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MIDDLE EAST BULLETIN GÜNLÜK ORTADOĞU BÜLTENİ

07 FEBRUARY / ŞUBAT 2011 NO: 1089

CONTENTS / İÇİNDEKİLER

1. IRAQ / IRAK

2. IRAN / İRAN

3. ISRAEL - PALESTINE / İSRAİL – FİLİSTİN

4. AFRICA AND EGYPT / AFRİKA VE MISIR

5. LEBANON / LÜBNAN

6. SYRIA / SURİYE

7. ARABIAN PENINSULA AND THE GULF OF BASRA / ARAP YARIMADASI VE BASRA KÖRFEZİ

8. SOUTH ASIA / GÜNEY ASYA

PAKISTAN / PAKİSTAN

INDIA / HINDISTAN

AFGHANISTAN / AFGANISTAN

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1. IRAQ / IRAK

Iraq's prime minister said Friday he'll return half of his annual salary to the public

treasury in a symbolic gesture that appeared calculated to insulate himself from the anti-

government unrest spreading across the Middle East.

It was a stunning statement for Nuri al-Maliki, who has resisted disclosing his pay in the

five years he has led Iraq. He described it as an effort to narrow the gap between the

nation's rich and poor.

Coming in the wake of popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, however, al-Maliki also

seemed to be shielding himself from public bitterness over Iraq's sagging economy and

electricity shortages.

Al-Maliki narrowly secured a second term in office after months of political negotiations

last year. He is believed to earn at least $360,000 annually.

"Fifty percent of my monthly salary will be reduced, starting from the current month, as

a contribution from me to reduce the difference in the salaries of the state officials," al-

Maliki said in a statement Friday. "That will help limit the differences in the social living

standards for different classes of the society."

Al-Maliki also noted that his pay cut comes as Iraq's parliament considers what the

Finance Ministry projects will be a $90.5 billion spending plan for this year.

Hours earlier, Sunni and Shiite clerics used Friday sermons to warn government leaders

against letting poverty, oppression and corruption become the norm — or face the

consequences of the unrest that has gripped parts of the Arab world in recent weeks.

"All governments — even those which embraced democracy — have to study the

essential reasons that have lead to this overwhelming popular anger against the political

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regimes in those countries," said Shiite Sheik Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalaie, a top

representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

"They have to learn the lessons from what is happening," al-Karbalaie said.

Emboldened Iraqis staged several small protests over what they called corruption in the

government's security forces, rampant unemployment and scant electricity and water in

homes.

U.S. government estimates indicate that as many as 30 percent of Iraqis are unemployed,

and households nationwide have as little as three hours of electricity or running water

daily because of the country's antiquated and overloaded power grid.

Wisam Sabir, a 45-year-old activist for the al-Noor government watchdog group, said

Iraq's problems are far worse than those of some of its Arab neighbors.

"We watched the uprising in Tunisia, but the services there are better than here," she

said at a small demonstration outside the a coffee shop in central Baghdad's Mutanabi

book market.

"Where is the democracy and freedom they promised us?" she said. "This is another

dictatorship." (Asharq Al Awsat)

Iraq will respect profit-sharing contracts that its Kurdistan region has signed with foreign

oil firms, ending a longstanding dispute between the two sides, Prime Minister Nuri al-

Maliki said on Saturday.

He said Baghdad finally agreed because extracting crude in Kurdistan was more difficult

and costly than south Iraq, and added that output from the autonomous region would

double to 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) by end 2011.

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His remarks signal an end to a standoff between Baghdad and Kurdish authorities in their

northern capital of Arbil that broke out after the latter stopped exporting oil in October

2009 in a row over payments.

"The oil ministry accepted these contracts because the nature of the extraction in

Kurdistan is different from Basra," Maliki told AFP in an interview, referring to Iraq's oil-

rich southern province.

"There is a need for bigger efforts there, while in Basra it (oil) is closer to the surface. It's

difficult to have service contracts in Kurdistan but it's normal to have them in southern

Iraq," he added.

Deals based on profit-sharing

The companies continue producing according to the contract signed between them and

the KRG (Kurdistan regional government), and will take their share, and what is left will

come to the state budget

Iraq's PM Nuri al-Maliki

While Kurdistan has signed contracts with international energy companies based on

profit-sharing, Baghdad prefers the use of a service fee, whereby firms are paid a fixed

sum for each additional barrel of oil they extract.

Kurdistan stopped exporting oil in October 2009 in a dispute with Baghdad over

payments to foreign energy companies, and the two sides have been locked in a row

ever since.

The central government had repeatedly said it was opposed to the Kurds signing their

own contracts, a stand which Kurdish officials ignoring by clinching agreements with

foreign firms after the US-led invasion of 2003.

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The two fields currently being exploited in the northern region are Tawke, run by

Norwegian energy firm DNO which has current present production of 60,000 bpd, and

Tuk Tuk field, run by Turkey's Genel Enerji with output of 40,000 bpd.

Deals with both firms were signed in 2004.

Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan appear in recent months to have agreed to resume exports,

with Baghdad paying the expenses of energy firms working in the region, although the

payment of profits has not been publicly addressed.

DNO said on Thursday that it had begun pumping oil to an export pipeline, with exports

from the Tawke field due to resume within days.

"The companies continue producing according to the contract signed between them and

the KRG (Kurdistan regional government), and will take their share, and what is left will

come to the state budget," Maliki said.

"The Kurds will not take anything other than the companies' share."

Remarks welcomed by Kurds

His remarks were welcomed by Kurdish regional prime minister Barham Saleh.

Iraq has the world's fourth-largest proven reserves of oil, with 143.1 billion barrels of

crude, behind Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran.

The country currently produces around 2.5 million bpd and output is expected to rise to

3 million bpd by the end of the year.

Overall exports, which account for the lion's share of Iraq's government revenue,

averaged around 1.95 million bpd in December.

Iraq's 2011 budget, which is still being considered in parliament, factors in targeted

exports of 225,000 bpd from Kurdistan.

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Production, however, is expected to rise dramatically in the coming years, after the

government awarded 11 contracts in 2009 to foreign firms to ramp up output manifold.

Parliament in Baghdad has yet to pass a key hydrocarbons law, however, discussion of

which has been repeatedly delayed.

The law, which would regulate the sector and divide responsibility between Baghdad and

Iraq's provinces, has been held up for more than three years due to disagreements

between MPs from the country's various communities.

Experts

Maliki's comments are historical because they mark the defeat of the centralist oil policy

pursued by his previous oil minister, (current deputy prime minister) Hussein al-

Shahristani, since 2006

Reidar Visser, an Iraq expert

"Maliki's comments are historical because they mark the defeat of the centralist oil

policy pursued by his previous oil minister, (current deputy prime minister) Hussein al-

Shahristani, since 2006," said Reidar Visser, an Iraq expert who runs the historiae.org

website.

"He (Maliki) recognises the Kurdish contracts and their higher level of profit based on the

different natural conditions for oil drilling in Kurdistan compared with the south of Iraq.

This establishes a precedent that in theory could apply to new fields in the future."

Maliki told AFP on Saturday that Iraq's oil ministry had accepted the Kurdish contracts

with foreign firms "because the nature of the extraction in Kurdistan is different from

Basra," referring to an oil-rich southern province.

While Kurdistan's contracts are based on profit-sharing, Baghdad prefers the use of a

service fee, whereby firms are paid a fixed sum for each additional barrel of oil they

extract above current production.

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In 2009, the central government awarded 11 contracts to international energy firms

based on the service fee model.

According to Ruba Husari, the Baghdad-based founder and editor of the

IraqOilForum.com website, Maliki's remarks could create a precedent for future oil deals

signed by the country, which holds the world's fourth-largest set of proven crude

reserves.

"Even though Maliki was talking about the two contracts covering fields that are in

production, he is still creating a precedence by legitimising production-sharing contracts

awarded by one region of Iraq," she said.

If the Iraqi government is admitting that production-sharing contracts are applicable to

exploration-and-production contracts in the Kurdistan region because of the higher risk,

it will be required to be consistent and use the same contracts for exploration and

production in the rest of Iraq

Ruba Husari, the Baghdad-based founder and editor of the IraqOilForum.com website

"If the Iraqi government is admitting that production-sharing contracts are applicable to

exploration-and-production contracts in the Kurdistan region because of the higher risk,

it will be required to be consistent and use the same contracts for exploration and

production in the rest of Iraq."

Husari cautioned, however, that she did not foresee such events taking place, noting that

this would be "too controversial" in the rest of Iraq, and added that Kurdistan was a

"special case because it is a long established region with its own parliament, laws and

cabinet."

The central government in Baghdad has repeatedly said it was opposed to the Kurds

signing their own contracts, barring foreign firms that did so from participating in

auctions of large oil fields in the rest of the country.

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But Kurdish officials ignored those threats by clinching agreements with several

international companies after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.

OPEC is also under pressure from consumers to boost supply as most of the world’s

benchmark crudes surpass $100 a barrel amid political unrest in North Africa and the

Middle East. (Asharq Al Awsat)

A deputy from the State of Law Coalition (SLC) led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said

on Sunday that the latter’s recent declaration of not standing for a third term in office

was due to his desire to preserve the sustainability of democracy in the country, and not

related to the ongoing popular uprisings in neighboring Arab states.

Abdul Hadi al-Hassani told AKnews that Maliki’s decision was to show his support for

democracy in the country, adding that his position could change if the Iraqi public so

wished.

“The stance of the leader could change if the Iraqi people demanded him to take the

presidency of the government for a third term,” he said.

Maliki was elected to form the first permanent Iraqi government after heading a national

consensus.

The second nomination came amid much controversy and followed a nine-month

political impasse during which Maliki’s right to form a government was strongly

contested.

In early June, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court certified the results of the country’s

parliamentary elections which were held on March 7.

Al-Iraqiya, led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi came first in the March elections by

securing 91 seats. The State of Law Coalition (SLC) led by the then outgoing PM Nouri al-

Maliki ended up second with 89 seats

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Each of the two parties claimed it had the right to lead the future cabinet.

In late March, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court ruled that the bloc that has the highest

number of seats when parliament convenes will be entitled to form a government and

not the party that won the highest number of seats in the election.

The court’s decision meant al-Iraqiya was not automatically entitled to form the next

government. This decision paved the way for larger coalitions and political maneuvering

by the different blocs.

Following the announcement of the inconclusive electoral results, the INA and the State

of Law Coalition (SLC), both Shia-dominated lists, merged in May to form the National

Coalition (NC) in a bid to gain the parliamentary majority necessary to form the next

government.

Al-Iraqiya described the super-bloc’s claim on the country’s leadership as

unconstitutional on the grounds that they were not listed as a political entity before the

elections took place.

Despite nine months of intense negotiations between the blocs, Maliki was finally sworn

in for a second term in office in December last year and his cabinet of ministers received

parliament’s vote of confidence on January 21. (AK News)

A Turkomani Front spokesman said on Sunday that Turkomani demonstrators will soon

take to the streets of Talafar to protest over their marginalization from the country’s

political process after failing to secure the post of Republican Vice President.

Elias Nouri Elias told AKnews that alongside the planned protests complaints will be

issued to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and the Kurdish President Massoud Barzani as well

as to various international bodies, accusing the government of “depriving” them of the

vice presidency.

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"We know that the protest will not achieve anything but we seek to make our voices

heard by all people, (to know) that the rights we are demanding have not been met,” he

said.

Elias did not set a date for the planned protests.

The Iraqi Turkomani Front which belongs to the al-Iraqiya list announced two week ago

that the Turkomani MPs had nominated Iden Hilmi as their candidate for the post of Vice

President of the Republic.

On Friday, in response to news reports indicating that President Talabani had nominated

Adel Abdul-Mahdi and Khudair al-Khuzaie from the National Coalition (NC) and Tariq al-

Hashimi from the al-Iraqiya List to fill the three vice presidencies, Hilmi told AKnews that

the nominations revealed a lack of commitment to the achievement of national

partnership in the country.

In response to reports from internal sources that President Talabani may ask parliament

to approve the nomination of a fourth vice president from among the Turkomani, Hilmi

said that this could be a viable solution.

At present there are provisions in the Iraqi constitution for three vice presidencies

beneath the President of the Republic.“Parliament can arrive at some solutions by

amending the law of the President,” Hilmi said, “…adding a fourth that can represent the

turkomani.”

The Turkomani deputies nominated for the position alongside Hilmi are Abbas al-Bayati,

Mohammed al-Bayati and Fawzi Akram Tarzi.

The Turkomani Front, founded in the predominantly Turkomani city of Talafar, 60 km

west of Mosul in 2006, hold six seats in the 325-seat Iraqi parliament. (AK News)

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Abdul Kareem Luaibi, Iraq's Oil Minister, said Iraq's oil production exceeded 2.6 million

BPD, 2.163 million BPD for export, a number that was not reached since 1989.

During a visit to get acquainted with the oil companies' work and oil fields rehabilitation,

the minister told NINA correspondent "a project to improve the export capabilities to 5

million BPD via Basra is due to start by the end of 2011."

He added that Meisan will be among leading oil producing cities in the world in less than

5 years, it will be producing more than 1 million BPD.

The minister went on to say "the development of Halfaya, Bazirgan, and Fakkah oil fields

have already started, other survey operations are underway on Dujaila oil field in order

to increase the oil store. We will start, during the coming weeks, to drill a new oil well in

Dema area, 40 KM to the south of Imara."

He pointed out that a two-month maintenance plan on the gas separation system to

guarantee non-stop dry gas for the electricity stations during summer.

He went on to say "our coming desire is to increase crude oil production, after we have

finished the Contracting Rounds, to reach 12 million BPD, we will work on the best

investment of gas as well as excavations."

He said "as for oil refineries, the ministry has projects to build four new refineries, these

projects will soon be offered for world companies to compete on getting them."

He added that these refineries are distributed in Nasiria with 300.000 BPD capacity and

three other refineries in Meisan, Kirkuk, and Kerbala with 150.000 BPD capacity for each.

The minister added "the ministry aims at increasing the oil products supply and enhance

the storage, especially for the private sector generators in a way that guarantees an

ongoing power supply during summer."

The minister met with the Meisan governor, Ali Dwai, and discussed the ministry's plans

to provide oil products and to develop oil production levels.

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He also held a meeting with Director General and staff of the Meisan Oil Company,

reviewing possible means to upgrade oil industry in the province. (NINA)

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Sunday said that the building of the state,

strengthening the economy and providing service for citizens all hinge on security efforts

exerted for companies investing in Iraq.

“The masses constitute guarantees and resources of information that spotlight security

imbalances, including the detection of smugglers,” Maliki said during an address in a

conference discussing mechanisms of coordination between the central government and

provinces, which was held in Karbala today (Feb.

6).

“The local efforts furnished by the provinces to security agencies are important for them

to undertake their tasks,” he added.

Maliki noted that governors are authorized to sign contracts with investor companies

and seek more cooperation with the private sector, which should help settle the problem

of housing suffered in Iraq.

The premier also underlined the importance of refurbishing the agricultural sector.

“We will sign contracts with major companies worldwide in order to obtain new systems

and benefit from the development in the agricultural field,” he said. (Aswat Al Iraq)

The Anbar local council held on Sunday an emergency meeting after the demonstration

staged by the local residents in Ramadi, who demanded the sack of governor and the

chairman of the council and improving services, according to deputy chairman of the

council.

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“The angry people demand improving services and suspending random arrests, in

addition to sacking the province’s governor and chairman of the local council, who are

described as an illegal person,” Saadon Ubeid told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The council held an emergency meeting after the protest,” he added, ruling out the

repetition of such protests as the officials will work on solving all their problems.

Hundreds of local residents in Ramadi staged a protest at the center of the city, calling

for improving services, fighting unemployment and corruption.

Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, is 110 km west of Baghdad. (Aswat Al Iraq)

Federal Irak Hükümeti Başbakanı Nuri El Maliki, Bağdat’taki başbakanlık konutunda

yaptığı açıklamasında, Kürdistan Bölge Yönetimi ile yapılan petrol anlaşmalarını

tanıdıklarını ve anlaşmaların geçerli olduğunu söyledi.

Irak Hükümeti Başbakanı El Maliki açıklamasında, aylardır görüşmelerin ardından yapılan

petrol anlaşmalarını tanıma kararı aldıklarını ifade ederek, güneydeki petrolün yüzeye

daha yakın olduğunu, Kürdistan’daki petrolün çıkarılmasının özel bir çaba

gerektireceğini bildirdi. Petrol yataklarını işleten yabancı şirketlere ödemeyle ilgili

Bağdat'la anlaşmazlık yüzünden Ekim 2009'dan beri petrol ihracını durduran Kürdistan

Bölgesel Yönetim, ihracata yönelik petrolü çarşamba günü pompalamaya başlamıştı.

Bazı Uzman kesimlerce yapılan açıklamada, Başbakan Maliki'nin açıklamalarının tarihi

öneme sahip olduğunu, zira eski Petrol Bakanı ve şimdiki Başbakan Yardımcısı Hüseyin

Şehristani'nin 2006'dan beri sürdürdüğü merkezci petrol politikalarının sona erdiği

anlamına geldiğini belirtiyor. (Peyamner News Agency)

2. IRAN / İRAN

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An Iranian court began closed-door proceedings Sunday in the espionage trial of three

Americans — two still in custody and one freed on bail — whose detention has been the

subject of impassioned family appeals and backdoor outreach by Washington through an

Arab ally in the Gulf.

The case also highlights the power of Iran's judiciary, which is controlled directly by the

nation's ruling clerics and has rejected apparent efforts by President Mahmoud

Ahmadinejad to urge for some leniency.

But Ahmadinejad also has tried to draw attention to Iranians in U.S. jails, raising the

possibility the detainees were viewed as potential bargaining chips with Washington at a

time of high-stakes showdowns over Iran's nuclear program.

Authorities in the Tehran Revolutionary Court imposed a blanket ban on observers,

including Swiss Ambassador Livia Leu Agosti who represents U.S. interests in Iran. Details

of the initial proceedings were not known, but local journalists reported that the session

was under way.

The Americans were detained in July 2009 along the Iraqi border. They claim they were

hiking in Iraq's Kurdistan region and — if they crossed into Iran — it was inadvertent.

Iran, however, pressed forward with spy charges that could bring a maximum sentence

of 10 years in prison if convicted.

In September, Iranian officials released one of the Americans, Sarah Shourd, on $500,000

bail arranged through the Gulf nation of Oman that maintains close ties to the West and

Iran.

The two others — Shourd's fiance Shane Bauer and their friend, Josh Fattal — remain in

Tehran's Evin Prison.

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It was not clear whether the two men were in the Revolutionary Court, which deals with

state security issues such as those arrested in the violent aftermath of Iran's disputed

elections in 2009. Last week, Iran officially demanded that Shourd return for the trial, but

she has stayed in the United States.

Shourd and Bauer had been living together in Damascus, Syria, where Bauer was working

as a freelance journalist and Shourd as an English teacher. Fattal, an environmental

activist, went to visit them last July 2009 shortly before their trip to northern Iraq.

The families of the detainees have made high-profile appeals for their release, including

during a visit by the three mothers to Tehran in May. The trip, however, was carefully

orchestrated by Iranian authorities and included a meeting between the mothers and

relatives of five Iranians held for more than two years by the U.S. military in Iraq.

Just days after her release, Shourd met Ahmadinejad while he was in New York to attend

the U.N. General Assembly and asked for his intervention to free Bauer and Fattal.

In an interview with The Associated Press at the time, Ahmadinejad noted that while the

Americans had broken the law by crossing into Iran, he would ask the judiciary to

expedite the process and to "look at the case with maximum leniency."

Yet Ahmadinejad also has used the case to draw attention to Iranians held in the United

States.

In particular, he drew a link to the trial in the U.S. of Amir Hossein Ardebili, an Iranian

who was sentenced to five years in prison last year after pleading guilty to plotting to

ship sensitive U.S. military technology to Iran.

According to court papers, Ardebili worked as a procurement agent for the Iranian

government and acquired thousands of components, including military aircraft parts,

night vision devices, communications equipment and Kevlar body armor. U.S. authorities

targeted him in 2004 after he contacted an undercover storefront set up in Philadelphia

to investigate illegal arms trafficking.

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The current case in Tehran recalls that of American-Iranian journalist Roxanna Saberi,

who was arrested in Iran in January 2009 and convicted of espionage and sentenced to

eight years in prison. She was freed on appeal in May 2009. (Asharq Al Awsat)

Iran's foreign minister and nuclear chief says he is too busy to attend an international

security conference where his country's suspected nuclear weapons ambitions featured

prominently in the past.

Ali Akbar Salehi's decision was reported Saturday by the semi-official Iranian news

agency Isna. It came several days after Britain's defense secretary said Tehran might be

able to develop nuclear weapons by next year.

Iran claims its nuclear program is limited to peaceful purposes. The U.S. and its allies

insist Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. Recent attempts by the U.S. and

others to persuade Iran to open its atomic program to more scrutiny have failed.

Last year, Iran was represented at the annual security conference in Germany. (Asharq Al

Awsat)

The 12th flotilla of warships dispatched by Iran to the Gulf of Aden on an anti-piracy

mission arrived in the Saudi port city of Jeddah today, Iranian Navy Commander Rear

Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced on Sunday.

Addressing the Navy personnel on the occasion of the anniversary of the victory of the

Islamic Revolution, Sayyari said the flotilla, which has been sent to the Gulf of Aden to

protect Iranian cargo ships against Somali raiders, docked in the Saudi port in order to

renew Iran's message of peace and friendship to the regional states.

"In pursuit of a powerful (military) presence in the high seas and to consolidate our

friendly ties and declare our message of peace and friendship to the regional countries,

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the flotilla of warships of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Navy has entered Saudi Arabia's

port city of Jeddah," he said.

According to Sayyari, the Iranian flotilla includes Khark cruiser and Alvand destroyer.

He further underlined Iran's resolve to maintain its powerful and permanent presence in

the high seas in a bid to protect the interests of the Islamic Republic and convey the

message of peace and security in the sensitive and strategic waters North of the Indian

Ocean.

The Iranian Navy has started extraterritorial missions mainly in 2008. The Navy has lately

dispatched its 12th flotilla of warships to the Gulf of Aden to defend the country's cargo

ships and oil tankers against the continued threat of attack by Somali pirates.

Also, the Iranian Navy dispatched a fleet of warships to the Red Sea, the Mediterranean

Sea and the Gulf of Aden on a training and operational mission in late January.

During the mission, the Iranian Navy cadets are due to be trained and made prepared for

defending the country's cargo ships and oil tankers against the continued threat of attack

by Somali pirates in future missions.

In addition to its training program, the fleet is also due to gain good intelligence and

information on the regions it is due to visit during the mission.

Earlier, the Iranian Navy Lieutenant Commander Rear Admiral Gholam-Reza Khadem

Biqam had told FNA that during the mission, the fleet of warships will enter the waters of

the Red Sea and then will be dispatched to the Mediterranean Sea.

Elaborating on the important features of the mission, Khadem explained that the fleet

would pass through the Suez Canal and that the mission would last for one year. (Fars

News Agency / FNA)

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Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi underlined that use of

speedboats is at the heart of the Iranian Navy's operational doctrine since high-speed

vessels have already proved highly efficient in fighting back US heavyweight warships.

Addressing a conference at Amir Kabir University of Technology here in Tehran today,

Vahidi recalled the history of using speedboats for confronting US aircraft carriers, heavy

warships and submarines, and noted, "Speedboats proved so successful that they led to

the formation of the IRGC (the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps) naval force."

"The accomplishment also led to major changes in doctrines in different fields," he

added.

"This significant event has abundant lessons and implications in strategic, operational,

tactical and industrial areas and also in research and innovation," he continued.

"The issue of high-speed vessels has now turned into a crucially important topic in the

world, while it is a very efficient, effective and low-cost operational doctrine for us,"

Vahidi noted.

He further announced that Iran is now capable of manufacturing speedboats which can

traverse at 60 to 70 knots per hour, yet the country is still seeking to increase the speed

of these vessels to 80, 90 and even 100 knots per hour.

In August, the IRGC launched tens of its missile-launching speedboats in the Persian Gulf.

The speedboats in Zolfaqar, Tareq, Ashoura and Zoljanah classes were launched in a

ceremony attended by Admiral Fadavi and a number of other high-ranking officials.

The Islamic Republic has mass-produced a large number of speedboats with rocket-

launchers and other sophisticated military equipment which are able to strike a heavy

blow at any foreign warship if the country comes under attack.

Also the IRGC has earlier announced that it is ready to deploy its submarines and combat

boats to intercept vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

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The IRGC is responsible for the security of the Persian Gulf. In 2008, Major General Yahya

Rahim Safavi, former commander of the IRGC and the current military advisor to the

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, declared that the responsibility for defending

the Persian Gulf had been handed over to the IRGC.

He warned that the IRGC would seal the strategic Strait of Hormuz in case the US

launches any attack on Iran's nuclear installations. (FNA)

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said that

the main cause of the protests of the Tunisian and Egyptian nations was the humiliation

they suffered due to their governments’ servitude to the United States.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks at Friday prayers at the Tehran University

campus, in reference to the popular protests which have recently occurred in certain

Arab countries.

During his sermon, the Leader called Mubarak the “servant” of Israel and the United

States.

He told worshippers, “For 30 years, this country (Egypt) has been in the hands of

someone who is not only not seeking freedom, but himself is the enemy of the quest for

freedom. Not only is he not anti-Zionist, but he is the companion, colleague, confidant,

and in a sense, the servant of the Zionists.”

The Tunisian president was also linked to the U.S. and there are reports which show he

had connections with the CIA, the Leader added.

However, Western countries are making efforts to deflect the world’s attention from the

main cause of the uprisings and say they occurred due to economic problems, Ayatollah

Khamenei stated.

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The Leader also said that Israel is worried about the events in Egypt since it will lose the

support of its ally if the Egyptian revolution is successful.

He also described the developments in the Arab world as the “echoes of the voice of the

Iranian nation.”

“Today’s events in North Africa, Egypt, and Tunisia and some other countries have a

specific meaning for us,” he said.

This is the Islamic awakening that “was always talked about at the time of the victory of

the great Islamic Revolution of Iran,” he added

He also called these developments a “real earthquake”, adding that if the Egyptian

nation leads their revolution to victory, they will make the United States suffer a

“permanent defeat” in the Middle East.

Hopefully, Egyptian army will join the people

During one part of his sermon, Ayatollah Khamenei switched from Persian to Arabic and

addressed the Egyptians.

“Do not back down until the implementation of a popular regime based on religion,” he

said, AFP reported.

“The clergy should play a role. For example, when people come out of mosques and

chant slogans, they should support (them). Inshallah (God willing), part of the Egyptian

army will join the people. The main enemy of the Egyptian army is the Zionist regime and

not the people,” the Leader added.

West has adopted wrong approach toward nuclear issue

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Leader said the West has adopted a wrong stance toward

Iran’s nuclear program.

Sayfa 21

The Western countries’ mistake was that they created a brouhaha and played up the

issue, he stated.

“Iran has made unexpected progress in the nuclear area and despite all the pressure, it

has stood firm and will not back down,” he noted.

He also announced that Iran will attain full self-sufficiency in gasoline production on

February 11, which is the 32nd anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

The Leader also said that the political unrest that occurred after the Iranian presidential

election of June 2009 was guided by foreign elements. (Mehr News Agency / MNA)

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is ready to counter the enemy’s most dangerous

threats, an IRGC deputy commander has said.

“Sepah (IRGC) is fully prepared to defend the country against the enemy’s most

dangerous and hardest threatening scenarios,” Brigadier General Hossein Salami told the

Mehr News Agency on Sunday.

He also warned the Zionist regime against conceiving any military threat against Iran,

telling them not to play with fire.

It is the IRGC’s strategic policy to be always ready to repel possible surprise attacks by

the enemy, Salami added. (MNA)

The 9th conference of Iran-Oman joint military committee kicked off on Sunday in

Muscat.

The ceremony was attended by Brigadier General Mostafa Salami, the Iranian head of

the joint committee, and his Omani counterpart Brigadier General Rashid-Ibn Sayf Al

Shaidi and a number of other military officials from the two countries.

Sayfa 22

The two countries also plan to hold a joint maneuver on Wednesday.

Hossein Noush Abadi, Tehran’s ambassador to Muscat, said during the meeting the

Iranian side made some proposals to increase military cooperation and the Omani side

vowed to implement the proposals next year.

The Iranian delegation is also scheduled to meet with Oman’s chairman of Joint Chiefs of

Staff, defense minister, navy and police commanders. (MNA)

İran Uzay Havacılık Kurumu Fuarın açılışını yapan İran İslam Cumhuriyeti Cumhrbaşkanı,

Fecr, Rasad, Zafer ve Emir Kebir uyduların tanıtımını yaptı.

Mehr haber ajansı muhabrinin bildirdiğine göre, Şafakta On Gün’ün yedinci gününde

bugün Pazartesi İran Uzay Havacılık Kurumu Fuarın açılışını yapan Dr. Mahmud

Ahmedinejad, Fecr, Rasad, Zafer ve Emir Kebir uyduların yanısıra İlim ve Sanayi

Üniversitesi’nin Navid uydusunun tanıtımını yaptı.

Fuar açılışından sonra Cumhurbaşkanı Ahmedinejad, uzay gözetleme şebekesi, uzaktan

agılama yerli istasyon sistemleri, elektro-optik radar projeleri ve ısı algılayıcı, uydu

radarları ve ayrıca Kavoşgar-4 uydunun yanısıra ülkenin en son uzay getirilerini yakından

izledi. (MNA)

İran İslam Cumhuriyeti Devrim Muhafızları Deniz Kuvvetleri Konumatı, çeşitli yüzey

altıların yakın gelecekte hizmete gireceğinin haberini verirken, “İran İslam Cumhuriyeti

tehdit durumunda Hürmüz Boğazını kapatacak”dedi.

Mehr haber ajansı muhabirine röportaj veren Tuğamiran Ali Fedevi, yerli uzmanların

çabasıyla İran’ın çeşitli yüze yaltı üretiminde kendi yeterlikik konumuna geldiğini ve yakın

gelecekte hizmete gireceğinin haberini verdi.

Sayfa 23

Tuğamiral Fedevi, Fars Körfezi ve Hürmüz Boğazın tam olarak İslam Devrim Muhafızları

Deniz Kuvvetlerinin kontrolü altında olduğunu belirtti.

Tuğamiral Ali Fedevi, Umman Denizi idr Ordu Deniz Kuvvetleri’nin kontrolünde olduğunu

konuşmasına ekledi.

İran İslam Cumhuriyeti Devrim Muhafızları Deniz Kuvvetleri Konumatı, “İran İslam

Cumhuriyeti tehdit durumunda Hürmüz Boğazını kapatacak”diyerek, bölge güvenliğini

zedeleyen her çeşit unsura ve güce yönelik İran’ın yanıt sert olacağını kaydetti. (MNA)

There is no need for OPEC members to hold an emergency meeting, even if prices rise as

high as $120 a barrel, Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi said here on Sunday.

The Mehr News Agency quoted the OPEC president as saying, “I don’t see a need any

time soon for an emergency meeting.”

“So far, no request for an emergency meeting has been made by any of the member

states,” he added.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries plans to hold its next regular meeting

in June. Iran currently holds the OPEC presidency.

Last week, Iran’s representative to OPEC, Mohammad-Ali Khatibi, said that the oil market

is currently not in a critical situation, so there is no need to hold an extraordinary OPEC

meeting.

‘Iran self-sufficient in gasoline production’

Iran has attained self-sufficiency in gasoline production through the inauguration of new

projects at its oil refineries, Mirkazemi said on Saturday.

Sayfa 24

“Iran achieved self-sufficiency in gasoline production with the inauguration of a number

of development projects at the Shazand, Tabriz, Abadan, and Mahshahr refineries,” IRNA

quoted Mirkazemi as saying.

Iran will export one billion liters of gasoline between now and March 19, 2011, while

meeting its domestic demands, Mirkazemi said on the sidelines of the inauguration

ceremony for gasoline production projects at the Shazand oil refinery in Arak, Markazi

Province.

“The first and second phases of the $3.3 billion Shazand oil refinery have come on

stream and 12 million liters per day have been added to the country’s gasoline

production capacity,” Mirkazemi stated.

The gasoline production of the refinery, which is the biggest oil refinery in the Middle

East, will increase to 16 million liters per day by the end of July, he added.

Iran’s refineries have also begun production of Euro-5 norms-compliant gasoline for cars,

he noted.

The Euro-5 is one of the European emission standards which define the acceptable limits

for exhaust emissions of automobiles. The emission standards are defined in a series of

European Union directives staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent

standards.

In December, National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company Managing Director

Farid Ameri said Iran plans to increase its fuel storage capacity by over 5 billion barrels to

bring it to 16.7 billion liters.

The country’s current storage capacity for oil products is around 11.5 billion liters, but it

will reach 16.7 billion liters by the end of the Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-

2015), he added.

Sayfa 25

The gasoline production unit of Iran’s Abadan oil refinery will also be inaugurated in the

next few days. The unit was completed at a cost of $1 billion and will add over one

million barrels to the country’s daily gasoline production capacity.

Prior to the increase, Iran domestically produced 44 million liters of gasoline per day and

imported 20 million liters more every day to meet its market needs.

Iran is the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter and sits on the world’s second-largest gas

reserves after Russia.

Deal signed to supply fuel to Afghanistan

Iran said on Sunday that it has reached an agreement with Afghanistan to supply it with

Iranian fuel and that it has started delivering the products to the neighboring country’s

private sector, AFP reported.

“Afghanistan’s private sector buys all its needed products from Iran,” the Oil Ministry

news service SHANA quoted Mirkazemi as saying.

“Oil products were already transited to Afghanistan, and we hope from now on this

country makes all its (fuel) purchases from Iran, as there has been an agreement with

Afghan officials,” the Iranian oil minister added.

About one third of Afghanistan’s fuel needs, which are imported from Russia,

Turkmenistan, and Iraq, are transited through Iran.

The transport of the fuel has become a sensitive issue since Iran has prevented the

passage of trucks carrying the supplies to Afghanistan.

Iran, which is under international sanctions on its energy sector over its nuclear program,

has sought to increase its petrol production capacity.

Higher prices have also reduced Iran’s daily petrol consumption from 60 million liters to

about 45 million.

Sayfa 26

Mirkazemi said the Iranian government has “authorized the export of a billion liters” of

oil products of its strategic reserves between now and March 19, 2011.

“As new refineries come on line and the production capacity increases, the current

reserves can be exported and replaced,” with new production, he stated. (Tehran Times)

3. ISRAEL - PALESTINE / İSRAİL – FİLİSTİN

The planning committee is also expected to approve a new access road south of Har

Homa, which will enable the expansion of the neighborhood.

According to the plan to be brought today for approval, two buildings will be razed in the

western part of the neighborhood where, until now, nearly no Jews live. In its place, two

new buildings will be built. One will have 10 apartments and the other, three.

In both cases Chaim Silverstein, a well known figure in right-wing circles in Jerusalem, is

proposing the plans to the municipality. The companies behind the project are registered

in the United States, and are probably front companies set up by right-wing activists in

order to transfer funds for the purchase of real estate in Israel.

Silverstein has power of attorney rights in both companies, Debril and Velpin.

For the past 18 months there has been a struggle between Arabs and Jews over the

activities of settlers in Sheikh Jarrah and against efforts to evict Palestinian families from

the neighborhood.

The settlers have been able to expand their hold in the neighborhood because prior to

1948 there was a Jewish neighborhood in Sheikh Jarrah. The court recognized the right

of Jews who inherited properties to reclaim their properties. Since then, the settlers are

working hard to convince the owners of the properties to sell them the rights so that

they could evict the Palestinians and populate the area with Jewish families.

Sayfa 27

A Supreme Court ruling in 2001 included the possibility of applying for Jewish property

rights in the western portion of the neighborhood, and right-wing activists announced

that they intended to expand their activities in the area over that portion of Sheikh

Jarrah.

"Continuing Jewish settlement in Sheikh Jarrah will seriously harm relations with the

Palestinians and will break all agreements that Jewish neighborhoods will remain under

Israeli sovereignty and Arab neighborhoods will be under Palestinian sovereignty," says

Yosef Alalu, a Meretz city councillor. (Hareetz)

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat met last spring with senior Muslim figures, including the

brother of the man who shot dead eight students of the city's Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in

2008. Other attendees including members of the Palestinian Authority Preventive

Security Force and a radical Islamic group that calls for the destruction of Israel.

The meeting took place in June at city hall, in Safra Square. It was arranged by the

mayor's office as part of efforts to improve relations with residents of East Jerusalem.

Intelligence figures within the Jerusalem District Police and the Shin Bet who learned of

the meeting were reportedly deeply concerned about the invitees, some of whom were

involved in criminal activities.

According to information obtained by Haaretz, a detailed assessment of each participant

was drawn up and submitted to Jerusalem District Police commander Aharon Franco as

well as other senior police officials in the district and other intelligence officials.

According to the report, among the participants was a man from the Abu Dhaim family

known as the "mukhtar" and "known to be corrupt. Abu Dhaim's brother was involved in

the shooting attack at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in March 2008, in which eight persons

were murdered."

Sayfa 28

The attack was carried out by one Ala Abu Dhaim of Jabel Mukkaber. He exploited his job

driving for an East Jerusalem transportation company owned by his family to reconnoiter

for the attack.

Also at the meeting were several Fatah members. They included Hassan Abd al-Qadr of

Wadi Joz, a former Orient House employee; Silwan residents Musa and Sa'id Abassi, and

Mukhtar Hussein Awisat, termed an "extremist" in the intelligence assessment, who

belongs to the Fatah prisoners' committee.

Palestinian intelligence officers at the meeting included Omar Abu Diab of A-Tur and

Osama Hamidan of Ras al-Amud.

Also in attendance were members Hizb al-Tahrir, an Islamic extremist organization that

calls for the destruction of Israel. The ideology of the international group, which aspires

to establish a global caliphate, is similar to that of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

At a joint conference held in March 2007 in Ramallah, on the Temple Mount and in the

Gaza Strip, Hizb al-Tahrir leaders [the name means "party of liberation" in Arabic] called

on followers to take concerted action to create a single Muslim state, "a Caliphate that

follows the path of the prophets that will uproot the Jewish entity and restore all of

Palestine to the countries of Islam without negotiations or compromise."

The intelligence report gave the names of two of the group's supporters, Dr. Tawfiq

Hisasna and Ziad Abdu, as attending the meeting with the mayor.

Three months ago, Nir Barkat hired Middle East specialist David Koren as a part-time

advisor on Arab affairs.

The municipality said in a response: "Mayor Nir Barkat holds periodic meetings and

brainstorming sessions with representatives of the neighborhoods in the eastern part of

the city in an effort to improve the quality of life and narrow the gaps, in addition to

visits to educational institutions, and personal meetings to hear about the needs of the

public and to provide solutions to various problems ... The municipality does not vet

Sayfa 29

participants in advance, and the only subject on the agenda is to improve neighborhood

affairs ... The municipality is not a security or intelligence agency and has no information

about the membership in various groups [of participants.]" City Council member Didi

Hershkovitz (Yerushalayim Beiteinu ) said in a statement: "New planning in the eastern

part of the city is high on the municipality's agenda, but there is no new planning without

enforcement. It is unfortunate that the security organizations do not examine those

persons who sit down with the number-one figure in Jerusalem. This is a mistake that

should not recur," Hershkovitz said. (Hareetz)

We are still preoccupied with demonstrations and their dispersal in this part of the

world. After the immediate shock and anger died down last Wednesday, however, one

could not help but notice the European, mainly French, scent that wafted from Al-

Manara Square in Ramallah where the Palestinian Authority once again suppressed a

demonstration of support for the Egyptian people that evening. A few hours earlier, in

the same streets, supporters of Fatah had held an undisturbed demonstration in support

of the Egyptian government and President Hosni Mubarak.

In the past three years, two experienced French security experts have been working with

the Palestinian Special Police Force. They have turned it into one of the best trained,

disciplined and equipped of all the Palestinian security forces, according to the European

Union's Police Mission in the Palestinian Territories (also known as EUPOL COPPS ), which

has been training the local force since January 1, 2006.

"The SPF is the main anti-riot and crowd control section within the Palestinian Civil

Police," states the Internet site of EUPOL COPPS.

The training is specifically aimed at ensuring a proportionate and non-lethal use of force

when dispersing crowds and demonstrations (or as the universal language of rulers

defines them: "riots" and "disturbances of public order" ). The special force also learns

Sayfa 30

proper conduct and ethics - and all these make it the "jewel in the crown" of local forces,

as Julio de la Guardia, spokesperson for EUPOL COPPS, described them last week.

There are three instances for overseeing the conduct of the police, de la Guardia

explained, should there be complaints that is has overstepped the mark and used

excessive force. Was there, for example, excessive use of force last Wednesday - or was

the exaggeration perhaps in the order itself to disperse the demonstration?

The 30 demonstrators who were the first to arrive at Al-Manara Square, a little before 9

P.M., saw a group of policemen without batons. They assessed that these were members

of the SPF. One demonstrator, N., said he was pleased there were photographers

present - but afterward it transpired that these were police photographers. "We were

waiting for additional people to come," he said.

The depressing pictures from Tahrir Square in Cairo are what got these young people out

of their homes, even though they knew the Palestinian Authority had explicitly forbidden

any show of support for the uprising in Egypt.

The spokesperson for the Palestinian security forces, Adnan Dmeiri, said later that the PA

supports freedom of expression, but that the demonstrations could lead to chaos. The

priority for Palestinians was to empower popular resistance against the occupation and

to work for independence, he added.

"We had not yet done a thing," N. said about the events on Wednesday night. "A number

of policemen in uniforms began arguing with one of the demonstrators, apparently on

purpose, so as to create a pretext for arresting him. They took his identity card and then

began dragging him in the direction of the police station. At that stage, our numbers had

swelled to 100. Quite a few of us started chasing after the policemen who were dragging

him off, while other policemen formed a ring around them to protect them. A while

later, they were joined by additional policemen, this time with batons, who started

moving in the direction of the demonstrators. At that stage there were some 300 of us. I

heard someone say on his mobile phone that there were ajaneb (foreigners ). That is

Sayfa 31

probably what you call a mistarev (a soldier dressed like an Arab ) - someone who was

pretending to be a demonstrator, but was from the security forces."

According to Human Rights Watch, a policeman said there were police detectives on the

scene as well as officers from the Palestinian preventive security force and the general

intelligence service - all of them plainclothesmen. Whatever their identity might have

been, Human Rights Watch said the dispersal of the demonstrators involved beating and

kicking. Journalists who took pictures were dragged away. (Haaretz was told by SPF

sources that they had no information about any special occurence that took place on

Wednesday ).

Seventeen countries from the EU and Canada are supposed to contribute more than 8

million euros to the Palestinian police this year, but De la Guardia told Haaretz that it is

difficult to assess how much will be earmarked specifically for the SPF.

These lines were written on Saturday at one o'clock in the afternoon, about an hour

before a demonstration was due to be held in Ramallah (and a number of other West

Bank towns ) in support of the anti-government protesters in Egypt. As has become

customary, it is not clear who the initiators are because the information about such

activities is passed along via Facebook and email.

A few hours later, upon my return from the square, I can report that PA's political

echelon understood that it was impossible to stop this demonstration: Too many people,

including both nonpolitical figures as well as political activists, were ashamed at the

absence of Palestinian expressions of sympathy for the Egyptian protesters, in the best-

case scenario, or at their government's solidarity with Mubarak, in the worst case.

The protest lasted for some two hours and included a march, in which Dr. Hanan Ashrawi

- a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee and of

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's party - participated, along with Dr. Ghassan

Khatib, a member of the People's Party who also directs the media center of Fayyad's

government. There were some 1,000 people marching, including the heads of left-wing

Sayfa 32

parties, chanting the slogan heard in Tunisia and Egypt: "The people want the fall of the

regime!" Among the protesters were also two or three well-known members of Fatah.

Toward the end of the protest, a slogans quarrel erupted. "The people want the fall of

Abbas!" chanted a number of students, apparently from Bir Zeit University, referring to

Mahmoud Abbas, president of the PA. They were immediately countered by the chant:

"The people want an end to the inqisam" (the internal Palestinian rift; in Arabic those

slogans sound much better ).

Eventually, when hardly any demonstrators remained at the square, a group of youths

appeared out of nowhere with flags of Fatah and pictures of Abbas, chanting: "The

people want Mahmoud Abbas!" (Hareetz)

Israel could bolster the international campaign to head off Iran's nuclear programme by

pursuing peace with the Palestinians, Britain said on Sunday.

The remarks by Defense Secretary Liam Fox ran counter to arguments by Israel, whose

negotiations with the Palestinians stalled last year in a dispute over West Bank

settlements that Palestine talks hinged on first curbing its Iranian arch-foe.

"The United Kingdom is pushing for stronger sanctions to influence Iran, but the

importance of the Middle East peace process should not be overlooked," Fox told the

Herzliya Conference, an annual Israeli security forum.

"Progress towards a two-state solution -- a secure and universally recognized Israel

alongside a viable and contiguous Palestinian state -- is important for defusing the malign

political influence of Iran in the region."

Britain and other world powers held unsuccessful talks in Istanbul last month with Iran,

which denies seeking the bomb.

Sayfa 33

Calling the prospect of the Iranians' sometimes secretive uranium enrichment project

yielding warheads a "disaster", Fox said: "We want a negotiated solution. But Iran needs

to change its approach fundamentally if we are to achieve that outcome… We will not

look away, and we will not back down."

He added a warning that appeared aimed at Turkey, which has balked at sanctions and

championed accommodation with Tehran. The United States has also scrutinized Gulf

Arabs suspected of serving as intermediaries for Iranian foreign trade.

"For sanctions to work, regional powers and neighbors need to make sure they are not

used by Iran to help it avoid or water down the impact of economic sanctions," Fox said.

"Those who allow Iran to avoid the effect of sanctions are themselves an obstacle to the

peaceful resolution of the Iran problem."

Fox linked the malaise in Israeli-Palestinian engagement, and wider regional conflicts, to

Britain's national security.

"What happens here can have a direct impact on the national security of the United

Kingdom -- our prosperity and the safety of our citizens," he said. "Threats originating in

one part of the globe can become threats in all parts of the globe."

Fox said Britain's Conservative-led government acknowledged that Israel, whose own

nuclear capabilities are undeclared, had a "unique set of security concerns".

He offered praise for its military know-how that seemed to part with past British censure

of Israeli crackdowns on the Palestinians. London had at times imposed limited arms

embargoes against Israel in response.

"We enjoy a strong bilateral defense relationship with Israel. This is a relationship that,

thankfully, is growing and maturing. It is a relationship that enables our operations, and

in some cases, keeps British troops alive in Afghanistan," he said. (Hareetz)

Sayfa 34

Syria and Israel were close to resuming direct peace negotiations in 2008, a high-ranking

official who served under former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday, adding that

Damascus had already signaled reading to ease past demands for a full Israeli withdrawal

from captured lands.

Turkish-mediated talks between the two sides were to have progressed to direct talks in

December 2008, but were derailed when Israel launched Operation Cast Lead against the

Gaza Strip, said the former official.

"Had we started direct negotiations, I believe that we would have concluded them within

a month or two," he said.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political and diplomatic sensitivities

surrounding the talks.

Ankara mediated several rounds of indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel in

2008. Neither side provided any sign of significant headway until Syrian President Bashar

Assad indicated in an interview to the Wall Street Journal last week that significant

progress had been made toward setting an agenda for direct talks.

The Israeli official confirmed Assad's assessment.

"The fact that a meeting was to be scheduled for direct talks I think proves that it [the

negotiating agenda] was accepted by them and by us," he said.

As its price for peace, Syria wants Israel to return land captured from it in the 1967 Six-

Day War. This includes the Golan Heights - a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel

- and small areas of land that adjoin the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main water source.

Direct negotiations in 2000 under then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak broke down over the

extent of an Israeli withdrawal. Israel insisted on keeping disputed land around the Sea

of Galilee.

Sayfa 35

The border the Syrians proposed in the Ankara-mediated talks offered Israel more land

between the water and the frontier, the Olmert government official said, while refusing

to give details.

"There was more space, enough to have an Israeli road between the water and the

border line," he said. He said Israel would have accepted this border.

In return for the pullout, the former official said, Israel wanted full peace, open borders,

diplomatic and commercial relations with Syria. It also wanted Syria to halt military ties

with Iran and its regional proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. Israel did not, however, insist

that Syria sever its ties with Iran, he said.

These and other points were accepted by both sides as subjects for negotiation, the

official said.

In his interview with The Wall Street Journal, Assad said the two sides were very close to

defining the reference that would be given to the U.S. and tell them 'this is your means

to manage the next negotiation,' the direct negotiations I mean. But it all went in a

different way.

Israel's current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is not known to be conducting

official contacts with Syria.

Netanyahu does not consider Turkey, now a strident critic of Israel, to be an honest

broker, and recent Israeli legislation makes it tougher to withdraw from the Golan. Syria

has denounced the law as proof the Israeli government doesn't want peace.

Many Israelis are reluctant to return the Golan for fear the Syrians could use the

strategic plateau to attack Israel. The area has also become a vibrant tourism area.

(Hareetz)

Sayfa 36

A high-ranking official in the previous government said Sunday that Israel and Syria were

close to resuming direct peace talks in late 2008, and that the Syrians signaled readiness

to ease past demands for a full Israeli withdrawal from captured lands.

Turkish-mediated talks between the two sides were to have progressed to direct talks in

December 2008. But Israel launched a war against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip

that month, and the talks were derailed, said the former official in the government of

Ehud Olmert.

"Had we started direct negotiations, I believe that we would have concluded them within

a month or two," he said.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the political and diplomatic sensitivities

surrounding the talks.

Ankara mediated several rounds of indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel in

2008. Neither side provided any sign of significant headway until Syrian President Bashar

Assad indicated in an interview to the Wall Street Journal last week that significant

progress had been made toward setting an agenda for direct talks.

The Israeli official confirmed Assad's assessment.

"The fact that a meeting was to be scheduled for direct talks I think proves that it (the

negotiating agenda) was accepted by them and by us," he said.

'Israel wanted full peace'

The border the Syrians proposed in the Ankara-mediated talks offered Israel more land

between the water and the frontier, the Olmert government official said, while refusing

to give details.

"There was more space, enough to have an Israeli road between the water and the

border line," he said. He said Israel would have accepted this border.

Sayfa 37

In return for the pullout, the former official said, Israel wanted full peace, open borders,

diplomatic and commercial relations with Syria. It also wanted Syria to halt military ties

with Iran and its regional proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. Israel did not, however, insist

that Syria sever its ties with Iran, he said.

These and other points were accepted by both sides as subjects for negotiation, the

official said.

In his interview with The Wall Street Journal, Assad said the two sides "were very close to

defining the reference that would be given to the US and tell them 'this is your means to

manage the next negotiation,' the direct negotiations I mean. But it all went in a

different way." (Yedioth Ahranot)

4. AFRICA AND EGYPT / AFRİKA VE MISIR

Egypt's influential Muslim Brotherhood agreed to join talks with President Hosni

Mubarak's embattled regime Sunday, a historic turning point in relations between the

state and the banned group.

The army stepped up pressure overnight on the protesters who have occupied central

Cairo's Tahrir Square, tightening a cordon around the area, but on the political front new

avenues of dialogue opened up.

Protesters celebrated a mass in the square -- the epicentre and symbol of the revolt

against the regime to remember the estimated 300 people who have been killed since

demonstrations against Mubarak began.

"God bless the dead. God bless the dead," recited a Coptic priest wearing a crucifix. By

his side, a Muslim sheikh stood holding a Koran, as the faithful chanted "A single hand. A

single hand" in inter-faith solidarity.

Sayfa 38

Meanwhile, a measure of normal life began to return to the biggest city in the Arab

world, with queues forming in front of banks that had been shut for more than a week

and workmen scrubbing down shop fronts.

The Brotherhood, a well-organised Islamist movement, has long been banned from

Egyptian politics. That Mubarak's camp has been forced to invite its bitter foe to talks is a

sign of the opposition's mounting strength.

"We will join the talks today," senior Brotherhood official Essam el-Erian told AFP, adding

that the meeting would begin before midday (1000 GMT).

Egypt's newly-appointed vice president, former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, has

agreed to meet opposition groups, including the Brothers, to discuss democratic reforms

leading to elections to replace Mubarak.

Erian told AFP that the group would take part, but warned it would drop out if there is no

one to represent the Tahrir Square protesters.

"We have been invited. We will go. But our participation is conditional on giving the

youth representation," he said. "If the demands of the youth are not met, we have the

right to reconsider our position."

The Brotherhood is officially banned in Egypt, but its vast social aid network is tolerated

and serves as the basis of a well-organised opposition movement which fields

parliamentary candidates as independents.

Negotiations were to begin amid high-level manoeuvres at the heart of Mubarak's three-

decades-old regime, where wealthy business leaders close to his son Gamal Mubarak

appear to have been sidelined in favour of military figures.

The executive committee of the ruling National Democratic Party resigned en masse on

Sunday, including Gamal, once viewed as Mubarak's heir apparent.

Sayfa 39

Protesters rejected this as a meaningless gesture, insisting their goal is still to force

Mubarak from office immediately, rather than wait for September, when the strongman

has vowed to step aside for elections.

The crisis has given US President Barack Obama's administration a policy headache,

forcing it to confront the consequences of Washington's long-term support for Middle

East autocrats in exchange for security guarantees.

Obama spoke Saturday to several foreign leaders about the unrest in Egypt and

underscored the need for "an orderly, peaceful transition, beginning now," the White

House said in a statement.

The US leader spoke to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates,

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the

statement said.

Cameron and Obama agreed that "real, visible and meaningful change needed to start

now" in Egypt, a Downing Street spokesman said.

"The prime minister said that a clear and credible roadmap to change was needed as

soon as possible, including a path to free and fair elections," the spokesman added, but

both capitals shied clear of calling for Mubarak to go.

Citing unnamed US and Egyptian officials, the New York Times reported that Suleiman

and Egyptian military leaders want Mubarak to make a graceful exit.

Under the US-backed plan, Mubarak's powers would be scaled back enabling the

creation of a transitional government headed by Suleiman to negotiate reforms with the

opposition, the paper reported. (Asharq Al Awsat)

Sayfa 40

A Coptic church in the Egyptian town of Rafah bordering the Gaza Strip was in flames on

Saturday, with witnesses reporting a blast although a local official denied an explosion

was the cause.

Witnesses said they saw flames coming out of the Mar Girgis church in Rafah after

hearing an explosion. Armed men on motorbikes were spotted near the church, one of

them said.

North Sinai's governor Abdel Wahab Mabruk, however, denied on state television there

had been any explosion in Mar Girgis.

The church had been left without police guards at the time of the fire, witnesses said,

after security forces disappeared en masse amid nationwide rallies calling for the

resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

Security is usually in place around Christian places of worship after several attacks

against Copts and had been boosted after a bombing in Alexandria at the turn of the

year.

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Coptic church in the northern Egyptian city

of Alexandria after a New Year's Eve mass at the start of 2011, killing 23 people.

In 2010, six Copts were gunned down as they emerged from a Christmas mass, in an

attack that also killed a Muslim policeman.

Egypt's Christian community comprises 10 percent of the predominantly Sunni Muslim

country's population of more than 80 million, and complains of systematic

discrimination. (Asharq Al Awsat)

President Barack Obama said Egypt's Hosni Mubarak should do the statesmanlike thing

and make a quick handoff to a more representative government.

Sayfa 41

Translation: Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Obama said a new era must begin now, an unsubtle message to Mubarak that he should

not cling to power until elections in September.

"The key question he should be asking himself is, 'How do I leave a legacy behind in

which Egypt is able to get through this transformative period?'" Obama said Friday.

Obama, in office for two years, gave the 82-year-old Egyptian president some words of

advice after 30 years of iron rule. The game's up, Obama said, using language only

slightly less direct. It's time to leave.

"He is proud, but he is also a patriot," Obama said after a White House meeting with

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"What I've suggested to him is that he needs to consult with those who are around him

in his government," Obama said. "He needs to listen to what is being voiced by the

Egyptian people and make a judgment about a pathway forward that is orderly but that

is meaningful and serious."

Obama's attempt to give his most important Arab ally a firm shove off the world stage

marked a full turn from Obama's cautious appeals for calm and restraint one week ago.

The United States has relied on Mubarak for decades and shored up his authoritarian

regime with billions in military aid. He was considered, with the Saudi king, the most

influential friend Washington could have in a volatile part of the world and rewarded

with military and other aid worth more than $1 billion annually.

The U.S. would have preferred not to see Mubarak thrown over the side immediately.

The realization became clear this week that the crisis could end no other way, and U.S.

spokesmen began to talk about "transition" to a post-Mubarak era.

Sayfa 42

Speaking on what Egyptian street protesters called deadline day for Mubarak to step

aside, Obama never actually said Mubarak should quit immediately. He clearly hopes he

won't have to.

Mubarak's main concession to the demonstrators calling for his head is a promise not to

run again in elections set for September. He vowed not to be driven from his homeland

and said he will die on Egyptian soil.

That wasn't good enough for demonstrators demanding that Mubarak get out

immediately, and Obama knew it.

"He has already said that he is not going to run for re-election," Obama said, with a

pause for effect. His tone was one part law professor, one part therapist.

"Having made that psychological break, that decision that he will not be running again, I

think the most important for him to ask himself, for the Egyptian government to ask

itself, as well as the opposition to ask itself is, How do we make that transition effective

and lasting and legitimate?"

That might be as blunt as a baseball bat to American ears, but there's no guarantee

Mubarak and his inner circle will hear it the same way.

Khairi Abaza, a former Egyptian opposition politician now at the Foundation for Defense

of Democracies, welcomed Obama's remarks and said he interpreted them as a direct

call for Mubarak to step aside now.

"To me it was clear," Abaza said. "But the regime in Egypt is playing dumb. It hasn't

reacted at all. It's like someone who can't take a hint."

A rally Friday by nearly 100,000 protesters in Cairo and behind-the-scenes diplomacy

from the Obama administration piled more pressure on Mubarak to make a swift exit

and allow a temporary government to embark on an immediate path toward democracy.

Sayfa 43

Two days of wild clashes between protesters and regime supporters that killed 11 people

this week seemed to have pushed the United States to the conclusion that an Egypt with

Mubarak at the helm is potentially more unstable than one without him.

Obama did not directly discuss the furious maneuvering to ease Mubarak out. Under one

scenario, a military-backed provisional government would govern until the first elections

in decades that would not include Mubarak. The United States has hinted broadly that it

would like to see the presidential election moved up from September.

Any of that would have been unthinkable before a stunning popular revolt upended the

status quo this week in a polite, tourist-friendly police state where Mubarak's cronies got

richer as much of the country got poorer.

Obama alluded to the backroom discussions while being careful to say that the decision

will be Egypt's and not its largest foreign patron and longtime ally.

"Going back to the old ways is not going to work," Obama said.

"If you end up having just gestures towards the opposition but it leads to a continuing

suppression of the opposition, that is not going to work. If you have the pretense of

reform but not real reform that is not going to be effective."

That leaves Obama a little room to bring down the hammer later, if he must.

Steve Grand, who heads the Brookings Institution's work on U.S. relations with the

Islamic world, said he understood the president's hesitation in delivering the final verdict

on Mubarak's presidency. But he said Obama must be running out of patience.

"He could say, 'It's time for Mubarak to go,' and it is just about time that he says that,"

Grand said. "At this point, he should be on the side of change. The people of Egypt have

spoken loud and clearly, and Mubarak has shown his true colors in these last days."

Obama has spoken to Mubarak twice as the crisis unfolded. He will probably speak to

him at least once more, to say goodbye.

Sayfa 44

Here's how he left it for now:

"My hope is he will end up making the right decision." (Asharq Al Awsat)

In the wake of the revolution that calls for the ousting of Egypt's President Hosni

Mubarak regime, several parts of the country are suffering from shortage in foodstuffs

while the prices of other goods have witnessed unprecedented hikes.

Bread lines in different Egyptian governorates reflect the crisis the country has been

suffering during the first days of political unrest not only due to wheat shortage, but also

due to the closure of several bakeries, the Egyptian daily independent al-Masry al-Youm

reported.

A slight improvement was witnessed after bakeries affiliated to the Egyptian army

supplied 25,000 loaves, according to army sources.

This improvement was more remarkable in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, with

increasing the wheat share of the most crowded bakeries and reopening 15 of the closed

bakeries, said Abdul Aal Derwi, head of the Bakeries Division at the Alexandria Chamber

of Commerce.

Egyptian protesters rejected National Democratic Party (NDP) resignation of its top

executives on Saturday and described the move as a superficial change.

On Sunday the protesters said that they are vowing for another 'million protest' in Tahrir

square which has been blocked by the army.

Clashes and protest for the last 12 days took place in the square, which also witnessed

molotov cocktail thrown at anti Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak protesters by the ones

who were pro the country's ruler whom he ruled for the last three decades.

Sayfa 45

During the past two days, Egypt witnessed a remarkable shortage of several foodstuffs as

well as unprecedented fluctuation in their prices. After several days of shortage of fruits

and vegetables and the subsequent hike in their prices, huge amounts suddenly flooded

the market as vendors worried about their goods going bad. This led to remarkable

reduction in their prices.

“In the beginning, vendors stored all the stock they have for fear it might be stolen, then

they started fearing it will go bad and were forced to release all of it in the market and

the prices dropped by a half,” said grocer Mohamed Megahed.

Regardless of the availability of fruits and vegetables, Megahed added, Egyptians started

buying less amounts due to the shortage of money after the closure of banks and the

delay of salaries.

“Now, you see many people buying half a kilo,” he said.

Prices of fish kept skyrocketing until they reached the double as fisherman stopped

working and the amounts of fish became less every day.

“Fish in the market is not enough for consumers and several vendors took advantage of

the situation and raised prices to unprecedented levels,” said Adel Ahmed, fish vendor in

Alexandria.

Weakened pound

Egypt's central bank said it was not setting an Egyptian pound reference rate for the

dollar in the interbank market ahead of the market opening on Sunday.

The Egyptian pound opened weaker against the U.S. dollar on Sunday after a week-long

bank closure caused by political protest.

The Egyptian central bank's weighted average for interbank foreign exchange operations

on Sunday was 5.9013 pounds to the dollar at 10:30 a.m. (0830 GMT).

Sayfa 46

The pound was trading at around 5.915 to the dollar compared with 5.855 when banks

were last open on Jan. 25, traders said .

Around 400 million Egyptian pounds had traded in the first 45 minutes, compared with

300 to 400 million pounds for a full day before the crisis, one trader said.

"The pound started off down as widely expected, but not with the magnitude one would

have thought," said the trader. "I expect, with pressure, the pound weakness could

extend until 6 or 6.1 pounds, he added.

Bankers were bracing for chaos in dealing rooms with foreign investors and local

businessmen fleeing the Egyptian pound after the street protests paralyzed much of the

economy and dried up important sources of foreign exchange.

Meanwhile, Egypt's central bank said it can 'bear' amounts of money leave the country.

OPEC under pressure

OPEC is also under pressure from consumers to boost supply as most of the world’s

benchmark crudes surpass $100 a barrel amid political unrest in North Africa and the

Middle East.

“Just before the turmoil in Egypt we already had very high prices as a result of strong

demand growth expectations for the next year,” Birol, the chief economist of the Paris-

based IEA, which has advised energy-consuming nations since 1974, told the London-

based Business Guardian.

“The turmoil in Egypt has been a trigger. Brent over $100 is a risk to derail the economic

recovery.”

Protests in Egypt that have led to the disruption of shipments going through the Suez

Canal which sent North Sea Brent above $100 a barrel for the first time since October

2008 this week, said the paper.

Sayfa 47

Six of the world’s ten most-used oil price markers, including Nigeria’s Bonny Light,

Malaysia’s Tapis, Indonesia’s Minas and Louisiana’s Heavy Sweet and Light Sweet grades,

have breached three digits, stoking speculation governments will struggle to contain

inflation as economies recover from the recession, the paper added.

Oil prices are high enough to “derail” the global economic recovery, Fatih Birol of the

International Energy Agency said this week, also Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi

said last week prices nearer $75 would be “appropriate.”

A transportation crisis followed the unrest with buses unable to go to areas where the

protests are taking place in addition to the curfew that on several days started at 3:00

p.m. The few means of transportation that worked before the curfew, especially

microbuses, doubled their prices.

Fuel shortage played a major in the transportation crisis as the unrest hindered the

transfer of fuel to gas stations and even stations that had a stock of fuel closed for fear of

being attacked after the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of police forces from

the streets.

The cutting of internet services also played a role in the fuel shortage since many prepaid

fuel supply transactions between gas stations and companies are made through the

internet, said Hamdi Darwish, a fuel distributors’ agent.

“Even after the internet was back, the problem was not solved because the banks were

still closed,” he said.

The Central Bank of Egypt announced that banks are to resume their work as of Sunday

for only three hours and a half and ATM machines, several of which robbed by saboteurs,

have started working gradually. (Al Arabiya News Channel)

Sayfa 48

Pro-democracy protesters are continuing their sit-in in Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation) Square

for the fourteenth consecutive day, showing no signs of being appeased by talks held a

day earlier between the government and opposition groups.

People were still camped out in the square on Monday while life was slowly getting back

to normal in other parts of the Egyptian capital.

An Al Jazeera correspondent said traffic in the streets was increasing while businesses

were beginning to reopen.

"There's a lot of popular public sentiments in Cairo and wider Egypt regarding what those

protesters are trying to achieve but at the same time, people are trying to get back to

live as normal lives as possible," he said.

"But some of the shopping malls for example are still closed because they're afraid of

looting, and the banks yesterday were only open for a few hours."

Tanks continue to guard government buildings, embassies and other important

institutions in the city.

Opposition talks

Egypt has been in turmoil since January 25, when protesters took to the streets seeking

the immediate resignation of Hosni Mubarak, the president who has ruled the country

for three decades.

Omar Suleiman, the country's newly appointed vice-president, began meetings with six

opposition groups on Sunday, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood (MB).

Salma El-Tarzi, an activist in Tahrir Square, told Al Jazeera that she was indifferent to the

talks.

Click here for more on Al Jazeera's special coverage

Sayfa 49

"The political parties can do whatever they please because they don't represent us," she

said.

"This is not a revolution made by the parties. The parties have been there for 30 years

and they've done nothing. This is the people's revolution."

Some analysts have called the Muslim Brotherhood's participation in the dialogue a

major concession. The group had initially refused to participate in any negotiations

unless Mubarak resigns.

But Essam El-Erian, a member of the MB, Egypt's largest opposition group, told Al

Jazeera that it has to participate "in any dialogue that can meet the demands of the

people".

"This process can encourage more people to be added to protesters in Tahrir Square and

all over the country. We've gone to the dialogue to enforce the revolution ... to add more

pressure on Mubarak and his regime to leave."

However, another member of the movement played down the meeting, saying the MB is

not prepared to drop its central demand of calling for Mubarak to resign as president.

"We cannot call it talks or negotiations. The Muslim Brotherhood went with a key

condition that cannot be abandoned ... that he [Mubarak] needs to step down in order

to usher in a democratic phase," Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh told Al Jazeera.

Reforms pledged

According to a statement from Suleiman's office following the meeting, the government

offered to form a committee to examine proposed constitutional amendments, pursue

allegedly corrupt government officials, "liberalise" media and communications and lift

the state of emergency in the country when the security situation was deemed to be

appropriate.

But Fotouh said the government had failed to take concrete measures on the ground.

Sayfa 50

"If they were serious, the parliament would have been dissolved, also a presidential

decree ending the emergency law".

"It's important for us not to say that our own only two options are either the Muslim

Brotherhood or a suppressed people"

t Egypt has been under emergency rule since 1981, the year Mubarak assumed power.

The political parties can do whatever they please because they don't represent us. This is

not a revolution made by the parties. The parties have been there for 30 years and

they've done nothing. This is the people's revolution.

Barack Obama, the US president, made new remarks on the political situation in Egypt

after the meeting. He told the US television network Fox that Egyptians would not permit

a repressive government to fill the Mubarak void, adding that the Muslim Brotherhood is

only one faction in Egypt.

"But here's the thing that we have to understand, there are a whole bunch of secular

folks in Egypt, there are a whole bunch of educators and civil society in Egypt that want

to come to the fore as well.

"So it's important for us not to say that our own only two options are either the Muslim

Brotherhood or a suppressed people."

Our correspondent in Cairo said the pro-democracy protesters were still not pleased with

Obama's stance on the crisis.

"Protesters tell me Obama still hasn't come up with any statement that they want to

hear," he said.

"They want immediate change and the feeling among many of them is that the way US is

handling this crisis is not good for the way America is perceived both here and in general

in the wider region." (Al Jazeera)

Sayfa 51

5. LEBANON / LÜBNAN

Speaker Nabih Berri struck an upbeat note Sunday about Prime Minister-designate Najib

Mikati’s efforts to form a government, saying he expected the birth of the new Cabinet

within a week.

Meanwhile, the Kataeb (Phalange) Party, which has been negotiating with Mikati on its

possible participation along with its March 14 allies in the new government, said it was

still waiting for answers from the prime minister-designate on its demands for

guarantees regarding Hezbollah’s weapons and the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for

Lebanon.

“Matters are heading in the right direction. I think the issue *of Cabinet formation+ is not

tied to a certain day or a specific date,” Berri said during a chat with journalists who

accompanied him on the plane to Qatar to attend the 17th Arab Inter-Parliamentary

Union Conference, the state-run National News Agency reported.

“I also think that the birth of this government will be the fastest … Matters are going on

steadily,” Berri said.

Later Sunday, Berri held a meeting behind closed doors in Doha with Qatari Prime

Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Jabr al-Thani to discuss the latest developments in

the Lebanese crisis and in the Arab region. Hamad also hosted a dinner for Berri and the

accompanying delegation.

Berri’s remarks come as Mikati, who is backed by the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition,

was struggling to form a government that includes March 8 and March 14

representatives.

Sayfa 52

Billionaire Mikati, 55, was appointed by President Michel Sleiman on Jan. 25 to form a

new government to replace caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s toppled Cabinet.

Hariri’s Cabinet was brought down on Jan. 12 in a long-running rift between the March 8

and March 14 camps over the STL, which is investigating the 2005 assassination of

Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Berri said that from Monday, Mikati’s consultations with political leaders would touch on

the distribution of portfolios and names of candidates to join the government.

“Matters are positive from all the parties. With regard to the March 14 position, I think

what [former] President Amin Gemayel is proposing is subject to discussion and

acceptance,” Berri said.

Gemayel, the Kataeb Party leader, has held three rounds of talks with Mikati on the

March 14 coalition’s possible participation in the government. He warned after meeting

Mikati Friday of the consequences of the formation of a one-sided government

dominated by Hezbollah and its March 8 allies, saying such a government would weaken

the president’s prerogatives and role.

Gemayel’s son, Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel, said his party was still waiting for

answers from Mikati before deciding on participation in the government. “We want real

partnership in running the government. We demand guarantees [from Mikati]

concerning the international tribunal and the *Hezbollah’s+ arms,” Sami Gemayel told

The Daily Star.

He said his party was demanding that its views and positions be respected in any

government and that the government would not not be dominated by a Hezbollah-led

March 8 monopoly.

Asked whether the Kataeb Party was seeking a public commitment from Mikati not to

end Lebanon’s cooperation with STL, similar to the demand made by Hariri’s

Sayfa 53

parliamentary Future bloc, Gemayel said, “We want guarantees that the international

tribunal will not be abolished.”

Sami Gemayel added that contacts between the Kataeb Party and Mikati were

continuing in an attempt to iron out political differences.

If it eventually decides to participate, the Kataeb Party will have two ministers in the new

government, a source close to Mikati said. The Kataeb had one representative in Hariri’s

Cabinet.

In addition to Gemayel, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and caretaker Labor

Minister Butros Harb have held talks with Mikati on March 14 participation in the

government. Geagea has said that the March 14 parties will either participate in the new

government altogether or no one will.

The Kataeb Party’s caretaker Social Affairs Minister Salim Sayyegh said Sleiman will not

sign any decree on a Cabinet formation that runs contrary to the country’s National

Charter, which calls for all sects to be represented in the government. “The president will

always remain a protector of the Constitution,” he said.

Since his appointment on Jan. 25, Mikati has promised to form a government that

includes all the feuding parties. However, his attempts to set up a national unity Cabinet

have hit snags after Hariri said that his Future bloc would not join a government headed

by a March 8-backed candidate.

The March 14 coalition has urged Mikati to clarify his position on the STL and the issue of

illegitimate arms before deciding on its participation in the government.

Hariri’s Future bloc has also called on Mikati to make a public commitment not to end

Lebanon’s cooperation with the STL, as demanded by Hezbollah and its allies.

Sayfa 54

Future MPs have said that they were still waiting for Mikati’s response. Mikati has said

he refused to make any commitment to any party, stressing that the dispute over the STL

could be resolved through dialogue.

The STL has divided the Lebanese into two rival camps and is threatening to destabilize

the country, as the STL’s indictment is widely expected to accuse some Hezbollah

members of involvement in Hariri’s assassination.

Hezbollah reiterated its call for the formation of a government with the widest possible

representation.

“In Lebanon, we have entered a new stage at the political level … We are poised for the

formation of a government which we want to be a partnership government, with the

broadest possible representation in order for all [parties] to cooperate to serve their

country,” Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah told a rally in the southern village of Markaba.

“We are convinced that this country cannot rise except by understanding and common

cooperation.”

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip

Erdogan agreed during their meeting in the Syrian city of Aleppo Sunday “to make all

possible efforts to ensure Lebanon’s stability, security and prosperity,” the official Syrian

news agency SANA reported. (The Daily Star)

President Michel Sleiman met with Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati at the

Presidential Palace in Baabda on Sunday, An-nahar newspaper reported on Monday.

Sleiman and Mikati discussed latest developments concerning the formation of the new

cabinet, the daily added. However, it did not elaborate further.

Sayfa 55

Mikati, who was appointed to the premiership on January 25 with the backing of the

Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, has called on all Lebanese parties to join his upcoming

cabinet.

However, March 14 parties have said that they will not take part in a cabinet headed by

Mikati and have also asked that he first clarify his stance on non-state weapons and the

Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

According to unconfirmed reports, the STL will soon issue an indictment in its

investigation of the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. There are

fears that should the court indict Hezbollah members, it could lead to clashes similar to

those of the 2008 May Events – when gunmen led by the party took over half of Beirut.

(Now Lebanon)

“If *March 8+ wants to form a one-sided cabinet, then it must… reject our conditions for

joining the cabinet,” Kataeb bloc MP Sami Gemayel told MTV on Sunday, adding that he

is not a candidate for any ministerial position in the next cabinet.

Commenting on the Kataeb Party’s initiative to negotiate with Prime Minister-designate

Najib Mikati, Gemayel said this step prevented the March 8 coalition from being able to

claim that March 14 rejected its offer to have the blocking third.

“All we ask is to be given the blocking third, and the ministerial portfolios that their

representatives had. [They can take] the ministerial portfolios our representatives had in

the previous cabinet.”

Mikati, who was appointed to the premiership on January 25 with the backing of March

8, has called on all Lebanese parties to join his upcoming cabinet.

However, March 14 parties have said that they will not take part in a cabinet headed by

Mikati and have also asked that he first clarify his stance on non-state weapons and the

Sayfa 56

Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is investigating former PM Rafik Hariri’s 2005

murder. (Now Lebanon)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad discussed the situation in Lebanon with Turkish Prime

Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Syria, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported

on Sunday.

Both Assad and Erdogan agreed to make all possible efforts to promote Lebanon’s

stability and security, SANA said, adding that they also voiced hope that stability and

security are restored in Egypt.

Assad and Erdogan expressed satisfaction with the cooperation in different fields

between their countries, the report added.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak clings on to power as an angry revolt to topple him

raged into its thirteenth day.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati was appointed to the premiership on January 25

with the backing of the March 8 coalition, following the January 12 collapse of Saad

Hariri’s unity government due to a long-running controversy over the Special Tribunal for

Lebanon’s (STL) investigation of former PM Rafik Hariri’s 2005 murder.

Mikati has called on all Lebanese parties to join his upcoming cabinet, but March 14

parties have said that they will not take part in a cabinet headed by a March 8 nominee

and have also asked that Mikati first clarify his stance on non-state weapons and the STL.

(Now Lebanon)

6. SYRIA AND JORDAN / SURİYE VE ÜRDÜN

Sayfa 57

President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday received Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip

Erdogan in Aleppo, northern Syria.

After the meeting, the following statement was issued:

Bilateral relations between the two friendly countries were discussed as President al-

Assad and Erdogan expressed deep satisfaction over the solid cooperation the relations

are witnessing in all fields. The latest result of this cooperation was laying the

cornerstone of the Friendship Dam to provide water to irrigate about 10,000 hectares

and generating electricity for border areas.

President al-Assad and Erdogan stressed the importance of continuing work and

coordination by the two countries through high-level transparent dialogue on various

issues facing the region to find a secure environment to realize stability and enhance

economic cooperation in the interest of the Syrian and Turkish peoples and peoples of

the region.

The two sides also discussed the latest developments in the regional and international

arenas, particularly the situation in Egypt as the two sides hoped that security and

stability will return to Egypt and rallying efforts as to spare the Egyptian people the more

of suffering in realization of its demands, ambitions and willingness.

President al-Assad and Erdogan discussed the situation in Lebanon and agreed to exert

all efforts possible for the stability, security and prosperity of Lebanon.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Otri, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem and

Presidential Political and Media Advisor Bouthaina Shaaban attended the meeting on the

Syrian side and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglo and the Turkish ambassador in

Syria attended the meeting on the Turkish side.

Last January, President al-Assad and Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar,

discussed in Damascus the latest developments in the region.

Sayfa 58

President al-Assad and Erdogan last October held talks on boosting bilateral relations

between the two countries, stressing that these relations have changed into a strategic

partnership whose benefits are not restricted on both countries, but they include other

countries. (SANA)

Bilimsel Araştırmalar Yüksek Komisyon Kurulu dün Fransız Ulusal Bilimsel Araştırmalar

Merkezi ve Fransız Kalkınma Araştırmaları Enstitüsü ile bilimsel ve teknik alanlarda

işbirliğini öngören bir anlaşma çerçevesi imzaladı.

Bilimsel ve teknik bilgi alışverişinin yanı sıra ortak programlar hazırlama ve uygulama

aracılığı ile ikili işbirliğini geliştirmeyi amaçlayan anlaşma çerçevesini Yüksek Öğretim

Bakanı Ğayyas Bereket ve Fransız Ulusal Bilimsel Araştırmalar Müdürü Alain Fox ve

Fransız Kalkınma Araştırmaları Enstitüsü Başkanı Michel Laurent imza attılar.

Söz konusu anlaşma bilimsel veri alışverişi, ortak laboratuarlar kurma, iki taraf arasında

öğrenci ve akademisyen alışverişi, iki tarafın üstünde mutabık kalacakları bilimsel

konferanslar ve seminerler gibi etkinlikler düzenlemeyi içeriyor.

Anlaşma çerçevesinde ayrıca, anlaşmanın pratiğe konulması amacıyla uygun ortam

yaratma, bilimsel işbirliğinde öncelikleri belirleme, işbirliğini yönlendirme, yapılan ve

yapılmakta olan etkinliklerin sonuçlarını değerlendirme ve işbirliğinde çözüm önerilerinde

bulunma misyonlarını üstlenecek izleme komitesi teşkil etme kararı alındı. (SANA)

7. ARABIAN PENINSULA AND THE GULF OF BASRA / ARAP YARIMADASI VE BASRA

KÖRFEZİ

Sayfa 59

Kuwait's embattled interior minister stepped down Sunday amid rising political tensions

that include calls for the first major Gulf street protests inspired by uprisings in Egypt and

elsewhere.

Opposition groups have sharply escalated pressure on Kuwait's leadership in recent

months over claims of corruption in the oil-rich state and perceived attempts to roll back

political freedoms. Kuwait's political system is the most open in the Gulf and its

parliament is one of the few elected bodies in the region capable of demanding reforms

from rulers.

The change at the Interior Ministry could signal an attempt to weaken the calls on social

media sites for street demonstrations Tuesday outside parliament to protest

"undemocratic" practices by Kuwait's government. If major crowds gather, it would mark

the first anti-government rallies in the Gulf since the toppling of Tunisia's strongman

ruler last month touched off other Arab protest movements, including Egypt's

groundswell against President Hosni Mubarak.

Kuwait's official KUNA news agency reported that Kuwait's leaders accepted the

resignation of the interior minister, Sheik Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, and replaced him

with a close relative of Kuwait's ruler.

Sheik Jaber has been the target of a political storm after a man arrested for illegal liquor

sales was allegedly tortured to death while in police custody. Kuwaiti authorities

declared that the detainee was murdered and the case was referred to the public

prosecutor.

Sheik Jaber had submitted his resignation after the post-mortem report last month, but

he was asked to stay on. He is now replaced by Sheikh Ahmed Al-Hamoud Al-Sabah, a

cousin of Kuwait's emir.

The shake-up is the latest struggle for the government and showed the growing force of

opposition groups in Kuwait's parliament.

Sayfa 60

In December, lawmakers grilled the prime minister in a rare parliamentary questioning

session called after security forces clashed with opposition deputies and their supporters

at a Dec. 8 rally.

The prime minister, who took office in 2006, survived a no-confidence vote in December

2009 after allegations that public funds were misused. (Asharq Al Awsat)

Ten alleged Al-Qaeda members shouted defiance on Sunday when they went on trial

over an April 2008 explosion near the offices of a Canadian energy company in the

Yemeni capital Sanaa.

The defendants, aged between 25 and 40 years of age, refused to answer questions from

Judge Mohsen Alwan, who adjourned the hearing until Monday in order to interrogate

them in pairs.

It is alleged that the group was behind an explosion in the Hadda district of the capital on

April 10, 2008 near the offices of Nexen Inc. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Nexen says it

operates the biggest oil project in Yemen.

"It's an illegitimate court. The end of the regime is near," shouted one of the defendants,

Mohammed Ahmed Badr, from the dock. "We are jailed in an American prison and this is

an American court."

The defendants also alleged that they had been tortured while in detention.

Besides the explosion, in which no-one was hurt, the defendants are accused in

connection with attacks on the military, security services, a currency exchange bureau in

the western port city of Al-Hudaydah, and the 21-day kidnapping of the son of a Yemeni

tribal leader.

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Situated at the strategic southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, Yemen -- ancestral home

of Osama bin Laden and scene of anti-government protests in recent days -- has been

fighting Al-Qaeda insurgents in its south and east. (Asharq Awsat)

Three Qataris are suspected to have helped in plotting and executing the 9/11 attacks on

the United States, the UK daily Telegraph has reported quoting a secret US document

obtained by the whistle-blower website, WikiLeaks.

A fourth man - a citizen of United Arab Emirates - is accused of supporting the men in

carrying out surveillance on a host of potential targets prior to the co-ordinated attacks,

which left about 3,000 people dead.

According to the memo quoted by The Telegraph, the three Qatari citizens carried out

surveillance at the World Trade Center, the Statue of Liberty, the White House and in

Virginia, the state where Pentagon and CIA headquarters are located.

The cable says the men flew into New York from London three weeks before September

11, 2001.

Ten days later, they flew to Los Angeles and checked into a hotel close to the airport.

They were to check out on September 10 and were booked on an American Airlines flight

from Los Angeles to Washington, but failed to board the flight.

The following day, the same aircraft, flying on route AA77, was hijacked and crashed into

the Pentagon.

The three suspects reportedly flew back to London before returning to Qatar. Their

present location is unknown.

'Suspicious activity'

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The Telegraph quotes the memo as saying that staff at the Los Angeles hotel had grown

suspicious of the men.

Raising their suspicion was the men's refusal to let them clean their room during the last

days of their stay.

The staff had also noticed pilot type uniforms, several laptops and several cardboard

boxes addressed to Syria, Jerusalem, Afghanistan and Jordan in their room in previous

cleaning visits.

According to the memo, sent by the US embassy in Doha to the department of homeland

security, and quoted by the paper, "the men had a smashed cellular phone in the room

and a cellular phone attached by wire to a computer. The room also contained pin feed

computer paper print outs and headers listing pilot names, flight numbers, and flight

times".

The memo recommended that the men be put on a "no-fly" list.

The September 11 attacks have been the worst on US soil to date. Only one person -

Zacarias Moussaoui - has been tried and convicted over the attacks.

Details of other plotters have never been previously disclosed.

The three Qatari men were included on a FBI list of more than 300 people who were

sought for questioning in connection with the attacks. The list was leaked in 2002.

The Telegraph said that the FBI refused to comment when contacted. (Al Jazeera)

8. SOUTH ASIA / GÜNEY ASYA

PAKISTAN / PAKİSTAN

Sayfa 63

The foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan have met in the Bhutanese capital, but

failed to set any dates for the resumption of peace talks between the neighbours.

The peace talks have been stalled since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks which New Delhi

blames on Pakistan-based group.

The two sides had been expected to firm up the dates for a proposed meeting between

their foreign ministers in the Indian capital.

Vishnu Prakash, the Indian external affairs ministry spokesman, said that India’s foreign

secretary, Nirupama Rao, and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir met Sunday for

”useful and frank discussions.”

Rao and Bashir met in Thimphu on the sidelines of a meeting of the South Asian regional

grouping set up in 1985 to promote trade and economic cooperation.

India suspended a peace dialogue with Pakistan after the November 2008 Mumbai

attacks, which claimed 166 lives, but the two countries last year began to explore a

resumption of structured talks.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi held a meeting with his Indian

counterpart S.M. Krishna in Islamabad in July.

“Dialogue between India and Pakistan is necessary and a must if we are to satisfactorily

resolve the outstanding issues between our two countries,” Rao was quoted as saying by

the PTI news agency before Sunday’s meeting.

“We have a number of outstanding issues. So we are going into this with an open mind

and constructive attitude.”

PTI quoted Bashir as saying that the talks on Sunday would focus on making progress

towards another meeting between the countries’ foreign ministers.

Sayfa 64

“My expectations are that we should be working towards continued engagement,” he

said.

India accuses Pakistan of failing to crack down sufficiently on militant groups on its

territory, including those which New Delhi blames for the Mumbai attacks.

Relations between the two countries, which have fought three wars since the

subcontinent was partitioned in 1947, have been plagued by border and resource

disputes, and accusations of Pakistani militant activity against India.

Two of the three wars were over the disputed Kashmir region, and Kashmiri militants

have been fighting New Delhi’s rule for two decades in an insurgency that has claimed

tens of thousands of lives. (The Pakistan Observer)

Believe it or not, the cost of construction of Expressway on East Bay of Gwadar Port has

increased by almost close to 100 percent from Rs 3.763 billion to Rs 6.274 billion on the

pretext that the scope of the project has increased which is factually widened by 37

percent, Pakistan Observer has learnt reliably.

“Although the technical appraisal by the transport and communication section of the

Planning Commission has identified this glaring mistake and put an emphatic big

question mark, but the authorities concerned under the political pressure of Balochistan

government has approved the project with 100 percent increase in the cost.”

The official sources said: “The irrational increase in the project, when the country is in

dire financial constraints, is not justified, rather it is an attempt to appease the

Baluchistan government on political grounds.” The sources claimed that the massive

increase in the project would be plundered as the incase in the cost should have been at

37 percent.

Sayfa 65

However, according to the official document pertaining to the project, the technical

appraisal wing of the Planning Commission unveiled that the original cost of the project

was Rs 3.76 billion when CDWP (Central Development Working Party) had approved on

April 28, 2006. Now the Ministry of Port and Shipping which is sponsoring agency and

Gwadar Port Implementation Authority (GPIA) have come up with increase in a scope of

the project by just 37 percept and seeking the raise in the cost by almost 100 percent

which is not justified and the CDWP that recently met with Deputy Chairman Planning

Commission Dr Nadeem-ul-Haq approved the project with huge increase.

The Appraisal Wing also pinpointed that PC-1 does not mention any comparative

estimates of reclamation and land acquisition for the expressway road. It also unveiled

that the revised PC-I compared with the original PC-1 of the project does not provide the

requisite input as desired by CDWP for optimum and judicial utilization of resources.

As per the revised PC-1, the length of the Expressway has increased from 13.82

kilometers to 18.98 km and 10.8 meter wide, 6 lane dual carriageway expressway with 1

meter inner and 3 meter outer hard shoulders. The project has an offshore length of

4300 km and on-shore length of 14.681 km along with allied structures to meet

exclusively the port cargo traffic demand for it swift movement to and from the port.

The proposed expressway starts from the newly constructed road joining port with the

city and terminates at Makran Coastal Highway near Koh-e-Mehdi that provides a direct

access o the port. The first proposed 4km of the proposed alignment will pass long with

East bay beach and the remaining portion will pass en-route to the western side of the

existing guiding tower and pass through, urban areas, Pakistan Navy area, airport road,

proposed housing schemes and then the alignment will turn towards east and join the

Makran Coastal Highway. (Pakistan Observer)

Sayfa 66

The United States is exerting extensive pressure on Pakistan and has threatened to cut

off all military and economic aid to Islamabad if the American national Raymond Allen

Davis who has killed two Pakistanis is not released soon.

According to reports it has now been confirmed that Raymond Davis was engaged in

“sensitive activities” not only in Lahore but also in Islamabad and Peshawar was working

as a “contractor” for U.S. Department of Defence and CIA.

The American threat to Pakistan came simultaneously from American State Department,

Defence Department, an American powerful delegation and American Embassy in

Islamabad. Unconfirmed reports say that the U.S. had restricted “diplomatic contacts” as

a first stage and threatened to widen its reaction.

Early last week an American congressional delegation called on President Asif Ali Zardari

at Aiwan-e-Sadr and Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani at PM House.

The powerful American delegation had suggested that “Raymond Davis be released

before the damage is done.”

The American team also made its message loud and clear to all the top policy-makers

including Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Finance Minister, Salman Faruqui, Secretary General

to the President, Ch. Abdul Ghafoor, Chairman National Commission for Government

Reforms, Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, MOS for EAD/Finance, Senator Syeda Sughra Imam, Ms.

Farahnaz Ispahani and Spokesperson to the President Mr. Farhatullah Babar and Foreign

Secretary Salman Bashir.

The issues discussed ranged from Pak-US bilateral relations to mutual cooperation, fight

against militancy, ROZs and security situation as well as other related issues.

Contrary to investigating officials’ deliberations and conclusion the American officials

insist that Raymond Davis “had acted in self-defense.” Although officials agree that he

may have taken a “pre-emptive move” fearing his detection and chase by the two men

he killed.

Sayfa 67

Officials here say that since the case is in the court it would be highly unpopular for the

Federal or Provincial government to intervene and release the American and risk public

backlash. But officials also claim that if he is not released Pakistan’s economy already

under severe pressure may not be able to withstand American pressures.

Many Pakistanis believe that the incident is the result of “a free-hand given to selected

foreigners by certain Pakistan officials and diplomats” but it is too late to reverse the

damage done to the country. Officials say that Pakistan has limited choice now. (Pakistan

Observer)

INDIA / HINDISTAN

Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan on Monday spoke in one voice on the outcome

of their 90-minute late Sunday night meeting and avoided trading charges on issues of

friction.

Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao counseled patience in order to allow the dialogue

process to mature and described the interaction as useful and satisfactory. Her Pakistani

counterpart Salman Bashir avoided saying "anything negative’’ on any issue, including

the Samjhauta Express blasts, Hindu terror groups and Kashmir "at this point’’. The talks

were in consonance with the spirit of the Thimphu thaw that took place following a

meeting between the two Prime Ministers here last April, he added.

Mr. Bashir felt it was unfair to affix a religious appendage to groups indulging in acts of

terrorism. "It is wrong to connote terrorism with any denomination, whether it is Hindu

or anything. That is not fair. We have got to have clarity when we define these issues.’’

Speaking to the media a day after Foreign Secretary level talks, the first ice breaker

between India and Pakistan this year, Ms. Rao did not want to disclose further details "at

Sayfa 68

the moment’’. Mr. Bashir also avoided doing so because the "important thing is to have a

clear vision of the way we want to proceed together.’’

"I think it would not be in order to do that. …as they say, in life as in diplomacy, ripeness

is all. We have to wait for this process to mature,’’ said Ms. Rao while explaining the

rectitude among both sides to release further details about the meeting. "All in all, I think

it was a very useful meeting. Both of us adopted an open and constructive attitude and I

am satisfied with the meeting,’’ she observed.

Ms. Bashir sought to put the Foreign Secretary level dialogue in perspective. When the

two Prime Ministers met in Thimphu last year, three things were agreed upon. One,

there should be frequent contacts and both sides have had frequent contacts. Second,

they should try to bridge the trust divide. "I think we have to a considerable extent

succeeded in doing that.’’ Three, everything should be discussed and ``that is the format

that we are pursuing.’’ "I think there is consensus at the leadership level that that's the

practical way forward. We will be reporting respectively to our concerned Governments

and then take it from there,’’ he added.

On the question of what next, Ms. Rao reiterated the standard Foreign Office line of

cautious optimism because there were many issues that needed to be resolved. "As the

nature of the relationship has been very complex, we have to be aware of the realities.

But we should have a vision for the future and that is what our Prime Minister feels. And

I believe from what Mr. Bashir told me, their Government is also committed to taking the

dialogue with India on all outstanding issues forward in a constructive way,’’ she added.

Asked to comment on the Samjahuta Express blasts issue, Mr. Bashir avoided singling out

this extremist act and described every act of terrorism as a common issue. "Every

incident of terrorism is despicable. We condemn it whether it takes place in India,

Pakistan or elsewhere.’’ He also declined to comment on the Hafiz Saeed issue because

"at this point in time I think what is important is that we all cooperate along with the

Sayfa 69

international community to deal with issues which are of concern to you, which are of

equal concern to us.’’

On Kashmir, he hoped the "central issue’’ would be resolved in accordance with the

aspirations of the people of the state. "We want it to be resolved and Pakistan of course

has expressed on the solidarity day *on Sunday+ its moral and political support.’’ (The

Hindu)

The Oil Ministry on Monday said it is for expediting clearance to Vedanta Resources’ USD

9.6 billion acquisition of Cairn India, but wants state-owned ONGC’s concerns addressed

before that.

“We are for expediting the process (of approval) after addressing all the concerns

particularly relating to (ONGC’s liability) to pay royalty and cess on behalf of Cairn India,”

a highly placed source said.

Oil Secretary S. Sundareshan had yesterday met chief executives of Vedanta and Cairn

Energy, which is selling most of its stake in its Indian unit, but the meeting was

inconclusive.

Another meeting was said to happen today but it has not yet been scheduled.

Sources said the two sides went through each of the 11 preconditions that Oil Ministry

had set for approving the deal. Cairn/Vedanta explained their point of view.

The Oil Ministry, however, held its ground on the precondition that State-run ONGC’s

royalty liability in Cairn India’s mainstay Rajasthan block will have to be addressed before

such approval.

The Rajasthan block, which gives Cairn India 90 per cent of its valuation, is a losing

proposition for ONGC, as it has to pay 20 per cent royalty to the state government on the

entire output from the field, even though its share of production is only 30 per cent.

Sayfa 70

Cairn India does not pay royalty on the crude and has even contested the payment of Rs

2,500 per tonne cess on its 70 per cent share.

The source said the ministry “doesn’t want to stand in the way of the deal, but the two

issues need to be addressed.”

While Mr. Sundareshan had on Sunday described the 90-minute deliberation as

“extremely constructive”, Cairn Energy — which is selling most of its stake in its Indian

unit to Vedanta — hoped to complete the transaction on schedule by April 15.

This was the first time the Oil Ministry met Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy Plc Chief

Executive Bill Gammell, Cairn India CEO Rahul Dhir and Vedanta representatives M S

Mehta (Group CEO) and Tarun Jain (CFO) together.

Cairn/Vedanta wanted Oil Ministry to give approval without insisting on three out of the

11 preconditions.

The preconditions include Cairn/Vedanta meeting conditions like agreeing to ONGC’s

demand for recovering the Rs 14,000 crore royalty the state firm will have to pay on

behalf of Cairn India from the sale of oil produced from Rajasthan fields.

Acceptance of the demand would impact Cairn India’s valuation as its future profits will

go down and the company says its minority shareholder interest will be compromised.

While Cairn had reluctantly agreed to the need for government approval on the deal, it

has so far not accepted the pre-emption rights of ONGC.

ONGC has a stake in eight out of the 10 oil properties held by Cairn India and its pre-

emption, or right of first refusal, has also been held by Solicitor General of India (SGI),

the nation’s second highest law officer.

ONGC was, however, kept out of the meeting.

Sayfa 71

Sources said while Vedanta is agreeable to most of the 11 preconditions that the Oil

Ministry has set for giving approval, it is particularly opposed to royalty being made cost-

recoverable and Cairn India giving up its rights in present and future disputes.

ONGC says Vedanta’s acquisition of an up to 51 per cent stake in Cairn India triggers its

pre-emption rights. Its board had at its meeting on January 29 passed a resolution asking

the government not to approve the Cairn-Vedanta deal until the issue of excess royalty it

pays on Rajasthan crude oil is sorted out.

It wants the 20 per cent royalty paid to be added to the project cost, which can be

recovered from the sale of oil. The move is being opposed by Cairn, as it will lower its

profits from the field, which it says has the potential to produce 240,000 barrels of crude

oil per day.

Cairn India acquired a stake in Rajasthan block RJ-ON-90/1 from Royal Dutch Shell Plc in

2002 and discovered oil in January, 2004.

In case of areas awarded under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) — like the

gigantic KG-D6 gas fields of Reliance Industries — royalty can be added to the capital and

operating cost of the block, which as per law are deductible from revenues earned on

the sale of oil or gas before calculating profits for all stakeholders. (The Hindu)

AFGHANISTAN / AFGANİSTAN

The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, says he plans to announce next month the

first phase of the transition of security from NATO troops to Afghan forces.

Mr. Karzai told an international conference in Munich, Germany, on Sunday that his

government is “determined to demonstrate Afghan leadership and ownership of the

Sayfa 72

transition process.” He said he has selected March 21, which is the Afghan new year, as

the beginning of that process. He did not provide details.

U.S. President Barack Obama has promised to begin withdrawing American troops from

Afghanistan in July. But the number is likely to be small. And NATO officials have stressed

that the transition of security to Afghan forces will be gradual and dependent on the

situation on the ground.

NATO has set 2014 as the year the Afghan government will take full responsibility for the

country's security.

NATO's top military commander, Admiral James Stavridis also addressed the Munch

conference. He said recent gains on the Afghan battlefield are what he called “fragile”

and “reversible” but, at the same, indications of progress. (VOA News)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai today criticized what he called "parallel structures"

operating outside the law in Afghanistan, such as foreign aid organizations and private

security firms.

He told an international conference in Munich that such structures weaken the state's

efforts to assume security and governance for the country.

Karzai also announced a handover date for when Afghan security forces would begin to

take control of the country. He named March 21, the first day of the New Year in

Afghanistan and throughout the region.

Karzai said some foreign-run private institutions do more harm than good for

Afghanistan.

"The parallel structures are there in order to help Afghanistan … in order to help

Afghanistan's improved governance. Unfortunately, the real effect of that is in reverse of

the objectives," he said.

Sayfa 73

Karzai said in the coming year he intends to focus on the “drivers of corruption" by

enforcing laws and working out land-management programs as part of his goal to take

over full security in the country by 2014. (Radio Free)

Britain's Defense Secretary, Liam Fox, has lashed out at some European countries for

failing to provide enough support for the war in Afghanistan.

Fox unleashed a stinging public rebuke on Germany and Italy for failing to meet their

commitments as far as the undermanned helicopter fleet in Afghanistan is concerned.

The Defense Secretary said Germany and Italy did not provide money, troops or

equipment to help bolster the helicopter fleet.

Fox made the comments after he revealed that a British and French initiative to raise €60

million for 10 helicopters for troops fighting in Afghanistan had only generated three

aircraft with €8 million from Britain and €5 million from France.

“Some of Europe's richest nations have failed to deliver on this project notably Germany

and Italy,” he said.

Fox added that the richer countries' failure comes while smaller countries such as

Norway and Denmark had contributed their share to the project.

“What this does illustrate is that the same countries are doing the deploying and funding

and the same countries are missing from the equation,” he told the House of Lords

foreign affair committee. (Press TV)

*This media summary is prepared by ORSAM Middle East Research Assistants Nebahat Tanrıverdi O and Sercan

Doğan. It covers news and commentaries as reported by the national media sources publishing in the Middle

Eastern countries. The views expressed are not those of ORSAM and their inclusion does not imply factual

accuracy.

Sayfa 74

*Bu bülten ORSAM Ortadoğu Uzman Yardımcıları Nebahat Tanrıverdi O ve Sercan Doğan tarafından

hazırlanmaktadır. Bülten Ortadoğu ülkelerinin yerel haber kaynaklarından derlenmektedir. Belirtilen görüşler

bölge ülkelerinin haber kaynaklarına ve ismi geçen yazarlara ait olup ORSAM’ın görüşünü yansıtmamaktadır.