Sharon: Netanyahu unfit to lead nation
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon didn't hold back in his criticism of Binyamin Netanyahu during an interview on Channel 10 Monday evening, calling him "a man who deals poorly with pressure and panics."
Sharon, who was interviewed by Channel 10's Mordechai Kirshenbaum and Yaron London, said, "Israel is a special country. Our problems are more complex than those of other countries. In order to run this country, you have to have good judgment and nerves of steel."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125281964383
State: Shfaram attack not terrorism
By SHANI ROSENFELDER AND AP
Eden Natan Zada, the IDF deserter who murdered four Israeli Arabs in a shooting rampage on a Shfaram bus earlier this month, has been branded a Jewish terrorist, but the people who died cannot be recognized as terrorist victims, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
Under the current law in Israel, an assailant must be a member of the "enemy forces" against Israel for the action to be considered terrorism, said Mayan Malkin, a spokeswoman with the Defense Ministry.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125368482180
Israel NZ envoy presents credentials
By HERB KEINON AND AP
Israel and New Zealand have ended a row sparked by two Israeli agents trying to obtain a New Zealand passport which saw diplomatic links suspended for nearly a year, Israel's new ambassador said Tuesday.
"The incident is a closed chapter" for both nations, Ambassador Naftali Tamir told The Associated Press, shortly after presenting his credentials at Government House in the capital, Wellington.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said that while Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom's letter of apology in June to his New Zealand counterpart Phil Goff put the crisis between the two countries in the past, the presentation of credentials marked the "formal, symbolic act" cementing a return to normal ties. "We are now returning to a healthy and mutually beneficial relationship," he said.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125281965123
Israel braces for PA blitz at UN
By HERB KEINON
Despite Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, the Palestinians will not ease pressure on Israel at international forums and will try and bring discussion of the security fence back to the United Nations General Assembly this fall, according to diplomatic assessments in Jerusalem.
Israel has been in constant contact with European countries to try and keep this initiative from gaining traction, local officials say.
Palestinian officials have made no secret of their interest in now moving the focus of their diplomatic activity to international bodies like the UN in an attempt to get Israel to complete the withdrawal from Gaza, including control over the border crossings, and to commit to additional steps.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125281965302
Six days in August
By DAOUD KUTTAB
In the mid-1980s Israeli settlement foe Meron Benvenisti of the West Bank Data Project came up with the idea that, at some stage, Jewish settlement in the Palestinian West Bank would be irreversible.
But this concept – which was well-intended and does have merit – has been dealt a blow by the Israeli government and army.
Within six days, as long it took the IDF to occupy the rest of Palestine, Israeli soldiers emptied all the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip as well as four northern West Bank colonies. The fact that the number of days it took to evacuate the illegal settlers is equal to those it took to occupy Sinai, the Golan Heights and the rest of Palestine goes to show that occupation is not irreversible.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1125281964963
Haaretz
Netanyahu announces run for the premiership
By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent
In a direct challenge to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, MK Benjamin Netanyahu declared his candidacy Tuesday for chairmanship of the Likud and as the party's candidate for the premiership.
Netanyahu painted Sharon as a prime minister who had veered sharply to the political left, abandoning his own party in the process.
"The Likud today needs a leader who can unify the ranks, rehabilitate the ruins, and lead the Likud to victory, and who will then lead the state in the spirit of our principles, and believe that I can do that," Netanyahu told a news conference in Tel Aviv.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/618686.html
Arab-Israeli unemployment soars during second half of 2005
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
Unemployment among Israeli-Arabs soared by more than 10 percent during the second half of 2005, a government agency revealed in a report published on Tuesday.
The increase in unemployment among Israeli-Arabs, which stood at 11.3 percent in 2005, up by a whole percent since last year, came despite the reduction in unemployment in the Jewish sector.
Some 55.3 percent of the Israeli workforce is employed, the report stated.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/618981.html
Lebanon PM: Top pro-Syrians are suspects in Hariri killing
By Reuters
The commander of the Presidential Guards, three former security chiefs and a former legislator are prime suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said Tuesday.
The prime minister confirmed that the three former security chiefs had been detained earlier Tuesday for questioning by UN investigators and that the Guards commander had been summoned to appear before the U.N. team.
Saniora spoke hours after police detained at their homes: Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed, the former chief of General Security; Maj. Gen. Ali Hajj, the former director general of the Internal Security Forces; and Brig. Gen. Raymond Azar, the former director general of military intelligence.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/618938.html
Police: Right-wing extremists pose threat to elected officials
By Gideon Alon
The police's senior intelligence officer, Major General Dudi Cohen, warned Tuesday that right-wing extremists might try to hurt public officials.
Cohen spoke before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee during a debate on the question of whether pardons should be given to anti-disengagement protesters in custody.
"The nation of Israel has passed through a terrible time and we must look forward and grant a general pardon," said Eli Yishi (Shas), one of the lead supporters of the proposal. "It is only proper to take a step toward reconciliation, otherwise we may drive the social divide even deeper."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/619046.html
Police arrest man suspected of China diamond heist
By Roni Singer
A Ramle court extended on Tuesday the remand of a 32-year-old man from Netanya who allegedly stole 1.7 million dollars worth of diamonds from the company he works for in China.
The suspect, Pini Chen, was extradited to Israel after being arrested in Panama last week.
Chen managed the "Polencic" diamond company's branch in the city of Shenzhen in China.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/619005.html
Pakistani leader could be censured for speaking at Jewish conference
By The Associated Press
The head of a leading Jewish organization hailed Pakistan's leader for accepting the group's invitation to speak at its conference in New York next month, but said in an interview aired Tuesday that President General Pervez Musharraf was likely to be criticized at home for the move.
Musharraf is expected to speak at the interfaith meeting, organized by the Council for World Jewry, while he is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
Jack Rosen, the council's chairman, told Pakistan's Geo television that Musharraf's decision to speak at the conference would encourage other Muslim leaders to talk about reconciliation and religious extremism.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/619063.html
Washington backs down on demand that Israel mark settlement boundaries
By Aluf Benn
Washington has rescinded its demand that Israel and the U.S. jointly mark the boundaries of settlements in the West Bank, according to American and Israeli officials.
Neither side reportedly has an interest in marking the boundaries: for Israel, it would be an uncomfortable concession; for the U.S., it would legitimize the existing settlements.
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U.S. officials said they are now making due with warning Israel to refrain from expanding the West Bank settlements. As an effect of such warnings, they note that most construction licenses in recent years have been given within the large settlement blocs or within built-up areas.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/618628.html
The Arab News
WELL, WELL, WELL. Bush gets help from his Arab friends. Bush is saying he is dipping into the National Reserve. Oh really? I don't think so. But. I might appear that way.
Kingdom Ready to Hike Output: Naimi
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News
JEDDAH, 30 August 2005 — Saudi Arabia yesterday announced its readiness to increase crude oil production to 11 million bpd if world market faces any shortage in oil supplies as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
“We are closely monitoring the impact of Hurricane Katrina on US crude oil supplies, refining activity and oil prices,” said Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi.
“We continue to be in close contact with our customers, especially those in the US, to assist them during any shortfall in oil supplies,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the minister as saying.
Kingdom Hopes Charter Will Safeguard Iraq’s Arab Identity
Arab News
JEDDAH, 30 August 2005 — Saudi Arabia yesterday expressed its hope that Iraq’s new constitution would safeguard its Arab and Islamic identity. “The Kingdom hopes that the Iraqi constitution will respond to the aspirations of the Iraqi people, ensure national unity and safeguard its Arab and Islamic identity,” a Cabinet statement said.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa has asked for an explanation from the Iraqi government on the draft constitution’s stance toward the Arab world, adding that the document had “disturbed” the 22-member pan-Arab organization.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=69266&d=30&m=8&y=2005
Editorial: Iraqi Constitution
30 August 2005
The constitution submitted to the Iraqi Parliament is a disaster in waiting. It is going to fall at the first hurdle: October’s referendum. To be ratified, the constitution not only has to get 50 percent of the votes nationally, but must not be rejected by two-thirds of voters in at least three of Iraq’s 18 provinces. That gives the Sunnis the veto and barring an unlikely change of heart, they will use it; they may be a minority but in four of the country’s 18 provinces, they are the majority.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=69240&d=30&m=8&y=2005
Jordan Asks Iraq to Extradite Three Aqaba Blast Suspects
Abdul Jalil Mustafa, Arab News
AMMAN, 30 August 2005 — The Jordanian government has established contacts with the Iraqi authorities to ensure the extradition of three suspects — two Syrians and an Iraqi — who earlier this month masterminded the explosions at the Red Sea port of Aqaba that targeted a US warship and the Israeli port of Eilat, Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher announced yesterday. “We are in touch with the Iraqi authorities to ensure the extradition of the suspects for trying them in Jordan,” Muasher said at a weekly media briefing.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=69234&d=30&m=8&y=2005
The Jordan Times
Iraqi Sunnis urge charter change
BAGHDAD (AP) — Thousands of Sunni demonstrators rallied in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit on Monday to denounce Iraq's new constitution a day after negotiators finished the new charter without the endorsement of Sunni Arabs.
Sunni leaders have urged their community to defeat the charter in a nationwide referendum on October 15, saying it had been rammed through the drafting committee by the dominant Shiite Arab and Kurdish alliance.
Pasted from <http://www.jordantimes.com/tue/news/news1.htm>
Iraqi constitution internal affair — Jordan
By Mahmoud Al Abed
AMMAN — A senior official on Monday said Jordan now has no plans to sign an extradition agreement with Iraq, refuting recent news reports on the deal.
Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher, however, confirmed that Baghdad was cooperating with Amman to arrest three suspected terrorists, who fled to the neighbouring country after launching a rocket attack in Aqaba against US warships, killing a Jordanian soldier and wounding another.
http://www.jordantimes.com/tue/homenews/homenews1.htm
Sunnis mobilise to defeat charter
By Seb Walker
Agence France-Presse
FALLUJAH — As the Sunni tribal chiefs file into the bullet-scarred headquarters of the US-led coalition in the centre of Fallujah, it is immediately clear what they came to talk about.
"The constitution is weak and it casts the Sunnis aside," says one. "We have to keep Iraq united from [Kurdish] Zakho to [Shiite] Basra," says another.
The Sunni complaints from Fallujah, the former rebel bastion, are familiar emanating from the once-powerful minority community. But then come comments that immediately grab the attention of the attending US officials.
http://www.jordantimes.com/tue/news/news5.htm
No 2nd stage of disengagement; roadmap talks next — Sharon
By Omar Karmi
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, yesterday met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss ways of shoring up the ceasefire and border controls between Gaza and Egypt. The visit came at the same time as EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana met Israeli officials to discuss how to use the momentum of the Gaza withdrawal to restart the peace process.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, meanwhile, said on Monday not all settlements Israel currently maintains in the West Bank will remain in place in a final peace accord with the Palestinians.
http://www.jordantimes.com/tue/news/news3.htm
Muasher says no plans now to repatriate Gazans
By Mahmoud Al Abed
AMMAN — A senior official on Monday said Jordan has no plans now to repatriate Gazans living in the Kingdom following the Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.
Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher told a weekly press briefing that it was "too early to talk about this issue."
http://www.jordantimes.com/tue/homenews/homenews2.htm
Gaza fishermen dream of freedom on high seas after Israel's withdrawal
By Beatriz Lecumberri
Agence France-Presse
GAZA CITY — The fishermen of Gaza believe that Allah has put them to work in the only place in the world where the Mediterranean suffocates rather than gives a sense of freedom.
But as the days of Israel's 38-year rule draw to a close, they are hoping to take to the high seas once more.
For the past 35 years, Jamal Amudi has lived in Gaza City's chaotic but colourful port. He first learned to fish with his uncle, and afterwards, with his father. Today he is still fishing — with his four sons.
http://www.jordantimes.com/tue/news/news7.htm
I think there is a disconnect from reality in Jackson, Mississippi. Or maybe this the same tried and true method of oppression Bush now practices on the nation. See the Black people of Jackson, Mississippi are being punished by Katrina sent by God and this form of evil behavior is the reason why. This is the same ludicrous initiative by the Bush Administration across the nation to oppress the political opposition and make them 'toe the party line' along with everyone else who of course deserve to suffers. Of course, Bush and Cheney are always trying to tell those misguided how misguided they are while being above it all requiring sainthood for THEIR suffering for us. Sure. The wicked billionaires are really suffering along with their wives.
The Jackson Free Press
I Lied, But I Didn't Swear
by Adam Lynch
Photo by Adam Lynch
August 24, 2005
Thanks to The Meridian Star, the mainstream media blackout on coverage of Jackson Mayor Frank Melton’s recent lies to the Lauderdale Circuit Court has been lifted. On Tuesday, the Star reported as its lead Page 1 story that Melton went before an angry Judge Robert Bailey the day before in Meridian, on Aug. 22, to ask the judge not to grant default judgment to defendants suing him for defamation due to his lying under oath.
Melton asked Circuit Judge Robert Bailey to give him a break for lying to the court about leaking a faulty memo to a Clarion-Ledger reporter when he was head of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics—a story previously reported only by the Jackson Free Press on July 20. He changed his story in an amended document submitted days after he took the office of Jackson mayor.
“I think I owe the court a very serious apology,” Melton told the judge, as reported by the Star. “Why did I mislead or lie? I assumed I had First Amendment protection. ... It’s no excuse for ignorance. I made a stupid mistake.”
Melton told the judge that he gave reporter Ana Radelat, who covers Washington, D.C., for The Clarion-Ledger, the internal memo alleging wrongdoing by several MBN employees because he believed they were both journalists and were having a confidential exchange—thus, he believed the First Amendment gave him cover for lying about the leak in his sworn depositions earlier this year. Melton’s lawyers told the judge the mayor had been “confused” about whether the First Amendment protected his false statements.
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=6930_0_9_0_C
Almost Legal: In Jackson, Are 18- to 20-Year-Olds Just Screwed?
by Sophia Halkias
Photo by Thabi Moyo
August 24, 2005
Sometimes, being under 21 in Jackson is like serving a term under house arrest.In February, when the Crossroads Film Society managed to secure a copy of “The Ramones, End of the Century,” it celebrated by throwing a Thursday night gala for the screening at Hal & Mal’s. An avid indie-rock fan, 18-year-old Logan Holleman alerted a couple of his friends to the event, and made the 20-minute trek from his home in Flowood to meet up with them in the parking lot before the film began.
“We thought it would be interesting and fun,” recalls the Hinds freshman. “I had just seen ‘The Motorcycle Diaries,’ and was enjoying the fact that you could see movies you don’t see a lot.”
But Holleman never made it past the entrance that night.
“When we got there, we were stopped by an officer of the law, and he told us that it was 21 and older.”
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=6942_0_9_0_C
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