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Contents contributed and discussions participated by Jim Franklin

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Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - Europe - EU rejects Palestinian state plan - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...2009111711387196772.html

Israeli Palestinian conflict Palestinian State unilateral EU

shared by Jim Franklin on 17 Nov 09 - Cached
  • The European Union has rejected a plan to push for recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN Security Council, saying the move was "premature".
  • "I would hope that we would be in a position to recognise a Palestinian state, but there has to be one first, so I think that is somewhat premature," he said on Tuesday.
  • The plan, backed by the Arab League, has also been rejected by Washington, which along with the EU backs a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The Israeli government has threatened to nullify past accords with the Palestinians if they take any unilateral action.
Jim Franklin

Memo From Riyadh - Influence of Egypt and Saudi Arabia Fades - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...11saudi.html

Saudi Arabia Syria Iran Egypt diplomacy

shared by Jim Franklin on 15 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Saudi Arabia and Egypt are increasingly viewed in the region as diminished actors whose influence is on the wane, political experts say.
  • They have been challenged by Iran, opposed by much smaller Arab neighbors, mocked by Syria and defied by influential nonstate groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
  • Officials in Saudi Arabia and Egypt acknowledge all this; they admit that they are no longer masters of their universe. What they do not agree upon is how to respond.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has decided that Arab unity is the only way to re-establish the kingdom’s role and to blunt Iran’s growing influence.
  • Egyptian officials say they wish the king well but have declined to participate in his reconciliation initiative because they think it will fail as long as Syria determines that the advantages of playing the spoiler outweigh the gains of pushing for peace.
  • The Saudis have hinted at two strategies. One involves giving Syria much needed economic assistance. The other, though not stated directly, involves Lebanon.
  • Egyptian officials, for their part, have been trying to reconcile the Palestinian factions, which have been at odds since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip.
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - INSIDE STORY - Yemen's civil war - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...2009111515525960432.html

Iran Saudi Arabia Yemen Houthi civil war

shared by Jim Franklin on 15 Nov 09 - No Cached
  • Neighbouring Saudi Arabia mobilises its forces on the border saying it will create a buffer zone inside Northern Yemen to keep the fighters away from the border.
  • Iran demands that outside forces stay out of the war between the government and Houthi rebels in Yemen.
  • Is a local insurrection turning into a war between the region's strongest powers? Are we seeing the birth of another proxy war in the Middle East? And who is likely to come out on top?
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - CENTRAL/S. ASIA - US unveils extended Bagram prison - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...20091115114337109563.html

Guantanamo Bagram rendition

shared by Jim Franklin on 15 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Bagram, unlike its Guantanamo counterpart, was clearly not going to be shut down soon.
  • "The new prison wing cost some $60 million to build ... and is meant to be part of a new era of openness and transparency," Bays said.
  • were not shown the detainees
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Nor has any civilian lawyer ever been allowed inside
  • the extended prison could hold up to 1,000 detainees, but was at present holding around 700 inmates, including 30 foreign prisoners
  • Bagram is seen as "Guantanamo's lesser-known evil twin".
  • US government still won't release a simple list of names of prisoners who are in Bagram," she told Al Jazeera.
  • Bagram lies in Parwan, a relatively quiet province. The Taliban is not believed to have a significant presence in the province.
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - News - 1 views

english.aljazeera.net/...2009111483826384398.html

Israeli Palestinian conflict water

shared by Jim Franklin on 14 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Palestinian farmers in the West Bank, or "water pirates" as Israeli occupation forces prefer to call them, are siphoning off drinking water pipes in an effort to secure water to irrigate their farmland.
  • A World Bank report has accused Israel of using four times more water than Palestinians
  • Israel's daily water consumption per capita is four times higher than the 70 litre per person consumed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, according to the report entitled: Troubled waters - Palestinians denied fair access to water.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Amnesty International, said in a report released last month, Israel is denying Palestinians adequate access to clean, safe water while allowing almost unlimited supplies to Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
  • The Amnesty report said Israel uses more than 80 per cent of water drawn from the aquifer and while Israel has other water sources, the aquifer is the West Bank's only supply of water.
  • Amnesty said between 180,000 and 200,000 Palestinians in West Bank rural communities have no access to running water, while taps in other areas often run dry.
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - Europe - Syria rejects Israel talks - 1 views

english.aljazeera.net/...20091113145246388303.html

Israel diplomacy Syria France Sarkozy Assad Netanyahu peace process

shared by Jim Franklin on 13 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has said he is not willing to hold face-to-face talks with the Israeli leader
  • Al-Assad said: "If Mr [Binyamin] Netanyahu is serious, he can send a team of experts, and we'll send a team of experts to Turkey. Then we can really talk, if they're interested."
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - Europe - France meets Syria over peace plan - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...20091113122512183756.html

Israel USA diplomacy Syria France Sarkozy Assad Netanyahu peace process

shared by Jim Franklin on 13 Nov 09 - No Cached
  • Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, is holding talks with Nicolas Sarkozy, his French counterpart, that could bring about a revival in Middle East peace talks.
  • Sarkozy is expected to hand al-Assad a letter from Netanyahu, in which he says the Israelis are ready to begin talks with the Syrians, with no pre-conditions.
  • the Syrian leader said his country had not "yet reached a revival of trust between Syria and the United States," and called on Barack Obama, the US president, to do more for the stalled Middle East peace process.
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  • "The weak point - it's the American sponsor."
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Nasrallah slams Obama Israel 'bias' - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...200911122468678246.html

Israel USA diplomacy politics Hezbollah Nasrallah

shared by Jim Franklin on 12 Nov 09 - Cached
  • The leader of the Lebanese group Hezbollah has accused Barack Obama, the US president, of "absolute bias" in favour of Israel and of disregard for the dignity of Arabs and Muslims.
  • the high expectations that followed Obama's election had been "shattered".
  • Nasrallah said any "illusions" anyone had about the US president being more even-handed in handling the interests of "the Arab nations, Arab and international governments, the Arab Islamic world and in the third world" had collapsed.
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  • He made no comment on Israel's seizure of a ship last week carrying weapons it said originated in Iran and were destined for Hezbollah, a claim the group has denied.
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Settlements 'end two-state hopes' - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...200911421151530735.html

Israel USA diplomacy Palestinian Authority two state solution settlements

shared by Jim Franklin on 10 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Palestinians may have to abandon the goal of an independent state if Israel continues to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, the chief Palestinian negotiator has said.
  • Israel has rejected the idea of a de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank, incorporating the Palestinians as citizens, as a "demographic timebomb" that would make Jews the minority.
  • "This is dictation and not negotiations," he said.
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Yemen rebels show 'seized' Saudi - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...200911917305983423.html

Saudi Arabia Yemen Houthi insurgency

shared by Jim Franklin on 10 Nov 09 - No Cached
  • Yemeni rebels have released a video of a man who they identify as one of several Saudi soldiers in their custody, as fighting between Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government spilled over into Saudi Arabia.
  • the authenticity of the video could not be independently verified.
  • Saudi Arabia has denied crossing into Yemen, and has also dismissed claims that any of its soldiers have been captured. The military has admitted that a number of soldiers are missing.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Saudi Arabia began a series of air raids and artillery bombardments against the Houthi group after its fighters reportedly crossed from northern Yemen and took control of an area called Jebel al-Dukhan.
  • Hundreds of people have died in northern Yemen since the country's army began an offensive against the Houthis on August 11.
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Palestinians break Israel's wall - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...2009119151639325464.html

Israel separation wall Berlin wall

shared by Jim Franklin on 09 Nov 09 - No Cached
  • Palestinians and foreign activists have torn down segments of Israel's separation wall in a demonstration marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
  • group of masked activists using a lorry pulled down a two-metre cement block before Israeli security forces confronted them with tear gas grenades.
  • Last Friday, Palestinian youths almost toppled a segment of wall using a hydraulic car-jack in the West Bank village of Nilin.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The wall is up to 8m high in places, twice the height of the former Berlin wall. Palestinian sources anticipate that it may be more than 750km-long when construction is finished, more than four times the length of the Berlin wall.
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Syria and Iran deny arms boat claim - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...200911543526356307.html

Syria Iran Israel Hezbollah weapons

shared by Jim Franklin on 09 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Syria has denied that a cargo ship loaded with hundreds of tonnes of weapons seized by Israel, was transporting Iranian arms to Syria.
  • "All the cargo certificates are stamped at the ports of origin, and this one was stamped at an Iranian port."
  • The weapons were "a drop in the ocean" of arms being shipped to Hezbollah, Ben-Yehuda said.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Howver, Israel had not provided evidence that the arms were meant for the Lebanese group.
  • "The fact that the Israeli army chose to hold the press conference exactly the same time as the UN General Assembly was beginnning its debate on the Goldstone report [on the Israeli war on Gaza].
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Yemen rules out truce with Houthis - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...200911723220363295.html

Iran Yemen Saudi Arabia Houthi insurgency

shared by Jim Franklin on 08 Nov 09 - No Cached
  • The president of Yemen has ruled out a truce in the escalating conflict with Houthi fighters in the north.
  • Heavy clashes had been reported at the Saudi-Yemeni border as Saudi forces battle Yemeni rebels for the fifth straight day on Saturday.
  • The Shia Houthis, fighting their own government over alleged discrimination, had also claimed to have captured some Saudi soldiers on Friday.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • battle that is being viewed as a proxy conflict with regional power Iran.
  • "The co-operation between Yemen and Saudi Arabia runs for a long time now, even before the Houthis.
  • group denies receiving any help from Tehran, which has offered to mediate in the conflict.
  • "Weapons are largely available in Yemen," he said.
Jim Franklin

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Gaza thirsts as sewage crisis mounts - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8327146.stm

Israel Gaza sewage water treatment plant

shared by Jim Franklin on 04 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Gaza's aquifer and only natural freshwater source is "in danger of collapse," the UN is warning.
  • The plant is handling twice its capacity and is only able to partially treat the sewage.
  • In addition, with several years of drought and the digging of hundreds of illegal, unregulated wells, the UN Environmental Programme says at least three times more water is extracted than is replenished each year.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • only 5-10% of the water in Gaza's wells - and therefore its taps - now meets World Health Organization guidelines, even after it has been chlorinated.
  • "It's like sea water," says local resident Shadi Dosh, 27.
  • Another concern is the blood disorder dubbed "blue baby syndrome", which is associated with nitrate pollution.
  • Thirty kilometres of pipes and 11 wells were damaged, and sewage flooded for up to a kilometre after one waste water plant was hit.
Jim Franklin

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US view on settlement 'unchanged' - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8338141.stm

Israel Palestinian Authority settlements negotiations peace plan diplomacy

shared by Jim Franklin on 04 Nov 09 - Cached
  • appeared to endorse an Israeli position that talks could start before a settlement freeze which the Palestinians are demanding.
  • Washington has changed tack, saying the most important thing was to get the negotiations going again.
  • The Palestinian refusal to acquiesce in this means the chances appear slimmer than ever that these talks about talks can be turned into substantive negotiations, BBC Jerusalem correspondent Paul Wood said.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • They refused a direct appeal from Mrs Clinton to enter substantive talks immediately and the final status negotiations remain a long, long way off.
Jim Franklin

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Hamas 'tests long-range rocket' - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8340096.stm

Iran Israel Hamas rocket Tel Aviv

shared by Jim Franklin on 04 Nov 09 - Cached
  • The Palestinian militant group Hamas has test-fired a rocket capable of reaching Tel Aviv from Gaza, Israel's head of military intelligence has said.
  • rocket was believed to be of Iranian origin and had been successfully fired out to sea.
  • no immediate comment by Hamas and it is not clear what evidence there is that the rocket came from Iran.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • The new rocket has a range of about 60km (37 miles).
  • The furthest Palestinian militants have managed to fire rockets into Israel is approximately 46km (28 miles), hitting the city of Beersheba.
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Iran clashes on embassy anniversary - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...2009114692121423.html

Iran revolution elections

shared by Jim Franklin on 04 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Security forces have clashed with opposition protesters as thousands of Iranians gathered on the streets of the capital, Tehran to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US embassy.
  • Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was Ahmadinejad's main rival in the election, suggested in a statement on his website that a protest rally would be held.
  • "The 13th of Aban is ... a rendezvous so we can remember anew that among us it is the people who are the leaders," he said, referring to the Iranian date for the capture of the US embassy.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • The opposition protesters were expected to head for the Russian embassy later on Wednesday.
  • Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a senior Iranian religious leader, said on Wednesday that the capture of the US embassy was a mistake.
  • "But considering the negative repercussions and the high sensitivity which was created among the American people and which still exists, it was not the right thing to do."
Jim Franklin

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel endorses Iran nuclear plan - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8334235.stm

USA diplomacy Israel Iran IAEA nuclear program

shared by Jim Franklin on 30 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has praised a UN proposal to regulate Iran's uranium enrichment programme.
  • Under the plan, low-enriched fuel would be further processed outside Iran.
  • On Thursday, the UN's nuclear watchdog confirmed it had received Iran's response to the directive, but its contents have not been released.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Mr Netanyahu said: "I think that the proposal to have Iran withdraw its enriched uranium, or a good portion of it, outside Iran is a positive first step."
Jim Franklin

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Lebanon stops fresh rocket attack - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8329403.stm

politics Hezbollah Hizbullah Israel Lebanon rockets

shared by Jim Franklin on 29 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Lebanese troops have deactivated four rockets ready to be fired at Israel
  • The Lebanese military said three of the rockets were set with timers and left in a half-built house in Hula village, where Tuesday's attack was launched.
  • It was the fourth time rockets have been fired over the border this year.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Unifil officials said they had started an inquiry to ascertain who was responsible for the rocket fired on Tuesday, and they will be able to use Wednesday's discovery to gather more information.
  • There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's rocket launch.
  • Lebanese guerrillas from the Hezbollah movement were required to disarm in the border region under the UN ceasefire which brought hostilities to an end in 2006.
  • Hezbollah has denied involvement in any of the attacks and accuses Israel of breaking the ceasefire with continued overflights which violate Lebanese airspace.
Jim Franklin

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Hamas 'bans' January polls in Gaza - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...20091028134049478750.html

politics Hamas Fatah Abbas PLO

shared by Jim Franklin on 29 Oct 09 - Cached
  • The Hamas-run interior ministry in the Gaza Strip has ordered Palestinians in the territory not to take part in elections called by Mahmoud Abbas, the West Bank-based president. 
  • "Any preparations, any committees, any collecting of names will be regarded as an illegal action that we will pursue," he said.
  • Abbas himself was elected on January 9, 2005, for a four-year term. The Palestinian Authority extended his presidency by one year so presidential and parliamentary elections could be held on the same date, as required by Palestinian Basic Law.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • But Hamas has consistently rejected the extension granted to Abbas, and says it no longer considers him to be the legitimate president of the Palestinian people. 
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