Mideast summit unlikely to relaunch peace talks

By KARIN LAUB and AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writers



NEW YORK – The Israeli and Palestinian leaders shook hands at the start of their first face-to-face meeting Tuesday, hosted by President Barack Obama, but the small gesture was unlikely to translate into a quick resumption of peace talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas remain far apart on key issues, including Israeli settlement expansion and the agenda of future talks.

Obama said at the start of the trilateral talks that the sides have made some progress, but have much further to go. He told both leaders it's time to find a way to break the deadlock. "There is a powerful sense of urgency," he said.

Obama's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, is to return to the Middle East for another round of mediation next week, and Israeli and Palestinian envoys are to come to Washington. Obama said he expects a progress report in mid-October.

The leaders went into the meeting with entrenched positions, and it was not clear whether the deadlock can be broken.

Abbas has said he won't renew negotiations without an Israeli settlement freeze, as sought by the U.S. and mandated by a U.S.-backed peace plan. Netanyahu insists there's no way he will halt construction in Israeli enclaves on land the Palestinians want for their state.

An Abbas aide, Yasser Abed Raddo, said that in the trilateral meeting Abbas restated his demand for a complete Israeli settlement freeze. Netanyahu, in turn, demanded that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Abed Raddo said. Abbas responded by saying that both sides should keep their commitments. The Palestinians argue that under previous understandings they are not required to do that.

Beyond the dispute over settlements, the two leaders are deadlocked on a more fundamental issue — the agenda of future peace talks.

The Palestinians want negotiations to resume on the same terms as last year's round between Abbas and Netanyahu's more pragmatic predecessor, Ehud Olmert. In those talks, which ended in late 2008, Israel agreed to discuss all so-called core issues, including the partition of Jerusalem. Netanyahu, a hardliner who came to power in March, insists Jerusalem is not up for discussion.

The wide gaps between Abbas and Netanyahu became only more apparent in last week's mediation mission by Mitchell, who held six meetings over four days with the two leaders.

Even though Mitchell returned to Washington empty-handed, Obama summoned Abbas and Netanyahu for a trilateral meeting Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Obama first met separately with Netanyahu and Abbas, before hosting trilateral talks. Abbas and Netanyahu shook hands at the start.

In his meeting with Obama, Netanyahu said he wishes to cooperate with the U.S. in its effort to resume peace talks, an Israeli official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity, in line with Israeli briefing regulations.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, at briefing after the trilateral meeting, said talks could begin as early as within weeks. Netanyahu called for a swift resumption of talks without preconditions.

In agreeing to meet with Netanyahu, Abbas opened himself to criticism from hardliners at home, particularly his Islamic militant Hamas rivals.

Hamas leaders have derided Abbas' efforts to negotiate a peace deal, promptly alleged he had buckled under American pressure.

"The meeting between Obama, Abbas and Netanyahu harms Palestinian interests," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, speaking in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Israeli officials didn't make it any easier for Abbas. Netanyahu's media adviser, Nir Hefetz, told Israel Army Radio on Monday that Netanyahu considers the settlers his brothers.

"You have never heard the prime minister say that he will freeze settlements. The opposite is true," Hefetz said.

Abbas' aides emphasized before Tuesday's talks that in meeting with Netanyahu, the Palestinian leader is not diluting his positions on resuming negotations.

"This is not a meeting on declaring a resumption of peace talks. We will not see this," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. He said Obama was expected to make a statement at the summit, encouraging the parties to persevere.

With a relaunch of peace talks under the old format seen as difficult, alternatives have been floated.

Israeli President Shimon Peres reportedly proposed that talks resume with a limited agenda, and focus on issues where some progress has already been made, such as the future borders between Israel and a Palestinian state.

In last year's negotiations, the two sides agreed on the idea of a land swap — Israel would compensate the Palestinians with some of its territory for any land it wants to annex in the West Bank — but disagreed on the amount to be exchanged.

Last month, Palestinian President Salam Fayyad presented a plan to build the institutions of a Palestinian state within two years, independent of what happens in the peace talks. Fayyad has argued that with peace efforts on hold, the Palestinians must move forward on their own.

Donor countries have funneled huge sums to the Palestinians in recent years, including nearly $3 billion for 2008 and 2009, to prop up Fayyad's government, revive the battered economy and fund development projects.

Top donor representatives were meeting in New York on Tuesday to review the aid program.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have urged Israel to do more to relax restrictions on Palestinian trade and movement, in order to sustain this year's modest growth in the West Bank. The mild upturn of the battered Palestinian economy was sparked by the removal of some Israeli roadblocks in the West Bank, along with continued foreign aid and growing investor confidence, economists said.

However, Israel continues to enforce a tight blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza and hampers Palestinian exports from the West Bank with cumbersome security controls. Sustained growth is only possible if trade restrictions are lifted, international economists said.

Bulgarian diplomat wins UNESCO race

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU, Associated Press Writer

PARIS – A career diplomat from Bulgaria won a suspenseful and drawn-out race to lead the U.N. agency for culture and education on Tuesday, beating out an Egyptian candidate whose one-time threat to burn Israeli books had galvanized opposition.

In a fifth round of secret balloting Tuesday, Bulgaria's ambassador to France, Irina Bokova, defeated Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosny for the leadership of UNESCO. The vote was 31 to 27, the organization's media office said.

Bokova, 57, will become UNESCO's first woman director general and the first from the former Soviet bloc. She was her country's foreign minister for a brief period in 1996-1997, and also helped negotiate Bulgaria's entry into the European Union and NATO. Her four-year term will begin Nov. 15.

The race was tight and closely watched, with a flurry of secretive diplomatic efforts between each round, allegations of fraud and an uproar over Hosny's candidacy. Critics raised Egypt's contentious record of cultural censorship and accused him of being anti-Israel.

Bokova and Hosny tied on Monday night — and if Tuesday's vote had also been a draw, officials were prepared to pick a name at random from a bag.

The winner immediately sought to restore unity after the divisive race, speaking of her "respect and friendship" for Hosny and praising his campaign ideas. For months, Hosny had been considered the favorite.

"I never believed in the idea of a clash of civilizations," Bokova said, adding that her leadership of UNESCO would be geared at mutual understanding and cultural dialogue.

"UNESCO is about tolerance," she said.

Suspicions of fraud rose as the unexpectedly intense race unfolded at the agency's Paris headquarters.

A UNESCO delegate told The Associated Press that at least one person was ejected from the agency's building by UNESCO security staff for trying to bribe delegates on Monday. The official said several UNESCO member states had complained to the director general about the bribery attempts.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the eviction had been reported by senior members of UNESCO's administration.

Elizabeth Longworth, executive director of the office of UNESCO's director general, refused to discuss the issue on the telephone, saying she was too busy.

A UNESCO spokeswoman denied there was hard evidence of bribery. "There have been rumors to that effect," but no formal complaint has surfaced, said spokeswoman Sue Williams.

She said reports that someone was ejected Monday for unethical behavior had been investigated and found to be groundless. The agency disclosed no further details and UNESCO security service refused to discuss the issue.

The outcry against Hosny focused on his threat in the Egyptian parliament last year to personally burn any Israeli book he found in Egypt's famed Library of Alexandria. Hosny, a painter who has been Egypt's culture minister for more than two decades, made the comment in an attempt to defend himself against charges by Egyptian lawmakers of being soft on Israel.

He later apologized for the remark, saying it was spontaneous and a manifestation of his anger at Palestinian suffering. But critics kept up the pressure, accusing him of several anti-Semitic comments over the years.

Bokova gained ground at the last minute as other candidates dropped out, partly because of efforts to find a strong challenger to Hosny.

Bokova speaks fluent English, Russian, Spanish and French. Her father was a Communist Party official who was editor-in-chief of the party newspaper. She joined the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry's U.N. and disarmament department in 1976, and witnessed Bulgaria's transformation from an Eastern bloc nation to an EU member.

Her win must be validated at the UNESCO general conference planned for Oct. 15, the organization's media office said. She is to replace current leader Koichiro Matsuura of Japan on Nov. 15.

Pakistan, Iran aiding Afghan Taliban: US

WASHINGTON: The US military commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal says he has evidence that factions of Pakistani and Iranian spy services are supporting insurgent groups that carry out attacks on coalition troops, the Los Angeles Times said in a report.

Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have assistance from ‘elements of some intelligence agencies,’ McChrystal wrote in an analysis of the military situation presented to the White House earlier this month.

The analysis said Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence as well as the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard are among the external forces trying to undermine US interests in Afghanistan.

A declassified version of McChrystal’s assessment was published Sunday on the Washington Post website, LA Times said.

Pakistan’s criticism is a delicate issue due to the US’s close cooperation with Islamabad in pursuing militants and carrying out drone airstrikes in the country’s tribal regions.

‘Afghanistan's insurgency is clearly supported from Pakistan,’ McChrystal wrote, adding that senior leaders of important Taliban groups are ‘reportedly aided by some elements of Pakistan's ISI.’

McChrystal's assessment is the first public indication in months that the United States still sees signs of ISI support for the Taliban. Experts said elements of the ISI maintain those ties to hedge against a US withdrawal from the region and rising Indian influence in Afghanistan.

‘There is a mixture of motives and concerns within the ISI that have accounted for the dalliances that have gone on for years’ with insurgent groups, said Paul Pillar, a former senior CIA counter-terrorism official.

McChrystal's report said Tehran has played ‘an ambiguous role in Afghanistan,’ providing developmental assistance to the government even as it assists insurgent groups that target US troops.

‘The Iranian Quds Force is reportedly training fighters for certain Taliban groups and providing other forms of military assistance to insurgents,’ McChrystal said in the report.

He did not elaborate on the nature of the assistance, but Iran has been a transit point for foreign fighters entering Pakistan. Experts also cited evidence that Iran has provided training and technology in the use of roadside bombs.

US intelligence officials said Iran appears to regulate its involvement to tie down US and coalition troops without provoking direct retaliation.

Iran's aim ‘is to make sure the US is tied down and preoccupied in yet another theatre,’ said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University. ‘From Iran's point of view, it's an historical area of interest and too good an opportunity to pass up.’

Afghan officials live in fear of Taliban assassins

By KAY JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – During his two years as a provincial governor in Afghanistan, Arsalah Jamal survived four suicide attacks.

Once, a Taliban bomber dressed as a doctor struck as Jamal dedicated a hospital wing. Twice, car bombs slammed into his convoy. Another time, an attacker blew himself up at a funeral Jamal was attending for a fellow governor killed in another blast.

Jamal, 45, escaped harm each time, but he resigned late last year as governor of the eastern province of Khost and moved his family to Canada — a victory for the Taliban and its campaign to intimidate and assassinate Afghan officials.

Assassinations have intensified this year, with more than 100 officials and pro-government tribal elders attacked — half of them fatally. Echoing a strategy of insurgents in Iraq, such killings sow fear, undermine the already weak government and make it difficult to fill official posts with educated and competent Afghans.

"The Taliban know that if you kill one guy in the government, it discourages another 10 from being in that job," said Jamal, who returned to Kabul this year to work for President Hamid Karzai's re-election.

The campaign of fear is another indication of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, where a record number of U.S. and NATO troops have also died this year. President Barack Obama must decide whether to send more American troops to a country already in political limbo because of the hundreds of allegations of fraud from the disputed Aug. 20 presidential election.

Top U.S. and NATO commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal said in a confidential assessment that more troops are needed within a year to prevent "failure" in Afghanistan. Even with more troops, McChrystal said the mission would fail unless Afghanistan reverses a "crisis of confidence" in government.

Many Afghans blame the Karzai government for rampant corruption and the revitalized insurgency at a time when most people still lack basic services such as sewer systems and electricity. Reversing those trends is a mammoth task for the next administration, and the assassinations make it much harder.

Fear of being targeted also cuts off many officials from the people they are charged with serving. Several district chiefs around Afghanistan told The Associated Press they've hired private security but still cannot leave the main towns in their district because insurgents control the countryside.

Even bodyguards, used by some Afghan officials, can offer little protection against bombings. One of the attacks on Jamal's convoy killed two of his guards along with his driver.

More than 50 Afghan officials and tribal elders have been killed in more than 100 attacks targeting government leaders in 2009, said Sami Kovanen, an analyst with the security consultancy Tundra Group, which tracks violence in Afghanistan.

The Taliban seek to weaken local government authority, Kovanen said. "Then they set up their own system of Shariah law and they install their own shadow government."

In one recent attack, a Taliban suicide bomber killed the country's deputy intelligence chief, Abdullah Laghmani, and 22 other people as they were leaving a mosque in Laghman province.

"Once you are in a government position, you have many enemies," Jamal said. "My daughters couldn't go to school. The teachers told me the whole school was in danger because of my daughters."

Sitting in a courtyard garden where caged parakeets chirped and armed guards stood outside, Jamal ticked off on his fingers the assassinations last year in Khost province: one of his district chiefs killed by a bomb, a judge slain by a sniper, another district chief who escaped one suicide attack in 2008 only to be killed by another this year.

Hundreds of local leaders have been threatened. Tribal elder Khaki Jan Zadran said militants from the powerful Haqqani network vowed to kill him last year for serving on Paktia's provincial council. He left his village five months ago and now stays in the eastern province's capital, Gardez, living more like a fugitive than an elected official.

"I don't stay in one place more than two or three nights," Zadran said. "And I can't go back to my village."

Zadran, 55, is a member of the same Pashtun tribe as militant leader Jalaluddin Haqqani, and both fought against the 1980s Soviet occupation. He was disillusioned by the 1990s Afghan civil war and the Taliban's harsh rule.

He said he was elected to the provincial council after the Taliban's ouster in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, but has been disappointed by the government he is part of, decrying the bribe-seeking by everyone from passport clerks to judges.

"There is too much corruption. We need to have more honest people in government," he said.

Jamal said hiring honest, effective civil servants is difficult because of the decades of war. One of his frustrations as governor was finding people willing to work as district- and village-level leaders, and the threat of violence complicates that effort even more. With so many people afraid to take government jobs, they often fall mostly to the underqualified, power-hungry or just plain greedy, Jamal said.

Dozens of honest and qualified Afghans refused offers of government jobs, he said. One small victory for Jamal before he stepped down was persuading an aid worker colleague to become mayor of Khost city, the provincial capital.

"He was killed, unfortunately, this year," Jamal said. "He was a very successful mayor, but he was killed."

Iran aims to export gas to Switzerland

TEHRAN, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Iran aims to implement an agreement to sell as much as 53 billion cubic feet of natural gas to Switzerland by the end of the year, officials said.

The National Iranian Gas Export Co. and the Swiss Elektrizitaets-Gesellschaft Laufenburg signed a 25-year deal in March 2008 for gas exports from Iran.

Reza Kassaeizadeh, the managing director at NIGEC, described the deal as one of the "most important" deals that Iran has reached in the last year.

"We hope to bring the deal into implementation this year," he said.

The director added Iran would export as much as 53 billion cubic feet of natural gas to Switzerland each year under the initial phases of the agreement.

Tehran is quick to tout its negotiations with foreign companies in the energy sector as it struggles to find export markets in the face of punitive economic sanctions over its controversial nuclear program.

U.S. lawmakers are set to consider additional sanctions targeting companies that export gasoline to Iran. Despite sitting on some of the largest gas reserves in the world, Iran struggles to meet its own energy demands.

Iran showcases military power in parade

TEHRAN, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Iran marked its annual commemoration of the Iran-Iraq war with a national military parade and displays of air, ground and sea power.

Members of the elite Islamic Revolution Guard Corps and the Basij paramilitary volunteer force marched through the streets while staged maneuvers took place in various parts of the country.

The parades and displays of power were part of a weeklong event memorializing the brutal Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

Iranian air force commanders said the enemies of the Islamic republic were in for a "big surprise" by the defense capabilities of Iran, though few of the Iranian media outlets offered specifics about air force maneuvers Tuesday.

Several missiles were paraded through the streets, including the Azaraksh and Saeqeh systems, state-funded broadcaster Press TV reports.

Iranian military officials said recently their air defense system was capable of intercepting Cruise missiles.

Iran this year unveiled several new lines of military technology, including three stealth submarines and a rapid-fire 40mm anti-Cruise missile canon, dubbed Fath.

Iran in May launched its Sajjil-2 surface-to-surface missile that has a range capable of reaching Israel.

Israel offered 'secret deal' on settlements

Israel has reportedly agreed to consider a partial and temporary freeze on West Bank settlement construction in exchange for normalizing relations with certain North African and Arab countries.

Citing Israeli officials, the Washington Times reported Tuesday that Tel Aviv has agreed to a partial freeze of settlement construction for six to nine months but still wants to build more than 2,500 new housing units.

In exchange, certain Arab and North African states have privately assured US special Mideast envoy George Mitchell that they would grant over-flight rights to Israeli airliners, open interest sections in Israel, and end a travel ban on Israelis, the report quoted a US official as saying.

Currently Israeli airliners flying to destinations in the Far East must make a wide detour to avoid flying over countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Afghanistan.

Saudi Arabia, however, has refused to grant these assurances, insisting a peace agreement must first be signed.

The report comes just ahead of a tripartite meeting between US President Barack Obama, acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

On Monday, Netanyahu's media adviser, Nir Hefetz, told Israeli radio that the premier would not support a settlement freeze, because he considers the settlements to be a "Zionist enterprise."

Based on the report, Netanyahu considers moving forward with 2,500 to 3,000 housing units already approved. He is also seeking to exempt East Jerusalem from the freeze.

Iran builds new generation centrifuges

Iran has built a new generation of centrifuges which are currently undergoing technical tests, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization says.

"Iranian scientists have built new generation of centrifuges and cascades consisting of 10 centrifuges each. They are currently undergoing necessary tests," Ali Akbar Salehi told a news conference, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.

He said that the cascades will be lengthened in the near future.

Salehi added that the output capacity of the new-generation centrifuges would be 10 times more than that of Iran's earlier standard centrifuges.

Iranian nuclear officials announced in August that the country has around 7,000" centrifuges installed at its Natanz facility -- a milestone from the 5,600 that were already in place."

In April, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had announced that Iran was testing two kinds of new generation centrifuges.

As UN meets on climate, islands fear extinction

As the UN General Assembly meets to discuss climate change, small island states cry out that they are threatened to extinction by the effects of global warming.

Leaders of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), which has 42 member-states, said Monday that the rest of the world had a responsibility to cut emissions.

Rising temperatures mean natural disasters in form of storms and floods to these nations, and threaten their very survival in the long term.

Touting the “1.5 to stay alive” as the AOSIS mantra for the negotiations, the alliance says industrial country's must work to limit temperature increases to as far below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees F) as possible in the new Copenhagen climate agreement.

Statistics show that due to industrialization, temperatures have already risen about 0.8 degree C.

"We see climate change as ... a threat to our survival,” Tillman Thomas, prime minister of AOSIS-member Grenada, told reporters, adding that rich countries would be guilty of a kind of "benign genocide” should they fail to curb global warming.

Earlier this year, the G8 countries and a group of the world's 17 biggest greenhouse gas emitters agreed in Italy to put the milestone of global temperature rise at an average of 2 degrees C (3.6 F) over pre-industrial times, saying it should not exceed that limit.

A UN summit in Copenhagen this December will seek to ease negotiations between 190 nations on a new deal to stop global warming.

Negotiations remain deadlocked over how to share the burden of the costs, with the US blamed for prioritizing other concerns and not contributing enough as the world's top energy consumer and polluter.

France has introduced “green taxation” in the country, with the 2010 tariff set at €17 ($25) per ton of emitted carbon dioxide (CO2), which could cover of 70 percent of the country's carbon emissions revenue.

Iran, Venezuela to build refinery in Syria

A joint Iran-Venezuela oil company plans to build a refinery in Syria with the capacity of 140,000 barrels of oil per day, the Iranian Petropars Company has announced.

“With the aim of focusing more on international oil and gas projects and to compete with foreign companies, Iran and Venezuela set up the VENIROGC joint company,” said Mohammad-Ali Talebi, a deputy in international affairs for Petropars.

“The construction of a refinery in Syria is seen as the two countries' first joint international venture.”

Malaysia and Syria are also involved in the project with Iran and Syria each taking a 26 percent stake in the project and Venezuela owning 33 percent and Malaysia 15 percent.

Iran, Venezuela and Syria will respectively supply 20, 30 and 50 percent of the refinery's heavy crude feedstock.

Talebi did not say how much the project would cost or when the construction of the refinery would begin.

Iran and Venezuela have equal shares in VENIROGC, which cannot undertake any projects in either one of the countries.

Both members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Iran and Venezuela enjoy close economic relations.

The two countries signed several agreements on oil and gas cooperation during Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's visit to Iran earlier in September.

Karzai 'backs' US army call for extra troops

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who could be facing a legitimacy problem following the disputed presidential election, has partially backed a call by the top US commander in Afghanistan who asked for more troops for the war.

"Where General (Stanley) McChrystal is asking for more resources, in all aspects, to boost the effort against terrorism, he has our support there," Karzai said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.

The comments come after General McChrystal warned on Monday that the US-led mission will "likely result in failure" unless troops are increased across the war-ravaged country.

However, President Barack Obama has expressed skepticism about whether sending more troops would make a difference in the conflict-torn country.

"Until I'm satisfied that we've got the right strategy I'm not ... sending some young man or woman over there- beyond what we already have", Obama told NBC.

Meanwhile, several European countries seem to oppose further commitment for mission in Afghanistan where insurgency has skyrocketed over the past months.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said that he wants to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan after a recent attack killed 6 Italian soldiers in Kabul.

During the interview, Karzai also emphasized the need for "greater protection of Afghan communities and civilians".

Thousands of civilians have died either in US-led airstrikes or in Taliban-led insurgency across the conflict-torn country, according to a UN report.

At least 334 foreign troops have been killed in the country only in 2009, according to the icasualties.org website that tracks coalition deaths in the conflict.

Israel lobbies to boycott Ahmadinejad UN speech

After boycotting a slated speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN, Israel embarks on a mission to convince other delegates to follow suit.

Israeli President, Shimon Peres on Tuesday said Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu would not be present during Ahmadinejad's speech to the United Nations' General Assembly scheduled for Wednesday.

Branding Iran's second most important official as "one of the most evil and horrible people of modern history," Peres predicted that Ahmadinejad would have no future in Iran's political landscape.

Tel Aviv's latest attacks on Ahmadinejad came after the Iranian president repeated his Holocaust comments, calling the killing of European Jews during World War II "a myth".

"If the Holocaust, as you claim, is true, why don't you allow a probe into the issue?," he said.

Angered by the comments, Tel Aviv is trying to convince delegates to the UN General Assembly to stay away from the chamber when Ahmadinejad addresses the gathering.

"The simple fact of leaving the room during his speech, or not to be present during it, is a symbolic act," Israel's UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said on Tuesday.

Shalev told the army radio that the countries that Israel is "talking" to are simply reminded of the dangers associated with "this person and the country that he leads".

The Israeli official's comments indicted that the Americans have been convinced to stay away from the speech.

"We know that the Americans are aware of the dangers. They will be represented by low-level officials and their ambassador and her deputy will be absent," Shalev said.

Israel -- the sole possessor of a nuclear warhead in the Middle East -- accuses Iran of conducting efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, maintaining that a "nuclear Iran" is the prime existential threat to its security.

Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction from across the globe.

Many believe that Tel Aviv's enmity is rooted in a military doctrine that says Israel must maintain absolute military superiority in the region.

"The maintenance of Israel's "qualitative military edge" over any combination of its potential adversaries has been a cornerstone of US Middle East policy for more than a decade," Shawn L. Twing, editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs says.

Journalist Adriel Hampton believes Israel's military advantage is "a cost-effective way of serving America's national-security interests in this critically important region."

Obama urges Israeli, Palestinian sides to do more

By JENNIFER LOVEN, AP White House Correspondent

NEW YORK – President Barack Obama is sternly urging Israeli and Palestinian leaders to do more to make Mideast peace talks possible.

Obama spoke at the start of a joint meeting in New York with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (mahk-MOOD' ah-BAHS').

He launched the meeting by presiding over a handshake between the two leaders. Obama brought them together for the first Israeli-Palestinian meeting since Netanyahu took office in March. The three-way session came after Obama met individually with both men on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session.

100 police beat bases for Iskandar Malaysia

TANGKAK, Sept 22 – The government plans to build 100 community police beat bases in Iskandar Malaysia by year end, at a cost of RM82 million, to prevent crime in the area.

Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman when making the announcement said at least one police officer and six trained volunteers would be stationed at each beat base.

“Each beat base will be equipped with living quarters and the bases will come under the purview of Johor Baharu, Iskandar Malaysia, Kulai and Pasir Gudang district police stations,” he said after hosting an open house at his residence in Sungai Mati here today.

About 15,000 well wishers, leaders of Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties and suspended MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek were among guests who attended the celebration.

Abdul Ghani who is also state safety committee chairman said it was part of the government’s efforts to set up a police beat base for every 1,000 households in the country.

He added that apart from police beat bases, 2,000 closed circuit TV (CCTV) would also be installed at strategic locations.

IAEA selects Malaysian envoy to head board of governors

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) board of governors has elected Malaysian envoy to Austria, Datuk Mohd Arshad Hussain, as its chairman, replacing Taous Feroukhi of Algeria today.

He is the second Malaysian to assume the post in the 52-year history of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog. Arshad said the first Malaysian to be chairman of the board was ambassador Datuk Khor Eng Hee, who served between 1977 and 1978.

“I am humbled by this honor and privilege given to me but it’s a bigger honor for Malaysia and an apt recognition of our consistent and principled position on international nuclear issues, our commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and disarmament,” he said when contacted after Wisma Putra issued a statement of his election.

“My task for the next 12 months will be immensely challenging, the board is one of the two policy-making organs of the IAEA after the General Conference,” said the 58-year-old career diplomat.

Arshad takes up the post for a one-year term. The IAEA has appointed Yukiya Amano of Japan as new director-general to succeed Dr Mohamed ElBaradei in December.

He represented Malaysia in the 35-member board since last October for a two-year term. Board members are elected by the General Conference from 150-member states.

The newly-elected board for 2009-2010 comprises Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, China, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Ukraine, Uruguay and Venezuela.

It is another feather in Arshad’s cap. He is concurrently accredited to the Slovak Republic and is also Malaysia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna.

He had also served as envoy to the Philippines and Australia in his 35 years with Wisma Putra, with postings to eight countries.

Hamas, factions reject U.S. sponsored three-way meeting

Islamic Hamas movement and Palestinian factions rejected on Monday a three-way meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to be held in New York on Tuesday.

"Abu Mazen (Abbas) is not authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people. Any agreement or treaty he would reach with Netanyahu will not be binding on Hamas movement," Hamas said in a written statement sent to reporters, adding "the meeting will be a submission to the Zionists."

Earlier on Monday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that President Mahmoud Abbas accepted the invitation of President Barack Obama to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly before holding a three-way meeting that will include Netanyahu.

"The Palestinians welcome the personal intervention of President Obama to save the peace process amid an Israeli intransigence and a rejection to completely freeze settlement construction and expansion and resume the talks on final status issues," said Erekat in a press statement sent to reporters.

The Palestinian and the Israeli leaders accepted Obama's invitation to hold the three-way meeting, following personal contacts held by President Obama with both Abbas and Netanyahu. Israel welcomed the meeting, but most of the Palestinians rejected it.

"The Palestinians support the resumption of the peace negotiations on the final status issues from the point where it stopped following Annapolis peace conference. Major issues like Jerusalem, settlements, borders, water, refugees and security must be addressed," said Erekat.

Hamas movement, which is the bitter rival of Fatah and fully controls the Gaza Strip since June 2007, said "this meeting is held as the Zionist entity (Israel) continues its crimes and siege against our people and insist on continuing settlement activities in Jerusalem and the West Bank."

However, Erekat said that "accepting to join the three-way meeting doesn't mean that the Palestinian leadership has yielded to the Israeli conditions or accepted the continuation of settlement activities in the West Bank. Israel should clearly announce a full cessation of settlement."

"Hamas movement looks at this meeting with suspension and was really shocked after Abbas accepted Obama's invitation to hold talks with Netanyahu. This means that Abbas has yielded to Israel and the U.S. and retreats from his stance," said Hamas.

The movement called on Abbas "to immediately stop his political rush and stop yielding to the Zionist dictations," adding "Abbas should first achieve unity among the Palestinians in order to confront the stubbornness of the Zionist entity and gain back the legitimate rights of our people."

"We also call on President Obama to reconsider its supportive policy towards Israel on the expense of the Palestinian legitimate rights and the Arabs' interests," said Hamas.

However, Erekat said "the Palestinian side is still committed to the two-state solution."

He vowed that the Palestinians want to see a Palestinian state established on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, and will be committed to the American-brokered Roadmap peace plan, adding "the two sides should equally be committed to the implementation the peace plan."

Meanwhile, other Palestinian factions joined Hamas rejection to the three-way meeting. The Popular Front to Liberate Palestine (PFLP) called on Abbas to reject the meeting until Israel official announces that it would completely stop settlement activities.

A PFLP spokesman said in a written statement sent to reporters that the Palestinian acceptance to join the three-way meeting "is a clear outcome of the American pressure on the Palestinian side which serves in the first place the Israeli and the U.S. interests."

"Holding such a meeting amid Netanyahu's government's rejection to the Palestinian, U.S. and international demands, and amid the continuation of the Israeli violations and siege and denying the legitimate rights of the Palestinians is a free gift to Netanyahu," said the PFLP spokesman in a statement.

Also the Democratic Front to Liberate Palestine (DFLP) joined the chorus, which announced that it addressed an urgent letter to President Abbas, calling him to withdraw from accepting to join the three-way meeting as long as Israel doesn't want to halt settlement activities.

"We call on Abbas that even if he joins the three-way meeting, he should not accept a final official statement that peace negotiations are to resume before the complete cessation of settlement activities and lifting the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip," said the DFLP in a statement sent to reporters.

UN climate summit puts China, India in spotlight

By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS – The highest-level conference yet on climate change opened Tuesday with 100 world leaders gathering at the United Nations to try to jump-start stalled negotiations toward a global climate pact.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on presidents, prime ministers and other leaders "to accelerate the pace of negotiations and to strengthen the ambition of what is on offer" for a deal at Copenhagen, Denmark in December.

"Failure to reach broad agreement in Copenhagen would be morally inexcusable, economically shortsighted and politically unwise," he warned. "The science demands it. The world economy needs it."

Much attention was fixed on U.S. President Barack Obama's first U.N. speech, where he said the United States is "determined to act."

"The threat from climate change is serious, it is urgent, and it is growing," Obama said, after receiving loud applause. "And the time we have to reverse this tide is running out."

But the presidents of China, India and other major economies were spelling out plans for billions of people and their households, businesses and farms in the decades ahead.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said his nation will continue to take "determined" action. He laid out new plans for extending China's energy-saving programs and targets for reducing "by a notable margin" the "intensity" of its carbon pollution — carbon dioxide emission increases as related to economic growth.

He said China would greatly boost its forest cover, "climate-friendly technologies" and use 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

China and the U.S. each account for about 20 percent of all the world's greenhouse gas pollution created when coal, natural gas or oil are burned. The European Union is next, generating 14 percent, followed by Russia and India, which each account for 5 percent.

But the Paris-based International Energy Agency expects global carbon emissions will drop by 2.6 percent this year, the biggest such decrease in more than 40 years, because of the world's recession that is slowing industrial activity, according to projections first reported Monday by The Financial Times.

Obama said the U.S. is doubling the generating capacity from wind and other renewable resources in three years, launching offshore wind energy projects and spending billions to capture carbon pollution from coal plants.

Obama has announced a target of returning to 1990 levels of greenhouse emissions by 2020. But with the U.S. lagging on climate legislation, more specific and ambitious plans are expected from China, India and other major economies.

Tuesday's U.N. summit and the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh later this week seek to add pressure on rich nations to commit to greenhouse gas cuts and to pay for poorer nations to burn less coal and preserve their forests.

Heat waves, droughts, melting glaciers, loss of the Greenland ice sheet and other dangers are fast approaching, said Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former vice president Al Gore in 2007.

"The science leaves us with no room for inaction now," he said.

India, too, was expected to lay out plans for the fifth-biggest contributor of global warming gases to bump up fuel efficiency, burn coal more cleanly, preserve forests and grow more organic crops.

The United States, under former President George W. Bush's administration, long cited inaction by China and India as the reason for rejecting mandatory cuts in greenhouse gases.

But neither China nor India say they will agree to binding greenhouse-gas cuts like those envisioned in a new climate pact to start in 2013. They question why they should, when not even the U.S. will agree to join rich nations in scaling back their pollution.

"The crisis today on climate change is the inability of the United States to put on the table credible emissions reduction targets for 2020," said Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister.

The EU is urging other rich countries to match its pledge to cut emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, and has said it would cut up to 30 percent if other rich countries follow suit.

Japanese's prime minister, whose nation generates more than 4 percent of the world's greenhouse gases, said his nation will seek a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2020.

"I will now seek to unite our efforts to address current and future climate change with due consideration of the role of science," said Yukio Hatoyama, six days after taking office. "I am resolved to exercise the political will require to deliver on this promise."

China's ambition to grow quickly but cleanly soon may vault it to "front-runner" status — far ahead of the United States — in taking on global warming, the U.N. climate chief said Monday.

"China and India have announced very ambitious national climate change plans. In the case of China, so ambitious that it could well become the front-runner in the fight to address climate change," U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer told The Associated Press. "The big question mark is the U.S."

China bans foreign tourists from Tibet

Beijing, Sept 22 (AP) China has banned foreign tourists from traveling to Tibet ahead of a parade in the capital to mark 60 years of Communist rule, an official said today, amid stepped-up security across the country to ensure nothing mars the celebrations.

Tan Lin, an official with the business administration office at the Tourism Bureau of Tibet, said foreign tourists would be banned from today onwards, but those who have already arrived would be allowed to stay.

China has tightened security in recent weeks ahead of the Oct 1 holiday that will see a military parade through the heart of Beijing, a speech by President Hu Jintao and a huge fireworks display.

Sales of knives have been banned at some stores including large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour after two separate knife attacks near Tiananmen Square last week, according to store officials and state media.

Plane crash mars Iran military parade

By NASSER KARIMI, Associated press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Iran is stronger than ever and warned that its military will "cut the hand" of anyone who attacks. But a military parade where he spoke was marred when an air force plane crashed, killing seven people, according to state radio.

State TV showed video footage of burning wreckage from the military plane surrounded by fire trucks in farmlands south of Tehran.

There was not immediate word on the cause of the crash, but the Iranian military — as well its civilian airlines — have been plagued by lethal accidents. The crashes are blamed in part on U.S. sanctions that make it difficult for Iran to get spare parts, but experts have also said airlines are strapped for cash and often have poor maintenance.

State radio and television did not specify the type of plane that crashed, saying only it was used for transport. The air force show Tuesday included U.S.-made jet fighters and bombers acquired by Iran before its 1979 Islamic Revolution, as well as more recently acquired Russian aircraft and Iran's domestically built fighter, known as the Saeqeh, or Thunderbolt.

The airshow was part of a military parade held on Tehran's southern outskirts showing off anti-missile and anti-aircraft systems that Iran bought from Russia in 2007 to protect its nuclear facilities as well as Iran's array of missiles capable of striking Israel, the Mideast and parts of Eastern Europe. The parade marked the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war in which an estimated 1 million people were killed.

Iran's military readiness is such that "no power dares imagine an invasion against Iran," Ahmadinejad said in a speech at the parade. "The Iranian nation will resist all invaders."

"Our armed forces will cut the hand of anyone in the world before it pulls the trigger against the Iranian nation," he said.

The remark reflects Tehran's concerns that Israel or the United States could target it in an attempt to take out its nuclear facilities. The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of secretly seeking to build nuclear weapons, but Tehran denies the charge and says it's for peaceful purposes only.

On Monday, Iran's archenemy Israel repeated its stance that it is keeping "all options on the table" to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear weapon, including military action.

Ahmadinejad is preparing to appear Wednesday at the U.N. General Assembly, where he is expected to come under heavy pressure over the nuclear issue.

Iran is also poised to enter key negotiations with the United States and other powers seeking concessions on Iran's nuclear program on Oct. 1. The U.S. and its allies suspect Tehran already has enough enriched uranium to build a bomb but Iran says the uranium is for generating electricity.

Tuesday's parade speech was also meant to underline Ahmadinejad's strength in the face of a three-month domestic turmoil in which the pro-reform opposition has staged dramatic protests claiming Ahmadinejad's victory in June presidential elections was fraudulent.

Last week, Ahmadinejad taunted Israel, questioning whether the Holocaust was "a real event" and calling it a pretext used by Jews to trick the West into backing the creation of Israel. On Monday, he said he was proud the remark stoked international outrage.

At the parade, Ahmadinejad lashed out at the "presence of foreign forces in the region" and said it was "unacceptable that some deploy troops to the region from thousands of kilometers (miles) away." Iran sees the U.S forces in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan as a threat.

He accused foreign powers of creating rifts among Mideast countries while saying Iran seeks to promote brotherhood and peaceful coexistence of all nations.

Iran has ramped up its domestic weapons production in recent years and claims to export military equipment to more than 50 countries.

Tuesday's parade for the first time displayed the Russian-made Tor-M1 air-defense system meant to defend Iran's nuclear facilities against airstrikes.

The Tor-M1 can hit aerial targets flying at up to 20,000 feet. Russia delivered the system to Iran in early 2007. The two countries are now discussing the delivery of a newer version of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile defense system that is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missile warheads at ranges of over 90 miles and at altitudes of about 90,000 feet.

The parade — held on the grounds next to the cemetery in southern Tehran where thousands of fallen Iranian soldiers from the war with Iraq are buried — showed off various types of Iranian missiles, including the Shahab-3 and Sejjil, with a range of 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) and 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers).

Britain to Send 1,000 More Troops to Afghanistan

The United Kingdom is reportedly answering the call by the American commander in Afghanistan for additional troop-strength by sending 1,000 more soldiers. Although not official as yet, The Times is reporting that plans are being drawn up. U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, who also heads the NATO forces in Afghanistan, has called for a “military surge” to turn the tide in the conflict, mimicking the “surge” which was credited with positive results in Iraq. At 10,000 soldiers, Britain is the second largest fighting force among the NATO contingency in the conflict after the United States. McChrystal wants 30,000 more soldiers, most of which will be Americans fighting with NATO.

U.S. and Israel to Continue Joint Anti-Missile Exercise Which Began in 2000

The United States and Israel will again conduct joint anti-missile exercises in a program carried out biannually since 2000. The exercise, called Operation Juniper, simulates a combined missile attack from Syria, Iran, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. The exercise is slated for October. Military planners in Israel believe any major attack by Iran or Syria will be accompanied by heavy shelling and rocket fire from Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s advanced anti-missile umbrella is a combination of Israeli and American technology.

Iranian president advises foreign troops to leave region

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke at a military parade in Tehran on Tuesday that Iran demanded foreign troops to leave the region.

"It is insupportable that those from many kilometers away dispatch troops to this region," Ahmadinejad said addressing the military parade marking the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war, noting that "they occupy lands and make people feel unsafe with slaughter."

"It is insupportable that those who are selling weapons and shouting slogan of peace accuse others of creating insecurity," he stressed.

"They want to establish divarication in the region," he added, continuing that "we advise you to go back to your own land."

Iran's armed forces, Islamic Revolution Guard corps and Basij volunteer force joined Tuesday's military parade.

Moderate earthquake rattles northwest Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar – A moderate 5.6-magnitude earthquake shook parts of northwestern Myanmar early Tuesday causing no casualties but damaging Buddhist temples believed to date to the 11th century, officials and residents said.

The moderate earthquake occurred just after 2 a.m. with the epicenter about 260 miles (418 kilometers) northwest of the commercial capital, Yangon, said Thein Htay, an official from the national Meteorological Department.

The quake was felt in several towns in the northwestern Magway Division, none of which are densely populated or have high-rise buildings, he said. There were no known casualties.

Residents reported damage to two ancient Buddhist temples in Ohn Pwetaw village and a pagoda in Yay Nan Chaung, saying the structures were believed to have been built in the 11th century and were known for their colorful frescoes.

The extent of the damage was not immediately known. The residents requested anonymity because of fears of speaking to reporters in the military-ruled country.

Creeks turn into surging rivers in Southeast

By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA – Docile creeks turned into surging rivers and rivers into raging floodwaters as storms raking the Southeast for days dropped up to 20 inches of rain, killing at least six people and leaving communities under water.

"Any rain that fell has no place to go," said Georgia climatologist David Stooksbury said Monday. "This rainfall on top of already saturated soils really made the situation worse."

Floodwaters ripped apart a west Georgia trailer home, drowning a 2-year-old boy swept from his father's arms. In Atlanta, stranded motorists scrambled to the tops of their car as waters rose on one of the city's busiest highways. To the north, crews worked to shore up a levee holding a surging river back from an isolated town.

Aerial shots showed schools, football fields, even entire neighborhoods submerged by the deluge, sending some unlucky residents scurrying for higher ground.

"It's a mess all over," said Lisa Janak of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

As the storm front rumbled through west Georgia, it turned a normally sleepy creek into a surging headwater that tore apart 2-year-old Preston Slade Crawford's mobile home around 2 a.m. The body of the drowned boy nicknamed "Scooter" wasn't found until hours later. His parents had been rescued from the raging waters as another son, Cooper, age 1, clung to his mother's arms in the county west of Atlanta.

Pat Crawford, the boy's grandmother, watched helplessly as the family's mobile home was whisked away.

"Y'all gotta help us! Y'all gotta save us!" Crawford remembers Bridgett Lawrence and Craig Crawford shouting above the roaring water. She said she was on higher ground, but couldn't get to them because the current was so bad.

At least two people were missing, including a Tennessee man who went swimming in an overflowing ditch on a $5 dare and a 15-year-old Georgia teen who never returned from a swim in the surging Chattooga River. About 12,000 Georgia Power customers were without power late Monday.

Some areas of the state have had 20 inches since Friday. In the northern section, areas have experienced "historic" amounts of rain well in excess of so-called 100-year predictions, which describe a storm with the likelihood of happening once every century, said Stooksbury. The downpours come just months after much of the region emerged from an epic two-year drought.

Crews in the tiny Georgia town of Trion worked to shore up a levee breached by the Chattooga River and in danger of failing. The town evacuated more than 1,500 residents, and Red Cross workers set up an emergency shelter.

Most of the dead were motorists trying to navigate the treacherous roadways.

The surging waters weren't just dangerous for drivers. A 22-year-old Alabama man, James Dale Leigh, drowned when a pond's rain-soaked bank collapsed beneath him, said Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin.

Emergency officials were often forced to improvise to rescue dozens of people stranded in their homes and cars.

"We're using everything we can get our hands on," Douglas County spokesman Wes Tallon said. "Everything from boats to Jet Skis to ropes to ladders."

Other southeastern states were hit less severely.

In Kentucky, rescue crews went on more than a dozen runs to help stranded people after 4 inches of rain fell on parts of Louisville on Sunday, said city fire department spokesman Sgt. Salvador Melendez.

Water rose as high as window-level on some houses in North Carolina's Polk County, forcing emergency officials to evacuate homes along a seven-mile stretch of road. Flooding in more than 20 counties in western North Carolina closed roads, delayed school and forced evacuations.

The forecast held little good news for Georgia: Another round of storms was expected to move in Tuesday from the west.

"Don't remind me," Carroll County Emergency Management Director Tim Padgett said of the forecast. "That's the worst news we could hear."

French police bulldoze migrant camp near Calais

By NICOLAS GARRIGA, Associated Press Writer

CALAIS, France – French police bulldozed a squalid, sprawling forest camp known as the "jungle" near the northern city of Calais on Tuesday, detaining hundreds of illegal migrants who had hoped to slip across the English Channel into Britain.

French Immigration Minister Eric Besson, who visited the site Tuesday, called it a "base camp for human traffickers" and said he would return the rule of law to the northern French coast.

The people camped here — mainly migrants from Afghanistan — have strained relations between Britain and France and become a symbol of Europe's struggle with illegal migration.

A total of 278 people — nearly half of them minors — were detained in the first part of the operation, said Pierre de Bousquet de Florian, the top official for the Pas-de-Calais region.

"This operation is not targeting the migrants themselves, it is targeting the logistics of the human traffickers ... who exploit them," he said.

Refugees in jeans and sweatshirts, many appearing to be in their teens, carried knapsacks and blankets as they were led away in single lines by police. Activists yelled at the police with bullhorns, forming a human chain around some refugees, and briefly scuffled with police as they took the men and boys one by one.

Several refugees appeared despondent about their fate, sobbing quietly as they squatted in the sand or stood in police lines.

Besson said there was no violence in the operation and all personal belongings were collected and were being sorted out in the Calais mosque. Thirty interpreters and a medical team were helping authorities with the operation and 200 temporary beds were arranged for the migrants, the regional administration said.

After the people were cleared out, authorities brought in bulldozers to raze the maze of makeshift tents built from sticks and sheets of plastic amid the sand and brush. Workers with chain saws cut down the trees and scrub brush that had supported the tents.

Activist group Refugee Action called the police operation "horrific" and inhumane but agreed the camp should not have been permitted to sprout up in the first place.

"They should never have been allowed to rot there like this. It's appalling neglect and has allowed false expectation to be built up," said Sandy Buchan, the group's chief executive.

British Home Secretary Alan Johnson said he was "delighted" that the camp was being closed. Britain has ruled out taking the migrants in, and Johnson said genuine refugees should apply for asylum in the country where they entered the EU.

Most of the migrants reached Calais after costly and dangerous clandestine journeys across Asia and Europe, by foot or hidden in trucks and boats.

The migrants try to elude the elaborate border security network, including heat sensors and infrared cameras, at the port of Calais or the Channel tunnel that carries Eurostar trains and other undersea traffic to Britain. Nearly a decade ago, many thousands made it across by slipping inside or under trucks traveling through the tunnel. Today only a few make it, but enough to sustain hope.

Britain is viewed as an easier place than France to make a life, even clandestinely, a view perpetuated by traffickers and family members or friends already there.

Besson said other, smaller camps scattered around the region — sheltering Iraqi Kurds and illegal migrants from other trouble spots — would also be cleared out Tuesday and in the coming days.

He said each migrant was being offered individual options, and that to date 180 have agreed to return to their countries and 170 started applying for asylum in France. The others will be expelled from France, primarily to Greece, the point where most of the migrants first entered the European Union.

Besson brushed off criticism that France was just passing the problem of illegal migrants on to Greek authorities.

French activist group CSP59 said, "Expelling them will do nothing, just disperse them."

As many as 1,000 people at a time have called the "jungle" their home, but after Besson's announcement their numbers dwindled.

In the camp before the raid, piles of garbage littered the scrubland. The illegal migrants, some as young as 14, baked flat bread over a fire in a tin drum. The only amenities were a spigot of water at the entrance, a homemade toilet hidden behind plastic and, in a scrupulously cleared area, a mosque made of blue tarp and ringed with pots of flowers.

In 2002, authorities dismantled a Red Cross-run camp in nearby Sangatte, which had been used by illegal migrants as a springboard for sneaking across the Channel. The migrants kept coming back even after the camp was shut down.

Seven million people in Yemen poor, three million lack food

Baleegh Al-Hutabi For the Yemen Times

September 21, 2009

As many as seven million people in Yemen- 35 percent of the population of 22 million- are poor. Almost three million of them cannot provide for their basic needs and food.

These figures are high compared with the occasionally decreasing numbers in some other countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

According to Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank, Yemen ranks the first in the region in terms of high poverty rates.

The country needs YR 124.4 billion per year to eradicate poverty in society as well as achieve the establishment of a modern democratic state.

In the past, Yemen was called Arabia Felix- Happy Arabia. However, it has become the poorest Arab country, according to the UN, in spite of the efforts exerted since the 1990 unification. Many five-year development plans that adopted comprehensive reforms were launched, but not much was achieved due to the dominance of poverty, particularly in rural areas.

According to the latest report issued by Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank in December 2007, the number of poor has remained fixed as around seven million people for past eight years.

"The poverty reduction ratio has remained terrible if compared with the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the Yemeni government, which made the poverty reduction as the first goal," said the report.

In a recent report issued by the Shura Council that was discussed last July, the number of the poor remained at seven million people, due to the high population growth estimated to be 3 percent. The report said that the increasing population is considered the major challenge in creating a modern state that respects citizens, protects their dignity and performs its duties including providing security and development.

While the report indicates that poverty was remarkably reduced in urban areas, it said that rural areas didn’t witness any progress in poverty reduction, and over 40 percent of people in rural areas live in poverty.

"Although the poverty level decreased recently, it is still high compared with other Middle east and North African countries.

To tackle this situation and alleviate poverty in the country, the Yemeni government needs YR 124.4 billion annually, which is 4 percent of the country’s GDP.

The report said that there is remarkable improvement in educating the poor and that poverty decreased among illiterate people from 45 percent in 1998, to 40 percent in 2008.

It further pointed to an increase in poor people's ability to attain health care when they have diseases compared with the situation in the past. They increased the use of local medical facilities. However, situation of the poor is still bad, as poor children are only limitedly vaccinated against measles and jaundice. In addition, they suffer from malnutrition. Poor women deliver babies without medical care.

Many people have a hard time obtaining food, and around 12.5 percent of the poor (three million people) cannot provide their basic needs. About 50 percent of them live on less than two dollars a day.

It pointed out that the monthly aid that the government offers to the poor to alleviate poverty (social security salary) is only YR 2,000 for a whole family, not an individual.

The report pointed out that price hikes aggravated poverty in Yemen. Food security is tenuous prices jumped in Yemen two years before it occurred in the world, which made a big group of society bear burdens of this hike throughout the past years.

Mohammed Al-Mekhlafi, a professor of economics at Sana’a University, said that the situation of Yemen is far from aspirations of its people to achieve the establishment of a real modern democratic state.

Saif Al-Asali, former Minister of Finance, attributed poverty in Yemen three main reasons: laziness, extravagance and lack of ambition. He said that to come out of this situation, individuals, society and the state should discuss consequences and negative impacts of the problems. He said Yemenis should work towards achieving justice, raising awareness and boosting the level of ambition among society.

Preventing oppression, raising awareness and encouraging cooperation would also help improve the situation, he said.

Poverty harms Yemeni women more than any other society members. They are not involved in managing economic and environmental resources. According to a study conducted by the National Committee for Women, there is a wide gap in enrollment in basic education between girls and boys.

The difference in rates of enrollment in education between rural and urban areas is attributed to weak access to education services in rural areas.

The study revealed that many women are subjected to the aggravating aspects of poverty, which obliges them to practice double roles inside and outside home. Many women are unable to manage affairs of their life.

A recent governmental economic report revealed expectations that the total poverty indicator will decrease in Yemen to 32.8 percent in 2010 and that the gap between rural and urban areas will shrink.

According to the third five-year development plan and poverty reduction for 2006 to 2010, the poverty indicator should decrease to 19.8 percent by the end of 2009.

The gap in urban areas should decrease 8 percent against 23.4 percent in rural areas. The report also expects that unemployment in Yemen will decrease to 15.2 percent by 2010.

Mutahhar Al-Abbasi, deputy Minister of Planning for Development Plans Sector, confirms that the government exerts efforts to eradicate poverty based on a strategic vision for Yemen in 2025 which aims to move Yemen to countries of mid-human development through economic, political, social and knowledge variety.

The report revealed that the government is still facing a number of challenges, the most important of which the weak participation ratio, 39 percent in economic activity and the weak education level of workers. More than 62 percent of workers do not have a basic education.

Iraqi shoe thrower wants to move to Switzerland

September 21, 2009

GENEVA — The Iraqi journalist who was jailed for throwing his shoes at George W. Bush said in an interview that he wants to move to Switzerland and rally Iraqis to take the ex-US president to court.

"I really want to go to Switzerland because it is a neutral country and because it is a country that did not support the occupation of Iraq," Muntazer al-Zaidi told TSR television in an interview broadcast Monday.

"Switzerland hosts many international organizations, including some that fight for children, and Switzerland is a country that has a great democratic tradition. It is an example for the world," he said in an interview taped Thursday from an undisclosed location.

Zaidi, who says he was tortured while in prison, was freed last week after being jailed for nine months for hurling the shoes at Bush last December during a Baghdad press conference one month before he stood down as US president.

His employer, Al-Baghdadia TV station in Baghdad, and a family member have said that Zaidi had left Iraq for Syria and would travel on to Greece for medical treatment.

Zaidi told TSR that he wants to launch a "vast operation" to rally Iraqi families in order to lodge a legal complaint against Bush.

Bush and his collaborators should face trial in an international tribunal for "war crimes committed during the occupation of Iraq," he said.

Zaidi told the Swiss broadcaster that he was beaten with metal bars, tortured with electric cables and endured simulated drowning during his detention.

An attorney in Geneva said in February that he had lodged a political asylum application on Zaidi's behalf. But one of Zaidi's brothers had denied this at the time, calling it a "lie."

The newsman was initially sentenced to three years for assaulting a foreign head of state, but had this reduced to one year on appeal. His sentence was cut further for good behavior.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=58176&s2=22.

Afghanistan could be lost within a year: US commander

September 21, 2009

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan has warned President Barack Obama in a confidential report that the war against the Taliban could be lost within a year without more troops.

In a grim assessment of the eight-year conflict obtained by The Washington Post and published Monday, General Stanley McChrystal said a new strategy was needed, and warned that "inadequate resources will likely result in failure.

"Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) -- while Afghan security capacity matures -- risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible," he wrote.

The report was presented to Defense Secretary Robert Gates on August 30 and is being reviewed by the White House, with McChrystal widely expected to make a formal request to increase the 62,000-strong US force.

McChrystal, who assumed command of international troops in Afghanistan in June, said the campaign in Afghanistan "has been historically under-resourced and remains so today."

This fact risks "a longer conflict, greater casualties, higher overall costs, and ultimately, a critical loss of political support. Any of these risks, in turn, are likely to result in mission failure," he wrote.

The 66-page document -- a declassified version of which is published at www.washingtonpost.com -- describes a strengthening, intelligent Taliban insurgency.

McChrystal was highly critical of a corrupt Afghan government and an ineffective strategy pursued by international forces that so far has failed to win over ordinary Afghans.

"The weakness of state institutions, malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials, and (the International Security Assistance Force's) own errors, have given Afghans little reason to support their government," he wrote.

International forces "have operated in a manner that distances us -- physically and psychologically -- from the people we seek to protect.... The insurgents cannot defeat us militarily; but we can defeat ourselves."

The general said the Afghans' own forces must be boosted over the next 12-18 months to maintain international support.

He called for the Afghan army to be increased from 134,000 troops to 240,000, and the police force to be raised to 160,000 officers from 84,000.

Despite his strong criticisms, McChrystal maintained a cautious optimism for the long-term outcome of the conflict, insisting: "While the situation is serious, success is still achievable."

The leak of the report, which was confirmed as genuine by the White House, the Pentagon and McChrystal's spokesman in Kabul, came a day after Obama defended his delay in making a long-awaited decision about more troops.

"We're going to test whatever resources we have against our strategy," Obama said Sunday.

"We will do what's required to keep the American people safe."

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin, said in a statement Monday that he agreed with McChrystal that "additional resources will be required," but said that, for the most part, they should be fielded by Afghanistan.

"We should emphasize expanding the size and capability of the Afghan army and national police," said Levin.

He added that the United States should also provide Afghan forces with intelligence and "many more trainers" while stepping up cooperation between local and US troops.

Another senator seen as influential on defense matters, Democrat Jim Webb, said that with the leak of the report, the debate over the US role in Afghanistan had "reached a turning point... as to whether we are going to formally adopt nation-building as a policy."

But his Senate colleague Russ Feingold said it was time to "set a flexible timetable for withdrawal."

"Our goal must be to do what is in the best interests of our national security," said Feingold in a statement. "Sending more troops doesn't automatically make Americans more safe."

Gates said last week that Obama needed time to assess US strategy and should not be rushed over such an important decision.

"We need to take our time and get this right," he told a press conference on Thursday.

Meanwhile, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said there was no change in the president's position just because parts of the McChrystal report had come to light.

"We're going to conduct that strategic assessment and do that in a way that lays out the best path forward before we make resource decisions," Gibbs said.

World of Warcraft's astounding numbers

by Ben Silverman

With about 12 million subscribers, chart-topping sales and enough pop culture cred to warrant both an Emmy-winning turn in South Park and shout-outs from William Shatner and Ozzy Osbourne, we knew World of Warcraft was big.

But during a game conference in Austin covered by Gamasutra, the game's developers dropped some stats that make it out to be, well, really, really big.

To operate a game as massive as Warcraft, Blizzard employs over 4,600 staffers and uses 20,000 computer systems, 75,000 CPU cores and a staggering 1.3 petabytes (that's over 1 billion MBs) of storage. And you thought your 32 GB iPhone was cool.

The game itself, when viewed from The Matrix, would take up about 5.5 million lines of code, made even safer by the fact that the QA crew has flattened over 180,000 bugs If you were actually wandering around in Azeroth, you could find over 1.5 million art assets, from wall torches to wheels of cheese, and would have the opportunity to chat up 40,000 NPCs (non-player characters). They could then dole out 7,650 quests, which you could complete using a handful of the game's 70,000 spells.

The craziest stat of all? In the five years since World of Warcraft launched, players have earned a McDonald's-threatening 4,449,680,399 in-game rewards.

Man, that's a lot of loot.

Ahmadinejad warns against military attack on Iran

By NASSER KARIMI, Associated press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed Tuesday his country is now stronger than ever and warned that Iranian military will retaliate with full might against anyone who dares attack it.

"Our armed forces will cut the hand of anyone in the world before it pulls the trigger against the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad said during a military parade marking the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war.

The comment, though typical for Ahmadinejad, reflects Iranian concerns it could be targeted because of its nuclear facilities. The U.S. and its allies fear Iran's nuclear program masks a secret nuclear weapons pursuit, but Tehran denies the charge and says it's for peaceful purposes only.

The remark is also seen as a response to recent statement from Iran's archenemy Israel, which has said it is keeping all options — including the military one — on the table against Iran.

Iran's military readiness is such that "no power dares imagine an invasion against Iran," Ahmadinejad added. "The Iranian nation will resist all invaders."

Ahmadinejad is preparing to take the world stage with a speech Wednesday to the U.N. General Assembly, where he is expected to come under heavy pressure over the nuclear issue. He will likely try to deflect the controversy and cast himself as a champion of a new world order ending Western domination and providing justice for developing nations.

Iran is also poised to enter key negotiations with the United States and other powers seeking concessions on Iran's nuclear program on Oct. 1. The U.S. and its allies suspect Tehran already has enough enriched uranium to build a bomb but Iran says the uranium is for generating electricity.

The ebullient rhetoric is also meant to underline Ahmadinejad's strength in the face of a three-month domestic turmoil in which the pro-reform opposition has staged dramatic protests claiming Ahmadinejad's victory in June presidential elections was fraudulent.

Last week, Ahmadinejad taunted Israel, questioning whether the Holocaust was "a real event" and calling it a pretext used by Jews to trick the West into backing the creation of Israel. On Monday, he said he was proud the remark stoked international outrage.

At the parade Tuesday, he lashed out at the "presence of foreign forces in the region" — meaning U.S. troops in Iraq — and said it was "unacceptable that some deploy troops to the region from thousands of kilometers (miles) away."

He accused foreign powers of creating rifts among nations in the region while saying that Iran seeks to promote brotherhood and peaceful coexistence of all nations.

But the parade was marred by an accident, as a military plane crashed into fields just south of Tehran early Tuesday. The state IRNA news agency said the plane flew in the air force show that was part of the parade, but there was no immediate word of casualties or details about the plane.

Various types of Iranian military planes took part in the show, including U.S. made jet fighters and bombers, Russian-made MiG-29, Sukhoi 24 as well as Iranian Saeqeh, or Thunderbolt.

The parade for the first time displayed the Russian-made Tor-M1 air-defense system that is meant for defending Iran's nuclear facilities and plants against air strikes.

The Tor-M1 can hit aerial targets flying at up to 20,000 feet. Russia delivered the system to Iran in early 2007. The two countries are now discussing the delivery of a newer version of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile defense system that is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missile warheads at ranges of over 90 miles and at altitudes of about 90,000 feet.

The parade — held on the grounds next to the cemetery in southern Tehran where thousands of fallen Iranian soldiers from the war with Iraq are buried — showed off various types of Iranian missiles, including the Shahab-3 and Sejjil, with a range of 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) and 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) — both putting Israel and U.S. bases in Mideast and Europe within striking distance.

Iran sees the U.S forces in Iraq and Afghanistan as a threat, and remains adamant to build up its military capabilities. Tehran also claims it exports military equipment to more than 50 countries.

Chavez says deposed Honduran president Zelaya returns home

Manuel Zelaya, who was deposed as Honduras president in a June 28 military coup, has returned to Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez told a public even on Monday.

"Viva Zelaya! And viva Honduras!" Chavez told an audience in Venezuela's capital Caracas, after announcing that Zelaya was now in the United Nations building in Tegucigalpa.

Zelaya left the nation on June 28 when heavily armed soldiers invaded the presidential palace and seized him from his bed and then forced him to board a flight to Costa Rica.

But leaders of the post-coup de facto Honduran government tried to play down the news, saying that it was a strategy.

Algeria Links AQIM To Polisario

CAIRO [MENL] -- Algeria's intelligence community has determined that Al Qaida was cooperating with the Polisario separatist movement in Western Sahara.

Algerian security sources said Polisario, long backed by Algiers, has been providing safe haven as well as logistics to the Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb. The sources said Al Qaida has been financing Polisario convoys that have brought everything from food to weapons and explosives to AQIM.

Uighurs want dignity, not 'normalcy'

Fatima Najm | Arab News

Ibrahim had just invested in brand new computers and high speed Internet to upgrade his web business when deadly riots between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese in Urumqi destroyed any hopes he may have had for tapping into the online business market.

As he traces patterns into the dusty surface of his “useless machines,” he explains how the Internet blackout that cut Xinjiang’s 20 million residents off from the rest of China and the modern world, has also destroyed his website-making business.

Ibrahim is fuming over President Hu Jintao’s statements hailing a return to normalcy for the tense region.

“Hundreds of Internet businesses are finished, bankrupt, this is the effect of the government security measures. Where is the economic development? There are hundreds who have been abused or gone missing — they weren’t rioting, but they were young and Muslim so where is peace?” On July 5, mobs of enraged Uighurs took to the streets of Urumqi, to protest the killing of two Uighur factory workers at the hands of a Han Chinese mob in Guangdong.

The Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking ethnic group who account for nearly half of Xinjiang’s population of 20 million, protested in the streets demanding justice after clashes between Uighur protesters and riot police officers.

The initial protest was held to address the killing of two Uighurs at a factory in southeastern China. Uighurs wanted the culprits that incited a Han Chinese mob to kill Uighur factory workers brought to justice.

In the violence in Urumqi, at least 197 people were killed and 1,721 injured. According to state officials, it was the deadliest ethnic riot in China in decades. In the days that followed, Han mobs armed with butcher knives and axes taped to sticks went into Uighur neighborhoods to seek vengeance. Uighur residents say soldiers headed them off, but not before they had terrorized the neighborhood and destroyed storefronts.

According to a Han businessman: “The protests were organized online, and rumors were spreading online, so government blocked Internet. No texts, no foreign calls, only national calls and I can confirm you that the police is listening. You have to understand Kashgar is spiritually and politically the center for Muslims in China. Uighurs can be influenced by outside elements, their language even looks like Arabic.

“On the dusty streets of Kashgar, life has resumed a normal flow since troops flooded the city after riots paralyzed Urumqi, interrupted only by the mechanical maneuvers of the military as it postures in the streets to deter potential troublemakers.

Tajiks, Kazakh , Pakistani and Afghan traders in their national garb trawl the Sunday bazaar, bargaining for silks and blankets to sell in their own home bazaars.

Women measure out yards of colorful fabric, bargaining down exorbitantly priced beauty creams. They roam the markets wearing head scarves that cover their hair but leave their neck open, the fabric knotted around the back of their necks: A version of the veil acceptable to the Chinese administration. “You are not allowed to wear the Arabic-style head covering that covers the neck and chest as a government employee or university teacher, you are fired,” confides a Uighur youth.

A massive contingent of soldiers stands guard at the Eid Gah mosque in Kashgar in case hostilities erupt between the Turkic-speaking Uighur community and the Han Chinese living in the city.

“The government says it has no problem with Muslims in China and then it sends 500 soldiers to point guns at Uighurs coming out of Kashgar’s main mosque the day after riots in Urumqi, of course there will be problems,” said Michael, a foreigner working in Kashgar, commenting on a rising tide of resentment against government security measures in Xinjiang.

As he finishes speaking, three military trucks full of soldiers in full riot gear roll by the crowded Uighur roadside café we are sitting at. The soldiers were holding up massive shields and pointing their weapons outwards at an invisible enemy while loudspeakers on top of a truck boomed out a message that translates roughly as: “Don’t do anything illegal, to hurt the national unity of the country. There are foreign elements among you, trying to make trouble, report them. National unity must be protected.”

About 50,000 soldiers, police and a heavily armed militia called People’s Armed Police have flooded cities and towns across Xinjiang in the aftermath of the riots, positioning themselves at entrances to markets, national monuments, and roads that feed into major industrial towns and cities. They stand with their guns pointed outward at the passing crowd.

Driving along the remnants of the ancient silk route from Kashgar to Yarkand to Hotan, as the road winds between majestic mountain passes that dissolve into the sand dunes of the vast Taklamakan dessert, it is easy to forget the region’s recent upheaval. But the several road blacks and checkpoints that control the flow of traders and travelers in the region will not allow you to forget.

A thousand kilometers away from the slow-paced frontier towns, Andrew, a foreigner who lives in Urumqi, was shocked to see a photo exhibit detailing the reasons for the riots (The text is in Chinese and it lays the blame on Rebiya Kadeer, a Uighur leader in exile).

“They want everyone to believe that the riot is not a result of an internal history of resentment festering over years, the government says it is caused by outside elements, by what they call ‘splitists.’ This exhibition will only create more hatred. The real issue is the government has brought masses of Han Chinese from Eastern China to resettle in Xinjiang, given them government jobs and economic incentives and created divisions.”

Andrew is watching a Chinese man on the next table, who looks over casually from time to time. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat, but continues: “I had to tell journalist no shots were fired in the riots, but there was shooting all night. Two were shot under my balcony. The people rioting had only knives and sticks, but there was shooting all night, the government used a lot of force,” said Andrew.

A merchant selling used books explains: “There are strict checks on Uighurs. Signs outside mosques say government employees, children, and women and working people are all banned from entering or praying. And the government fines those who break the ban heavily. The government allows Uighurs to have two children, but if Allah wills you have five children, then the other three don’t get passports or the right to go to school, unless you pay expensive tax.” In a warren of passages typical of Uighur neighborhoods, on mud wall that opens into a courtyard, someone has scrawled the word “dignity” in a cursive script that could well be Arabic, Persian or Urdu. What Chinese authorities may not understand is that what Uighurs want is a return to a life with dignity rather than the touted “return to normalcy.”

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=9§ion=0&article=126624&d=22&m=9&y=2009.