Excerpts: Arabs to push UN re Palestinian State. New Israel military chief
of Staff. French Mirage warplanes to Jordan. Terrorist attack in China.
Mubarak still serves 3 years for graft November 29, 2014
+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya 29 Nov,’14:”Arabs to push for U.N. resolution on
Palestinian State”,by Staff Writer
SUBJECT: Arabs to push UN re Palestinian State
FULL TEXT:Arab League foreign ministers agreed on Saturday[29 to formally
present a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council that will
set a timeframe for the creation of a Palestinian state.
The ministers set up a committee comprised of Kuwait, Mauritania, Jordan and
Arab League chief Nabil al-Araby to begin seeking international backing for
the resolution, they said in their closing statement, Reuters reported.
The statement did not specify when the resolution would be presented but
diplomatic sources have said Jordan, an Arab member in the Security Council,
could present the draft within days.
Earlier, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he is moving ahead with a
proposed U.N. Security Council resolution on setting a November 2016
deadline to end the Israeli occupation.
Abbas told Arab League foreign ministers on Saturday[29 Nov.] that he had
put off such a step repeatedly in response to requests from Washington, but
added: “We can't wait any longer.”
In October, the Palestinians informally shared a draft resolution with Arab
states and some council members, calling for an end to Israeli occupation by
November 2016.
The text was not formally circulated to the full 15-nation Security Council,
a move that can only be done by a council member. It was unclear at the time
if it would be put to a vote.
Arab states have already given their blessings to the idea of presenting a
resolution to the Security Council but had yet to agree a finalized draft
and set a date to present it.
Abbas says he will now begin consultations on the draft resolution, but did
not mention a timetable.
The resolution is likely to fail, either because it falls short of the
needed votes or because the U.S. will veto it, the Associated Press
reported.
The Palestinian bid appears largely symbolic and aimed at generating
political leverage.
Abbas also warned that the Palestinians could take other steps, including
joining the International Criminal Court, if the Security Council rejects
the resolution.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Araby appeared to suggest that the final draft
would be endorsed and sent to a vote.
“It is natural that Palestine is heading to the UN Security Council to issue
a resolution setting a deadline for ending the occupation,” Agence
France-Presse quoted him as saying.
Palestinians seek statehood in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and blockaded
Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as their capital - lands captured by Israel
in a 1967 war.
Israel accepts the idea of a “two-state solution” of an independent and
democratic Palestinian state living alongside Israel, but has not accepted
the 1967 borders as the basis for final negotiations, citing security and
other concerns.
+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 29 Nov.’14:”Israel Announces New Military
Chief of Staff”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: New Israel military chief of staff
FULL TEXT:Israel's prime minister and defense minister announced on
Saturday[29 Nov.] that the country's next military chief of staff will be
Major General Gadi Eisenkot.
Eisenkot, currently deputy chief of staff, will replace Lieutenant General
Benny Gantz, whose four-year term ends in February 2015.
The appointment is subject to government approval.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon called Eisenkot the best choice to face
Israel's "complex security challenges."
Replacing him as new deputy chief of staff will be Major General Yair Golan,
currently head of the northern command, Yaalon added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Eisenkot was "selected from an
excellent group of generals" and wished him luck.
The 54-year-old began his military service as an infantryman in the Golani
Brigade, rising through the ranks to command it.
He was military secretary to premier and defense minister Ehud Barak between
2009 and 2011, during which Israeli media reported he was involved in
negotiations with Syria.
Eisenkot was later appointed commander of the Judea and Samaria division,
Israel's term for the West Bank, before becoming head of the operations
directorate and eventually northern command chief from 2006 to 2011.
It was during his northern command tenure that he wrote Netanyahu a
"personal letter" discouraging an attack thwart Iran's nuclear program,
which Israel fears has a military objective.
According to Haaretz newspaper, Eisenkot warned that such an attack would
cause a long war with Iran and its Lebanese ally Hizbullah, while also
souring relations with the United States.
Haaretz noted that contrary to when Eisenkot wrote the letter, "an Israeli
attack on Iran is currently not on the agenda", but it could become relevant
again in July 2015, the new deadline for nuclear negotiations between Iran
and world powers.
+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 29 Nov.’14:”3 French Mirage Jet Fighters
Deployed in Jordan”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: French Mirage warplanes to Jordan
QUOTE:”France… would deploy six jet fighters in Jordan”
FULL TEXT:Three French Mirage warplanes have been deployed in Jordan to
assist in the fight against the Islamic State group, a military spokesman
said on Saturday[29 Nov.].
France, which is participating in U.S.-led coalition air strikes in Iraq,
said this month it would deploy six jet fighters in Jordan.
Army spokesman Colonel Mamduh al-Amiri said three of the aircraft arrived
late Friday[28 Nov.] as part of the "operational strategy to confront
threats in the region", according to state-run Petra news agency.
Amiri did not say where the jets were deployed or when the other three would
arrive in Jordan, a neighbor of both Syria and Iraq where IS jihadists have
seized swathes of territory.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a weekly cabinet meeting on
Wednesday[26 Nov.] that the deployment of the six fighters would "strengthen
our presence in this theater of operations."
France already has nine Rafale warplanes in the United Arab Emirates, which
along with Jordan is part of the international coalition fighting the
jihadists.
+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 29 Nov.’14:” Fifteen Killed in ‘Terrorist
Attack in China Xinjiang, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Terrorist attack in China
EXCERPTS:Fifteen people have been killed and 14 others wounded in a
"terrorist attack" in China's mostly Muslim Xinjiang region, the official
Chinese news agency said Saturday [29 Nov.].
A group of "terrorists" launched an attack on civilians Friday[28 Nov.] in
Shache county, leaving four people dead and 14 wounded. Eleven "terrorists"
were also shot dead during the violence, according to CCTV, China's state
broadcaster. …………
At around 1.30pm (0530 GMT) on Friday[28 Nov.] men armed with knives threw
explosive devices and attacked crowds on commercial street, Xinhua reported.
Eleven of the attackers were killed by police who were patrolling in the
area. Explosives, knives and axes were seized at the scene. ………
Situated 200 kilometers from the regional capital of Kashgar, the district
of Shache -- or Yarkand in the Uighur language -- was the scene of violent
clashes in July, shortly before the end of the Islamic holy month of
Ramadan. Police officers then killed dozens of attackers "who were attacking
civilians and vehicles", according to state media.The fresh unrest
underscores the deterioration of the situation in Xinjiang, where Beijing
has launched a severe crackdown in recent months with dozens of executions
officially announced and hundreds of arrests, followed by speedy mass trials
and the public exhibition of so-called "terrorists".
Friday's[28 Nov.] attack comes five days after students of the imprisoned
Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti were brought before a Chinese court in a
secret trial, accused -- like their professor -- of "separatism".A Chinese
judge Friday[28 Nov.] rejected Tohti's appeal against the life sentence
imposed in SeptemberTohti, a respected economist, is considered a moderate
voice who had long denounced the repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang, without
demanding complete independence for the region.
Experts say that the extremely severe verdict suggests that it is unlikely
that tensions will ease in Xinjiang, a vast region where violence and
repression by security forces have left hundreds dead since last summer.
Xinjiang is frequently hit by unrest sparked by fierce tensions between
China's ethnic Han majority and the Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs, with
authorities regularly blaming Uighur militants for the violence.Some Uighurs
in the north west Chinese region are hostile to Beijing's leadership. They
say they are victims of discrimination and left out of the benefits of
development in Xinjiang, which has seen an influx of Han Chinese moving in
from elsewhere in the country.
+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon)29 Nov,’14:”Mubarak Says ‘Did NothingWrong’ as
Court Drops Murder Charge Against Him”, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Mubarak still serves 3 years for graft
FULL TEXT:An Egyptian court dismissed Saturday[29 Nov.] a murder charge
against Hosni Mubarak over the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising
against him, sparking celebrations among supporters but fury from the former
president's opponents.
Mubarak, who ruled for three decades until he was driven from office, was
also acquitted of a corruption charge but will remain in jail on a
three-year sentence in a separate graft case.
Seven of his security commanders, including feared former interior minister
Habib al-Adly, were acquitted over the deaths of some of the roughly 800
people killed during the revolt.
Cheers broke out in the courtroom and Mubarak's sons Alaa and Gamal kissed
his forehead when the judge read out the verdict in the retrial as the
ex-president, 86, lay in an upright stretcher inside the caged dock.
Corruption charges against the sons were also dropped.
The usually stone-faced Mubarak, wearing his trademark sun glasses, allowed
himself a faint smile after the verdict was read.But relatives of those
killed expressed dismay.Dozens of protesters later gathered at an entrance
to Cairo's Tahrir Square -- the hub of the revolt -- chanting "the people
demand the toppling of the regime."
An appeals court had overturned an initial life sentence for Mubarak in 2012
on a technicality. Saturday's verdict may also be appealed.
Mubarak, who was transported back to a Cairo military hospital where he is
being held, appeared in a wheelchair from a balcony door to wave at several
dozen cheering supporters.
"I did nothing wrong at all," he told a private Egyptian broadcaster over
the telephone.
He also praised his time in office, which was marred by police abuses and
corruption, especially the decade before his overthrow.
Apparently referring to economic growth, he said: "The last 10 years showed
more results than the 20 years before... and then they turned against us."
His lawyer Farid al-Deeb told Agence France-Presse the verdict was "a good
ruling that proved the integrity of Mubarak's era."
Many Egyptians increasingly look with nostalgia to the stability of the
Mubarak era in light of the turmoil that followed.
Mohammed Morsi, the Islamist who eventually succeeded him, was toppled by
the army in 2013 following massive protests.
Mubarak's supporters leapt from their benches in celebration when the judge
pronounced the verdict, chanting: "Say the truth, don't be scared -- Mubarak
is innocent."
In a summary of its reasoning, the court cited witnesses -- all former
security commanders -- saying the police did not use live ammunition against
protesters during the deadliest day of the 2011 revolt.
Outside the court venue, a police academy on Cairo's outskirts, relatives of
those killed were appalled at the verdict.
"It's an oppressive ruling. The blood of my son has been wasted," said
Mostafa Morsi, whose son was killed outside a police station.
In the streets of Cairo, opinion was divided.
"Justice for the martyrs has been lost," said one woman in her 50s.
Others disagreed.
"There is no evidence against Mubarak. He was an honest president," said
Mostafa Saed, a retired government worker.
Protesters during the revolt vented years of pent-up fury over police abuses
and corruption by attacking and torching police stations across the country,
leaving the interior ministry on the brink of collapse.
Chief judge Mahmud Kamel al-Rashidi, 63, suggested his ruling was made with
a clear conscience.
"God will ask me 'what did you do in this world, and specifically what did
you do as a judge,'" he told the court before pronouncing his verdict.
He said he dropped the murder charge because the prosecution should not have
added Mubarak to the case initially made against his security chiefs.
A leading rights lawyer, Gamal Eid, said the prosecution had initially moved
to place his security commanders on trial and included Mubarak in the case
under public pressure.
"The court can distance defendants from a case who had not initially been
among the accused," he told AFP.
During the uprising, hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied daily
demanding Mubarak step down. After he resigned, they continued to hold
protests demanding he be tried.
Once-banished Mubarak-era officials have since made a comeback, using a
backlash against former opposition figures blamed for the subsequent tumult.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab was a senior official in Mubarak's
now-dissolved party. Mubarak's former military intelligence chief Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi is now president, having been elected after deposing Morsi.
Police are waging a deadly crackdown on pro-Morsi Islamist protesters and
militants, and Morsi is standing trial on several charges including taking
part in jail breaks and violence during the anti-Mubarak revolt.
SourceAgence France Presse
Middle East Cairo
+++++++++++++++++++
Sue Lerner , Associate, IMRA
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