Friday, October 31, 2008

EU CONDEMNS ISRAELIS

Settlers clash with police, Palestinians in Hebron OCT 31,08

HEBRON, West Bank – Jewish settlers clashed with Israeli police and Palestinians Friday in the West Bank city of Hebron over the demolition of an unauthorized settler outpost.Settlers resisted the demolition of the outpost's single home, fighting police and throwing stones at a nearby Palestinian home.Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said four policemen were lightly injured and three settlers were arrested. A photographer for French news agency Agence France Presse was injured when he was hit in the head by a stone thrown by a settler.Hebron is home to several hundred of the most extreme Jewish settlers. They often clash with the town's Palestinian residents, as well as with Israeli forces they see as overly sympathetic to the Palestinians.In recent weeks, extremist settlers have attacked Palestinian farmers and their supporters elsewhere in the West Bank at the start of the important annual olive harvest.France, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, condemned the attacks.It is not acceptable that the olive harvest, (which is) essential for the economy of the Palestinian territories, and the other activities of the Palestinians be hindered by the flourishing of violent and illegal acts, France's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.It called on the Israeli government to take the necessary measures to put an immediate end to the violence.

EU presidency condemns Israeli settlers' attacks on Palestinians Fri Oct 31, 1:22 pm ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) – The European Union's French presidency called on the Israeli government Friday to take action to halt Jewish settlers from attacking Palestinians near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.The European Union once again condemns in the strongest possible terms the acts of violence and brutality committed against Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, the presidency said in a statement.The European Union would point out that it is up to the Israeli government, which has itself condemned these acts, to take the necessary measures to stop them immediately, in accordance with its international obligations, it said.

Dozens of Jewish settlers rampaged through the West Bank town of Hebron on Sunday after Israeli troops removed an illegal settlement outpost, according to Palestinian residents.Witnesses said the settlers hurled rocks at houses, vandalised several Muslim graves in a local cemetery and slashed the tyres of cars belonging to Palestinian residents near the Kiryat Arba settlement.A Palestinian photographer working for AFP suffered head injuries on Friday when settlers hurled rocks at journalists near Hebron, witnesses said.He was among a group of journalists who had gone to the house of a Palestinian that was damaged by settlers after Israeli security forces dismantled a nearby illegal Jewish outpost.Three Israelis were arrested after settlers clashed with police who dismantled the settlement on the outskirts of the flashpoint city of Hebron.

Lebanon says 12 Israeli jets fly over country Fri Oct 31, 11:42 am ET Play

BEIRUT, Lebanon – The Lebanese army says 12 Israeli warplanes have violated the country's airspace by flying reconnaissance missions over northern and southern Lebanon.The army says in a statement carried by the country's official news agency that six Israeli warplanes flew over the border village of Alma al-Shaab and other southern towns and villages for about 30 minutes Friday.The statement says six other Israeli warplanes flew over the Mediterranean off the coastal city of Batroun and over other northern towns for about an hour.There was no immediate statement from the Israeli army, which usually does not comment on flights over Lebanon.

Outgoing Israeli PM wants to renew Syria peace talks Fri Oct 31, 11:30 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is considering resuming indirect peace talks with Syria during his remaining three months in office, a senior official said on Friday.The Turkish-mediated peace talks were put on hold shortly after the premier announced on July 30 he would step down over a corruption scandal. Olmert will remain at the head of a transitional government until the February general elections.The prime minister is considering the possibility of renewing the indirect talks with Syria, the official told AFP.

According to another official, Olmert has asked the Turkish government to present the Syrians with the proposal. Olmert made the request during a meeting with visiting Turkish Defence Minister Vacdi Gonulto on Thursday.Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said that the prime minister sees importance in continuing the dialogue and talks on the Syrian track.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said last month that the talks require more time and effort.The two sides have so far held four rounds of Turkish-brokered discussions. A fifth round had been scheduled for October 30 but was postponed at Israel's request.Direct negotiations were frozen eight years ago after Israel baulked at Syrian demands for the return of the whole of the occupied Golan Heights, right down to the Sea of Galilee, its main water source.Israel seized the Golan in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move never recognised by the international community.

Gaza militants fire rockets at Israeli army patrol Fri Oct 31, 2:56 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Militants in the Gaza Strip on Friday fired two anti-tank rockets at an Israeli army patrol along Gaza's security fence, causing no damage, the army said, but again shaking a fragile truce.Two anti-tank missiles were fired at an IDF (army) patrol on the security fence in southern Gaza Strip, causing no casualties or damage, a spokeswoman said.The attack threatened a fragile June 19 truce brokered by Egypt between the Jewish state and Gaza's ruling Islamist Hamas movement after months of deadly violence in and around the territory.Israel has in the past responded to attacks by temporarily closing its crossings with Gaza through which badly needed foodstuff and supplies are imported into the impoverished territory.

Both sides have accused the other of violating the truce, with Hamas demanding that Israel lift its embargo of Gaza and Israel accusing the Islamist movement of using the period of calm to rearm.

Rice to make yet another push for peace in Middle East by Sylvie Lanteaume Sylvie Lanteaume – Thu Oct 30, 4:40 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the Middle East next week to pursue efforts for a deal on the contours of Israeli-Palestinian peace before handing over to a new US administration.Secretary of State Rice will travel to Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Egypt from November 5 to 9, just after US presidential election results are likely to be known, her deputy spokesman Robert Wood said.She will meet with her quartet counterparts and senior government officials to discuss efforts to achieve positive and lasting peace in the region, consistent with the Annapolis process and the shared goal of a two-states solution, Wood said.Rice helped revive the peace talks in November last year in Annapolis, Maryland, based on a road map launched in 2003 by the quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.The Israelis and Palestinians pledged last year to secure a deal enshrining the road map goal of a Palestinian state living in peace next to a secure Israel by the time President George W. Bush leaves office on January 20.Although both sides have begun tackling simultaneously the core issues of borders, the status of Jerusalem and refugees -- an adjustment to the roadmap -- they have made little visible progress toward achieving that goal.

Wood did not say exactly when the quartet would meet.

But an Egyptian official said the quartet will meet in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on November 9 -- the same day Palestinian groups begin reconciliation talks in Cairo -- to review the peace negotiations.And a European Union diplomat in Brussels said that the meeting would be held from November 8-9 and include Israeli and Palestinian delegates.On September 26, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the quartet members urged Israel and the Palestinians to make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008 on all the core issues.

The quartet said it would be informed of the progress in negotiations during a meeting with the parties in the region before the end of the year.The quartet has come under criticism from aid agencies, which warned last month that it was losing its grip on the peace process and must radically revise its approach.It will be Rice's 19th visit to the Middle East in two years, and the eighth visit since she and Bush hosted the international conference in Annapolis.The negotiations -- the first to take place since previous ones collapsed in bloodshed in 2000 -- have stumbled on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank and Jerusalem.They are also complicated by the division of the Palestinian territories into a West Bank run by the US-backed Palestinian Authority and a Gaza Strip run by the Islamist movement Hamas, which seized power there in June last year.The negotiations are also hobbled by lame duck US and Israeli governments which will be replaced in the New Year by administrations infused with new popular mandates from national elections.With chances of a breakthrough appearing slimmer than ever, Rice has nonetheless pledged to leave no stone unturned in her quest for a deal defining the contours of peace by January 20.As time draws near for the end of this administration, I still believe that we must make every effort in the time that we have to lay this foundation for peace, Rice told a conference here two weeks ago.

Hamas carries out prisoner release in Gaza By Nidal al-Mughrabi Nidal Al-mughrabi – Thu Oct 30, 11:01 am ET

GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas released 17 jailed members of the rival Fatah faction Thursday, describing the men for the first time as political prisoners and saying it set them free as a goodwill gesture before Palestinian unity talks.In order to provide a healthy atmosphere for the dialogue, we decided to free all political prisoners in our custody in Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said during a graduation ceremony for police recruits.He put the number of those prisoners at nearly 20. Fatah, which lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas in fighting in June 2007, has said dozens of its members have been jailed since the Islamist group's takeover of the territory.Several hours after Haniyeh spoke, Reuters correspondents saw 17 Fatah men walking out of prison.With the release of the 17 political prisoners, we declare an end to political detention in Gaza, said Taher al-Nono, spokesman for the Hamas government in the territory.Egypt has invited 13 Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, to reconciliation talks in Cairo on November 9. Haniyeh said he was cautiously optimistic about prospects for success.Hamas had said that Fatah members taken into custody in the Gaza Strip had committed criminal acts and it had denied any political motivation in arresting them.Fahmi al-Zaarir, a Fatah spokesman, said Haniyeh had finally acknowledged that the group has been abducting Fatah men in Gaza because of their political opinions and nothing else.

Hamas says Fatah security services in the West Bank are holding 400 of its supporters.We urge Fatah to reciprocate and free Hamas members jailed there, Nono said.Hamas urged Egypt to amend a reconciliation proposal it had sent to all Palestinian factions ahead of the November 9 talks in line with reservations made by the Islamist group.The Egyptian paper is a proposal for discussion and not a final draft for signing and implementation. It has a positive goal but there are fundamental remarks on its content that must be taken in consideration, Hamas official Salah Al-Bardaweel told a news conference in Gaza.A Palestinian official, involved in the talks, said Cairo rejected to make amendments to its proposal, raising fears reservations by factions, including Hamas, could cast a shadow over chances of success.(Editing by Sami Aboudi)

Plans for Jerusalem Tolerance Museum spark outrage Thu Oct 30, 9:16 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Muslim authorities expressed outrage on Thursday after the Israeli High Court gave the go-ahead for the construction of a Museum of Tolerance on the site of a Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem.The Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, called the court ruling a grave decision which harms the Muslim holy sites.

He said it was difficult to believe the project's promoters would want to build a Museum of Tolerance whose construction constitutes an act of aggression.The High Court on Wednesday rejected appeals by two Muslim organisations which complained that the museum would be built over part of an ancient Muslim cemetery.We will mobilise in the Arab and Muslim world so that it puts pressure to halt the project, said Sheikh Raed Salah who heads Israel's Islamic Movement.Arab-Israeli MP Mohammed Barakeh called the decision an Israeli attempt to wipe out the Arab and Muslim character of Jerusalem.The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre is the main promoter of the museum, designed by renowned US architect Frank Gehry.Moderation and tolerance have prevailed, said Rabbin Marvin Hier, the dean of the centre, following the court's decision.All citizens of Israel, Jews and non-Jews, are the real beneficiaries of this decision, he said.

McCain faults paper for not releasing Khalidi tape By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer – Thu Oct 30, 5:48 am ET

CNN BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin accused the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday of protecting Barack Obama by withholding a videotape of the Democrat attending a 2003 party for a Palestinian-American professor and critic of Israel. The paper said it had written about the event in April and would not release the tape because of a promise to the source who provided it.McCain and Palin called Rashid Khalidi a former spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization, a characterization Khalidi has denied in the past. Both candidates said guests at the party made critical comments about Israel.Khalidi is a professor of Middle East Studies at Columbia University and a longtime friend of Obama's. Khalidi has publicly criticized Israel, but he and Obama have both said they hold very different opinions on Israeli issues.McCain also has ties to Khalidi through a group Khalidi helped found 15 years ago. The Center for Palestine Research and Studies received at least $448,000 from an organization McCain chairs.On Wednesday, McCain said 1960s radical Bill Ayers had attended the same party in 2003. McCain and Palin have criticized Obama for his ties to Ayers and questioned what the videotape of the party might show.Among other things, Israel was described there as the perpetrator of terrorism rather than the victim, Palin said at a rally in Ohio. What we don't know is how Barack Obama responded to these slurs on a country that he professes to support.In a story published in April, the Times said Obama spoke out at the event on the need for common ground on the Israel-Palestinian issue. Obama has said during the campaign that his commitment to Israel's security is nonnegotiable.More than six months ago the Los Angeles Times published a detailed account of the events shown on the videotape, Jamie Gold, the newspaper's reader's representative, said in a statement. The Times is not suppressing anything. Just the opposite — the L.A. Times brought the matter to light.Los Angeles Times spokeswoman Nancy Sullivan refused to elaborate on the paper's statement or respond to the criticism from the McCain campaign.She would not provide any details on further communication between Times' reporters and the source who provided the video.McCain and Palin cited the paper's position as evidence of media bias. The Times has endorsed Obama.If there was a tape of John McCain in a neo-Nazi outfit, I think the treatment of the issue would be slightly different, McCain said in an interview with Hispanic radio stations.

Palin said the Times should win a Pulitzer Prize for kowtowing.It must be nice for a candidate to have major news organizations looking out for their best interests like that. Politicians would love to have a pet newspaper of their very own, she said.

Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor dismissed the complaints as a recycled, manufactured controversy meant to distract voters.Barack Obama has been clear and consistent on his support for Israel, and has been clear that Rashid Khalidi is not an adviser to him or his campaign and that he does not share Khalidi's views, Vietor said.Khalidi taught at the University of Chicago until 2003. Obama and his wife, Michelle, often socialized with Khalidi and his wife, Mona, and the Khalidis hosted a political fundraiser for Obama in 2000.The Woods Fund charity gave money to the Arab-American Action Network, run by Mona Khalidi, while Obama served on the charity's board. Ayers also served on the board. The Center for Palestine Research and Studies conducted regular public opinion surveys in the West Bank and Gaza with financial support from various foundations and from the International Republican Institute, an organization that promoted democracy around the world. McCain was the IRI chairman when it gave $448,873 to the research group in 1998, according to IRI's tax return. Ayers was a founder of the radical group the Weather Underground, which set off bombs at the Capitol and the Pentagon to protest the Vietnam War. McCain has criticized Obama for having had a friendly relationship with Ayers, with whom Obama worked on two community organizations several years ago, and for downplaying their ties. Obama has noted that he was a child when Ayers, now a university professor, was with the Weather Underground. The Democratic candidate has condemned Ayers' radical past and violent activities.

Olmert to meet Bush by January Wed Oct 29, 12:50 pm ET

AFP JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet President George W. Bush in the United States before Bush leaves the White House in January, officials said on Wednesday.Olmert's office said in a statement that the prime minister, who is acting in a caretaker capacity since tendering his resignation last month over a corruption scandal, spoke with the president by telephone. The two discussed a range of issues.A White House spokesman said the meeting would be before the end of Bush's term and would be in the United States.Olmert is likely to be in his post until after Israel holds a parliamentary election, triggered by his resignation, that is expected to be held on February 10. Many Israelis question his authority to make binding agreements while acting as caretaker.Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas revived peacemaking under Bush's sponsorship a year ago, but progress has been bogged down by violence and mutual recrimination.

While Israeli and Palestinian leaders have cast doubt on the possibility of achieving an accord before Bush steps down in January, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said this month his administration would pursue peacemaking to the end.Bush himself has urged the two sides to agree this year on a deal to create a Palestinian state. Many see his involvement in the conflict in his final year in office as partly aimed at improving a legacy in the Middle East that has been marked by the widespread unpopularity of his invasion of Iraq.(Jerusalem newsroom)

Prominent left-wing Israeli MP Beilin to retire Wed Oct 29, 6:34 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – MP Yossi Beilin, the dovish former head of the left-wing Meretz party, will retire from political life after the Israeli elections in February, his spokeswoman said on Wednesday.She declined to give details on what he will be doing after retirement but said he remained committed to advancing the Geneva Peace Initiative he developed in 2003 with former Palestinian minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.

The initiative put forth a plan for Middle East peace based on an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip and shared sovereignty over Jerusalem but was never officially adopted by either side.Beilin, 60, stepped down as head of Meretz in December 2007 and was replaced by MP Haim Oron. The party holds five seats in the 120-member Knesset.In the early 1990s, Beilin initiated unprecedented talks with the Palestinians that led to the Oslo autonomy process adopted by Israel's government under former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.Israel will hold early general elections on February 10 to replace the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who resigned amid a wave of corruption allegations.

Diplomats: IAEA says Syrian nuke info needs probe By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 28, 4:09 pm ET

AFP VIENNA, Austria – Freshly evaluated soil and air samples from a Syrian site bombed by Israel on suspicion it was a covert nuclear reactor provide enough evidence to push ahead with a U.N probe, diplomats said Tuesday.The findings are important after months of uncertainty about the status of the investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency.Preliminary results regarding environmental samples collected from the site by an IAEA team and made public earlier this year were inconclusive, adding weight to Syrian assertions that no trips beyond the initial IAEA visit in June were necessary. But the diplomats told The Associated Press that the IAEA's final evaluation, completed a few days ago, has the agency convinced it needs to press on with its investigation.The agency feels there is enough evidence there to warrant a follow-up said one of the diplomats. He, and a colleague from another IAEA country demanded anonymity in exchange for divulging confidential information, which is not meant to be made public until the IAEA's meeting of its 35-nation board of governors next month.Damascus denies running a covert program. On Tuesday, Ambassador Mohammed Badi Khattab — his country's chief IAEA delegate — told the AP he was unaware that the evaluation had been completed and could not comment until his country was told of the findings.Ibrahim Othman, Syria's nuclear chief, has said his country would wait for final environmental results before deciding how to respond to repeated IAEA requests for follow-up visits to the one in June, when the samples were collected. Khattab repeated that stance, saying further developments will depend on us receiving the final result.

In an oral report to an IAEA board meeting last month, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told the board meeting that preliminary results from the environmental samples came up with no indication to back the claims that the destroyed target was a nuclear facility.Alluding to Othman's stance, he said Syria would decide on whether to provide more information and allow further IAEA visits depending on the results of the samples taken during the first visit — implying that Damascus could shut the doors on the probe if the all the samples came up empty.A diplomat attending that closed meeting told the AP Khattab suggested Syria would not allow further visits under any circumstances because it was still technically at war with Israel and was concerned any additional IAEA probe would expose some of its non-nuclear military secrets.Another cited ElBaradei as saying the corpse is gone — alluding to the difficulty of investigating the bombed site months after it was hit last year by Israel and subsequently cleaned up and altered by the Syrians.But — while the diplomats queried Tuesday had no specifics on what the samples contained — one of them said it convinced the IAEA it needs to press on with its probe.Another said that ElBaradei was planning a written report on Syria for the upcoming board meeting starting Nov. 27 — something he had said he would do only if he had substantive developments to share.Beyond wanting to revisit the site bombed nearly 14 months ago by Israel, IAEA experts also want to follow up on U.S, Israeli and other intelligence that North Korea was involved in building the alleged Syrian program.

As well, IAEA officials have been seeking permission to visit three other sites purportedly linked to the alleged reactor destroyed by the Israelis — although Syria has already said that those locations are off limits because they are in restricted military areas.Syria fears the IAEA probe could lead to a massive investigation similar to the probe Iran has been subjected to for more than five years — and to related fallout. Iran is under three sets of U.N. sanctions because of its refusal to heed Security Council demands to curb its nuclear activities.IAEA experts came back June 25 from a four-day visit carrying environmental samples from the Al Kibar site hit by Israel. But intelligence suggests that radioactive material had not yet been introduced into the alleged reactor before it was destroyed, so swipes taken in search of radioactive traces were unlikely to have been of use.That left the inspectors looking for other components, including minute quantities of graphite, a cooling element in the type of North Korean prototype that was allegedly being built with help from Pyongyang. Such a reactor contains hundreds of tons of graphite, and any major explosion would have sent dust over the immediate area.But — if the Syrians were interested in a cover-up — they would have scoured the region to bury, wash away and otherwise remove any such traces.

Abbas, Saudi king meet Tue Oct 28, 3:42 pm ET

RIYADH (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas briefed Saudi King Abdullah Tuesday on preparations for talks next month aimed at reconciling Abbas's Fatah party and the Islamist group Hamas, his spokesman said.President Abbas informed the Saudi sovereign about efforts underway to launch an intra-Palestinian dialogue on the basis of a plan proposed by Egypt that the Palestinian factions have accepted, Nabi Abu Rudeina said.The two men also discussed the US-backed Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has come to a virtual standstill as the US presidential election looms and Israelis prepare for polls of their own in February.Abbas frequently travels to Saudi Arabia for consultations, and his latest trip comes just two weeks before King Abdullah is due to travel to the United States.The two main Palestinian movements have been bitterly divided since Hamas drove Abbas's security forces from the Gaza Strip in a week of fierce street clashes in June 2007, cleaving the territories into hostile rival camps.Both sides have been invited to meet in Cairo on November 9 to discuss the Egyptian plan, which is aimed at restoring unity.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

HATERS SAY ISRAELI POLITICS DOOMS PEACE

US denies Israeli politics dooms peace efforts OCT 27,08

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Bush administration pledged Monday to pursue its efforts for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by year-end while acknowledging that anticipated Israeli elections would complicate matters.No doubt we have an uphill climb, but they have always had an uphill climb in the Middle East, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters eight days before US elections and three months before President George W. Bush leaves office.Her comments came one day after Israel's governing Kadima party leader, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, called for early elections following the failure of efforts to form a new government coalition to replace outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is stepping down over corruption claims.The elections are expected early next year, though an exact date has not been set.This is Israeli politics. As the president says, it's sometimes like full-court karate, said Perino, who dismissed worries that the political turmoil would quash hopes for peace process breakthroughs.I think that's a cynical way of looking at it, and I think that what the president wants to do is continue to try to work with them, she said. We're going to continue to work every day towards that goal.State Department spokesman Sean McCormack acknowledged that the possible Israeli elections complicates the issue, when he was asked for comment during the daily press briefing.

But when has this process not been complicated? he asked.What is important, here, is that you have a process; a process that is yielding results in terms of the parties working on all the hard issues that are between them and making progress on all of those hard issues, he said.Perino also said that US General Jim Jones, former British prime minister Tony Blair and others will continue their work to improve the Palestinian economy, political institutions and security forces.Blair is the special envoy of the so-called quartet of diplomatic powers working on Middle East peace, while Jones is the special US envoy tasked with helping the Palestinians bolster their security forces.The US remarks came as Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad warned on Monday that peace efforts with Israel based on a two-state solution are teetering because of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.The two-state solution, backed by the international community, entails the creation of an independent, viable Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel.The current peace talks were relaunched at a US-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in November 2007, but have made little visible progress since.They have been further affected by the political crisis in Israel, which is heading for elections early next year after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stepped down amid claims of corruption.

Polls show even split in Israeli elections By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer OCT 27,08

JERUSALEM – Israel moved closer Monday to a bruising election campaign that will decide the future of peace talks, as polls showed the moderate foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, in a surprisingly close race with hard-line opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.Neither of Israel's two leading political parties would have enough seats to form a government on its own, according to the surveys, which also showed an even split between the country's hawkish and center-left blocs. That signals more deadlock in peacemaking with Syria and the Palestinians.Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad expressed concern Monday that precious time was running out, although I still have hope that we can find a solution through negotiation.Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were relaunched nearly a year ago at a U.S.-hosted summit, where Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas set a December 2008 target for clinching a final accord. But both leaders have since acknowledged there will be no deal by year's end.President Shimon Peres began the countdown to new elections at the opening of the winter session of parliament, a day after Livni gave up on her attempts to form a new governing coalition.In the coming days, Israel will enter a decisive political campaign, Peres told lawmakers.Peres said elections were inevitable after consulting with the country's other political parties and concluding that no one had the support to form a government. Parliament now has three weeks to dissolve itself. The vote, Israel's third in six years, would take place three months later.Olmert, who is being forced from office by a series of corruption investigations, said he would remain in office as a caretaker in the meantime.Israel's ceremonial president is meant to be a unifying figure in this divided country, and Peres used the occasion to appeal to the parties to work together. The coming elections can raise Israel up and release it from its various weaknesses, he said.But almost immediately, the signs of division were evident.

Speaking to the same session, Netanyahu unofficially launched his campaign by staking out hardline positions on peace talks with Syria and the Palestinians.He said that if elected, Israel would keep defensible borders, and he pledged to retain the Golan Heights. That refusal would make an Israel-Syria agreement impossible. Israel captured the Golan, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, in the 1967 Mideast war.Netanyahu also said Israel would have to keep large swaths of the West Bank as part of any agreement with the Palestinians, and that all of Jerusalem will remain in Israel's hands.We will not negotiate over Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people for the past 3,000 years. I didn't do it in the past and I won't do it in the future, said Netanyahu, who was prime minister in the late 1990s.The speech prompted repeated heckling by dovish and Arab lawmakers.Speaking to retired Israeli security officials in Tel Aviv, Ahmed Qureia, the Palestinians' chief peace negotiator, said opposition leaders adopt a different tone than politicians in power.

But I want to say one thing: There will be no peace without Jerusalem, he said.

Netanyahu also said no Palestinian refugees would be allowed into Israel under any deal. The Palestinians want all of the West Bank as part of an independent state, with east Jerusalem as their capital. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 war. They also say Palestinians who were made refugees following Israel's establishment, and their descendants, should be allowed to return to lost properties. Livni, who has been Israel's chief peace negotiator with the Palestinians over the past year, says Israel must find a settlement to all outstanding issues, including borders, Jerusalem and the refugees. Netanyahu's Likud Party had a poor showing in the last elections and holds only 12 of parliament's 120 seats. The new polls show the Likud more than doubling its strength, while Livni's Kadima holds steady. A poll by the Dahaf Research Institute showed Livni's Kadima Party winning 29, the same number it has now, and Netanyahu's Likud taking 26 if elections were held today. A TNS Teleseker survey gave Kadima 31 seats to Likud's 29. The Dahaf poll of 500 people had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points. The TNS survey of more than 900 people put the maximum margin of error at two parliamentary seats. Livni took the helm of the Kadima Party last month in a primary election forced by multiple corruption allegations against Olmert. She tried to avoid elections by keeping the current government intact, but one partner, the 12-seat ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, pressed new demands she said she could not accept. The poll results indicated that Israelis were not punishing Livni for failing to form a coalition and supportive of her refusal to cave in to what she called political blackmail.

Israeli president clears the way for snap election by Ron Bousso Ron Bousso – Mon Oct 27, 11:32 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Monday that efforts to form a new government had failed, paving the way for snap elections that could turn on the future of the Middle East peace process.After having consulted with representatives of all parliamentary factions I would like to inform you that I see no possibility of forming a government, Peres said in a letter he delivered to parliament.The announcement came one day after governing Kadima party leader, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, called for early elections following the failure of efforts to form a new government coalition to replace outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who is stepping down over corruption claims.In the coming days Israel will enter a crucial electoral period, Peres told the Knesset, Israel's parliament, saying security and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were among the dominant issues.

Elections should now be held early next year, although an exact date is yet to be set.Kadima, the left-of-centre Labour and the right-wing Likud were already mapping out the outlines of their political agendas for the campaign.We have been in a period of uncertainty for several months and therefore the elections should take place as soon as possible, Livni said before Peres's announcement.The foreign minister said she abandoned efforts to form a coalition because she would not cave in to potential partners' demands.I was ready to pay a certain price... but I wasn't ready to mortgage the future of Israel, Livni said after Shas set budgetary conditions and insisted that the fate of Jerusalem could not be included in peace talks.Livni was elected Kadima leader last month to replace the scandal-plagued Olmert, who will remain interim premier until a new government is in place.Livni made it clear she would maintain Olmert's policies favouring the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel but with the Jewish state to retain its major settlements in the West Bank.Both Israel and the Palestinians had pledged to try to reach a deal before US President George W. Bush leaves office in January, but the talks have made little visible progress.Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad warned that peacemaking was teetering because of continued settlement construction and the construction of Israel's controversial separation barrier.Time has become more pressing, as far as such a solution is concerned, with every brick added to the settlements, every new road built for the settlers and every stone lengthening the wall, he said.With Israel set for early elections, peace efforts are now likely to hang in limbo for several months as both sides remain deeply divided on core issues, including the fate of the settlements and the future status of Jerusalem.Israel considers the whole city its eternal and undivided capital, but the Palestinians have demanded east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.Israel captured the mostly Arab sector of the city in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community.Likud, which is headed by hardline former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claims that Kadima and Livni are willing to divide Jerusalem and to withdraw from the West Bank, which Israel calls Judea and Samaria.

It turns out the Kadima leaders are ready to give up the whole of Judea and Samaria and carry out the programme of the extreme left, Likud parliamentary leader Gideon Saar said. He insisted Likud would devote itself to maintaining Israel's security interests in the West Bank as well as its national heritage -- a reference to Jewish settlements rooted in religious and nationalist claims to the land. A poll published in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper on Monday indicated Kadima would win 29 of the 120 parliamentary seats while Likud would get 26 and Labour would win just 11 seats if elections were held now. A majority of 61 MPs is required to form a government. Kadima currently has 29 deputies, Labour has 19, while Likud and Shas each have 12.

Israel's Peres clears way for snap elections Mon Oct 27, 10:21 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli President Shimon Peres on Monday cleared the way for snap elections, formally announcing that efforts to form a government had failed.After having consulted with representatives of all parliamentary factions I would like to inform you that I see no possibility of forming a government, Peres said in a letter he delivered to parliament speaker Dalia Itzik.He handed over the brief letter a day after governing Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni asked for snap elections following the failure of coalition negotiations.

Lebanon's Hariri, Nasrallah hold rare meeting By Yara Bayoumy Yara Bayoumy – Mon Oct 27, 8:18 am ET

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has met his main political foe, Sunni majority leader Saad al-Hariri, for the first time since the war with Israel in 2006, a statement said on Monday.The two men were adversaries in an 18-month political conflict that brought Lebanon to the brink of civil war in May before Qatari mediation produced a deal that led to the election of a new president and formation of a national unity government.The rare meeting, which occurred on Sunday night, marks a breakthrough in the relationship between the two opponents and is likely to cool tensions before 2009 parliamentary elections.There was an affirmation of national unity and civil peace and the need to take all measures to prevent tension ... and to reinforce dialogue and to avoid strife regardless of political differences, the statement issued by both sides said.

Hezbollah's al Manar television aired footage of the meeting which was attended by aides to both leaders. The statement also said that Nasrallah and Hariri would be in mutual contact.The political crisis reached breaking point in May when Hezbollah and its allies briefly took control of the predominantly Muslim half of Beirut, sparking fighting with followers of rival leaders, including Hariri's.The statement said the meeting was honest and open and said the leaders would encourage dialogue by taking steps to calm the situation in the media and in the street.Some of the rivals had earlier made reconciliatory efforts but Hariri and Nasrallah's meeting was seen as the most significant of these.The statement said Hariri and Nasrallah were also committed to implementing the Qatari-mediated deal which had called for national dialogue talks, the first of which were held last month. The next session is due on November 5.Central to the dialogue is a discussion on the fate of Hezbollah's weapons.Demands for the disarmament of the Syrian- and Iranian- backed Hezbollah are at the heart of more than three years of political turbulence in Lebanon since the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.Saad al-Hariri, his father's political heir, has insisted that the issue of Hezbollah's weapons be discussed. Hezbollah says it needs its weapons to defend Lebanon from Israel. The group stood its ground in the 34-day war with Israel in 2006.Hezbollah, which is the most powerful faction in Lebanon and heads an alliance with veto power in government, is not expected to yield to its opponents who want the group's weapons to be folded under state control.However it has expressed a willingness to discuss a defense strategy that would define the role of its guerrillas, who outgun the Lebanese army and are armed with thousands of missiles that can hit Israel.(Additional reporting by Nadim Ladki; Editing by Dominic Evans)

Israel says uncovered Hamas plot to capture soldiers Sun Oct 26, 11:21 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli security forces have apprehended a Hamas operative who planned to capture Israeli soldiers and smuggle them into the Gaza Strip to be used in future prisoner swaps, the army said on Sunday.An army spokesman said Israeli troops and intelligence agents arrested Gamal Abu Duabah, a 21-year-old Gaza resident, on September 21 after he attempted to infiltrate Israel from Egypt.Under questioning he admitted to being part of a Hamas plot to kidnap Israeli soldiers, the spokesman said.He also mentioned that he was sent by seniors in the Hamas organisation who trained his squad and funded its operations, seniors with whom he kept in direct and continuous contact.The Islamist Hamas movement -- which seized power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after routing forces loyal to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas -- is sworn to Israel's destruction and blacklisted as a terror group in the West.In June 2006 militants from Hamas and two smaller Palestinian groups seized the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a deadly cross-border raid.Hamas has since demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel in exchange for the captured soldier.The army said Abu Duabah sneaked into Egypt from Gaza through a smuggling tunnel and spent several weeks in the Sinai planning the operation.During his interrogation he said he planned to lure Israeli soldiers to the border with an apparent drug smuggling operation, then seize them, put them under with sleeping pills, and smuggle them back into the Gaza Strip.

Israel and Hamas agreed to an Egypt-brokered truce in June which has brought a virtual halt to the near-daily rocket attacks Palestinians used to launch at communities near the Gaza border.Hamas has accused Israel of violating the truce by not lifting its crippling sanctions on the territory and Israel has charged Hamas with using the calm to re-arm and plan future attacks.

Palestinian forces deploy in West Bank city By NASSER SHIYOUKHI, Associated Press Writer Nasser Shiyoukhi, Associated Press Writer – Sat Oct 25, 2:44 pm ET

HEBRON, West Bank – Nearly 600 newly trained Palestinian troops took up positions in this tense city on Saturday, as part of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' attempt to expand his control in the West Bank and keep the Islamic militant Hamas in line.

Hebron, a former Hamas stronghold, is the third Palestinian city to be reinforced with Abbas' forces. The pre-dawn deployment signaled growing security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.An Israeli army statement said, however, that the Palestinian operation was a temporary measure to help combat Hamas and maintain public order and did not constitute a transfer of overall security responsibility from Israeli to Palestinian forces.The troops arrived before dawn, during the Jewish Sabbath, a time apparently chosen to prevent protests by hundreds of Israeli settlers who live in several heavily fortified enclaves in the city. Hebron is divided into an Israeli-controlled downtown area, and the larger Palestinian-run sector of the city.In recent months, Abbas has been trying to take over more areas of the once unruly West Bank, though Israel retains overall security control. Abbas' forces deployed first in Nablus and Jenin, and now in Hebron, targeting local thugs, criminals and Hamas supporters.The Hamas militants seized control over Gaza by force in June 2007, leaving Abbas only in control of the West Bank. Abbas has closed Hamas-linked organizations and arrested hundreds of supporters to prevent Hamas from taking over the West Bank.Hamas accused Abbas of collaborating with Israel.This (the deployment) comes as a reward by the occupation forces after what they have done against Hamas, their non-stop efforts to eliminate Hamas, said Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for the militant group.Several hundred Palestinian police officers were already stationed in Hebron before the arrival of the reinforcements.The new contingent of 585 officers, some trained in Jordan under U.S. guidance, drove into Hebron in jeeps, vans and buses early Saturday and assembled at the city's security headquarters. By midmorning, they began patrolling city streets.Hebron's Palestinian security chief, Samih Seifi, said he was determined to impose order. We will arrest whoever tries to stop us, and we will not let anyone deter us, Seifi said.

The Palestinian forces will not patrol the Israeli-controlled sector.In the Gaza Strip, three Palestinians were killed when a smuggling tunnel linking Gaza to Egypt collapsed, officials said. Egyptian medical official Imad Kharboush said the tunnel collapsed early Saturday while smugglers were digging an exit.Since late January, 49 people have died in tunnel collapses.Gazans use the tunnels to smuggle in cash, weapons and consumer goods, dodging an Israeli and Egyptian closure of the coastal territory. Israel only allows limited supplies into Gaza. Egypt sporadically permits sick Palestinians, students and pilgrims to leave Gaza through its territory.In the West Bank, a 23-year-old Palestinian was seriously wounded by Israeli army fire during a clash in the refugee camp of Fara early Saturday, said medic Adnan Ghawanmeh.Israeli forces entered the camp, apparently in search of a fugitive militant. Young men hurled rocks and firebombs at the soldiers, who responded with live fire, Palestinians said. An Israeli army spokesman said Palestinians also shot at the soldiers, who fired back.Associated Press writers Ali Daraghmeh in Nablus, Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza and Ashraf Sweilam in Rafah, Egypt contributed to this report.

Hamas passes on letter to captive Israeli soldier By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer Diaa Hadid, Associated Press Writer – Fri Oct 24, 9:31 am ET

FOX News JERUSALEM – Palestinian militant group Hamas has passed on a personal letter to captive Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit from his family, his father Noam and a Hamas spokesman said on Friday.It was the first letter to reach him from his family, although Schalit has been able to send a trickle of messages home since he was snatched by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid near Gaza in June 2006.

The letter was given to the soldier last month, Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha said.Noam Schalit said the letter was personal and did not detail its contents.Taha said Noam Schalit gave the letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who gave it to Qatari officials. Qatar passed it onto Syrian officials, who gave it to Hamas leader Khaled Mashal.Mashal transferred it to the group's militant leaders inside the Gaza Strip, Taha said.In the past, Hamas militants have allowed Noam Schalit to send a pair of eyeglasses to Gilad, who also holds French citizenship.Taha said passing on the letter was a humanitarian gesture but said there were no plans, so far, to allow more mail to pass between the family and their captured son.Egyptian-mediated efforts to arrange a prisoner swap have stalled over bickering between Hamas and Israel over the numbers of Palestinian prisoners Hamas demands that the Jewish state should release in exchange for Schalit.

Israel religious party rejects conditions to join govt Fri Oct 24, 5:37 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Leaders of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas party said on Friday that they had rejected conditions set by ruling Kadima party leader Tzipi Livni to join a coalition government.The decision was taken by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the 87-year-old spiritual leader, after consulation the party's supreme authority, Shas said.On Thursday, Livni set an ultimatum for her Kadima party's potential coalition partners, saying if there was no agreement on a coalition by a Sunday deadline she would call a snap general election.

Monday, October 27, 2008

NEW WORLD ONE GOVERNMENT

WORLD GOVERNMENT

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

DANIEL 12:4,1
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

REVELATION 13:1-3,7,8,12,16-18
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

REVELATION 17:3,7,9-10,12,18
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)

REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)

REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

EU CALLS FOR WORLD GOVERNMENT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7D21rPpBrk

LIST OF WORLD TRADE BLOCS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trade_blocs

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
http://www.wto.org/

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm

COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
http://www.cfr.org/

COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS (EUROPE)
http://www.ecfr.eu/

CLUB OF ROME
http://www.clubofrome.org/

MONDAY MOURNING MIDEAST STORIES
http://www.mmorning.com/default.asp

COUNTRIES AND REGIONS
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/0,,pagePK:180619~theSitePK:136917,00.html

Oct 28, 2008 Clear-out time for IMF, World Bank By Hossein Askari

In 1944, as the end of World War 11 was coming into view and in the aftermath of financial disorder following the Great Depression, the two Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), were created. The World Bank was mandated with financing the reconstruction of Europe and with long-term economic development projects in developing countries; the IMF was mandated to be the guardian of international monetary stability. However, over the years, both institutions deviated significantly from their respective mandates to become politicized, over-ambitious and grasping all decision-making in countries that fell in dire need of their resources. In the process, they have outgrown

their size, become inefficient and have lost control of their own affairs.

They now duplicate each other to a point that many ministers of finance and heads of central banks do not know the difference between the World Bank and the IMF. As a result, a number of academics and politicians have called for the fusion of the two institutions. Both institutions have incurred financial losses: the World Bank had to downsize in the 1980s, and the IMF had to do so recently. Both institutions have also played havoc with the development process of many developing countries, pushing them deep into debt and economic decline for a number of years. As the world economy has been recently shaken by unprecedented financial, food and energy crises, resulting in the socialization of the financial system of many advanced countries, the media, politicians and academics have naturally wondered whether the two Bretton Woods institutions have carried out their mandates efficiently. Unfortunately, the performance record of both institutions has been deeply disappointing. Both institutions have been criticized by many leading figures for their ill-designed policies. Over more than three decades, the World Bank has concentrated on policy lending in privatization, demobilization of armies and downsizing of countries' civil services, while neglecting agriculture development in many potentially agriculture rich countries as well as infrastructure. Such diminished emphasis on agriculture has undermined food security in many developing countries facing rapid population growth. The IMF has over the past decade renounced its monetary role. Dominated by political slogans, it has portrayed itself, instead, as a poverty fighter. Both institutions wanted to promote good governance and fight corruption in Africa, as if corruption existed only in Africa and nowhere else. Although fighting corruption has no clear or measurable meaning, most likely turning humans into angels, such demagoguery shows how far removed both institutions have been diverted from their Bretton Woods mandates.

While intransigent and dictating policies to developing countries, the IMF has always been congratulatory of US policies. Staunchly supporting former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's bailing out of hedge funds and excessive monetary and deregulation policies, the IMF has urged the European Central Bank to lower interest rates and pursue the same policy stance as the US Fed. In contradiction with its mandate to stabilize exchange rates as well as take an orthodox monetary approach to the balance of payments, the IMF was strongly, and at the same time wrongly, supportive of a deep depreciation of the US dollar through very low interest rates, as called for in its past World Economic Outlook documents, to solve external imbalances. Of the Group of 20 meeting in Kleinmond, South Africa, in 2007, Reuters reported The view of the IMF is that the move in the dollar depreciation is in the correct direction, Evidently, fast depreciation of the dollar contributed to an acceleration of commodity price inflation, food riots and crippling energy prices. As a result of the explosion of food and energy prices, real incomes have fallen sharply, economic growth has slowed and unemployment has started to rise.

Unlike natural disasters (such as floods, tsunamis and earthquakes) that cannot be predicted, financial crisis have never been random events. They were fully documented by classical economists in the 19th century and were shown to be an unavoidable result of speculative credit boom. Irving Fisher (1933) ruled out all causes for a financial crisis except a sustained speculative credit boom and over-indebtedness. Did the IMF predict the present financial crisis when it was in the stage of incubation? No. Even after the financial crisis broke in August 2007, the IMF continued to be supportive of present Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's aggressive monetary policy, which has precipitated economic recession and downfall of giant financial institutions. Recently, the IMF has fully endorsed gigantic bailouts proposed by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and European authorities and socialization of the banking sector, without explaining reasons for such endorsements and their economic, financial, and social implications. While Bernanke has recently confessed to the US Congress concerning the failure of monetary policy and suggested a stimulus program to cope with recession, the IMF has remained in a passive position. There is no plan that can be authentically called an IMF plan put forward by IMF for dealing with the financial crisis. The world community cannot afford two big institutions being the vested interest of highly paid officials and failing to achieve their basic mandates. World leaders should consider reshaping these two institutions according to the type of organization they were in the 1950s and 1960s. A major cause of the present crisis is that financial institutions refuse to deal with their basic mandates and want to extend their role to areas that do not fall under their jurisdiction. In this respect, central banks in many countries, most notably the US Federal Reserve, do not want to manage liquidity and regulate the banking system; instead, they want to promote full employment and growth, based on the Taylor rule (which stipulates how nominal interest rates should be changed in response to divergences of actual GDP from potential GDP and divergences of actual rates of inflation from a target rate of inflation) or inflation targeting.

Similarly, the IMF does not want to deal with monetary issues; it wants to fight poverty and corruption. In doing so, it has recruited anthropologists and social workers and has lost over the years its monetary know-how, as new generations of staff are no longer familiar with IMF practices as they existed. The World Bank does not want to specialize in financing growth projects; it wants to promote democracy, fight corruption and promote good governance and civil society. Both institutions have been advocating reform in member countries; now, they have to admit that they themselves need reform. The IMF should remodel itself into the organization it was in the 1950s and 1960s, basically deleting its poverty, social and structural mission, and closing its resident representative missions that number over 90 in developing countries. It is clear that more than a decade since the IMF decided to fight poverty in Africa, it has impoverished itself by going deeply into the red and has only increased poverty and destabilized a number of African countries. Often, the IMF was told that poverty reduction was the prerogative of the World Bank and a large number of regional development banks. Yet, the IMF never accepted this truth and kept on insisting on its poverty fighter role. Its poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF) amounts to a pure budgetary loan disbursed every six months to a country to finance pure government expenditures, namely large increments in salaries of the army and civil service. Such use of IMF money makes a country indefinitely dependent on the IMF to meet its military and civil service salaries. The PRGF resources and the huge operational costs for running PRGF programs should instead be added to the resources of regional development banks and finance only development projects (such as in health, infrastructure, education, agriculture, energy and so forth). The world needs an IMF that is in charge of macroeconomic policies, namely fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies, leaving trade policies to the World Trade Organization and economic development and its financing to the World Bank. The IMF has to deploy its resources and recruit experts in central banking and in the financial sector, and put in place programs for rebuilding sound and safe banking sectors in every member country, most importantly in major industrial countries. The IMF has a long way to go to fill up the regulatory gap in the financial sector, banking, securities, and futures and derivatives. It should not underestimate this important task.

The IMF has to be a lender of last resort only to central banks, or monetary authorities, of a country, using one facility for all countries, and on a temporary basis. Keeping a country for several years under a program will be totally damaging to the country as the country cannot regain control of its economic development policies and will remain forever under an IMF program. Gold used to be an anchor for central bank's issuance, and used to be, par excellence, the settlement means for international balances that cannot be settled with securities and claims. Now, we have an environment with a fiat money (paper) standard with flexible exchange rates. The IMF has to control monetary and credit aggregates in such an environment in order to establish monetary stability. For each country, the IMF should establish a benchmark monetary program against which monetary performance can be evaluated periodically. Such an indicative monetary program should be consonant with exchange rate and price stability and external sector viability. The IMF should monitor credit aggregates by sector and by maturities, and regularly evaluate the soundness of the banking system. Fast expansion of credit can only fuel speculation and deteriorate creditworthiness in a country and lead to a financial crisis when profits starts diminishing rapidly. Distorted maturities can be a cause of instability. The IMF should discourage factor and product-price distortions. Most importantly, the IMF should discourage the use of interest rates as a policy tool, as this instrument has turned out to cause instability, distort prices and create a highly unpredictable monetary framework. The World Bank should concentrate on fighting poverty and speeding up economic growth in developing countries. It has to channel International Development Association resources (low-cost funding for poorer countries) unconditionally to eligible countries and direct these resources only to long-disbursing development projects and not to quick-disbursing budgetary aid. The poorer countries need much more funding for health, education and infrastructure and for private-sector growth. World governments should also understand better the mandates of the Bretton Woods institutions. Such understanding would help both institutions remain confined to their true mandates. In recent days, the major concern with both of these institutions has been the unfolding sex scandal involving the head of the IMF, managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The IMF board at the weekend cleared Strauss-Kahn of harassment, favoritism and abuse of power after it hired a Washington DC law firm to investigate his affair with an IMF economist. The board's statement on October 25 nevertheless noted that the incident was regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment on the part of the managing director.

That scandal followed on the heels of another involving the former head of the World Bank (resulting in his resignation). And in the past, rumors have been rife throughout the institution about impropriety on the part of board members themselves. These institutions are in need of serious management overhaul. At the same time, the management of these institutions is dominated by the US, a handful of European countries and Japan. While the institutions preach good governance and management, they have been unable to adapt themselves. China is arguably the most important economic power in the world after the United States. Yet Britain and France dwarf its influence. Latin Americans are similarly under-represented. The list goes on. Will the present financial crisis shake up the Bretton Woods institutions and make them rise up to the challenges facing the world economy? This will be answered in the months to come. Nonetheless, drifting further away from initial Bretton Woods mandates and not improving their management will be costly for the world economy. Resources will be squandered. Frustration among politicians and bankers will increase. There have already been calls in many quarters and reputable newspapers (such as London's Financial Times) for a world central bank to take charge of world monetary affairs and stabilize financial markets. It's time to act ahead of the curve. Hossein Askari is professor of international business and international affairs at George Washington University. 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings)

EABC roots for southern African common market 2008-10-24 10:26:03
By Hannah Mwandoloma, Kampala


East African Business Council chairman Reginald Mengi has urged regional economic communities to work for faster expansion of intra-African trade and the creation of a common market. He described that as among the most reliable options the blocs? member countries have to withstand and cushion the impact of the on-going international financial crisis. Mengi made the appeal in an address here on Wednesday to the just-ended two-day tripartite summit of the East African Community (EAC), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) member countries. He said it was of crucial importance for Africa to expedite the process of enhanced economic integration by pooling its small economies together and quickly. Africa can achieve economies of scale necessary for rapid industrialisation and global competitiveness the private sector is ready to play its part, Mengi said. He appealed to leaders at the summit to have enough political will to adopt urgent measures that would trigger a new direction and accelerated expansion of intra-African trade. The private sector in the 26 EAC, SADC and Comesa member countries would like to see speedy regional integration which would maximise economic growth and wealth creation, he stated. The EABC chief, who is also chairman of the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI), noted that lack of adequate protection of industries hindered the achievement of the goal.

Accordingly, he called on the countries concerned to go beyond the establishment of a free trade area and consider establishing a customs union. He saw the union providing for common external tariffs that would protect the countries from being dumping grounds and protecting the viability and competitiveness of their respective industries. Mengi also warned that counterfeit goods threaten the competitiveness of industries and eventually ruin the economies of the countries they flood. According to WHO (World Health Organisation), up to 50 per cent of medicines distributed to the global market especially to poor countries are fake or counterfeit and according to the statistics of one particular country represented here today, fake drugs contributed to about 20 per cent of all deaths in 2007, he said. Observing that fake drugs were a threat to people?s lives, he pleaded for legislation to combat them and for care to be taken not to confuse generic drugs with fake and counterfeit ones.

EABC was founded in November 1997 as an apex body of business associations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Its formation was actively supported by the EAC
secretariat in view of the increasing participation of the private sector players in issues of regional integration. The council advocates free movement of people in the region, formation of private-public sector alliances to strengthen small and medium size enterprises, pooling of resources to develop infrastructure in East Africa on a regional scale and the strengthening of good governance and security. It has since grown to become the voice of the private sector in East Africa, its mission being to be an effective change agent for fostering an enabling business environment for a diversified, competitive, export-led, integrated and sustainable economy. President Jakaya Kikwete opened the Kampala summit, which ended yesterday, recommending a merger of the three economic blocs in eastern and southern Africa to speed up development in the region. The heads of state and government from 26 countries represented at the summit endorsed the idea in principle. SOURCE: Guardian

America's Monetary Woes Let the Air Out of Europe Pain from the euro zone to the emerging East.From today's Wall Street Journal

As this latest monetary bubble bursts (see here), one region that's especially feeling the pain is Eastern Europe. The emerging markets that thought they had come of age by joining the EU or the World Trade Organization in recent years are now gasping for the credit that once flowed freely.Many of the headlines so far have focused on Hungary, which moved last week to defend the rapidly declining forint with a three-point interest rate hike, to 11.5%. Budapest had made strides in reducing its budget deficit from more than 9% of GDP just a few years ago to a projected 3%-4% next year. But the government's reliance on foreign capital inflows, which tend to be dollar liabilities, now has markets guessing it won't be able to finance those liabilities.Ukraine is also struggling, though mostly because the dollar's rise and falling steel prices have left its businesses short of the foreign currency they have used to fuel the country's strong growth the past few years. Substitute oil for steel and you could say the same thing about Russia and its businesses.Moscow has much larger foreign-currency reserves than Kiev, and it is using that money to keep the Russian economy from falling even further than it already has. But Russia is paying for its inability to adopt the rule of law and diversify its economy beyond oil. It has remained a commodity play whose financial prospects fall when the price of oil falls. Vladimir Putin thought he could make Russia a great power again on petrodollars alone. Instead he's built a Saudi Arabia with more time zones and nuclear weapons.

Once upon a time, many countries to the west of this trio might have faced similar problems. The introduction of the euro has changed that, removing currency volatility within the 15-nation bloc and making it a source of stability. National politicians who might have tried to devalue their way out of trouble have been kept in check.That said, the wild swings in the euro-dollar price this decade, and especially this year, are now hurting the Continent. Such dramatic currency-price swings tend to result in misallocated capital, and the damage from that misallocation, and its inevitable correction, can be severe.The European Central Bank and its president, Jean-Claude Trichet, have been praised in these pages and elsewhere for keeping their focus on inflation. In retrospect, however, the lack of policy coordination between the ECB and the U.S. Federal Reserve has contributed to the sharp currency swings that send distorted price signals. We think Mr. Trichet and his colleagues were more right than the Fed has been, but the currency turmoil of the last 14 months has hurt everyone. The world needs better monetary coordination going forward.The ECB has signaled that it will continue to cut rates beyond the 50-basis-point reduction this month, and with the weakness in Europe's economy that may be appropriate. As with the earlier cut, the Europeans should move in step with the Fed to avoid more volatility -- and maybe overshooting on the downside. When a global economy finds itself in a global crisis, the world's leaders can't afford to work against one another.

President Sleiman at the 12th Francophonie Summit Lebanon’s message of openness and harmonious coexistence.The family photo of the summiteers in Quebec (President Sleiman is second from left in the second row)

Prime Minister Saniora meeting on Friday with Deputy Premier Abou-Jamra (left) and Minister Shamseddin.A warm handshake at the Quebec summit between presidents Sleiman and Sarkozy.And between the Lebanese president and Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper.President Sleiman addressing the summit.Mrs. Wafa Sleiman flanked by official personalities.A warm welcome for President Sleiman in Montreal.Addressing the Lebanese community in Canada’s second city.In conversation with Canadian MP Maria Mourani.President and Mrs. Sleiman attending the mass at St. Maroun’s Cathedral

On Thursday President Michel Sleiman received a delegation of graduates of the Lebanese University’s Information Faculty, with whom he discussed a number of matters. He first explained that his objective was to reposition Lebanon on the international scene”. He added, We are a country that is distinguished by its pluralism and its role in the wider world. But before assuming this role, it needs to reposition itself correctly in relation to international institutions and on the Arab, regional and international levels as a state having organized constitutional institutions and a unified position on the level of foreign policy, he said.
After underlining the improvement on the political and economic levels to the extent that Lebanon succeeds in overcoming the international financial crisis, the president spoke of preparations for the coming legislative elections, which have begun with the new electoral law, which he said was not up to the level of the aspirations of the Lebanese, but it was voted unanimously by the members of Parliament, who represent the people. It was necessary to respect this expression of constitutionality, he said.The president -- who is to visit Italy and the Vatican in a few days -- assured his visitors that the elections would take place as scheduled and stressed the need to respect their results, before announcing that a procedure was being established for the appointment of top-level civil servants, so that the appointments are made in a sound way, on the basis of criteria of competence and equality of opportunity.

On the dialogue conference, the president said he believed it was possible the meeting could have a larger number of participants, but on condition that all the participants agree and that the number of those taking part is limited and reasonable.On the subject of the reconciliations, the president argued that an important step forward had been taken on this level, notably on the Christian level.
Asked if he intended to have a parliamentary bloc, he replied, I’m a consensual president for the whole country. But that doesn’t prevent the presence of independents. It’s not necessary for them to be friends of the Administration, but rather friends of the country. I don’t need a parliamentary bloc, but a national parliamentary bloc that places the national interest above everything else and which stands behind the country, not behind the president.In the evening, the president spoke with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, reportedly on the matter of appointments. The prime minister told reporters that following the president’s return from Italy and his own return from two quick visits to Kuwait and Cairo, the Council of Ministers would hold several meetings to discuss the budget, problems affecting the regions, the projects of the Council of Development and Reconstruction and the activities of the Higher Relief Committee.Asked about the Iraqi government’s donation of two million dollars to assist Iraqis who had taken refuge in Lebanon, Saniora confirmed that the Council of Ministers had accepted this money and has placed it in an account in the central bank, where it still is.

Abou-Jamra
The rebellion of Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abou-Jamra, who is insisting on his prerogatives, was at the center of a meeting in the prime minister’s office between Saniora and Abou-Jamra, after mediation by Minister Ibrahim Shamseddin, in the presence of the latter. Following the meeting, Abou-Jamra said that what happened on Tuesday night [when he had left a cabinet meeting in protest against the reluctance of the authorities to acknowledge his claims for wider authority] was a withdrawal, not a boycott. He stressed that the meeting with Saniora served as an exchange of viewpoints and an attempt to resolve the problems concerning an important topic, namely the by-laws of the Council of Ministers.Asked about the result of the meeting, Abou-Jamra said it was neither positive nor negative, adding that what happened in the cabinet is not necessarily the cause of animosity or a rupture with anyone… We’ve agreed since Doha that the state must continue to function…The Doha Agreement stipulates that there should be no boycotts of or resignations from the national unity government.Questioned on the Abou-Jamra affair by a journalist following a meeting with Sleiman, Saniora stressed the necessity of coordination among all the ministries and with the deputy prime minister, who has a value added, but in conformity with the Constitution.After meeting with Saniora, Farid Makari, deputy House speaker and like Abou-Jamra a Greek Orthodox, told reporters he had raised the matter of redynamizing the Orthodox role in the key posts of the state.
In comments to journalists, Abou-Jamra -- a member of the parliamentary Bloc of Reform and Change led by General Michel Aoun – said the deputy prime minister should be a real deputy to the prime minister, adding that the law should be amended to allow the deputy prime minister to chair cabinet sessions and to exercise the premier’s powers in the prime minister’s absence as well as have an office at the Grand Serail.

In comments to the LBCI TV station, Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said the position of deputy prime minister was not mentioned in the Constitution. And MP Hagop Pakradounian indicated that the subject of the deputy prime minister’s prerogatives has no constitutional character, but is rather a matter of practice that has existed since 1943.Lebanese Forces (LF) MP Antoine Zahra, questioned on why he had not commented on the matter, replied that this crisis has been provoked artificially. It is not a political affair and it certainly isn’t a Christian affair. And another LF MP, Farid Habib, suggested that all the talk about the matter was being used to cover [MP Michel] Aoun’s visit to Teheran.On Friday afternoon, however, some arrangement seems to have been reached after a meeting between the prime minister and Abou-Jamra from which the latter emerged seemingly satisfied.

The Quebec summit
A high point on the country’s political and cultural calendar is the biannual summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie, (IOF) bringing together countries in which French is either the major language or -- as in Lebanon -- a language of exceptional importance on the cultural, scientific and business levels.
Having missed the previous two IOF summits, that of Ouagadougou and of Bucharest, Lebanon -- i.e. its president -- was granted the right to deliver one of the six addresses at the opening session of the twelfth IOF summit, held in Quebec City on October 17 and 18.President Sleiman’s speech, the fourth on the list, dealt with a number of subjects, including the beneficial presence of IOF observers at recent Lebanese elections, the deforestation of the country, Lebanon’s vocation as a center of religions, cultures and civilizations, but also its need for peace.He also requested the world’s French-speaking community to support the independence and stability of a prosperous Lebanon, and that community’s greater involvement in the peacekeeping operations. He ended his speech by recalling the Francophonie Games to take place in Beirut (September 27 to October 6, 2009), after Culture Minister had a day earlier promised that Lebanon would guarantee the safety of the athletes and performing artists who took part, and that Beirut could lay on a security deployment at least as intensive as that at the Quebec summit.The president was unable to attend the discussions on the French language on Sunday morning, but met with Abdou Diouf, to whom he announced, according to Dr. Khalil Karam, that Lebanon proposed to establish an observatory of the French language and to bring together all the actors on the French-speaking scene in the Middle East.Dr. Karam, personal representative of President Sleiman for Francophonie affairs, added that the president had congratulated Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ottawa and Beirut (1958-2008) and had obtained from him unlimited backing for the holding of the Francophonie Games.
President Sleiman was however unable to attend a breakfast hosted by the premier of New Brunswick, Mr. Shawn, co-host of the summit, for Stephen Harper, Quebec Premier Jean Charest and other Canadian provincial premiers. President Sleiman traveled to Montreal, Canada’s second-largest city, where he attended a religious service at St. Maroun’s Cathedral celebrated by Bishop Joseph Maroun with the help of the local Greek Catholic bishop, Ibrahim Ibrahim. Also present were sheikhs Saïd Fawaz, a Sunnite, Hassan Ezzeddin, a Druze, and Sayed Nabil Abbas, a Shiite. He subsequently received Arab ambassadors as well as members of the Canadian Parliament of Lebanese origin, before meeting with members of the local Lebanese community at the Intercontinental Hotel, one of the city’s most luxurious. Members of the community responded with enthusiasm to the invitation of Ambassador Massoud Maalouf, in cooperation with Khalil Habr, consul-general in Montreal. It was no ordinary thing for members of the Lebanese community to meet with a Lebanese president who had come to see them in their exile, and General Sleiman did not disappoint them. He received a standing ovation by the crowd in the elegant Salle St-Laurent, and his bodyguards had great difficulty in clearing a way for him through the crowd. Preceded by the director of protocol at the presidential palace, the president and his wife joined ministers Fawzi Salloukh (Foreign Affairs), Nassib Lahoud (minister of State) and Tammam Salam (Culture), while all present, belonging to all Lebanese communities, sang the national anthem with gusto.

The president told them he brought with him the greetings of every part of Lebanon -- the Kannoubin Valley, the Bekaa, the South, the Mountain and Beirut, showing by these brief and simple words that he represented all Lebanon. He then reiterated the pride he felt that Lebanon’s expatriates had raised so high the image and name of their country in North America as doctors, engineers, businessmen, politicians, lawyers and a variety of other callings. He congratulated them on their hard work and success, and especially for bearing witness to their homeland’s culture of openness and dialogue. It is the image of our Lebanon… a message of civilization which has been distorted… but which has been able to withstand attempts to disfigure it, thanks to the support of the Lebanese.He acknowledged that the way ahead would be long and would demand still more sacrifices. We still need the kind of energy you showed when you ventured forth boldly on the uncertain path of emigration. But this time for your country, to make it once more the Switzerland of the Middle East.
He told them Lebanon’s banking system was sound and stable, despite the financial crisis shaking the planet. Indeed, deposits in our banks have even increased, as have conversions of dollars into Lebanese pounds. Investments are still flowing into Lebanon and I predict a golden age in the not-distant future.We want to return Lebanon to its people, to its emigrants, and be able to say to them: Return to Lebanon.And he repeated, The way will be long, but we are doing all we can to consolidate the dialogue… to bring our cause to those who can help us… and wherever we have gone, we have received frank and sincere support. Recalling that reconciliation is a national duty, he cited as examples of national unity first the beatification of Father Yaakoub in Martyrs’ Square on June 22, then the formal opening of the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque in the same place on October 18. We could sense this same unity in St. Maroun’s Church this morning, where sheikhs were present among the Christian prelates…The state has a great duty, and we are going to try to achieve what you are waiting for. We have decided to insert in the electoral law a provision giving emigrants the right to vote in Lebanon’s elections…

Interrupted by applause, the president continued: But its application will require some time. Let us hope that it will be attained in 2013. He also reaffirmed the special facilities of work for emigrants who return to the homeland, and spoke of the reopening of the dossier of the naturalizations in such a way as to all their rights. He noted points discussed at the summit, including a direct Montreal-Beirut flight and establishment of a zone of free exchange between Canada and Lebanon, and asked those present to assist in accomplishing these objectives. He ended by stressing the solidarity of the Lebanese and the confidence he had in them.
During his stay in Montreal, President Sleiman received a visit from Canadian MP Maria Mourani, who had just been elected to a seat in the Canadian Parliament. His discussion with Ms. Mourani -- whose family hails from the Akkar District of North Lebanon -- focused on the establishment of a direct Montreal-Beirut flight, bilateral trade (the embassy in Ottawa still has no commercial attaché, despite the presence of almost half a million Lebanese living in Canada), and the question of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. It was in the early evening that the Lebanese delegation came together at Dorval Airport, with strict security in force, closing a short stay, but one of great emotion and the bearer of great hopes.

Commentary
Don't Close The Door On Free Trade Dan Brutto 10.24.08, 12:00 AM ET


In the midst of the financial crisis, another threat is nipping at the global economy's heels: the re-emergence of protectionism.Both the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy and the outgoing European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson are among those warning that the economic troubles could breed protectionism, which would curtail economic growth when we need it most.

These admonitions come on the heels of the breakdown of the Doha round of trade talks and after much public rancor over pacts including the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.Nothing would be worse for the global economy than responding to the current crisis by closing the doors of opportunity that free trade unlocks. Free trade fuels momentous, positive change. According to the WTO, cutting trade barriers in agriculture, manufacturing and services by one-third would boost the world economy by $613 billion--that's equivalent to adding an economy the size of Canada's to the global marketplace. Free trade raises income--just look no further than the clear emergence of China and India's middle class for proof. In the U.S., exports have created 12 million jobs. Beyond the economic benefits, free trade, if pursued with a long-term, fair and sustainable approach, can also build bridges among people and nations. At a time when the world seems constantly on edge, global trade presents a unique opportunity to help us overcome some of our differences and problems, whatever they may be. One of the many lessons today's turmoil offers is that a company's success should be viewed in decades, not quarters. Having a long-term vision and the commitment to stick with it--fine-tuning as needed--sustains a company through downturns and propels steady growth.Investing for the long haul was UPS's (nyse: UPS - news - people ) approach to building its international operations, which began in earnest 20 years ago this month. Our decision to go global was met initially with some internal skepticism, in part because our leaders knew it was going to be a very expensive and labor-intensive proposition.They also recognized that it represented a big departure from our core competency as a domestic delivery service, but ultimately our executives did not waver from their vision of building an international company. As the Berlin Wall fell and China began to open its doors, they saw the emergence of a global economy. They knew that if UPS didn't adapt and become global itself, it would become irrelevant.

Today, the once-questioned decision to go global is helping to insulate UPS against the U.S. economic downturn. In part that's because many of our customers are experiencing tremendous growth even in these difficult times, because they're growing global businesses.When U.S. companies grow internationally, they learn that long-term relationships are imperative to doing business around the world. Following the demise of some of Wall Street's most trusted names, I believe that business relationships are going to take on even more importance. For multinational companies, hiring locally wherever they operate is a key part of forging these relationships.When UPS first set up operations around the world, we made the mistake of sending in large groups of U.S. expatriates to run the business. But we soon realized that we would not succeed without local knowledge and relationships. UPS's philosophy of developing home-grown talent and promotion from within has helped us establish a sustainable and community-conscious business model, while providing us a deep bench of talent that understands the local culture, language and business values.That, in turn, has earned UPS the trust of the communities we serve. For example, 99% of our 5,500 employees in China are Chinese nationals. That played a big role in China's selection of UPS as the official logistics and express delivery sponsor of the Beijing Olympics.While much of the world's trade growth has come as a result of shipping lower-cost goods from emerging markets to mature ones, higher fuel costs are shifting this pattern. Businesses in the European Union and the U.S. are finding it more cost effective to source their products from nearby locations in Eastern Europe or Mexico, respectively, forming a new trend called near-sourcing. This is helping companies better distribute risk, which is an important part of financial growth and stability. And it's also providing new opportunities. For example, in Mexico, the best-paying jobs now are export-related.Sectors that export 60% or more of their production pay Mexican workers wages that are 39% higher than the rest of the economy, and maquiladora plants typically pay 3.5 times the Mexican minimum wage. These new economic opportunities can serve as a catalyst for educational development, positive political and regulatory reforms and social stability--all of which benefit us collectively.The root cause of Wall Street's recent problems, and ultimately those of the world's financial institutions, won't be solved by global trade. But the ripple effect of those problems--which have been felt by virtually everyone on the planet--can be mitigated by ensuring the free flow of goods, information and funds around the world. Protectionism is a misnomer, as trade barriers don't protect. The world is already so integrated economically that the greatest force impacting the greatest number of lives is business. How we react to our current challenges will be critical to our future. Let us keep the doors open.
Dan Brutto is the president of UPS International.

New world order for migrants needed: TU leader by MARIA ALETA O. NIEVA, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/28/2008 12:47 AM

Some 20 million workers around the world are expected to lose their jobs due to the current global financial crisis.We’ve got a very great fear for the tens of millions of workers who will lose their jobs. We believe that we will see the impoverishment of workers who will live on less than $2 a day rise by about 40 million, said Sharan Burrow, president of the International Trade Union Confederation.Burrow is also conference chairperson of the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development’s (GFMD) Civil Society Days being held in Manila from October 27 to 28.Burrow said the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that the present financial crisis is likely to lead to the loss of some 20 million jobs worldwide.According to Burrow, the ILO said that the number or working poor living on less than a dollar a day could rise by some 40 million, and those at US$2 a day, by more than 100 million.

Asian crisis lessons

Burrow said the first who will lose their jobs will be migrant workers. This was the experience during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.This is true as sectors such a construction is being hard-hit, a sector where migrant workers are numerous. During the Asian crisis in 1997, the first reaction of governments was to announce the expulsion of migrant workers to free up jobs for nationals. Last week, in the wake of the global financial crisis, a number of governments’ announced a possible tightening of their immigration intake, she said.We urge governments to think carefully about whether that’s the right economic decision, because it can, of course, constrain economies where those migrants currently live and work, and we know that for developing countries, the financial crisis will be even deeper and felt more strongly, she added. There is a possibility that migrant workers will be forced to work illegally in other countries.There is no question that people take up other jobs in other countries for a number of reasons. In a global financial crisis, if jobs are threatened, if regular channels of migration are constrained, then clearly, that will see an increase in people desperate to make an income working without documentation in many nations, she said.

Migrants first out

There are about 40 million undocumented workers in the world with 10 million alone in the US.We’re very fearful that unless governments are conscious of the fact that, migrant workers will be on the top of the list, Burrow said.She explained that expanding regular migration, protecting rights and ensuring equal treatment and the policy coherence that world leaders must take on are some of the issues to be tackled during the two-day conference.Migration is a permanent feature of each of our nations and indeed of globalization. But all too often, we forget that it is about people, working people and their families. And hence, at its core, migration must be about human rights and dignity, she said.

Protective global architecture

The global financial crisis and climate change are critical threats to world order, which require new rules, new transparency and a new global architecture, she said.

The challenge is no less for the world leaders to ensure that the potential for the mobility of the world's people, a mobility that is born of choice and not desperation, a mobility that provides opportunities and not exploitation, is framed by a new architecture of protection, she said.Migrant workers are often seen as second-class citizens who are forced to work for their survival. Even documented workers still do not receive equal treatment, she said.We have to find a new set of rules, a global architecture for protection that guarantees equal treatment that expands regular migration channels that gives us coherence within nation and across nations to ensure that migration is based on choice, she said.as of 10/28/2008 12:47 AM

Don't Sign EPA - TUC Urges Gov't By Francis Asamoah Tuffour
Wednesday, 01 October 2008


THE Trades Union Congress, has cautioned of the dangers involved in signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and appealed to the government not to sign it.
The EPA is a scheme instituted by the European Union to create a free trade area between European and ACP countries.The country stands to lose huge sums of revenue as a result of tariffs imposed on imported goods, loss of jobs, massive unemployment as well as collapse of local industries if Ghana should sign the agreement, says Kofi Asamoah, Secretary-General of the TUC.Mr Asamoah gave the advice on Monday at a durbar prior to a peaceful demonstration organised by civil society organisations, farmers and pressure groups in Accra, ahead of the African Carribean and Pacific (ACP) European Union meeting which opens in Accra tomorrow.The demonstrators, carried placards such as EPA is bad, do not sign it, It is dangerous to sign the EPA, EPA is a killer, EPA is indirectly a slave trade and Our industries will collapse if we agree, to sign it, among others.Mr Asamoah, argued that if the agreements is signed, "Ghana and for that matter ACP countries, will open their borders to goods from the European markets and such goods will enter freely without the imposition of taxes.When that happens, it will open the flood gates to sub-standard and fake goods which will also make it difficult to be regulated.The Ghana Trades Union Congress and its affiliates, in partnership with the larger civil society movement in Ghana, and across Africa are calling on the leadership of the ACP to take a second look at the agreement.We ask the ACP to note that free market principles on which the EPAs rest have for the past three decades failed to deliver the promised prosperity. Instead, free markets have led to sharp declines in employment and information of work, and continue to wipe out the livelihood of the majority of people across our countries.

Mr Asamoah said, We draw attention to the fact that the EPAs are nothing more than free trade agreements between the largest trading bloc in the world and, perhaps, the least in terms of world commerce - Africa.He said the Union has a strong stand against the signing of the EPA which the government must adhere to.Later at a news briefing, the programme coordinator of Third World Network, a civil society organisation, Mr Gyekye Tanoh, said African countries stood to lose about two million dollars a year if it signed the agreement, adding that Ghana stands to lose about 162 million dollars if it goes ahead to sign it.He urged civil society organisations, the media and other organisations to join the campaign against the EPA.

Finn’s Facts: The ACP bloc should abandon the EPA negotiations FINNIGAN WA SIMBEYE DAR ES SALAAM

LAST week Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda attended an African Caribbean and Pacific countries summit held in Accra, Ghana to represent President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete who was in New York attending the UN General Assembly. In their statement at the end of the 6th summit of ACP heads of state and government, the leaders of 79 countries accused the European Union through its executive arm, the European Commission, of pushing them to sign the controversial free trade pacts while applying the colonial divide and rule tactics. The EU which has maintained colonial model ties with the ACP bloc since 1975 when the first Lome Convention was signed in the Togolese capital, is pushing the group of poor countries to sign the controversial trade pacts called economic partnership agreements. The EU, which is negotiating the EPAs through the EC, has argued that the controversial trade pacts are important to help integrate the tiny ACP bloc economies into the global market whose rules are supervised by the World Trade Organization (WTO). In his speech at the summit, Mr Pinda accused the EU of disintegrating ACP countries by fragmenting them into several regional blocs including the recently carved, East African Community (EAC) bloc to which Tanzania belongs. A faulty and highly controversial framework agreement on EPA was signed between the EC and the EAC bloc in Kampala, Uganda last year. Among other sensitive issues included in the framework agreement are those which have been stalled at WTO since 2001 when the then Minister for Trade and Industry, Idd Mohammed Simba led a group of 40 poor countries to block an attempt by rich countries led by the United States and Europe to push for a global free trade.

Under the controversial FAEPA, the EC is pushing EAC countries to open up their markets by removing tariffs in a trade reciprocity model which will mean that other developed countries like the US and Japan will have to get the same access to our domestic markets to comply with WTO rules on non- discrimination among its 140 members. Such a move will deplete government revenue, suffocate and ultimately eliminate our infant industries while turning this country into a net aid recipient. After over two and a half decades of working with the so-called donors, most Tanzanians now know why this country’s first President the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere meant by refusing to work with them if given conditions.

Currently, the so-called donors who include the EU wield a lot of powers in the decision making process of this country, often outdoing the majority taxpayers who pay over 60 per cent of the annual budget compared to less than 40 per cent by the donors. What the EU wants to do now through EPAs is to make sure that over 50 per cent of the budget is financed by donations while the domestic market is flooded with heavily subsidized European, American and Japanese goods which will come in duty free as per applicable WTO rules. The Europeans who are behind stalled WTO negotiations of having a new round of global trade due to their selfish positions with the Americans (the US) to continue subsidizing their inefficient agriculture sector, have included a clause in FAEPA where they want an endorsement of the subs by ACP countries which may mean that over 100 WTO members belonging to the ACP-EU bloc, have approved such treacherous incentives. The Europeans also want transparency in government procurement; trade in services, investment guarantees to be discussed through FAEPA before July next year when a comprehensive EPA agreement will be signed with the EAC. Brussels argues that EPAs are not exploitative colonial model trade pacts but development tools which will help fight poverty, preserve the environment and integrate our tiny economies into the global economy. The irony is the EC has also included a clause in FAEPA which wants EAC countries not to charge duty on raw material exports which their industries need while proposing the end products to come in duty free and this will help end poverty! The way forward for ACP countries is to abandon this fraudulent and corrupted process of negotiating EPAs and resort to a more democratic and fairly organized WTO process where there are no threats and intimidation.

UAE Minister of Foreign Trade H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi receives French Minister of State Anne-Marie Idrac21 October 2008

Ministers discuss stronger economic ties to eclipse 2007 USD 6.3 billion bilateral trade, signing of GCC-EU Free Trade Agreement UAE Minister of Foreign Trade H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi has today (Tuesday, October 21, 2008) received a French delegation headed by French Minister of State Anne-Marie Idrac to discuss the strengthening of strategic and economic ties which, among others, would help surpass the USD 6.3 billion bilateral trade engaged in by the UAE in France in 2007 and expedite the signing of a vital Free Trade Agreement between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union (EU). The visit is part of a four-day tour of key GCC countries that started October 19, 2008 and wrapping up on October 22, 2008, which will cover the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Oman. France will capitalize on its current presidency of the EU to broker a faster conclusion to the round of talks that will lead to the eventual signing of a GCC-EU FTA. Minister Idrac has already met the Secretary General of the GCC and will discuss matters related to this goal with the Foreign and Trade Ministers of all four countries. The FTA is of prime importance as trade volumes between both economic blocs have doubled in the past five years and currently amount to more than USD 141 billion. The GCC is Europe's sixth largest export market, while the EU is the GCC's first trading partner.As one of the world's top import and export destinations, France is a vital ally in our quest for sustainable growth. The visit of H.E. Idrac is a welcome affirmation of our mutual commitment to higher levels of collaboration in areas which we believe are crucial to national development. It also reflects the Ministry's eagerness to expand its international economic relations, with France and with the broader European Union with which we as a primary member of the Gulf Cooperation Council hope to secure a crucial Free Trade Agreement with in the near future, said H.E. Sheikha Lubna.

Minister Idrac will be accompanied by Philippe Favre, Ambassador-at-large for international investments and President of the Invest in France Agency (IFA), who will promote France as a favourable investment destination for Gulf countries. Other officials forming the French delegation include Mr. Jean-Louis Bernard, Member of the French Parliament and Deputy Chairman of the UAE-France Friendship Committee; Mr. Alain Cousin, Member of the French Parliament and Chairman of Ubifrance; and Mr. Nicolas Wawreski, Economic Counselor of the Cabinet of the Minster of State for Foreign Trade. The French Minister will also formally launch the regional IFA office which began operations in September 1, 2008. The office will focus on enhancing coordination between institutional French executives receiving request from Gulf clients; developing a privileged relation with local investors to orient their investments towards France; and promoting investment opportunities in France complementing the specific needs and expectations of Gulf organizations. The French delegation will meet officials overseeing major infrastructural projects, including the President of the Abu Dhabi Transport Department and the Chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai. They will also interact with leading local businessmen and discuss key developments such as the UAE electronuclear project, the inter-Emirates railway, and Dubai's new underground railway. A high-ranking commercial team from the French group was able to meet with H.E. Sheikha Lubna on the sidelines of today's meeting during which the UAE official provided an overview of the national economy and the local opportunities available to French investors.We are overwhelmed by the warm reception extended by H.E. Sheikha Lubna and the genuine interest expressed by UAE investors in France's own business prospects, especially in the real estate field. We hope that UAE officials, investors and business interests can come and visit our country soon as well, so that we can return the gesture. This has truly been a productive movement towards our enhanced relations, concluded Minister Idrac.UAE imports from France rose 11 per cent between 2003 and 2007, while re-exports from the European nation also grew 31 per cent during the same period. Almost 80 per cent of the UAE's French trade was imports, while 21 per cent was exports and re-exports. Last January 2008, both countries signed several agreements to further expand economic relations, a highlight of which was a framework for cooperation on the evaluation and potential use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Among the other areas covered by the accords are basic and applied research, water desalination, agronomy, medicine, earth sciences and industry.France and the UAE have inked several Memoranda of Understanding ranging from intellectual property rights to transport and education. The two nations share similarities in their economic structure, as they are both dependent on the services and industries sectors. They are also strong performers in the World Trade Organization's latest list of top 30 trading companies in the world. France's recent assumption of the EU Presidency is perceived by many quarters as an opportunity for the UAE to collaborate with France on the former's enhanced presence in the European trade and economic arena. - Ends -

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