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.