink of a new beginning. In those revolutionary times, America faced a roiling sea of danger, uncertainty and trepidation. Today, after more than two centuries of venture, America moves forward beyond and away from the final and most tragic acts of the second Bush presidency.

The American journey has been filled with triumph and tragedy. Triumph over the bonds of colonialism transformed into the tragedy of slavery, Manifest Destiny and the genocide of Native Americans followed by Civil War. Abolition began to right the wrongs of slavery, but America careened forward into the excesses of the Gilded Age and the arrogance of her Imperialist Presidency that extended her empire to the islands of the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

The Roosevelts expanded the American vision to encompass economic justice, environmental preservation and the duty to deliver peace beyond our borders. At the same time, American philosophers advocated the virtue of selfishness, the goodness of greed and the siren song of supply side trickle down economic miracles, while Martin Luther King, Jr. marched to the beat of a different drummer to demand the fulfillment of civil rights for our black brothers and sisters.

In an ancient scenario, the culture of greed infiltrated the American defense establishment and commandeered the ship of state to instigate conflicts and to impose its will by force. American power came into conflict with competing ideologies promising a better and more just society through cooperation rather than competition. For more than three-quarters of a century, America has moved forward toward its promise of freedom for all her people: freedom of speech; freedom of religion; freedom from want and freedom from fear.

As Barack Obama approaches the dais to take his oath of office, he is focused on delivering the four freedoms to all Americans. Each of FDR's four freedoms is in danger in America today. Freedom of speech was curtailed in pursuit of solidarity against the Axis of Evil in the War on Terror. Freedom of religion is under threat as Muslims are treated like criminals and terrorists. Freedom from want is on its deathbed, for millions of Americans have been expelled from their homes, banished from their workplaces and shunned by their employers. Freedom from fear has vanished, as Americans are convulsed in a paroxysm of panic apprehensive about their financial security and in fear for their very lives.

Barack Obama faces an insurmountable Himalaya of fear. In its face, Obama brings a message of hope for change. Obama erases fear with the promise of hope. Now he must turn to the people of America and deliver the four freedoms they have been promised.

Obama faces anxiety over the economy. While there are differences of opinion about what must be done and what must not be done, Obama has few choices. Obama's errant predecessor capitulated to the demands of his capitalist coterie for massive federal bailouts of financial institutions. With the bloated banking system now in bankruptcy, the calls for government regulation from Wall Street and the Federal Reserve will herald the beginning of state capitalism, a propagandistic oxymoron for a socialized banking system. While the incomes of financiers, bankers and others will shrivel, the confidence of the American people will be restored. The new American banking system will resemble a vast public utility, where salaries are strictly limited and profits are regulated.

But, the American people fear for their very lives today. Faced with the rapacious appetite for corporate profit that no population of any other industrialized nation faces, Americans spend more than twice what citizens of other democracies spend for their healthcare. In order to restore the freedom from fear, Obama must deliver a better system for healthcare that will be nothing less than revolutionary for it must delete the profitability of illness, injury and disease from the national vocabulary. The people of America are suffering through a stupefying crescendo of ghoulish greed that is pervasive throughout the healthcare industry. Obama believes that healthcare is a human right that government must deliver to a free people to ensure that they do not experience fears for their own lives.

But, Americans fear for more than their financial futures and their health, they fear for their very existence under threat from those who would destroy the fabric of our society – the terrorists. Bush launched his War on Terror to galvanize political support for a Gotterdammerung of Islamist terrorists. In the process, Bush triggered a massive avalanche of fear within America that has led to two immoral and counterproductive wars in Asia. America's standing in the world has been toppled from the top of a tall column. For the world at large, the Statue of Liberty has lost all meaning. America's prestige has morphed into a global loathing of the stars and stripes. In 2008, America has become the most feared and hated nation on earth.

Like no other president before him, Obama faces a global challenge to America's faltering leadership. To address the global challenge, Obama must replace opprobrium with trust and restore equilibrium with peace. American Muslims must be freed from the burdens of ostracism, stereotyping and the prison of Guantanamo. But, the closure of Guantanamo will be only the first step. The American prison population has inflated beyond all sense of reason. Alone among all other nations, America imprisons one out of every one hundred of its citizens. For shame, more American prisoners are from the black and tan minorities rather than from the white majority. The American prison-industrial complex has transformed the land of the free into a police state where minorities are incarcerated for misdemeanors while whites go free for felonies. Obama must right this terrible wrong that tarnishes America's luster in the eyes of the world.

Even more importantly, Obama must forge a new foreign policy that does not genuflect to the Pentagon and resort to military interventions and wars to enforce American power by the simplistic application of force -- for force has failed America in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. In the Information Age, hard power is indeed outmoded, outdated, obsolete and counterproductive. Soft power is now the only instrument available for forging ahead on the global seas of commerce, ecology and culture.

Obama's global challenges are manifold, but none more difficult than in the Middle East. In recent days, hard power inflicted pain and destruction in the Arab-Israeli conflict. America's involvement in the Middle East has not delivered peace or security of the freedom from fear to the peoples of the Middle East. Since the Camp David Accords and the Oslo Agreement, the Middle East has devolved into conflict and crisis. Under George W. Bush, American policy made the insufferable situation worse by launching the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and unwise favoritism in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Nowhere does Obama face a more difficult challenge than in the Middle East, but in challenge therein resides opportunity – a unique opportunity to redefine America's vision in the eyes of the world.

On Wednesday, the 21st of January 2009, Barack Obama will enter the Oval Office where he will wield the power of the American nation. On that date, the world will judge him for the priorities he engages from the very outset of his presidency.

While he has promised America that he will order the cessation of torture, the withdrawal from Iraq, the final phase of the war in Afghanistan and the restructuring of American involvement with the Arab-Israeli conflict, Obama's global reputation will be cast in the flames of the forge.

In that moment and in the others rapidly to come, we shall learn the extent and the tenor of the change Obama will bring – not only to America but to the tiny planet where he will be the most powerful leader in world history, a leader for all peoples – for better or worse -- and it is indeed quite difficult to imagine how he might be worse than George W. Bush.

President Obama, the time is now ripe. Bring on all the changes you have promised from sea to shining sea and from nation unto nation – you must now bring peace unto all the nations of the earth. We, Americans who summoned and supported you are waiting; the nations are gazing intently upon you. Amaze us.

Source: Global Research.
Link: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11908.

Obama takes power, urges unity vs. 'raging storms'

By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON – Before a jubilant crowd of more than a million, Barack Hussein Obama claimed his place in history as America's first black president, summoning a dispirited nation to unite in hope against the "gathering clouds and raging storms" of war and economic woe.

On an extraordinary day in the life of America, people of all colors and ages waited for hours Tuesday in frigid temperatures to witness a young black man with a foreign-sounding name take command of a nation founded by slaveholders. It was a scene watched in fascination by many millions — perhaps billions — around the world.

"We gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord," the nation's 44th president said.

The presidency passed to Democrat Obama from Republican George W. Bush at the stroke of noon, marking one of democracy's greatest gifts: the peaceful transfer of power.

But a stark transfer all the same. In one of the new administration's first acts, Obama ordered federal agencies to halt all pending regulations until further review — this after Bush's final weeks raised heated debate over rushing new rules into effect on the way out the door.

And even though new White House aides struggled to find offices and work intercoms, an overhauled http://www.whitehouse.gov Web site was running under Obama's banner within minutes of his swearing-in. "Change has come to America," it declared.

Obama plunges into his new job in earnest on Wednesday after capping inaugural festivities at a national prayer service in the morning, meeting with his economic team and Iraq advisers and welcoming a stream of public visitors into the White House while Congress gives his economic revival plan a going-over and takes up the nomination of Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of state. Her confirmation has been held up for now by Republican concern over the foundation fundraising of her husband, the former president.

The new president had been buoyant and relaxed through the three days of preinaugural festivities. But he seemed somber as he stood on the Capitol steps, placed his left hand on the Bible used by Abraham Lincoln and repeated the inaugural oath "to preserve, protect and defend" a Constitution that originally defined blacks as three-fifths of a person. A deafening cheer went up.

"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly," Obama said. "This is the price and the promise of citizenship."

The day's high spirits were jarred by sudden concern about the health of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. The legendary Democrat, suffering from brain cancer, and was rushed from a Capitol luncheon in Obama's honor to a hospital. "My prayers are with him and his family," Obama said. Later, fellow Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said Kennedy was laughing and joking at the hospital and itching to get back to work.

On the inaugural parade route, Obama and his wife, Michelle, climbed out of the heavily armored presidential limousine and walked a few blocks along famed Pennsylvania Avenue, waving to adoring crowds under the watchful eyes of security agents.

Hours later, they put the day's formality behind them to swirl through 10 inaugural balls. With the president in white tie and the first lady in a white one-shouldered gown by 26-year-old New York designer Jason Wu, their first dance was to Beyonce singing the Etta James classic "At Last." "Tonight, we celebrate. Tomorrow, the work begins," Obama said at the Commander in Chief Ball.

Throughout his inaugural address, an 18-minute sermon on civic duty, Obama wove a thread of personal responsibility and accountability. A liberal Democrat proposing billions of dollars in new spending, Obama nonetheless spoke of the limits of government.

"It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours," he said. "It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate."

Obama's 10-year-old daughter, Malia, aimed a camera at her father as he spoke. Michelle leaned onto the edge of her seat, body tensed and brow knitted.

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America," Obama said.

He placed blame for the recent economic collapse not just on greed and irresponsibility "on the part of some" but also on the inability or unwillingness of everyone to move the country beyond an industrial-based economy — what he called "our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age." With that, the 47-year-old former Illinois senator transformed himself — from a candidate claiming his campaign is about the voters to a president promising to put the nation in the people's hands.

Unlike most predecessors, Obama takes office with his agenda in many ways set for him.

An economy that seems more foreboding than at any inauguration since Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, with some 11 million people now out of work, and trillions of dollars of stock market investments lost. Two wars, one in Iraq that most of the country has long wanted over and another in Afghanistan that is spiraling downward and needs an overhaul. The continuing fear that another calamitous terrorist attack is not out of the question.

More inspirational than prescriptive, Obama's inaugural address only glancingly mentioned a series of promises from his campaign: to get the U.S. out of Iraq, stabilize Afghanistan, create jobs, "restore science to its rightful place," boost the use of alternative energy, address climate change, transform schools, manage government spending wisely and oversee a more bipartisan, less-divisive approach to policy-making.

To allies overseas eager for his leadership to replace Bush's, Obama had welcome words: "We are ready to lead once more."

His ascension to the White House was cheered around the world as a sign that America will be more embracing, more open to change. "To the Muslim world," Obama said, "we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect."

Still, he bluntly warned, "To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."

The day began well before dawn as people made their way downtown to secure spots from which to witness history, and it was extending well past midnight through the official balls and many more unofficial galas.

The drama exceeded even the breathless buildup of recent days' nearly nonstop discussion on TV, blogs, podcasts and text messages. Not only heavily policed and barricaded Washington but much of the country virtually halted in its tracks — even, albeit briefly, inside the casinos of Las Vegas.

The nation had celebrated 55 inaugurations before, but none like the one that made a president out of the son of Kenya and Kansas, a man who rose to America's highest office largely untested at executive leadership, his political experience encompassing only four years in the U.S. Senate and eight in the state legislature of his home state of Illinois.

Blacks especially powered the jubilation that was thick in the chilly air. Even though Obama didn't give the topic of race, his or others, much treatment in either his campaign nor his inaugural, blacks poured into Washington from all over to watch firsthand as one of their own at last shattered a painful racial barrier.

"It almost leaves me speechless," said 69-year-old Tony Avelino, who traveled from Brea, Calif. "This situation is so emotional it's basically an unreal experience," added 56-year-old Cleveland Wesley, on the Mall from Houston with his wife as the sun rose.

Many others also see in Obama fresh reason for optimism at a time of great national insecurity. Or a chance for rest from the eight acrimonious years of the Bush presidency. Or even a turn toward modernity, as a country hurtling into new ways of communicating, connecting and conducting business chose a man more comfortable in that world than any leader before him.

Excitement over Obama's young, camera-ready family and the thought of Malia Obama and her sister, 7-year-old Sasha, turning the stately White House into a children's playroom also figured prominently in the day.

Among the feverishly discussed questions: What would fashion-forward Michelle Obama wear, information kept as a closely held secret? The shimmering gold brocade sheath dress and matching coat that she chose for the daytime sparked immediate water-cooler discussion, especially when she paired the outfit with green gloves against the cold.

In a country nearly evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, it was notable that protests were nearly unseen, a remarkable shift from the two Bush inaugurations that were marked by boisterous demonstrations. One group of about 20 people from a Baptist church in Kansas demonstrated with anti-gay slogans.

With his White House campaign and landslide November victory built in part on his rhetorical gifts, Obama sought to provide reassurance for the future while compelling listeners to sacrifice.

He articulated eloquently the deeper effect on the American psyche of the problems of war and recession: "a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights."

Not so, said Obama. But he cautioned that the effort will require all citizens, no matter party, age, skin color, or status, to get to work.

"The time has come to set aside childish things," he said, invoking the Bible. "Greatness is never a given. It must be earned."

Bush, the man who has led the nation the past eight years, hosted the Obamas for coffee in the morning, accompanied them to the Capitol and sat tightlipped in the front row for Obama's swearing-in and speech.

Obama thanked Bush for his service as president and never directly criticized him. But he also repeatedly talked of the need to abandon current practices, whether "the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics," the lack of a watchful enough eye on financial markets, or what he called a false choice between safety and ideals — a reference to brutal interrogation practices and other actions taken by the Bush administration in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come," Obama said.

Afterward, he escorted his predecessor to a helicopter and Bush flew with his family first to Andrews Air Force Base for a private departure ceremony, then on to a welcome rally in Midland, Texas and finally, by nightfall, his ranch near Crawford, Texas. As the architect of two unfinished wars and the man in charge at a time of economic calamity, the now ex-president left Washington under the cloud of approval ratings hovering at historic lows. People in the crowd booed when Bush's image was flashed on jumbotrons and one contingent near the Capitol sang "Na-na-na-na, hey, hey, goodbye" in a jeering farewell.

For all the new president's call to joint effort, it is political reality that it will largely be up to Obama himself to meet soaring expectations — both those he has created for himself and those others have placed on him unbidden.

In the Oval Office awaits the workaday, hard-nosed business of the daily governance of a nation of 304 million. And while Washington celebrated, events kept moving: Wall Street slid, news surfaced that U.S. carmaker Chrysler could be purchased in part by Italian auto giant Fiat, and prosecutors at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, sought to suspend all war-crimes trials pending Obama's guidance.

Congress already has given Obama $350 billion in new financial-industry bailout money and is fast-tracking a massive economic stimulus bill to be worth $825 billion or more. And Bush has ordered 30,000 more U.S. troops to go to Afghanistan this year, adding to 32,000 already there. But these moves are hardly the last word on the big issues of the day.

And some of Obama's attention to even those things will undoubtedly be deferred to crises — a natural disaster, an overseas conflagration — that can pop onto the scene unexpectedly and consume enormous amounts of White House energy.

His transition also produced some missteps that raised questions about whether Obama's highly disciplined, perfectionist organization that proved brilliant at winning an election will be equally brilliant at governing.

Obama's team overlooked known problems in the backgrounds of two Cabinet nominees — Bill Richardson for Commerce and Timothy Geithner for Treasury. They also flubbed the introduction to Congress of Leon Panetta as CIA director. Obama also was tripped up by controversy surrounding the appointment of his successor in the Senate.