Untitled - orsam

MIDDLE EAST BULLETIN
GÜNLÜK ORTADOĞU BÜLTENİ
26 OCTOBER / EKİM 2010
CONTENTS / İÇİNDEKİLER
1. IRAQ / IRAK
2. IRAN / İRAN
3. ISRAEL - PALESTINE / İSRAİL – FİLİSTİN
4. EGYPT / MISIR
5. LEBANON / LÜBNAN
6. SYRIA / SURİYE
7. ARABIAN PENINSULA AND THE GULF OF BASRA / ARAP YARIMADASI VE BASRA
KÖRFEZİ
8. SOUTH ASIA / GÜNEY ASYA
PAKISTAN / PAKİSTAN
INDIA / HINDISTAN
AFGHANISTAN / AFGANISTAN
Sayfa 1

1. IRAQ / IRAK
The Iraqi political parties' opinions concerning the impact of the leaked Iraq war
documents published by WikiLeaks have on their talks to form the next government
differed. While Al-Iraqiya List (led by Iyad Allawi) believes the publication of these
documents has put the State of Law Coalition [SLC] led by outgoing Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki in an embarrassing position vis-à-vis the other political parties, the SLC stressed
that the timing of these documents' publication was meant to weaken the government
and unsettle the situation in the country. On its part, the Kurdish Alliance deemed it
unlikely that these documents would have any impact on the ongoing negotiations
between the blocs or their outcomes.
Al-Iraqiya List member Muhammad Salman says the publication of these documents will
weaken the position of the SLC and its leader (Al-Maliki) vis-à-vis the other political
parties. He told Asharq Al-Awsat: "These documents exposed the extent of the human
rights violations and hence it has become difficult for the political parties to reach an
understanding with the SLC in light of these difficult documents." He added: "It has
become difficult for the political parties to negotiate with a party accused of committing
obvious violations. This will have a deep impact on the SLC list."
Regarding the timing of these documents' publication, Salman said: "I do not believe
there was a purpose behind the timing of the Wikileaks' publication. Had the party which
published them been Iraqi, then it would be possible to excuse it by saying some want to
benefit by publishing such information at such a time." He pointed out that the "website
announced four months ago that it had important documents about the Iraq and
Afghanistan war."
On his part, SLC member Haydar al-Jurani stressed that the purpose from publishing
these documents was to weaken his coalition and also to unsettle the situation in the
country. After expressing surprise at publishing them at this time, he told Asharq Al-
Sayfa 2

Awsat: "It is strange for these leaks to appear at this time, especially as the process of
publishing such important papers needs quite a long time." He added that "the positions
of the majority of documents published in the United States or elsewhere vary. Some
publish them after 25 or 50 years and up to a full century." Al-Jurani believes the purpose
of publishing them "is to incite sectarian sedition in the country. They moreover focused
in one way or another on the SLC leader which indicates there are clear fingerprints
trying to harm the cohesiveness of the SLC voters."
On the other hand, Kurdish Alliance member Firyad Rawanduzi downplayed the impact
of these documents and told Asharq Al-Awsat: "I do not believe these will have much
impact on the ongoing negotiations to form the next government. They might probably
cause a political argument so as to gain support and embarrass the other party but, in
the end, they will not have an impact on the negotiations and therefore their final
outcome." He added: "Whatever assessments the Iraqi side has about these documents
and whether they are accurate or not, they should be investigated in a transparent and
meticulous way." Ruling out that any party was behind the publication of these
documents, he said: "I do not believe in the conspiracy theory. But on the other hand we
must admit courageously and without any doubt that human rights are violated in all
wars and so they are too in the measures taken during them which lead to violation of
these rights." He pointed out that "everyone knows this painful truth." (Asharq Al Awsat)
Anyone who has been following the shameful Iraq saga since the 2003 invasion knows
that US forces sometimes crossed modern-day warfare’s red lines. There has been a
wealth of anecdotal evidence to support claims against the invaders of abuse, torture
and a lack of concern for civilian deaths; allegations that have mostly remained
unproven.
The Pentagon insisted that the horrors of Abu Ghraib was the work of a few bad apples
and maintained there had been no body counts of Iraqi victims. But, now, thanks to
Sayfa 3

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who, on Saturday, released 400,000 classified US
military Iraq War logs written-up by American military personnel, there is absolute proof
of the coalition’s disdain for international rules of war and the Geneva Conventions.
For a World War I country like the US, which leans on other countries to adopt its socalled
moral values, the facts are shocking.
Between Jan. 1, 2004 and Dec. 31, 2009 there were 109,032 conflict fatalities, which
exposes the “no Iraqi body count” assertion as an outright lie. Worse, over 60 percent of
those fatalities were civilians. Some 700 civilians including pregnant women being
transported to hospital to give birth, children and a number of mentally-ill individuals
were gunned down at checkpoints.
Civilians whose lives were lost during US airstrikes hardly figure in the above statistics as
pilots regularly logged “zero casualties” despite having released their bombs on heavily
populated areas where it was believed insurgents might be hiding. For example, one F-15
bomb was recorded as having successfully hit a target in Fallujah but no casualties were
mentioned. In reality, according to sources on the ground, there were eight victims of
the blast including four women and two children.
The Iraq War logs also prove that the Pentagon ordered its personnel in Iraq not to
investigate over 1,000 allegations of abuse by Iraqi soldiers, police and prison guards.
The US knew that detainees were being tortured with whips, electric drills, electrodes
and subjected to rape or sexual abuse. It was known that prisoners were hung on hooks
attached to ceilings and beaten on the soles of their feet with cables, yet consciously did
nothing to stop the torture and continued to hand over prisoners into Iraqi custody.
It’s one thing to feel that an occupying force has been particularly brutal and quite
another to know for certain that its despicable actions were blessed by the highest
political and military echelons as a matter of policy. It is clear that the Bush
administration has much to answer for but it’s more than probable that its officials will
never be held to account.
Sayfa 4

In the first place, George W. Bush made sure that the US military would not fall under
the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague by refusing to ratify
the Rome statute. Moreover, the UN Security Council cannot refer American officials to
ICC prosecutors without the agreement of the US which holds a power of veto.
More importantly, the current administration and the American people have little
appetite to hang up their country’s dirty laundry. Within the US the WikiLeaks
revelations made headlines for only one day and were hardly discussed in the right-wing
media, which is more concerned with praising the Tea Party mob or bashing Obama.
Unfortunately, a large proportion of the American public possess an almost cultish
reverence for their “nation’s finest” which leaves them with a blind spot when it comes
to assessing their military’s moral record. They lap up feel good stories of troops handing
out sweets to kids or soldiers bringing shipping home stray Iraqi dogs, who became
heroes for sniffing out IEDs. But when it comes to hearing about soldiers turning their
guns on Iraqi kids or helicopter squadrons like “Crazy Horse18” that killed two Reuter’s
journalists and 10 Iraqi civilians including one child while laughing and joking, they would
either prefer not to know or, quite simply, don’t really care.
The Obama administration is equally culpable. President Barack Obama who came out
strongly against the invasion of Iraq represented himself as an ethical man who believed
in fairness and justice during the early days of his presidency. Yet, until now, he has been
deafeningly silent on the WikiLeaks expose while his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has
chosen to shoot the messenger without any attempt to address the message, which she
says endangers US troops and civilians.
Clinton has willfully missed the point. If Americans are, indeed, endangered it is because
of the previous administration’s disgraceful policies that flouted international norms.
Instead of condemning the leak she should censure Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld,
apologize to the Iraqi people and make financial reparations to the families of the 60,000
plus innocent victims.
Sayfa 5

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak says the Obama administration has
both a legal and moral obligation to investigate credible claims of its military’s complicity
in torture as per UN human rights treaties and America’s obligations under international
law. If the Obama team ignores Nowak’s reasonable demand, it is just as blameworthy
for abuses committed in Iraq as Bush and Co.
Judging by the war logs, the hands of the British military aren’t exactly clean either and,
like its US counterpart, Britain’s Ministry of Defense was quick to slam WikiLeaks for
setting truth free. British soldiers are far more exposed to justice than their American
comrades in arms because the UK is a signatory to the ICC and Britons who were
overwhelmingly against the war are not imbued with the same reverence for their army
as Americans. There is a slew of lawyers preparing to pursue the perpetrators of abuse in
British courts and many Britons would be delighted to see Tony Blair answering to judges
in The Hague for his part in the debacle.
As embarrassing as the WikiLeaks revelations are, there is one British politician standing
firmly for truth and justice. Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal-
Democrat Party Nick Clegg who believes the invasion was “illegal” is calling for an
investigation into claims that British troops covered-up the unlawful killing and abuse of
Iraqi civilians.
“Anything that suggests basic rules of war, conflict and engagement have been broken or
that torture has been in any way condoned are extremely serious and need to be looked
at. People will want to hear what the answer is to what are very, very serious allegations
of a nature which I think everybody will find shocking,” he said. At last, an honorable
voice in a culture of whitewash and excuses.
Is there even one similarly decent individual in Obama’s Cabinet willing to place truth
before election hopes, career or political expedience? I doubt it! (Al Arabiya News
Channel)
Sayfa 6

Iraqi outgoing government plans to form a ministerial committee to follow up and
scrutinize Iraq war logs released by the WikiLeaks website.
The government decided to form a ministerial committee headed by Justice Minister
Dara Nouriddin to scrutinize the secret documents accusing foreign and Iraqi Forces of
abusing and killing Iraqi civilians and detainees.
Iraq war logs accused as well outgoing Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki of heading torture
and death squads. (Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV)
Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi visited Kurdistan Regional Government Prime
Minister Barham Saleh to discuss the latest political developments in Iraq and hindrances
impeding the government formation.
Both parties stressed the necessity to form a national partnership government that
includes all parties and be capable of resolving current political rows in Iraq while proving
best services for the Iraqi people.
Executing the program of Kurdistani Parties Coalition is an essential condition to form
the next government, Saleh said.
The program does not only concern the people of Kurdistan but is considered as a road
map to get the country out the present political crisis, he added. (Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite
TV)
The head of Kurdistan blocs coalition called on Monday the leaders of the winning
political blocs in the election and their representatives to meet next Wednesday in
Baghdad to discuss and activate the initiative of Kurdistan Region's President , Massoud
Barzani and work on it seriously and effectively.
Sayfa 7

A source from the negotiating President Office , Ruz Nuri Shaways, who preferred
anonymity, told AKnews that such a call is considered as official that intended to activate
the initiative formally to end forming the government crisis , as it aims also to speed up
to determine their positions toward that initiative to take critical decisions in this regard.
Massoud Barzani, launched the initiative to resolve the political crisis last September that
include the formation of a committee, consisting of 8 to 12 representatives of the
political blocs to begin talks to form a new government and work to resolve the
outstanding disagreements as well as holding extended meetings to the leaders to
resolve the presidencies three issue.
The Iraqi parliamentary elections took place on 7 of last March, and announced the
results of the elections in 26 of the same month showed the progress of Al- Iraqiya List
led by former Prime Minister ,Ayad Allawi that won 91 seats, followed by state of law
coalition, led by the outgoing Prime Minister , Nuri al-Maliki 89 seats, the Iraqi National
List coalition with 70 seats, the Kurdistan Bloc's coalition came in the forth place with 43
seats, but the four winning blocs in the elections, failed to reach understandings about
the sovereign positions. (AK News)
A member of the al-Iraqiya List led by Ayad Allawi said on Monday that its leaders will
visit the Kurdistan Region’s president, Massoud Barzani, on Tuesday to discuss the
latter’s initiative to resolve the ongoing political crisis in Iraq.Iyad Allawi & Massoud
Barzani
Salman al-Jamil told AKnews that al-Iraqiya welcomed Barzani’s initiative to accelerate
the formation of a partnership government and said that it will play a “positive role” in
promoting dialogue between the different factions.
Jamil praised the talks that are underway between the Kurdistan Blocs Coalition (KBC)
and the winning blocs on the Iraqi arena, the National Coalition (NC) and al-Iraqiya,
Sayfa 8

saying that they will help to “reach a national consensus on the formation of a
partnership government”.
The al-Iraqiya lawmaker pointed to his own bloc’s recent declaration of support for the
current Iraqi Vice President and NC member, Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s candidacy for the
premiership as a sign of al-Iraqiya’s commitment to resolving the current stalemate in
Baghdad, regardless of personal or party ambitions.
Jamil said that al-Iraqiya would support any initiative such as Barzani’s, which aims at the
shaping of “a national unity government that serves Iraq and provides services for the
people, not for its parties.”
Al-Iraqiya came a narrow first in the March parliamentary elections with 91 seats, but
were prevented from forming the new government by a Federal court ruling that said it
was the bloc with the most seats in parliament when the house convenes that would
lead.
This decision paved the way for a bout of political maneuvering which saw the creation
of the NC, born of an alliance between the State of Law Coalition (SLC) led by the
outgoing PM Nouri al-Maliki, and the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) which came second
and third respectively in the public vote.
Until al-Iraqiya’s recent announcement that they would back the PM candidacy of Adel
Abdul-Mahdi, both the list’s leader, Allawi and the SLC’s Maliki were widely criticized for
placing their personal ambitions over the interests of the Iraqi people.
More than seven months have passed since the country’s general elections were held
and despite extensive maneuvering and intense negotiations, Iraq’s political elite have
been unable to reach an agreement concerning the composition of the next
administration. (AK News)
Sayfa 9

Head of Kurdistan region, Massoud Barazani, discussed on Sunday, Oct. 24, with Vice
President and Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council official, Adel Abdul Mehdi, and the
delegation accompanying him, efforts exerted to form a government.
Informed source said that both sides discussed the on going efforts toward forming a
new Iraqi government and the obstacles preventing its formation.
Both Barazani and Abdul Mehdi asserted the necessity to activate the efforts toward
speeding up forming a new government to end current crisis the country is suffering
from, especially after the Federal Court’s decision over the unconstitutionality of keeping
Parliament’s session open ended.
On the other side, Barazani shed light on the expanded consultation meeting held on
Saturday in Erbil between Kurdish forces and the Kurdish negotiation delegation praising
the SIIC’s stance with regard to the Kurdish working program.
The meeting also stressed the necessity for hold a meeting of political blocs that have
won in recent election to reach a compromise agreement that is acceptable to all
because the country is badly in need of a unified stance to get out of its current crisis.
For his part, Abdul Mehdi asserted that Barazani’s initiative is the only way out to get out
of the current bottleneck, since the initiative has received international acceptance,
especially by the UN.
Deputy Prime Minister, Rowsch Shaways, and Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, attended
the meeting. (NINA)
MP, Raf’i Abdul Jabar, of Ahrar Bloc called the political blocs and the Iraqi Media outlets
to “Deal carefully and wisely with the documents shown on Wikileaks website.”
He stated to the National Iraqi News Agency (NINA) “It is clear for every one the
intention behind posting these documents on this time which is the hardest for the
Sayfa 10

political process after the delay in forming the government for more than seven
months.”
“These documents are an attempt to create a chaos to hurdle the process of forming the
government through spreading lies and falsehood,” he concluded. (NINA)
Head of the al-Iraqiya List, Iyad Allawi, will arrive in Arbil today to discuss with President
Massoud Barzani the formation of the new government, a presidential source said.
“A delegation of al-Iraqiya List, led by Allawi, is expected in Arbil on Monday (Oct. 25) to
discuss with President Barzani the formation of the new government,” the source told
Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Barzani had offered on Sept. 16 an initiative envisaging the formation of a commission
composed of eight to 12 members representing all political blocs to negotiate means to
settle outstanding issues and form a national partnership government as well as agree
on plenary meetings by Iraqi leaders to settle the issue of the three top posts in the state
– the president, prime minister and parliament speaker.
Iraq’s political arena is witnessing incessant differences since the announcement of the
March 7 legislative elections, in which former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s al-Iraqiya
garnered 91 seats, followed by its archrival incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s
Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law) with 89 seats.
The State of Law clenched an alliance with other blocs, notably the al-Ahrar (Liberals)
bloc of the Sadrist Movement, which won 40 seats, so as to make the largest
parliamentary bloc.
The move is vehemently objected by al-Iraqiya on the grounds that it had won the
largest number of seats in the parliamentary elections and accordingly entitled to form a
government. (Aswat Al Iraq)
Sayfa 11

Kürdistan Bölgesi Başkanı Mesud Barzani, Selahaddin'deki resmi başkanlık makamında
Ürdün'ün Irak Büyükelçisi Muhammed Teysir Elmesa ile bir görüşme gerçekleştirdi.
Başkan Barzani Selahaddin kasabasında bulunan başkanlık makamında Ürdün'ün Irak
Büyükelçisi Muhammed Teysir Elmesayı kabul etti. Büyükelçi Elmesa görüşmede Ürdün
kralı ikinci Abdullah'ın selamlarını Başkan Mesud Barzani'ye iletti. Elmesa, İki hükümet
arasındaki ilişkilerin güçlenmesi ve geliştirilmesi için ülkesinin Hewler'de konsolosluk
açmak istediğini Başkan Barzani'ye bildirdi. İkili arasında Irak'ta kurulacak olan yeni
hükümet konuları hakkında fikir alış verişinde bulundukları bildirildi.
Başkan Mesud Barzani görüşmenin devamında, Kral Abdullah'ın her zaman Irak ve
Kürdistan halkının dostu olduğunu ifade etti. Başkan Barzani, Büyükelçiye Ürdün Kralı
Abdullah'a selamlarını iletmesini söyledi. (Peyamner)
Kürdistan Bölge Hükümeti Başbakanı Dr. Berhem Ahmet Salih, Irak Devlet Başkan
Yardımcısı ve Yüksek İslam Şurası'nın önemli isimlerin başında yer alan Adıl Abdulmehdi
ile bir görüşme gerçekleştirdi.
KBH'nin Başbakanı Dr. Berhem Ahmet Salih, başbakanlık binasında ki makamında, Irak
Devlet Başkan Yardımcısı ve Irak Yüksek İslam Şurası'nın önde gelen isimlerinden olan
Adıl Abdulmehdi ile bir araya geldi. İkili görüşmede Irak'ın içinde bulunduğu siyasi
durumun yanı sıra Irak'ta kurulacak olan yeni hükümet konuları hakkında
değerlendirmede bulundular. İki tarafda kurulak olan yeni hükümetin tüm siyasi kesimleri
kapsaması yönünde hem fikir olduklarını dile getirdiler.
Başbakan Salih, Kürdistan Koalisyonu'nun önerilerinin kabul edilmesi yönünde
açıklamalarda bulundu. Hazırlanan önerilerin Kürdistan Koalisyonu açısından en önemli
şartların başında yer aldığını ifade etti. Başbakan,
yeni hükümete katılmayacaklarını söyledi.
önerilerin kabul edilmemesi halinde
Sayfa 12

Başbakan görüşmenin devamında, Kürdistan Koalisyonu'nun önerilerinin Kürdistan
halkının isteği doğrultusunda hazırlandığını, bu önerilerin Irak'ın bütününe de iyi bir proje
niteliğinde oduğunu dile getirdi. (Peyamner)
2. IRAN / İRAN
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei on Monday
downplayed effectiveness of international and unilateral sanctions against the Iranian
nation, and stressed that the Islamic Republic is now in its best shape standing at the
heights of political might and power.
"The world bullies are making hues and cries about imposing sanctions against Iran but
the nation has defeated the weapon of sanction with its patience and resistance in the
last 30 years," Ayatollah Khamenei said, addressing a gathering of foreign seminaries
who study religious courses in Iran's holy city of Qom on Monday.
"Due to the same insight and resistance and with God's help, the Islamic Republic of Iran
is today standing at the peak of political might and power," he added.
The Leader further noted the 200-year-old attempts made by the arrogant and colonial
powers to undermine the Muslim nations' self-confidence, and underlined that the
Islamic Republic has succeeded in reviving honor, justice, resistance and Islamic identity
for the Muslim Ummah (nation) and foiled the plots hatched by the arrogant powers
against the Muslim community.
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution has on many occasions stressed the Iranian
nation's firm stance in the confrontation against the threats and plots of the bullying
powers.
Sayfa 13

"Cries of the bullies can never make the Iranian nation give up its ideals," Ayatollah
Khamenei stressed, addressing a group of people in Qom last week.
Reminding enemies' frequent plots and measures against Iran ever since the onset of the
Islamic Revolution in 1979, he reiterated that the foes of the Iranian nation always failed
in their plots against Iran in the past and would have the same fate in future if they
intend to continue animosity against the Iranian nation.
The Iranian Supreme Leader started a 9-day visit to Qom on Tuesday. Upon arrival, he
was extended an astonishingly warm welcome by tens of thousands people who had
been waiting for him for days.
Analysts believe that the wide public welcome broadcast live on Iran's state-run TV
signifies the highest rate of the Iranian Leader's popularity among the masses of the
people from all the different walks of life, and proves the nation's strong relationship and
support for the Islamic establishment, insuring the country against any potential enemy
invasion. (Fars News Agency / FNA)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said hegemonic powers are nearing their
endpoint as the political and economic plans of the world hegemonic system have
reached a deadlock.
"The arrogant system is rapidly nearing a dead-lock in theory, plan and operation and the
hot oven which continuously produced new theories, notions, thoughts and creativities is
now being cooled off," Ahmadinejad said at a conference dubbed as 'The National Forum
on Soft War' here in Tehran on Monday.
Noting that "the economic and political plans of the world powers have failed", he
reiterated, "They have reached a dead-end in Palestine, Iraq as well as in the social
economy and management and political management of the world."
Sayfa 14

Ahmadinejad reiterated that the only solution to improve the status quo of the world is
the alternative that the Iranian nation introduces.
"This situation has only one single replacement and there is no other nation but the
Iranian nation which can introduce, follow up and manage this alternative," he said.
He had also earlier stressed that the crimes committed by occupiers and bullying powers
in the world have pushed the hegemonic and materialistic empire to the end of its road.
Reminding that the world is on the verge of a great evolution, Ahmadinejad stated, "The
dark era of bullying and aggression and the era in which a bunch of bullying and
hegemonic powers have turned the whole world into a prison and cause wars,
aggressions and occupation in the world through their materialistic views and
expansionist policies has ended." (FNA)
A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps announced on Monday that
the IRGC Ground Force is scheduled to stage a series of massive wargames throughout
the country in early winter.
"We will conduct wargames of the (IRGC's) ground forces based on the specified
timelines. Accordingly, a number of wargames will be carried out in Day (December 22,
2010- January 20, 2011) throughout the country," Lieutenant Commander of IRGC
Ground Force General Abdollah Araqi told FNA on Monday.
The commander noted that the massive military drills are aimed at maintaining and
bolstering combat preparedness of the IRGC's ground forces.
Commenting on the exact geographical positions of the exercises, Araqi said that the
wargames will be conducted throughout the country and that the rank and file of the
IRGC's ground force will participate in the drills.
Sayfa 15

Elsewhere, the commander reminded IRGC's plans and measures for boosting security in
the country's Southeastern regions, and stated, "IRGC's ground force have drawn macroscale
plans to establish durable security in Southeastern Iran."
Iran tightened security measures alongside its borders after the July terrorist attacks in
the Southeastern city of Zahedan and also after devastating floods ruined parts of
Pakistan and made thousands of affected people rush to the borders with Iran.
A string of security and intelligence measures have been taken in terms of border control
and imposing restrictions on movement from the neighboring countries, Iranian Interior
Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said at the time. (FNA)
Konseyin genel sekreteri Mahmut Bazari konu ile ilgili yaptığı açıklamada, yılın ilk
yarısında 12.3 milyar dolar petrol dışı ürünlerin ihracatı gerçekleştiğini belirtti.
Bazari, aynı dönemde teknik ve mühendislik hizmetleri alanında da İran, 1.18 milyar dolar
gelir elde ettiğini belirtti.
Bazari, petrol dışı ihracatın genellikle doğalgaz yan ürünleri, petro kimya ürünleri, bavul
ticareti ve diğer ürünlerin ihracatından oluştuğunu ifade etti. (FNA)
Cumhurbaşkanlığı basın bürosundan yapılan açıklamada, Cumhurbaşkanı Ahmedinejad’ın
Iraklı meslektaşı Celal Talabani ile telefon görüşmesi yaptığı belirtildi.
İran ve Irak Cumhurbaşkanları gerçekleştirdikleri telefon görüşmesinde ikili ve bölgesel
ilişkileri masaya yatırdı.
Görüşmede, Tahran Bağdat ilişkilerini ideal niteleyen Ahmedinejad, Irak’ta yeni
hükümetin kurulması ile ikilli ilişkilerin özellikle siyasi ve iktisadi alanlarda gelişmesini
diledi.
Sayfa 16

Görüşmede Irak Cumhurbaşkanı Talabani de iki ülkenin çeşitli alanlarda ilişkilerinin
gelişmesini temenni ederek yeni hükümet kurulduktan sonra Tahran’ı ziyaret etmek
istediğini belirtti. (FNA)
After President Hamid Karzai admitted receiving aid from Iran a Foreign Ministry official
in Tehran confirmed that the Islamic Republic gives aid to Afghanistan in reconstructing
the war-ravaged country.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a neighboring country is deeply concerned about
Afghanistan’s stability, and has given much assistance for the reconstruction of
Afghanistan,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has done its part in helping Afghanistan rebuild and develop
its economy and will do so in the future,” Mehmanparast explained.
Karzai insisted at a news conference in Kabul on Monday that the payments to his chief
of staff were transparent payments for his presidential office.
The New York Times reported on Saturday that Karzai’s chief of staff, Umar Daudzai,
received regular cash payments from Iran.
Karzai angrily denied that the payments were secret.
Cash payments “are done by various friendly countries to help the president’s office…
this is transparent,” Karzai said Monday, according to AFP.
“This is nothing hidden. We are grateful for Iranian help in this regard. The United States
is doing the same thing. They’re providing cash to some of our offices.”
He said Iran has assisted his government with up to 700,000 euros once or twice a year
in the form of official aid.
Sayfa 17

“He (Daudzai) is receiving the money on my instructions,” he added. (Mehr News Agency
/ MNA)
Tahran Başsavcısı Abbas Caferi Devletabadi, yedi casusluk dosyasının yargı sisteminde
incelenmekte olduğunu duyurdu.
Mehr haber ajansının bildirdiğine göre, bugün Salı düzenlediği basın toplantısında
gazetecilerin sorularına yanıt veren Tahran Başsavcısı Abbas Caferi Devletabadi,
"kefaletle serbest bırakılan Sarah Shroud duruşma tarihinde mahkemede bulunmazsa
bıraktığı kefalet zaptedilecektir"dedi.
Tahran Başsavcısı, İran'lı vatandaşlar ve yabancı uyruklular için yasalar aynı işlediğini
konuşmasına ekleyerek, fitne döneminde İran'dan çıkış yapan İran'lı suçlular için giyaben
hüküm verilerek kefaletleri zaptedildiğini, kefaletle serbest bırakılanlar İran'lı vatandaşlar
da duruşma zamanında mahkemede hazır bulunmaları şart olduğunu kaydetti.
İiki Amerikalı ile birlikte illegal yolla İran'a giren ve casusluk suçlamasıyla tutuklanan
Sarah Shourd daha sonra kefaletle serbest bırakılmıştı.
Devletabadi ayrıca, yedi casusluk dosyasının yargı sisteminde incelenmekte olduğunu
duyururken, bu dosyaların muhtevesı için bilgi verdi.
Tahran Başsavcısı, "Bu şahıslar yurtdışı seyahatlerde yabancı istihbarat servisleriyle ilişki
kurmuşlar ve para karşılığında onlar için haber akışı sağlamışlardı. Ayrıca bunlardan birisi
Hakın Mücahitleri(Münafıkları) terörist örgütüyle ilişkisi vardır"dedi. (MNA)
İran İslam Cumhuriyeti Dışişleri Bakanlığı Sözcüsü, Türkiye’de füze kalkanı konuşlamak
isteyen NATO’nun amaçları ciddi olarak bölge güvenliğini tehdit ettiğini söyledi.
Mehr haber ajansının bildirdiğine göre, bugün Salı düzenlediği basın toplantısında yerli ve
yabancı basın mensuplarının sorularına yanıt veren Ramin Mihmanperest, NATO füze
kalkanının Türkiye’de kurulmasıyla olası bölgesel askeri dengenin değişmesiyle ilgili
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muhabirimizin sorusu üzerine, NATO’nun amaçları ciddi olarak bölge güvenliğini tehdit
ettiğini söyledi.
Yabancılar olmadan bölge ülkeleri kendi güvenliğini temin edecek güce sahip olduğunu
ifade eden Mihmanperest, yabancı askeri güçlerin varlığı bölge güvenliğini zedeleyeceğini
açıkladı. (MNA)
Afganistan Devlet Başkanı Hamid Karzai, New York Times gazetesinde yer alan Tahran'ın
etkisini artırmak için rüşvet verdiği iddialarından sonra, danışmanlarından birinin İran'dan
rüşvet aldığı iddiasını yalanlayarak, alınan paranın resmi yardım olduğunu belirtti.
Karzai düzenlediği basın toplantısında, "İran hükümeti bize her seferinde 500 bin, 600 bin
veya 700 bin avro vererek yılda iki üç kez yardım ediyor. Bu resmi yardım. Ömer Dodzai
benim talimatlarıma uygun olarak İran hükümetinden para aldı. Herşey şeffaf. Evet para
çantalar içinde geldi" diye konuştu.
İran'ın kabil Büyükelçiliiği tarafından yapılan açıklamada da New York Times'ın, İran'ın
Dodzai'ye düzenli olarak para verdiği iddialarını "hem hakaret hem de gülünç" diye
nitelendirildi.
Açıklamada, Tahran'ın yanlış, hakaretamiz ve gülünç iddiaları kesin bir dille yalanladığı
belirtildi.
Amerikan New York Times gazetesi, Karzai'nin kabine şefi Dodzai'nin İran'dan milyonlarca
dolar aldığını, bu parayı Dodzai ve Karzai'nin, milletvekilleri, aşiret liderleri ve hatta
Taliban sorumlularına bağlılıklarının sağlanması için ödedikleri bir fona aktardığını iddia
etmişti. (IRNA)
Top legislature Alaeddin Boroujerdi announced on Monday that fuel will be loaded into
the core of the Bushehr nuclear reactor today.
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Boroujerdi, made the remarks in a meeting of members of the Majlis Foreign Policy and
National Security Committee and ambassadors of 14 African countries to Iran which was
held here on Monday.
On September 11, Iran’s Nuclear Chief Ali Akbar Salehi announced that nuclear fuel will
be loaded into the core of the Bushehr reactor at the beginning of the Iranian calendar
month of Mehr (September 23 to October 22), and afterwards, the Bushehr nuclear
power plant will begin operation, but later it was announced that the launch of Bushehr
power plant was delayed one month due to some minor technical problems.
The plant, located near the port of Bushehr on the coast of the Persian Gulf, will produce
1000 megawatts of electricity once all the fuel rods are loaded into the core of the
reactor.
The Bushehr reactor may save Iran 11 million barrels of crude oil or 1.8 billion cubic
meters of gas per year, the London-based World Nuclear Association has estimated.
The plant will also put Iran at least a decade ahead of more prosperous Middle Eastern
neighbors such as the United Arab Emirates, which plans to build four nuclear plants by
2020. (Tehran Times)
3. ISRAEL - PALESTINE / İSRAİL – FİLİSTİN
The voice of joy, the voice of rejoicing is heard in Israel: The Americans and British have
also committed for war crimes, not only us. WikiLeaks' revelations have inflamed all our
noisy propagandists: Where is Goldstone, they rejoiced, and what would he have said?
They were relieved. If the Americans are allowed to do it, so are we.
Indeed, the Americans are not allowed, and neither are we. When the traffic police stop
a driver for speeding, the argument that "others do it" will not help him. When Richard
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Goldstone exposes war crimes in Gaza, the claim that "everyone does it" will not help us.
Not everyone does it, and when they do, they should be excoriated and penalized.
According to the logic of Israeli propagandists, some of whom are disguised as
journalists, Israel should now proudly look at the rest of the world: They killed more
people there. There is no need to improve prison conditions in Israel - in China the
situation is much worse; there is no need to upgrade health services - in America 50
million people have no insurance; no need to reduce the gap between rich and poor - in
Mexico it is greater; we can continue to assassinate without trial - the British also do it;
human rights are protected here - the Iranians are much worse; Israel has no corruption -
look what's happening in Africa; the United States has the death penalty - let's have it
too; it is even permissible to kill dissident journalists - look at the Russians.
Yes, war is cruel, the world is full of crimes and injustice, but not one of them exonerates
Israel, even if Israel's sins seem pure as snow compared to those of the great United
States. Now is the time to sharply censure America, not to forgive Israel.
It is the task of all patriots and people of conscience to express their fury over any such
revelations, especially, of course, in their own country. Israelis must aspire to a more just
and much more law-abiding country, without reference to what is going on in the world.
True, we are not the worst; far from it. The number of civilians killed in Iraq, as was
revealed, is a thousand times more horrific than the number killed in Gaza. So what?
Even if the world holds us to a harsher standard, our hands do not become any cleaner.
The world is more strict with us for various reasons, some justified, and at the same time
treats us favorably and turns a blind eye to many other things. And in any case, the
determining factor should be what we see in the mirror, if we look at it honestly.
Our rejoicing propagandists have changed their tactics now: no longer "the most moral
army in the world," a contention any reasonable person can see is ridiculous. Now they
say: "We are terrible, like all the rest." That claim does not hold water, especially
because Israel is not judged only by one or another of its military operations, but by its
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decades-long occupation, with no end in sight. Such a lengthy occupation is unparalleled
in the modern world and a disgrace to Israel, no matter what America is doing in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
WikiLeaks has proven that in the end the truth will out; it is hard to hide anything in this
era. Goldstone also showed it, albeit much less dramatically. Some two years after
Operation Cast Lead, even the Israel Defense Forces is still dealing with it here and there,
investigating and trying officers and soldiers who did what the Goldstone report, which
so infuriated Israel, said they did.
Israel should thank Goldstone, and America should thank Julian Assange. Their
revelations prove the futility of war and its crimes. Imagine how much hatred America
has sown in Iraq, with its thousands of mourning families, and how much hatred Israel
has sown in Gaza, with its thousands of mourning families and its ruination.
How futile are all the assassinations and the torture, abuse and false arrests, with Iraq
and Gaza looking as they do.
What are we brandishing? More than 100,000 dead in a terrible, useless war, the whim
of a democratic leader? True, George W. Bush should now be sent to The Hague. But the
fact that others are doing it, as Assange's revelations show, is the consolation of fools,
and theirs alone. (Hareetz)
In the three years since Hamas took control of Gaza, Israeli officials have employed
mathematical formulas to monitor foodstuffs and other basic goods entering the Strip to
ensure that the amount of supplies entering was neither less nor more than the amount
Israel permitted, according to documents released last week.
The documents - released Thursday in response to a Freedom of Information Act petition
by the non-profit group Gisha - were drafted while Amos Gilad served as interim
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coordinator of government activities in the territories, heading the body that checked
the goods.
The formulas used coefficients and a formulation for "breathing space," a term used by
COGAT authorities to refer to the number of days remaining until a certain supply runs
out in Gaza, to determine allowed quantities.
In September 2007, the Israeli government ordered a tightening of the blockade on Gaza,
a closure first put in place in 1991. COGAT, in conjunction with other authorities, drafted
"Rules for permitting the entry of goods" and "Regulation, supervision and evaluation of
supply inventories in Gaza."
Both documents were classified as drafts, but in effect served as instructions for Israeli
authorities and were considered valid until a government-implemented policy change
following the May raid of a Gaza-bound flotilla that left nine people dead.
Officials from COGAT, a Defense Ministry unit that coordinates activity between the
government, military, international groups and the Palestinian Authority, told Haaretz
that it had actually been responsible for releasing the documents, given that in the wake
of the government decision the directives for keeping the files classified were no longer
in force.
A high-ranking COGAT officer told Haaretz that "Regulation, supervision and evaluation
of supply of inventories in Gaza" is a method of quickly identifying a shortage of any
basic item in Gaza, and that despite the mathematical equations contained in the
document, he had never intentionally limited the amount of goods allowed to enter, but
on the contrary, verified whether inventories of certain basic supplies in Gaza were full.
The COGAT spokesman said that the regulations were formulated "based on well-known
basic foodstuffs, in consultation with the Israeli Health Ministry and in consideration of
family consumption habits in Gaza, as published by the Palestinian Central Bureau of
Statistics in 2006."
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The document contained "warning lines," which were defined as "the days of [remaining]
inventory beyond which the relevant official must pay attention to the deviation from
reasonable norms and examine the correctness of the model."
There were two types of warning lines. The "upper warning line," which identified
surpluses, was defined as an inventory exceeding 21 days for products with short shelf
lives or 80 days for those with long shelf lives.
The "lower warning line," which identified shortages, was defined as an inventory of less
than four days for products with short shelf lives and of less than 20 days for those with
long shelf lives.
The senior COGAT official said the upper warning line was never actually used and the
lower line was an important tool for identifying and averting impending shortages.
The "rules for permitting the import of goods" was drafted pursuant to a cabinet
decision to restrict "the quantity and type of merchandise" entering Gaza. Its stated
purpose was to define the "procedure, rules and method under which permission will be
granted" for goods to enter Gaza.
These rules, the draft continued, were meant to allow in goods that would "supply the
basic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian population." It then listed seven
considerations to weigh when determining which goods should be permitted.
Security was one. The others were as follows:
* "The necessity of the product for meeting humanitarian needs (including its
implications for public health in both the Strip and Israel )."
* "The product's image (whether it is considered a luxury )."
* "Legal obligations."
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* "The impact of the product's use (whether it is used for preservation, reconstruction or
development ), with an emphasis on the impact of its entry on the Hamas government's
status."
* "The sensitivities of the international community."
* "The existence of alternatives."
These rules explain why, for example, imports of cloth and thread, which were
considered "development" products, were barred, thereby destroying Gaza's textile
industry.
The document states that many outside parties affected Israel's decisions: The Strip's
needs will be determined not only by the relevant government agencies, it read, but by
the Palestinian Authority, international agencies, the media and petitions to the courts
by nongovernmental organizations, among others.
The third document that COGAT gave Gisha was the official list of products allowed into
Gaza prior to May's botched raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.
Following that raid, the list was significantly expanded. But the senior COGAT official said
that even before then, the list of products actually allowed into Gaza was always longer
than the written list. (Hareetz)
Amid the strained relations between Ankara and Jerusalem, Turkish intelligence has
severed its working relations with the Mossad, the Turkish newspaper Sabah reported on
Monday.
The report stated that the two agencies, which once enjoyed tight cooperation, had
stopped exchanging intelligence and conducting joint operations following a Turkish
government decision on the matter.
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The report's credibility remains unclear, but high-ranking Israeli officials privy to the
matter neither confirmed nor denied it on Monday, and the prime minister's bureau
declined to comment.
In June, Amir Oren reported in Haaretz that Israeli security officials were deeply
concerned by the appointment of Hakan Fidan to lead Turkey's National Intelligence
Organization. Fidan, a close associate of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is viewed
as a proponent of closer relations between Turkey and Iran.
Meanwhile, Turkey has conditioned its consent to stationing a NATO missile-defense
system on its territory on a guarantee that no information collected by the system be
transferred to Israel.
Since the American-sponsored plan's original purpose was to defend NATO countries
against the possibility of an Iranian attack, this means Turkey is essentially demanding
that Israel not be given vital information about Iranian missiles.
The previous U.S. administration had planned to station the system in eastern Europe.
But due to fierce opposition from Russia, the Obama administration decided to relocate
and scale back the system, which will now focus mainly on deterrence and on monitoring
Iran's missile program.
Turkey was initially reluctant to host the system at all, lest it damage Ankara's
relationship with Tehran. But since it is a NATO member, and since it faces growing
criticism in the United States for its seeming turn away from the West, it said it would
agree under certain conditions.
One was that the system officially be designated as aimed not against threats from Iran
(or from Syria or Russia ), but against missile threats to Turkey and Europe in general.
Another was direct Turkish access to any information gathered by the system. A third
was full Turkish participation in any and all decisions stemming from information
gathered by the system - which would enable it to work against any NATO move to
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attack Iran. And the fourth was that information gathered by the system not be given to
any non-NATO member, and especially not to Israel.
Turkish sources said Washington has agreed to the demand that Iran not be designated
as one of the system's targets. They said it has also agreed that no information from the
system will be shared with Israel, on the grounds that Israel has its own advanced
missile-detection systems for tracking Iranian threats.
Washington, they noted, has little choice but to agree, since Turkey's opposition would
kill the plan: Aside from the fact that Washington needs Ankara's consent to put the
system on Turkish soil, the decision to establish the system requires unanimous consent
by all NATO members. Moreover, Washington is under severe time pressure, as it hopes
to get the project approved at the upcoming NATO summit on November 19. (Hareetz)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu should not warn him against taking unilateral steps toward statehood when
Israel has been building West Bank settlements on its own for decades.
The Palestinian president was referring to Netanyahu's statement on Sunday in which he
said the Palestinians have no options for peace except direct negotiations.
Palestinians have been indicating they might ask for UN recognition of a state of their
own if they give up on peace talks.
"Settlements are a unilateral step taken by Israel," Abbas said during a visit to Bethlehem
on Monday. "Is there anything clearer than settlements and invasions and roadblocks
and all that has been done on Palestinian land?"
Given that reality, Abbas said, Netanyahu should not lecture the Palestinians about a
step they might take in the future, "which is to resort to the United Nations."
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"We expect the Palestinians to fulfill their commitment to hold the direct talks. I think
that any attempt to circumvent them by going to international bodies is not realistic and
it will not advance the real diplomatic process," Netanyahu said on Sunday.
Peace talks that began in Washington on September 2 are in limbo over Palestinian
demands for a freeze of Israeli construction on land they want for a state and
Netanyahu's refusal to reinstate limits on building in settlements in the West Bank after
a 10-month settlement construction freeze expired on September 26.
The impasse has raised speculation the Palestinians might abandon negotiations with
Israel and launch a diplomatic campaign to seek recognition of a Palestinian state by the
United Nations or other international organizations.
Last week, Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib said that if peace efforts
with Israel failed, Palestinian aspirations for statehood should not be "held hostage" to
Israeli consent. (Hareetz)
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni testified before a commission probing Israel's raid on a
Gaza-bound aid convoy in May, telling the panel that Turkey had exploited the event as a
provocation against Israel.
"In the absence of a peace process, with Israel's policies toward the Palestinians unclear,
Turkey was able to fill a political vacuum by engineering provocations," Livni told the
commission, headed by former Supreme Court Judge Jacob Turkel.
Nine Turkish activists were killed when Israeli naval commandos stormed the decks of
the 'Mavi Marmara', the lead ship in the six-boat flotilla, at dawn on May 31. The raid
plunged relations between Israel and Turkey, traditionally close military allies, into crisis.
The boats had been trying to break Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, imposed in 2007
when Hamas militants seized power from rival Palestinian faction Fatah in a bloody coup,
at a time when Livni was foreign minister.
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The embargo prevented Gazans from acquiring building materials, such as steel and
cement, which Israel feared would be used for fortifications and weapons – but also
deprived them of foodstuffs including snacks, spices and even ketchup, as well as kitchen
utensils and toys.
Livni told the commission that many of the prohibitions, eventually eased in response to
a wave of international protest after the flotilla raid, had been too harsh. But she denied
responsibility for imposing them.
"I thought [at the time] that drawing a distinction between different types of food, some
of which would be allowed in and some of which not, was unnecessary," Livni said. "I
thought the ban on spaghetti excessive, but it was the defense ministry and the
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories who made the decisions."
On Sunday Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi testified to the
commission for a second time, insisting the killings aboard the Mavi Marmara had been
unavoidable.
Ashkenazi said Israeli commandos had fired 308 live bullets aboard the ship to repel
passengers who attacked them with lethal weapons, including a snatched Uzi machine
pistol.
Ashkenazi told the panel commission that navy commandos who boarded the Mavi
Marmara were equipped with riot-dispersal gear, but quickly switched to live fire to
confront armed passengers because "if they had not done this, there would have been
more casualties". (Hareetz)
When Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu offered to press his cabinet to impose a
freeze of settlement construction if Palestinians would recognize Israel as the national
home of the Jewish people, I had mixed feelings about the proposal. After all, there is
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little doubt that Israel is the Jewish homeland. The United Nations established it that
way, and the international community recognizes it as such.
Why ask Palestinians, who dislike that fact, to restate the obvious? And yet, the intensity
of the Palestinians’ rejection of the idea has uncovered such a fundamental challenge to
the “two-state solution” that I am now persuaded that true, lasting peace may never
come unless Palestinians and other Arabs openly accept Israel as a Jewish nation.
Jewish nation, of course, does not mean special rights for Jews or second-class status for
non-Jews. Israel is a democratic country whose laws clearly spell out equality for all
citizens. Like other democracies, it doesn’t always achieve its goal of equality, but its
courts, citizens groups and others continuously work to reach it.
And Israel is hardly the only country that includes a religion or nationality in its
selfdefinition.
Scores of states embrace a religion or a nationality while maintaining diversity and
striving for equal rights. Jewish citizens of the United Kingdom are loyal to a country
whose flag has not one but two Christian crosses. There are dozens of self-described
Christian countries, most of them fully functioning democracies with minority rights.
The democracy-deprived Arab League counts 22 members self-identified as Arab states,
while 55 countries define themselves as Muslim nations belonging to the Organization of
the Islamic Conference. Only one minuscule nation on Earth is a Jewish state.
FOR ALMOST a decade the United States has urged Palestinians to recognize Israel as a
Jewish state. Last year, President Barack Obama told the UN General Assembly that, “The
goal is clear, two states living side by side in peace and security – a Jewish state of Israel,
with true security for all Israelis.”
And yet, when Netanyahu – like his predecessor – asked Palestinians to recognize the
Jewish character of Israel, not as a prerequisite for talks but as a trust-building measure,
their almost-instantaneous reaction was vehement rejection. Palestinian Authority
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President Mahmoud Abbas declared, “We will never sign an agreement recognizing a
Jewish state.” Chief negotiator Saeb Erekat insisted, “This is completely rejected.”
And when a Palestinian official hinted it might be doable, he was immediately overruled.
Nabil Sha’ath, an adviser to Abbas, noted, “We are not going to do it. Forget it.”
Palestinians seem unwilling to even recognize Israel as the state of another “people.”
PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad furiously stormed out of a meeting with Israeli Deputy
Prime Minister Danny Ayalon after he suggested a summary of their discussions include
the term “two states for two peoples” instead of just “two states.”
As long as Palestinians continue denying the ancient connection between Jews and the
land of Israel, as long as they reject the Jewish people’s right to a state, any peace
agreement will be written in sand at the edge of the ocean: The smallest tide will wash it
away.
Israelis want to know that if they make the sacrifices required for peace and a Palestinian
state is created, the conflict will have been resolved; that peace will mean the end of
efforts to destroy the Jewish state.
As long as Palestinians and others refuse to accept that Israel is, indeed, a Jewish state,
that Jews have a right to their own country, there can be no certainty that those sinister
designs will end.
THE REJECTION of Netanyahu’s proposal – and of American demands – for such
recognition, came at the same time as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited
the Israeli-Lebanese border to reaffirm his call for Israel’s destruction. Lebanon’s Hassan
Nasrallah, the head of Hizbullah, told the cheering crowd that “President Ahmadinejad is
right when he says Israel is illegitimate and should cease to exist.”
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A recent poll in the United States found that more than three-quarters of American Jews
believe the goal of the Arabs “is not the return of occupied territories but rather the
destruction of Israel.”
Whether Palestinians like it or not, Israel already is the national state of the Jewish
people.
Israelis have already recognized the right of Palestinians to have their state. As long as
Palestinians fail to recognize the right of the Jewish people to have theirs, true peace
may never come. (Jerusalem Post)
The peace process in the Middle East might not be the bearer of good news, but it
appears that off camera there is a glimmer of hope when it comes to cooperation in the
region.
For the past decade Israeli and Arab students from different countries have been
involved in a joint medical program, which understandably has been kept secret.
The first to go public about the project was the BBC network in Arabic, who managed to
anger many people in the Arab world. In a TV report broadcasted recently, it was said
that this project has been operating for over a decade and is perceived as an academic
normalization between Israel and the Arab world.
The project, called 'The NIR School of the Heart', was founded by business women Dr.
Judith Richter, also founder and chief executive officer of Medinol. The school opened
back in 1998, allowing Israeli high school students to meet with other students from
different Arab countries and acquire medical knowledge, such as learning about heart
function and blood vessels. Lectures and workshops are given by scientists and senior
doctors from leading universities across the globe. (Yedioth Ahranot)
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4. EGYPT / MISIR
According to the Wafd party’s official newspaper 176 candidates in 27 governorates are
nominated to run in November's parliamentary elections while 17 female candidates will
be competing for the 64 seats allocated for women.
MP Munir Fakhry Abdel-Nour and secretary general for the group asserted that a second
list will be announced in the upcoming week.
Chairman of the Party Al-Sayed Al-Badawi, has confirmed that his party had collaborated
with Al-Wafd, Al-Nasserist and Al-Tagammu Parties in the PA elections but no deals have
been struck with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Muslim Brotherhood MP Dr. Mohamed Elbeltagy has stressed that the MB is prepared to
coordinate and cooperate with any true political opposition prepared to work for the
wellbeing of the country. He asserted that the MB believes the people will be supporting
them. The MB was successful in securing one fifth of the seats in the 2005 parliamentary
elections in what was described as an unprecedented win. The ruling party however did
not take lightly to their success and officials have been quoted asserting there would not
be a re-run of the MB's win this time round.
According to Nabil Abdel-Fattah, a researcher at Al-Ahram Center for Political and
Strategic Studies, the upcoming elections have already been rigged and the National
Democratic Party has made deals with several official opposition parties to prevent the
Brotherhood from repeating their 2005 win. He believed however that this year the
Brotherhood will probably be given from 15 to 30 seats to avoid the repetition of their
2005 win.
Both the MB and Al-Wafd have chosen not to accept calls to boycott the elections, by
former IAEA chief Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei in an attempt to expose the regime asserting
there have been no deals made with the government. (Ikhwan Web)
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Neither Israel--nor any other country other than Egypt--has the ability to assume control
of Egypt's EgySat 1 satellite, Ayman al-Dessouky, head of the state-run National
Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, said on Sunday.
The 17-kg satellite was recently lost in space and remains incommunicado.
Speaking on a televised talk show, al-Dessouky explained that the satellite was operated
by a team of 120 controllers, 20 of whom had recently left the station to work for other
satellite networks.
“They were all trained by Ukrainian experts who handed over management of the station
in 2009,” he said. “We won't pay the Ukrainians the rest of their fees unless they succeed
in finding the satellite within 15 days.”
Since its launch, the satellite has transmitted data, images and maps worth some LE100
million, al-Dessouky added.
“The most important of these were the locations of pirates in the Gulf of Aden that had
been requested by the Ukrainian government,” he said. (Al Masry Al Youm)
Several American experts have arranged to meet with their Egyptian counterparts to
assist the latter in preparing an administration for Egypt’s first nuclear reactor, Energy
and Electricity Minister Hassan Younis said this week.
“During the previous phase, we spent a long time preparing the legislative groundwork
for this program, which represents the first of its kind in Egypt,” Younis told Al-Masry Al-
Youm.
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According to the minister, the specific and general contractual terms section of the
specifications and conditions manual will be presented to Egypt's Council of Ministers
this week to ensure its conformity with Egyptian law.
The ministry also plans to launch an international tender to help cover the anticipated
costs of the reactor, which will be built in the coastal region of Dabaa.
“Egypt has no preference in terms of specific offers and the specifications manual does
not include a specific number for the plant’s capacity," said Younis. "But the required
capacity should not be below 1000 megawatts or above 1200 megawatts.”
“The ministry has set a six-month deadline for receiving offers from international
companies, which will begin with the announcement of the launch of the international
tender, in order to give these companies a chance to make their financial and technical
offers in conformity with the specifications manual,” he said.
“The committee mandated with making the decision will allow an additional six months
to begin technical and financial evaluations and to give offering companies a chance to
answer our queries,” said Younis.
According to the minister, the project will enter the implementation phase late next
year. (Al Masry Al Youm)
5. LEBANON / LÜBNAN
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Monday Prime Minister Saad Hariri was the
appropriate person to lead Lebanon’s government under the current circumstances as
ministers looked set to again postpone talks over the issue of “false witnesses.”
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Assad told the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat in an interview to be published Tuesday that his
personal relation with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz was a guarantee to seeing solid
relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia.
Assad also denied that Lebanese politicians who recently visited Damascus raised the
issue of a government change.
Assad’s supportive remarks of Hariri’s role come after tensions surfaced again in ties
between Hariri’s coalition and Damascus following a statement by Syrian Prime Minister
Mohammad Naji al-Otari describing the March 14 coalition as a “house of cards.”
Otari’s comments last week broke a period of calm that was gradually established
following Hariri’s first visit to Damascus in December 2009 following a Syrian-Saudi
rapprochement after four years of broken ties since former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s
murder.
Earlier Monday, Assad discussed with former Prime Minister Omar Karami in Damascus
the latest developments in Lebanon after visits last week by Progressive Socialist Party
leader Walid Jumblatt and Speaker Nabih Berri to Syria.
Echoing statements that followed Assad’s discussions with Jumblatt and Berri, a
statement released by Karami’s press office said the Syrian leader conveyed to Karami
the need to maintain a calm dialogue in Lebanon in order to confront an Israeli plot to
instigate Sunni-Shiite strife.
The statement added that Assad underscored the strength of Syrian-Saudi ties that
worked in favor of calm in Lebanon while denying any Syrian interference in Lebanese
affairs.
A Syrian-Saudi and inter-Lebanese brokered solution to the political standoff between
Hariri and Hizbullah has yet to materialize as ministerial discussions over the issue of
false witnesses await President Michel Sleiman’s mediation for a compromise between
rival parties on the issue.
Sayfa 36

March 8 parties accuse witnesses who later recanted their testimonies before the UN
investigators of misleading investigations into Hariri’s case.
Hizbullah and its allies argue that putting those witnesses on trial would set straight the
course of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) probe, but March 14 parties insist that
such a probe cannot be carried out before the release of the STL indictment when
testimonies would be made public.
March 8 ministerial sources told The Daily Star the coalition’s ministers would not object
to postponing discussions over the issue of “false witnesses” that were likely to take
place Wednesday to a later date.
“We want to believe that Saudi-Syrian accord concerning Lebanon can still lead to a
solution that is acceptable by all parties and can accomplish justice without instigating
strife as believed by Jumblatt,” the ministerial source said.
The sources added that postponing talks was aimed at granting Sleiman more time to
reach an understanding over the issue of “false witnesses” and avoid a Cabinet vote that
could lead to a sharp political divide that might threaten the Cabinet’s unity.
However, the sources said the March 8 coalition’s acceptance of such a formula should
not be interpreted as a sign of their willingness to make concessions or to relinquish their
earlier demand to refer the issue to the Justice Council.
March 14 parliamentary sources said the alliance’s ministers insist that the issue of “false
witnesses” fell under the jurisdiction of the Lebanese judiciary rather than the Justice
Council as reiterated by the Justice Ministry’s report.
The sources said the March 8 coalition was trying to pressure Hariri to make concessions
or face a vote in Cabinet. (The Daily Star)
Sayfa 37

Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas said Monday that Israel has been able to
alter telecommunications-related data in Lebanon “for a very long time,” in the wake of
revelations that alleged Israeli agents had occupied sensitive posts in the sector.
Nahhas was speaking at a news conference called to discuss the recent endorsement of
Resolution 75 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), condemning Israeli
violations of Lebanon’s telecommunications infrastructure.
Asked whether spies for Israel at mobile phone operator Alfa were uncovered after
piracy operations were detected, Nahhas said suspected spies led to the uncovering of
acts of piracy, rather than vice versa.
The parliamentary minority has used the revelations to cast doubt on the use of phone
records by the investigation into the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Hizbullah and its allies say the call patterns from the time of the murder might be
manipulated by Israel to implicate Hizbullah members.
For its part, Hizbullah urged the Cabinet to follow up on the issue of Israeli penetration of
telecommunications network Monday, saying the international community would also
be under scrutiny to act.
Resolution 75 said Lebanon’s land and cellular networks have been and continue to be
subject to piracy, interference and obstruction by Israel.
Nahhas said Lebanon’s success at the 23-day ITU summit in Mexico to push for the
resolution should be followed up by steps to protect Lebanese telecommunication
networks against further violations.
Nahhas added that certain parties threatened to halt financial aid to Lebanon because of
its effort to pass the resolution.
“There were also attempts to block a vote on the resolution or hinder the quorum,” the
minister added.
Sayfa 38

Nahhas said that out of 124 members, 57 members abstained from voting while 43 voted
in favor and 23 opposed the decision.
“The international community is not an angelic place but an arena for political conflicts,
which we fought with confidence,” the minister added.
Nahhas said using a secret ballot was among the major reasons behind the resolution
that condemned Israel, since “everyone is aware of pressures that small states are
subjected to by Israel in cases where the vote is public.”
As for compensation due to Lebanon for the damage inflicted on the telecommunication
infrastructure in the July 2006 war, Nahhas said Resolution 75 re-confirmed Resolution
159, estimating the sum at $547 million. The resolution did not name Israel as the party
responsible to pay the sum, however. (The Daily Star)
Young men from rival neighborhoods in the northern port city of Tripoli recently
admitted on the popular LBC political talk show Kalam an-Nas that, should push come to
shove, they would take up arms to fight and kill each other. Since the interview, yet
another explosion has rocked the mostly Alawi Jabal Mohsen neighborhood in
Lebanon’s second largest city, and analysts predict the now decades-old conflict there
could soon flare up again, fueled by rising sectarian tensions throughout the country.
A re-run of the show, aired the day after its original broadcast, abruptly cut to an episode
of a Lebanese soap opera. A ticker on the bottom of the screen told viewers the sudden
change in programming was caused by “technical difficulties.” The talk show, which
featured young people from various confessions talking about whether or not they
would be willing to fight if civil strife broke out in Lebanon, caused quite a commotion.
Numerous viewers called Information Minister Tarek Mitri to complain about the
sensitive topic being discussed, according to press reports.
Sayfa 39

Mitri in turn called LBC, which agreed to stop airing the episode. Hezbollah and al-Jamaa
al-Islamiya, Lebanon’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, both issued press releases
condemning the episode.
Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya described the show as tarnishing the reputation of Tripoli, and
distorting the facts on the ground. However, residents in Jabal Mohsen have a long
history of violence with their neighbors in the mostly Sunni neighborhood of Bab al-
Tabbaneh. As a recent press release from the International Crisis Group notes, the
neighborhoods “have served as an arena for proxy wars, as external actors back local
fighters in a struggle that is less costly and more easily managed that open warfare in the
capital.”
At one time well integrated and on amicable terms, relations between the two
neighborhoods broke down in the 1980s. In the early part of the decade, the Islamic
Unification Movement, which adheres to a Salafist ideology and was led by the late
Shaikh Said Shaaban, controlled the city, essentially turning Tripoli into an Islamic
emirate. Syrian troops then turned their attention to Tripoli, both to clip Shaaban’s wings
and to chase the late Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat out.
Syria struck a natural alliance with the Alawi community, as the ruling Assad family is
from the same offshoot of Shia Islam, and used Jabal Mohsen as a base to launch its
assault on Tripoli. Since the massacres of the 1980s, animosity remains and violence is
somewhat common.
In both late January 2007 and May 2008, when street fighting broke out in Beirut,
residents of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh seized the opportunity to go at each
other’s throats. In fact, fighting in 2008 in the north lasted far longer than that on the
streets of the capital. Unlike the skirmishes in the 1980s, the Sunni groups fighting today
are loyal to Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
The Islamic Unification Movement, which bore the brunt of the Syrian advance some 25
years ago, is now allied with the opposition against Hariri and his Future Movement.
Sayfa 40

Earlier this year, one Islamic Unification Movement said Hariri’s movement will soon be
the “past” movement, the Asia Times reported.
Most Salafists in Tripoli, however, still support the Prime Minister, and on a recent drive
through Abi Samra, a neighborhood adjacent to Bab al-Tabbaneh, NOW Lebanon saw
posters of Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi, who has been a favorite opposition
whipping boy as of late, affixed to street lights and electricity poles.
Echoing the recent briefing from the International Crisis Group, former Tripoli MP
Mosbeh al-Ahdab told NOW Lebanon he too thinks groups in Tripoli may be mobilized as
part of a local and regional power struggle.
“Regionally, what’s going on is that there’s a confrontation between Saudi Arabia and
Iran,” he said. Both Hezbollah and the Future Movement, in recent years, have been
hiring impoverished young men from Tripoli who are “ready to fight, whenever there’s
request, I think.”
Ahdab added, “I think everyone moved, as much as possible, confrontation to Tripoli,
hired two groups of people fighting each other and ready with all their weapons, and
everyone is waiting to see what’s happening regionally.”
Shiekh Bilal Dokmak – a Salafist leader in Tripoli affiliated with Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal,
founder of the Salafist movement in Lebanon – somewhat disagreed. He told NOW
Lebanon that Sunnis in Tripoli are not armed, however, he then said the real fears of
violence in the North should not be focused on Sunni-Shia problems, but rather Sunni-
Sunni problems.
The Sunni community is now divided between supporting Hezbollah and Hariri, Dokmak
said. He told NOW Lebanon that he is worried about a confrontation within the
community because, “that’s what Syria wants.”
Sayfa 41

For its part, the ICG warned that in Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, “a feeling of
abandonment and economic precariousness feed a militia culture inherited from the civil
war in two conflicting areas which in fact have much in common.”
Ahdab agrees that poverty in the two neighborhoods – which is also rampant in other
parts of the city as well as the entire Northern district of Akkar – plays a role in the
recurring violence and is not being addressed by the state.
“Nothing is done within the budget to give financing to Tripoli,” he said. “It’s not very
reassuring to see that anything linked to development or education is not taken into
consideration while everything linked to small confrontations is manipulated.” (Lebanon
Now)
Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni told New TV on Tuesday that past national dialogue
sessions have not yet generated any productive result, adding that the Lebanese people
“have lost their trust” in the dialogue sessions.
However, Marouni said that he still believes dialogue is the only way to ensure
consensus in Lebanon.
Members of the national dialogue committee are set to meet at the Presidential Palace
in Baabda at 11 a.m. on November 4 to resume their talks. The last dialogue session was
held in August, in which the committee agreed to continue studying a national defense
strategy. (Lebanon Now)
Information about Hezbollah’s arms supply route to Lebanon through Syria, French
newspaper Le Figaro reported on Tuesday.
Sayfa 42

The daily said that Hezbollah has three logistical units specialized to transport weapons,
including 40,000 rockets as well as an arsenal large enough to equip around ten
thousand fighters.
According to the paper, the Hezbollah units are as follows:
- Unit 108, which is based in Damascus, is responsible for transporting arms and
ammunition from Syria to other checkpoints based on the Lebanese-Syrian borders.
Arms storage units are reportedly located in Halab, Homs and Tartous in Syria.
- Unit 112 is tasked with delivering arms to Hezbollah’s caches in Lebanon and supplying
ammunition to the party’s fighters located especially in the Bekaa.
- Unit 100 is tasked with transporting Hezbollah fighters and Iranian experts between
Lebanon, Syria and Iran through Damascus’ airport.
Le Figaro reported that “there is a possibility that Israel might attack arms caches
belonging to Unit 108 in Syria.” (Lebanon Now)
6. SYRIA / SURİYE
President Bashar al-Assad discussed on Monday with former Lebanese Prime Minister
Omar Karami and his son the situation in Lebanon and the ongoing efforts to ward off
any threats to Lebanon.
President al-Assad lauded Karami's patriotic stances and his role along with the other
Lebanese national forces in preserving Lebanon's unity and stability.
In the same framework, Vice President Farouk al-Shara held a meeting with Karami and
his son.
Sayfa 43

President al-Assad met with Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri a few days
ago and with Lebanese MP Walid Jumblatt on Sunday. His Excellency discussed with
them the developments in the Lebanese arena and the efforts being exerted to resolve
the problems threatening Lebanon's security and stability. (SANA)
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem sent a message to the UN Secretary-General and
President of the General Assembly on the Israeli occupation authorities' drawing of the
water of Masada Lake in the occupied Syrian Golan and converting it to the settlers'
farms and artificial water reservoirs set up by Israel.
The message reviewed the Israeli calculated policies aimed at seizing the Golan water
and depriving the Syrian citizens from their natural right to water.
''Israel's drawing of water from Masada Lake is a big economic and environmental
catastrophe for the Syrian citizens of the Golan and at the same time a flagrant violation
of the international law and the Geneva Fourth Convention on the commitments
imposed on the occupying authority. It is also a violation of the Security Council
resolution No 465 of 1980 which calls upon the occupation authority to take integrated
measures to protect lands, private and public properties and water resources.''
The message affirmed that Israel's practices amount to disregard of the international
law, the international humanitarian law, Geneva Conventions and the international
legitimacy resolutions.
It called upon the UN General Assembly and the international community to prevent
Israel from continuing these violations, especially with regard to stealing natural
resources from the occupied Arab territories, including water in the occupied Syrian
Golan.
Syria demanded that the message be adopted as an official document of the UN General
Assembly in the article related to the Middle East state of the General Assembly agenda,
Sayfa 44

also in the two articles on the Israeli practices that infringe upon the rights and
sovereignty over natural resources of the Palestinian people and the Arab citizens under
Israeli occupation. (SANA)
Maliye Bakanı ve Sigorta Denetim Komisyonu Başkanı Muhammed el-Hüseyin; ülkemizde
sayısı 13’e ulaşan sigorta şirketlerinin bulunduğumuz yılın ilk dokuz ayında geçtiğimiz yılın
aynı dönemine denk gelen süreye nazaran iyi bir büyüme oranı sağladığını ifade etti.
El-Hüseyin SANA’ya yaptığı açıklamada; sigorta sektörünün 2010 yılı sonunda 400 milyon
2011 yılı sonunda da 500 milyon dolar kapasiteli bir pazar yaratmak amacıyla çizilen plan
doğrultusunda gelişmekte olduğunu belirterek geçtiğimiz yılın ilk 9 ayında 3 milyon 883
lira olan sigorta primleri hacminin bulunduğumuz yılın ilk dokuz ayında 4 milyon 842 bin
liraya yükselerek %24,71 oranında bir gelişme sağladığını açıkladı.
2010 yılı Eylül ayı sonu itibariyle toplam sigorta primlerinin 14 milyar 608 milyon liraya
ulaştığını söyleyen Maliye Bakanı; geçtiğimiz yıl aynı dönemde sigorta primlerinin 10
milyar 441 milyonla sınırlı kaldığını böylece bu yıl %39,92 oranında bir gelişme
sağlandığını dile getirdi.
En önemli sigorta dallarının bulunduğumuz yılın ilk dokuz ayında geliştiğine değinen el-
Hüseyin; zorunlu araç sigorta piyasasının toplam bir milyar 791 milyon prime ulaşarak
geçen yılın aynı dönemine oranla %17.33 oranında bir gelişme sağladığını, kapsamlı araç
sigorta piyasasının ise toplam 1 milyar 19 milyon primle %20,52 oranında bir gelişme
sağladığını aktardı.
Sağlık sigortası piyasasının 375 milyon 841 bin liralık toplam primle bulunduğumuz yılın
ilk 9 ayında geçen yılın aynı dönemine oranla %120 oranında bir gelişme sağladığını 2010
toplam primlerinde ise %7,76’lık bir orana ulaştığını söyleyen el-Hüseyni; taşımacılık
sigortası piyasasının ise 274 milyon 201 bin lira toplam primle %22,48 oranında bir düşüş
yaşadığını beyan etti.
Sayfa 45

Mühendislik sigortası piyasasının 111 milyon 585 bin liralık primle %26 oranında
büyüdüğüne işaret eden el-Hüseyin; yangın sigortası piyasasının 850 milyon 962 bin liralık
primle %54,89 oranında büyürken; hayat sigortası piyasasının 73 milyon 142 bin liralık
toplam primle %60,35’lik bir büyüme sağladığını sözlerine ekledi.
Hatırlanacağı üzere 2006 yılı sigorta piyasası hacmi 125 milyon doları aşmıyordu. (SANA)
7. ARABIAN PENINSULA AND THE GULF OF BASRA / ARAP YARIMADASI VE BASRA
KÖRFEZİ
Abu Dhabi: Adnan Ameen, the newly appointed interim director-general of Irena, the
International Renewable Energy Agency, said yesterday that he would develop a
compelling vision for the future of renewable energy worldwide.
Irena is headquartered in Abu Dhabi and aims to become the global voice for renewable
energy and to promote a swift transition towards its sustainable use. Irena aims to assist
its member states to define their strategy in all renewable energies: bio energy,
geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind.
"My priority will be to put Irena on a firm institutional footing," Ameen said at a press
conference yesterday after the fourth session of the preparatory commission for Irena
which was concluded in the capital.
As Gulf News exclusively reported on Sunday, Ameen will continue as the interim
director-general until a new director general will be elected in the first assembly of Irena
in April 2011.
Ambassador Rafael Conde de Saro from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who
chaired the session, said: "On behalf of member states, I thank Helene Pelosse for the
hard work she has put in setting up the agency and welcome Ameen".
Sayfa 46

Regarding the appointment of director general, the member states agreed on a
procedure to identify candidates and a committee will examine all applications.
During the first assembly in April, 2011 the statutory organs of Irena — the assembly and
the council — will replace the preparatory commission. The preparatory commission is
responsible for the establishment of the agency until the first assembly is held and the
assembly and the council — will replace the preparatory commission.
The agency expects additional contributions from member states to fill the gap between
its core budget of Dh48.7 million and the provisional budget of Dh87.85 million, an
official told Gulf News.
Additional voluntary contributions are expected from mainly three sources such as the
UAE's bid implementation agreement, from Germany for the operation of the Irena
Innovation and Technology Centre (IITC) in Bonn, and from Austria for the operation of
the Irena Liaison Office (ILOV) in Vienna, the official said.
The official clarified that no contributions from the member states were mandatory until
the first assembly is held. After the first assembly, it would be mandatory for the
member states who ratified the Irena statute to contribute a particular amount to the
agency, the official said.
The session drew up a headquarters agreement which would be signed with the UAE.
The agreement defined granting privileges and immunities for Irena staff, establishing
visa procedures, and defining legal status and capacity of the Irena preparatory
commission in the UAE.
Growing strength
Irena which was founded by 75 states in January 2009, grew almost two-fold within 21
months. 148 countries and the European Union have signed Irena's statute and 42 have
ratified it. Among them are 48 African, 38 European, 35 Asian, 17 American and 10
Sayfa 47

Australia/Oceania states. Mali, Senegal and Bangladesh were the last three countries
which ratified the statute last week. (Gulf News)
Bahrain's Islamic Menbar, the society that enjoyed immense power in the parliament
since 2002, has launched a damage-control operation to reverse its fortunes in the
second round of the parliamentary elections on Saturday.
The society, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, was the third largest parliamentary
bloc with seven lawmakers in the 40-seat, 2006-2010 lower chamber.
This year, it was so confident of winning that it did not think it was necessary to renew its
2006 alliance with Al Asala, the Salafi formation that had eight lawmakers in the previous
parliament.
On Saturday, Al Menbar had its most dismal performance. It did not win a single seat,
even in constituencies it often regarded as its bastions. It lost three candidates while five
more candidates, including its chairman, will have to overcome stiff competition on
Saturday in the run-offs.
"They had obviously fallen into dangerous self-complacency," said Ahmad Salman, who is
described as a public relations specialist with close ties with the Islamic Menbar.
"They regretfully took everything for granted and thought that their names were enough
to get them through the elections. They were absolutely wrong and should have learned
not to tempt fate," said the resident of Muharraq where the society has its headquarters.
Taking out ads in some local papers on Monday, a humbled the Islamic Menbar urged
people to give another chance to its 10andidates, five for the parliament and five for the
municipal councils.
The society also hopes that it can secure the votes of the supporters of candidates who
did not pass in the first round, but who will not move on to the crucial second round.
Sayfa 48

"They should now pray that it is not a case of too little, too late," Adel Marzou, an
analyst, said. "They should have seen it coming after they failed to strike a deal with Al
Asala, like they did before."
Residents in the bustling areas of Hoora and Qudhaibiya in Manama in 2002 supported
the candidate from the Islamic Menbar, but switched to his opponent Adel Al Assoomi in
2006.
In 2010, they overwhelmingly supported Al Assoumi again in a clear indication that the
Islamist society did not master the art of survival. (Gulf News)
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority on Monday thanked Saudi Arabia for
providing more than 100 million dollars (72 million euros) in aid.
The Palestinian cabinet "praised the generous support provided by Saudi Arabia, which
transferred yesterday (Sunday) 100 million dollars," it said in a statement following a
weekly cabinet meeting.
It added that Riyadh had transferred another 15.5 million dollars last week.
The fresh aid followed a meeting between Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and
Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh on Friday.
It also came after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week called on Arab states to
increase their financial support for the Palestinians as part of US-led peace efforts.
The Palestinians have received 525 million dollars in budget support in the first half of
this year, in addition to 1.4 billion dollars in 2009 and 1.8 billion dollars in 2008,
according to the World Bank.
Sayfa 49

The influx of aid, most of which comes from the United States and the European Union,
has been the main driver of the 10 percent economic growth seen in the West Bank this
year, it said in a report to donors in September. (Asharq Al Awsat)
8. SOUTH ASIA / GÜNEY ASYA
PAKISTAN / PAKİSTAN
It's a land of daunting mountains, crisscrossed with rugged paths. Tucked in the valleys,
families live a subsistence existence in mud houses secluded behind 10-foot-high walls,
cooking over open fires and sleeping under the sky. Dirt poor, uneducated, their only
knowledge of the outside world comes from a crackling radio.
The wilds of North Waziristan, on Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, have become a
crossroads for terrorism. The United States is pushing Pakistan to mount an offensive
there before the year is out, but Pakistan is saying it won't be rushed.
U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen has branded North
Waziristan the "epicenter of terrorism," and President Barack Obama has said controlling
it is key to winning the Afghan war.
In mosques, mullahs tell worshippers that it is their religious duty to fight the U.S.-led
forces just over the mountains in Afghanistan. Villagers open up their homes to would-be
fighters and suicide bombers heading across the border to kill coalition troops — or
heading the other direction into Pakistan's heartland to carry out attacks that have
shaken the fragile U.S.-allied government in Islamabad.
The threat is also exported far abroad.
Sayfa 50

Among the thousands of militants holed up in the territory are scores with European or
U.S. passports, believed to be planning attacks in Europe and North America. The arrest
of a German in Afghanistan this year revealed a plot hatched in North Waziristan to carry
out bloody bombings and shootings in Europe. It was also to North Waziristan that U.S.
resident Faisal Shahzad traveled to train in arms and bombmaking, before attempting to
detonate a car bomb in New York City's tourist-packed Times Square in May.
Any offensive will be a formidable task. Until 2004, the Pakistani army had not entered
North Waziristan, part of Pakistan's highly autonomous tribal border belt. Even now the
army, with 140,000 soldiers deployed elsewhere in the tribal region, has little presence
in North Waziristan. At their base in the region's main town, Miran Shah, they rarely
patrol.
Some 10,000 foreign militants are in North Waziristan, says Kamran Khan, a parliament
member from Miran Shah, a figure that mirrors estimates by U.S. and Pakistani officials.
They are mixed in a cauldron of armed jihadist organizations, including Afghan Taliban,
Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda. One of Afghanistan's deadliest insurgent groups, the
network of Jalaluddin Haqqani, has been headquartered in Miran Shah for three
decades. U.S. and Pakistani intelligence believe they sighted al-Qaida's No. 2, Ayman al-
Zawahri, in the territory in 2004 and nearly killed him with a drone strike.
"Everyone is there. There are Arabs, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Indonesians, Bengalis, Punjabis,
Afghans, Chechens and the ones they call the white jihadis" — meaning European
militants, Khan said, speaking to The Associated Press in Islamabad.
Residents are widely sympathetic with the Taliban and their fight against the Americans
in Afghanistan, said Khan, 28, who says he only travels to Miran Shah with an escort of
30 armed guards because of regular death threats.
Sayfa 51

"Our area has no development, no education, only madrasas (Islamic religious schools),"
said Khan. "Our people listen five times a day to the maulvis (clerics) and they are always
saying this is jihad."
Because of the dangers, international journalists are restricted by the government from
entering the territory. Its tribes have close connections with the key border city of
Peshawar, 170 kilometers (100 miles) to the northeast.
Roughly the size of Connecticut, North Waziristan's population of 350,000 is mainly
Pashtun, the same majority ethnic group in Afghanistan that is the backbone of the
Taliban. Mountain paths lead across the unguarded border into the Afghan provinces of
Paktia and Paktika, both Taliban strongholds.
In the 1980's, North Waziristan was a vital supply route for U.S.-backed rebels fighting
the invading Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Islamic holy warriors from around the globe
flocked to the territory.
Among them were Osama bin Laden and his Arab warriors, who before setting across the
border stayed in Miran Shah's gritty hotels, where pieces of dirty foam on the wooden
floors serve as beds.
Washington has stepped up drone attacks in the territory. One resident told AP of two
cemeteries in North Waziristan with the graves of 300 foreign fighters, most killed by
drones.
Pakistani officers say the army will launch an offensive — but the question is when. They
say the Americans want its timing to tie in with the Obama administration's December
review of its Afghan policy and the eventual drawdown of troops scheduled to begin in
July 2011.
"The Americans are trying to shape the assault and the timing on domestic political
reasons, elections and ahead of the 2011 pullout," a senior Pakistani security official who
sits among military planners said in an interview with AP.
Sayfa 52

He said the military won't be rushed.
"It has to lay the foundations, create the conditions, weaken and divide its enemies" and
solidify civilian control elsewhere in the tribal belt so troops there can be deployed in the
operation, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity to talk frankly of the plans.
In Washington, two senior administration officials denied claims of political
considerations in the timing. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss White
House policy.
The administration has always focused on "disrupting, dismantling and defeating al-
Qaida operating and hiding in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region," one of the
officials said. "To suggest that there is a new or different motivation for doing what we
have always done is quite simply untrue."
Most likely, any offensive would not go after the Afghan Haqqani network. Doing so
could spark a backlash from sympathetic Pashtuns in the tribal belt and fuel accusations
by rightwing politicians and TV commentators that the Pakistan army is selling out to
Americans.
If Pakistani forces go too far, "there will be a contagion of rage across the Pashtun tribes
against the Pakistan army, and they will be faced with the choice of being driven from
the tribal region (or) having a major wave of attacks in Pakistan cities," Michael Scheuer,
former CIA pointman in the hunt for bin Laden, told AP.
Instead, an offensive would likely focus on the Pakistani Taliban, which has declared war
on the Islamabad government, and on any non-Afghan militants.
Another challenge is that the Pakistani military is tied down elsewhere.
The army is still trying to stabilize neighboring South Waziristan, where an operation late
last year flushed out Taliban fighters but also drove hundreds of thousands of residents
from their homes.
Sayfa 53

And many troops are busy holding down the nearby valley of Swat, where the military
put down a Taliban surge in 2008.
"If we leave Swat today, they (the Taliban) will be back tomorrow," said the security
official. (Asharq Al Awsat)
PM Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has emphasized that the hopes of those conspiring and
wishing for a clash between the institutions have been dashed to the ground adding that
the democratic government would complete its constitutional term and would emerge
as a winner in next elections.
Addressing gathering of Party parliamentarians’ leader at Governor House on Saturday,
PM said that PPP has forever ended the politics of vindictiveness that is why in our
tenure there are no political prisoners. We have adopted democratic culture, which
promotes reconciliation and harmony.
According to sources, he said that the ruling PPP would not deviate from government’s
reconciliatory policy with the PML-N despite political challenges. We are keeping our
promise on the charter of democracy and will continue to do so in future.
PM said that lots of people have wished for clash between the judiciary and executive so
that the government could leave but such conspirators had to face defeat and such
attempts of clash between institutions were never successful before and would not
succeed this time either.
He said that the people have given us 5 year mandate and we would complete this
mandate despite many challenges and difficulties the government has achieved many
success in its two and half year of term.
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PM said that we are still facing problems of rehabilitation of flood affectees and
reconstruction but the PPP with the help of its coalition partners would overcome the
difficulties.
The meeting also reviewed the overall performance of the government over the last two
and half year in addition PPP members of the Punjab assembly complaint about the nonreleas
of development funds.
According to sources the PPP MPs complained against PML-N and said that it does not
take PPP MPs into confidence over provincial matters. (Pakistan Tribune)
Close aides and lawyers of former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf have
submitted an application with the Secretariat police station, Islamabad to register an FIR
against three persons including Talal Bugti, Shah Zen Bugti and Sardar Yaqub Nasir for
fixing head money on Musharraf.
The police have refused to register the FIR saying the crime had occurred in Balochistan,
law experts in Islamabad said. The application could be sent to the Government of
Balochistan with the recommendation by the chief of Islamabad Police to take action
against the nominated persons according to law, they added.
Police spokesman said that leaders of All Pakistan Muslim League including Dr Sher Afgan
Khan Niazi, Maj Gen (retd) Rashid Qureshi, Barrister Saif, Barrister Chaudhary Fawad and
Ahmed Raza Kasuri have submitted an application to register FIR against Talal Bugti, Shah
Zen Bugti and Sardar Yaqub Nasir alleging that they had provoked people and hatched
conspiracy to assassinate Pervez Musharraf.Police have received the application and are
considering necessary legal action about it, he maintained.
Station House Officer (SHO) Secretariat Police Station, Hakam Khan when contacted by
this correspondent for his comments, confirmed that he has received the application
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from Dr Sher Afgan Khan Niazi and others against Talal Bugti but the case has not yet
been registered.
The SHO said that he will submit the application to the Inspector General of Police (IGP)
Islamabad to seek legal opinion. He said that the applicants stated in the application that
the conspiracy of fixing head money on Musharraf was prepared in Punjab House
Islamabad. But Talal Bugti and his aides held press conference in Balochistan, the SHO
maintained, adding, however, the legal department would decide the matter.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Islamabad, Tahir Alam Khan when contacted for his
comments said: “The crime was not committed in our jurisdiction that’s why we, as per
law, cannot register the case in Islamabad.” A ‘report’, however, has been written and
the application has been sent for legal action and later it would be sent to Balochistan for
proper legal action, the SSP concluded.
Meanwhile, Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief Talal Bugti has dubbed Dr Sher Afgan
Niazi’s FIR application against him as rubbish and categorically reiterated his position on
the Balochistan Ulema’s fatwa (edict) declaring General (retd) Musharraf fit to be
murdered.
“I have a firm stand against Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf that he is the person behind the
murder of my father, and these are the respected religious scholars who collectively
issued a Fatwa against him in accordance with Islamic principles,” he told our sources
from Quetta.
The complainant and the persons accompanying him, he said, are well-known stooges of
the former dictator during his tyrannical rule and are still defending him in Pakistan.
“Musharraf should have come to Pakistan if such a case was to be lodged against me but
unfortunately he lacks the courage.”
To a question, he said that he would not only move the court of law but is also prepared
to face the consequences if the FIR is registered in Islamabad or the Punjab in violation of
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the laws. “The FIR is lodged before a concerned police station in the jurisdiction of which
the event takes place.”
“Neither me, who announced Rs1 billion land as head money, nor the religious scholars,
who declared Musharraf ‘Wajibul Qatal’, were in Islamabad or the Punjab and therefore
the FIR in their police stations would itself be a violation of the fundamental rules.”
The Islamabad Police did not register any FIR against Talal Bugti till filing of this report
though Musharraf’s close aides, Sher Afgan Niazi, Barrister Saif and others, submitted an
application before the Secretariat police station of the capital on Monday. “Niazi along
with a few others should have come to Quetta if the FIR application against me is
required to be filed, as Islamabad police has nothing to do with the event that took place
out of its jurisdiction, in Quetta.”
To another question, he said that he would not hesitate to move the Supreme Court or a
High Court in case the FIR is formally registered by Islamabad police. “The FIR application
is neither lawful nor it has any weight.”
The JWP president said that he would arrive in the capital as per schedule rather than
being afraid of the FIR threat. “I would meet the diplomats and senior politicians in
efforts to bring back Musharraf who fled the country after playing havoc with the lives of
the people of Pakistan.”
A group of religious scholars met in Quetta in a conference hosted by Talal Bugti last
Saturday and issued a ‘fatwa’ declaring Musharraf Wajibul Qatal (fit to be murdered)
over the murder of Akbar Bugti and Nawabzada Balach Marri and Lal Masjid innocents.
The conference also appealed to the Supreme Court to issue directives to the
government to bring Musharraf back to Pakistan through Interpol. (Pakistan Tribune)
INDIA / HINDISTAN
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Economy will grow by 8.25-8.75 per cent this fiscal and will return to an average growth
rate of 9 per cent soon, but food prices continue to drive inflation, Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee said today.
Stating that gross tax revenue has grown at a robust pace so far in the current fiscal and
proceeds from the spectrum sale as also disinvestment would help fill the fiscal deficit,
Mr. Mukherjee said that economic growth would exceed 9 per cent in near future.
The auction of 3G and broadband spectrum and disinvestment proceed would help meet
the fiscal deficit target, Mr. Mukherjee said at the annual Economic Editors Conference
here.
The gross tax revenue grew by 27.3 per cent so far this fiscal as opposed to negative
growth rate in the same period last fiscal, he added.
For the current fiscal, he pegged the economic growth at 8.25-8.75 per cent.
On inflation, the Finance Minister said that food prices were the main driver, while he
also expressed concerns on rising rupee having implications on the country’s exports.
He said that strong domestic demand and robust investment climate had led to surge in
capital inflow. (The Hindu)
The United States should “publicly expose” Pakistan whenever it fails to prevent
infiltration across the LoC with India, shut down jihadi training operations and hold the
ISI and Pakistani military to pledge that “they will not abet violent actors” in Kashmir, a
U.S. think-tank has said.
Releasing a report on Indo-US relations ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit, the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said Kashmir issue is a challenge that the
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U.S. can neither avoid nor resolve as New Delhi has the power to “rebuff” and
unwelcome U.S. involvement.
“Washington can do more than it typically has to hold the Pakistani military and the ISI to
pledges that they will not abet violent actors in Kashmir,” the report ‘Toward Realistic
US-India Relations’ said.
“At a minimum, the United States should expose Pakistan publicly whenever it fails to act
to prevent infiltrations across the Line of Control, shut down jihadi training operations,
or arrest leaders of organisations that foment attacks on India,” the report authored by
George Perkovich said.
At the same time, the report said, Indian leaders must also do “more to correct the misgovernance
and human rights abuses that are remobilising Muslims in the Kashmir
Valley.”
“Indians may reasonably expect the US to heed to their demand not to try to mediate
the Kashmir issue with Pakistan, but they should not expect it to stay silent about largescale
Indian human rights violations or other policies that undermine conflict resolution
there,” the report said.
US has legitimate strategic interests in urging both India and Pakistan to explore all
prospects for normalising Indo-Pak relations and reducing the threat of violent
extremism in South Asia and elsewhere, the report said.
It said Pakistani elites are adapting to the reality that their country cannot wrest the
Valley away from India and that it must negotiate a formula to recognise the territorial
status quo and improve the quality of life of Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of
Control.
Many Pakistanis recognise further that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the
leader best suited to find and deliver a package that Indians, Kashmiris, and Pakistanis
could live with, the report said.
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“But if Pakistanis perceive that resolving the Kashmir issue will merely make the
environment safer for India to bolster its conventional military advantage over Pakistan,
they will balk,” the report said.
“This is another reason that the United States and India must take great care to manage
their defence cooperation in ways that reassure Pakistan that India’s aims and
capabilities are defensive, not offensive. Conventional military dialogue and confidencebuilding
measures deserve greater attention for this purpose,” it said.
The report said one reason why Pakistanis are turning their attention away from Kashmir
is that many see Afghanistan as the hotter front for Indo-Pak competition.
“Pakistanis, especially the military, perceive an Indian effort to extend influence
throughout Afghanistan at Pakistan’s expense. Pakistan has fought this influence in many
ways, including attacks on the Indian embassy and other targets in Afghanistan,” the
report said.
Observing that the US is caught in the middle, the report said Pakistan demands that
Washington use its influence on its “new best friend” India not to use Afghanistan as the
western side of a vise to squeeze Pakistan.
“India demands that the United States fight the Pakistani—backed Taliban more robustly
and eschew temptations to negotiate with the Taliban. India is particularly emphatic
about Pakistan’s not being granted a seat in any possible negotiations,” it said.
“Pakistan is willing to fight until the last Taliban or coalition foot soldier falls in order to
pursue its interests in Afghanistan, while India is willing to fight to the last American to
keep Pakistan from exerting indirect control over a future Afghan government,” the
report said. (The Hindu)
AFGHANISTAN / AFGANİSTAN
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At least 50 civilians, mostly women and children, have been killed in a US airstrike in
Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, the Taliban have announced.
According to a Taliban commander, the air attacks took place near the city of Boghran in
Helmand province, a Press TV correspondent reported on Monday.
"The US forces opened fire on people on the ground. Right now, people are bringing out
the victims' bodies from the ruins of buildings in the area," Mullah Muhammad Hassan
was quoted as saying.
Thus far, the US and Afghan officials have declined to comment.
Afghan officials have repeatedly demanded a halt to the attacks. Civilian casualties
caused by the US-led foreign forces have been a major source of tension between
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and NATO.
The attacks have killed large numbers of civilians since the 2001 US-led invasion of
Afghanistan and the subsequent occupation of the country.
Hundreds of civilians have lost their lives in NATO airstrikes and ground operations in
different parts of the war-ravaged country over the past months, but the air raids have
proved particularly deadly for the civilian population.
The loss of civilian lives at the hands of foreign forces has dramatically increased anti-
American sentiments in Afghanistan. (Afghan Online Press)
Afghan President Hamid Karzai acknowledged Monday that his office receives large cash
payments from Iran, but said the money is a transparent form of aid.
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President Karzai told reporters in Kabul Monday that Iran has given his office up to
$975,000 for government expenses. He said the transactions were not secret and no
different from cash payments from the United States.
President Karzai's comments were in response to an article in The New York Times
newspaper that his chief of staff, Umar Daudzai, has been receiving payments from Iran
to allegedly promote Iran's interests in Afghanistan's presidential palace.
Mr. Karzai said Daudzai had been accepting the money on the Afghan leader's
instructions.
The Times quotes unnamed sources saying Iran uses its influence to "drive a wedge"
between the Afghans and their American and NATO benefactors. The Iranian embassy in
Afghanistan on Monday dismissed the report as "ridiculous and insulting."
According to the newspaper report, the Afghan president and his chief of staff have used
the money to pay Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and Taliban commanders to secure
their loyalty.
The Times reports one Western official described the money as "a presidential slush
fund." One Afghan official told the newspaper he believes Daudzai received between $1
million and $2 million every other month. (Reuters)
Russia has expressed support for a greater role by India in Afghanistan, saying that both
Russia and India were on the "same side" in their fight against international terrorism.
"We desire that India's role increases in Afghanistan. This is what we desire and this is
our thought process. What Russia can do for Afghan people, it is doing and will continue
to do," local media quoted Russian Federation Ambassador to India Alexander M Kadakin
as saying on Sunday.
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"The facilities that we created in Afghanistan during the Soviet era, we are rebuilding and
repairing them. We will do this. We are helping the Afghan Home Ministry also," said the
Russian envoy who was in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand to witness Indo-
Russian joint Army exercise "Indra 2010".
Kadakin also said Indian and Russian thinking on Afghanistan was the same.
"We want Afganistan to be peaceful, democratic country, and not a source of terrorism.
We are against... if American and allied forces leave immediately, overnight, there will be
a 'gadbad' ( crisis). This gadbad (crisis) is not good for India or Russia," he was quoted as
saying.
He said any crisis in Afghanistan will have huge impact on Russia due to drug trafficking
and arms smuggling. (Xinhua)
*This media summary is prepared by ORSAM Middle East Research Assistants Sercan Doğan and Nebahat
Tanrıverdi O. It covers news and commentaries as reported by the national media sources publishing in the
Middle Eastern countries. The views expressed are not those of ORSAM and their inclusion does not imply
factual accuracy.
*Bu bülten Kasım 2009’dan beri ORSAM Ortadoğu Uzman Yardımcıları Sercan Doğan ve Nebahat Tanrıverdi O
tarafından hazırlanmaktadır. Bülten Ortadoğu ülkelerinin yerel haber kaynaklarından derlenmektedir. Belirtilen
görüşler bölge ülkelerinin haber kaynaklarına ve ismi geçen yazarlara ait olup ORSAM’ın görüşünü
yansıtmamaktadır.
Sayfa 63