ARAB MK NEW FLAG ANTHEM

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Rains bring fresh floods to Indonesia. 3-Mozambique PM issues flood warning amid evacuation appeal. 4-More and more lake effect snow, bitter cold. 5-Heavy snow shuts airports, causes disruption in Britain. 6-Catastrophe bonds: a market answer to hail or high water. 7-Israel weighs Old City project Webcast. 8-Iran to hit U.S. interests if attacked. 9-Palestinian factions to resume talks. 10-Ethiopian Jews: Stop Bringing in Falash Mura. 11-European Union to open four embassies in Central Asia countries. 12-The Arabs Want the Overpass to
Collapse, to Keep Jews Out. 13-New Arab Minister Wants New Anthem and Flag.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS

Update time = Fri Feb 9 12:07 AM EDT

FEB 09,07 NO QUAKES YET

FEB 08,07
MAP 2.5 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 5.0 SUMBAWA REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 5.3 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.1 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 3.2 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.2 CARLSBERG RIDGE
MAP 2.9 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 4.8 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.2 NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.2 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
MAP 3.1 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.1 UTAH
MAP 2.7 COLORADO
MAP 5.4 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.8 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

FEB 07,07
MAP 2.5 WASHINGTON
MAP 5.7 SOUTHERN PERU
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.5 FIJI REGION
MAP 3.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.5 OFF THE COAST OF SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 3.1 SOUTH DAKOTA
MAP 2.8 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.2 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 TEXAS PANHANDLE REGION
MAP 4.8 FIJI REGION
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.5 GEORGIA, USA

Rains bring fresh floods to Indonesia By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer Thu Feb 8, 6:24 AM ET

JAKARTA, Indonesia Residents working in waist-high mud salvaged family photos from
washed-out neighborhoods as fresh rains Thursday triggered more flooding,compounding the misery for hundreds of thousands forced from their homes. A week after the Indonesian capital was struck by the worst floods in recent memory, waters had receded in many middle-class districts, but conditions remained grim in narrow riverside alleys where the city's poor live.At least 53 people were killed in the floods, while some 84,000 others have been treated for ailments including itchy skin, coughs or common colds resulting from contact with dirty water or exposure, the Health Ministry said.In cramped and damp emergency shelters, mothers breast-fed babies close to piles of rotting garbage. Food and medicine appeared to besufficient in several places visited Thursday, but authorities warned the spread of disease was possible.The rain comes in, the wind comes in, but we are stuck, said Muhammad Nahrowi, one of 5,000 people crammed into a school close to the hardest-hit districts.Some 40 percent of areas previously flooded in the city of 12 million people were still submerged in muddy water, said Rustam Pakaya, chief of the Health Ministry's crisis center, citing data from aerial surveillance.

The government said between 240,000 and 400,000 people were still unable to return home.City officials have to start cleaning the debris if they want to prevent the spread of diseases, Pakaya said.

Overnight rain sent waters up to more than 3 feet coursing back into some areas, underscoring the challenges facing city authorities as they try to clean its streets and restore basic services.We spent yesterday mopping and scrubbing and now the waters have come again, said Haji Jajan, 52, as women and children peered from second-floor balconies at the steadily rising waters. I'm tired, but what can we do? More downpours were forecast for the capital in coming days, and authorities warned flooding was possible until the rainy season ends at the end of next month.Floods also occurred outside the capital, with some 106,000 acres of rice paddies and several villages, farms and businesses in west Java province in knee-high water, said a meteorologist who uses the single name Kiki.The floods in Jakarta hit hardest in tightly packed riverside districts in Jakarta accessible only by foot and where whole families often live in a single room. Many houses were washed away or badly damaged.

Large areas of one such district, Kampung Pulo, remained under water Wednesday.

Residents trudged through filthy waters to the main road to pick up food and water. Where floods had receded, thick mud several feet deep in places meant homes were still unlivable.I would move if I could, but for that you need money, said Atoy Mansori, who is unemployed, as he and other residents recovered what they could from their homes.Indonesia is hit by deadly floods each year, and Jakarta is not immune. But this year's have been the worst in recent memory, with some 100,000 homes, shops and businesses swamped in rich and poor areas alike.

Mozambique PM issues flood warning amid evacuation appeal by Jerome Cartillier Thu Feb 8, 8:57 AM ET

MAPUTO (AFP) - Mozambican Prime Minister Luisa Diogo has warned that torrential rains could wreak more havoc than heavy floods in 2001 when nearly 1,000 people died, as authorities urged people to start evacuating. It's really a dramatic situation and there is a possibility of emergency, Diogo told reporters in Maputo, adding that the swelling waters of the Zambezi river in the centre of the country were of particular concern.If the Zambezi river continues growing, the situation can be worse than in 2001. Because, as opposed to 2001, the situation is happening when the rainy season is not yet at its peak.Incessant downpours have lashed Mozambique since the start of the year, claiming 29 lives, flooding vast swathes of the coastal nation and rendering more than 46,000 homeless.

Authorities in the central town of Tete, bearing the brunt of the flash floods, urged people living along the banks of the Zambezi to leave their homes but the call went largely unheeded, residents told AFP by telephone Thursday.

Meanwhile, the National Water Directorate said the water levels on the Zambezi were flowing above the danger level, forcing the management of the giant Cahora Bassa dam to increase the outflow of water to prevent the dam from bursting.Cahora Bassa, built during Portuguese colonial rule, is one of Africa's largest hydroelectric projects.Located on the Zambezi River, the dam has created a 2,000-square-kilometre (800-square-mile) artifical lake which stretches to the point where the borders of Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe converge. It produces some 2,000 megawatts of power annually.The national water directorate said the dam's management had started discharging more than 6,000 litres of water per minute from Wednesday, which is higher than the level of discharge during the devastating 2001 floods.According to the National Institute of Calamities Management, 29 people have died thus far in flash flooding or from electrocution and about 46,500 people have seen their homes washed away.

Amarildo Romao, a 31-year-old journalist living in flood-washed Tete, told AFP: The situation is very dramatic.

It is not raining in town but there is a lot of rain coming from Zumbo, the area where the Zambezi enters Mozambique from Zambia and Zimbabwe.The downtown hotels are all flooded ... The wine, oil and soap factories are also partially flooded.People who live on islands on the Zambezi have all moved away. Their houses are also flooded.The upper sections of Tete, where most of the residential areas are located, have been largely untouched by the rising waters.Prime Minister Diogo meanwhile underlined that the impoverished country, which is emerging from the ashes of a 16-year civil war which ended in 1992, was better prepared to tackle floods this time around.There is a huge difference. In 2001, our early warning systems were not working so well. There has been a vast improvement, she said, adding the top priority for the government would be the evacuation of those living on the banks of the river.The prime minister however said it was too early to launch a call for international help or declare a natural disaster.

More and more lake effect snow, bitter cold Wayne Verno, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Thu Feb 8, 8:06 AM ET

Northeast

Lake effect snow bands will continue to persist off Lakes Erie and Ontario, with the heaviest band occurring east of Lake Ontario. Locally, an additional foot or more of snow will fall in some locations of western New York. Scattered snow showers and flurries will also occur from north of Pittsburgh, through the Buffalo and Burlington areas, with mostly sunny skies expected elsewhere. Afternoon high temperatures today will range from the upper teens across Buffalo and Burlington, to the lower 20s across Pittsburgh. Upper 20s to lower 30s can be expected from Boston and New York, south through Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Also, as high pressure builds in from the west, and this interacts with low pressure situated north of the Great Lakes, windy conditions will develop across all of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast today. Winds of 20 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph, will be possible. The chilly weather, along with persistent lake effect snow showers, will continue into Friday.

Midwest

With high pressure building south across the northern Plains, winds may become a bit more aligned to support lake effect snow showers across the northern and central Great Lakes today, including Upper and western Lower Michigan.

Locally, 6 to 12 inches could accumulate in persistent snow bands. A few snow showers may also break out across the northern and High Plains today, as a weather disturbance slides southeast. Accumulations here will be light; generally an inch or less. Temperatures will remain very cold, with afternoon highs ranging from the single digits and teens from Fargo and Minneapolis, to Chicago and Cleveland, to the 20s and 30s from Rapid City and Omaha, through Kansas City, St, Louis, and Louisville. Very low wind chills will also persist over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, with readings, especially this morning, running between 20 and 30 below. The chance for light snow showers will persist across the High Plains into Friday, along with lake effect snow showers over the northern and central Great Lakes.

West

Unsettled weather will continue for the next several days across the west, as a flow of moisture and series of weather disturbances continues to affect the region. A stationary front across the northern Rockies will increase the chance for snow across the higher mountains. Accumulations of 6 to 12 inches will be likely, with locally higher amounts. A new storm system will approach western and northern California today, with rain showers increasing this afternoon. Tonight, the rain will become steady and heavy at times from San Francisco, through Sacramento and Redding, while higher elevations snows will increase across the Serra Nevada, where several inches could accumulate.

Warm temperatures will persist over southern California and the Southwest, with areas from Los Angeles to Phoenix seeing readings in the 70s and 80s. Areas including Denver, Salt Lake City, and Seattle will see temperatures in the 40s today. The chance for rain will continue over central and northern California into Friday, with rain also increasing over the Pacific Northwest. Higher elevation snows will also continue.

South

In the wake of a weak cold front that has slipped across the Deep South, cooler conditions can be expected today from Charlotte and Atlanta, westward through Memphis and Dallas. Afternoon highs today will range from the lower 50s from Charlotte and Atlanta, to the Upper 30s to Upper 40s from Memphis to Dallas. The warmer temperatures will be confined to south of the cold front, with upper 60s and lower 70s common from Houston and New Orleans, to Orlando. A weak weather disturbance will trigger a few areas of light sleet or freezing drizzle this morning from Little Rock, to Memphis, to Tupelo; otherwise expect a few light rain showers or sprinkles across the Lower Mississippi River Valley this afternoon. These light rain showers or sprinkles will spread across the Gulf Coast and Southeast into Friday, otherwise dry and cool conditions will continue. The warmest temperatures will remain confined to the Coastal areas and Florida.

Heavy snow shuts airports, causes disruption in Britain by Phil Hazlewood FEB 08,07

LONDON (AFP) Airline passengers bore the brunt of unusually heavy snow in England and Wales Thursday, which forced the temporary closure of runways at several airports and caused disruption on roads and rails.

Between 10 and 15 centimetres (four and six inches) of snow fell overnight on large parts of southern and central England and Wales, with about five centimetres on London but the adverse weather eased later in the day.Just three weeks ago, Exeter in south-west England recorded temperatures of 15.5 degrees Celsius (59.9 degrees Fahrenheit), in what was the warmest January since 1921 and the fifth warmest since records began almost 350 years ago.It's one of the most significant snowfall events in this part of the country for several years, Keith Fenwick, a forecaster at the country's Met Office weather centre, told AFP about the affected areas.

The last such significant snowfall was in December 2000, he said.

The snow - an increasingly rare event outside of mountainous areas of Britain - forced London's City, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted airports to shut their runways for several hours.Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff airports also closed their runways as snow fell thickest outside London. Up to 10 centimetres of snow came down on the Welsh capital.London's Heathrow Airport remained open, but about 32 mainly short-haul flights were cancelled, a spokesman said.Elsewhere, schools were closed and traffic crawled while London's underground train network and some mainline train services suffered delays and disruptions.Snowdrifts forced road closures in mid-Wales and a snow plough was even seen clearing a path through the trendy north London district of Islington as the Highways Agency warned motorists to avoid all but essential journeys.Although the wintry weather moved northwest towards Manchester and Liverpool later in the day, the Met Office warned of freezing fog and black ice possible in areas already hit by snow.

We're not completely out of the woods yet, said Fenwick.

David Frost, the head of the British Chamber of Commerce, claimed transport disruptions would cost the economy up to 400 million pounds (605 million euros, 788 million dollars) because commuters would be hardest hit.Like many, he said that unlike other countries who have snow on a regular basis, Britain's travel infrastructure was ill-equipped to deal with it because it now fell so rarely.Jack Straw, Leader of the House of Commons, appeared to agree, admitting to MPs that Britain needed to be better prepared.It is extremely important we upgrade our efforts all the time to defy the weather which after all, not withstanding a day's snow, is much more moderate than many other countries who frankly are able to cope a bit better, he said.Across the English Channel heavy snow caused disruptions in the Netherlands and Belgium, with several runways closed at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and Dutch rail running fewer trains.

Traffic at Schiphol, one of Europe's busiest airports, was cut to some 30 flights an hour from the usual 60-70. Flights were also delayed at Brussels airport and traffic build-ups occurred around the Belgian capital and in the hilly Ardennes region to the south, where more than 20 centimetres of snow were recorded. In northern France, Eurostar and other high-speed trains were delayed by a diversion caused by a rail that fractured north of Arras because of the cold, the French SNCF railways company said.

Catastrophe bonds: a market answer to hail or high water by Isabelle Tourne FEB 08,07

NEW YORK (AFP) - Facing the prospect of more volatile world weather patterns, especially devastating hurricanes, the financial markets have developed a new instrument to spread the risk: catastrophe bonds. Demand for catastrophe bonds, which are marketed to offset the financial risks of insuring against a mass storm or earthquake, has grown explosively in recent years, according to Rodrigo Araya, a vice president at the Moody's rating agency.Such bonds, which are usually sponsored by insurers, offer yields above average interest rates to investors if a natural disaster does not occur over a given period.But if a storm hits and an insurer must pay out claims, the bond investor loses everything, including the interest and principal.Catastrophe bond issues grew to almost two billion dollars in value in 2005, prior to Hurricane Katrina ravaging the US Gulf coast, but today the market for such instruments is worth almost five billion dollars.The so-called cat bond market debuted during the 1990s, and grew after Hurricane Andrew triggered the collapse of over 60 insurance firms, spurring insurers to radically rethink their risk management.

Transferring the financial risk of insurance to the financial markets seemed like an ideal solution.Such bonds have found favor with hedge funds and offered money managers new avenues in which to diversify their complex investment portfolios.Cat bonds also offer insurers and reinsurers a way to spread their risks against a sudden liquidity crunch in the wake of vast storm, some of which rack up billions of dollars in property damage.And the market has not been diminished despite Katrina's late 2005 obliteration of New Orleans and the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, and the resulting 50 billion-dollar damage bill.Last year, (there were) almost no catastrophe hurricanes, investors did not suffer any significant losses, so they paid well, so there is more demand, Araya said.The cat bond market has attracted the likes of Wilbur Ross, an American billionaire who made a fortune turning around troubled firms and who recently created a firm specializing in catastrophe risks.What we're betting on is that the perceived risk exceeds the actual risk, Ross said in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal.

According to Mark Azzopardi, the head of BNP Paribas' insurance and pension operations, for a given rating level, the investor is not taking more risk with a cat bond, just different risks which help to diversify their portfolios.He said cat bonds can be issued for all manner of natural disasters, to protect against severe wind risks in the United States or a Japanese earthquake.Some cat bond advocates say they have arrived on the market just in time.Peter Levene, chairman of the London-based Lloyd's insurance market, warned an audience of insurance executives in Washington last month that global insurers are facing the risk of a 100-billion-dollar mega-catastrophe twice the size of Katrina.And Warren Buffett, the savvy US billionaire whose interests include insurance assets, has said the losses from Katrina alone had cost his insurance groups some 2.5 billion dollars. The demand for cat bonds is expected to pick up ahead of this year's Atlantic hurricane season which traditionally runs from June to November.

Israel weighs Old City project Webcast By MARSHALL THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer THU FEB 08,07

JERUSALEM - The Israel Antiquities Authority is considering broadcasting real-time, 24-hour video from a contentious Jerusalem holy site in a bid to allay Muslim fears the shrine will be harmed by repair work, an official said Thursday. Muslim leaders ridiculed the idea, and Israeli police were on heightened alert before Friday Muslim prayers at the site, imposing travel restrictions and planning for a helicopter to hover overhead.Israel says it needs to replace a centuries-old earthen ramp leading to the hilltop compound known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, which was damaged heavily in a 2004 snowstorm. It has promised the work would not harm Islamic shrines at the site, some 60 yards away, but those assurances have not calmed Muslim outrage over the project.Lawmaker Israel Hasson said he proposed installing cameras so all the Arab world would be able to see everything that goes on there.

The Antiquities Authority said it was looking into how much the Webcast would cost.

The Antiquities Authority is looking into the possibility of installing Internet cameras ,to show that we are working with full transparency, and to show that we aren't digging ,not under Temple Mount, not on the way to Temple Mount and far from Temple Mount.

Adnan Husseini, chairman of the Waqf, the Muslim trust that oversees the complex, rejected the proposal as ridiculous.This is a historical place, and their machines are destroying it, Husseini said. The Israelis have to stop the work and let the Waqf do the renovations.The ramp leads to the outer wall of the hilltop compound. But the Waqf claims jurisdiction over it because it touches the mosque complex.The hilltop — home to the Al Aqsa mosque and the golden-capped Dome of the Rock shrine — is Islam's third-holiest shrine. Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven from the site. It also is the site of the original retaining walls of the second Jewish temple, including the Jewish shrine called the Western Wall.UNESCO criticized the renovation and called on Israel to suspend any action that could endanger the spirit of mutual respect until such time as the will to dialogue prevails once again.The eight-month construction project has provoked small-scale protests since it began Tuesday.On Thursday, about 100 Palestinians briefly blocked an entrance to the Old City, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

The protesters dispersed peacefully after police ordered them to do so, Rosenfeld said.But Raed Salah, a leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, warned of a religious war as he scuffled with police outside the shrine Wednesday. Salah, who was briefly detained for police questioning, declared Friday Al Aqsa Day and called on Israeli Muslims and Palestinians to attend weekly prayers at the shrine.

Police issued a 10-day restraining order barring Salah from entering the Old City.

Israeli police remained on heightened alert Thursday, with about 2,000 officers deployed throughout the Old City and nearby areas in Arab east Jerusalem.Rosenfeld said that at least as many officers would be deployed Friday, the Muslim holy day, when mosque attendance is at its highest. Police said they would put up roadblocks in the area and fly over the site in a helicopter.Rosenfeld said an order barring West Bank Palestinians from the Al Aqsa compound would be extended to Friday prayers. Since construction began, access has been restricted to Israeli Arabs and east Jerusalem residents over 45. Israel has controlled the compound since 1967, when it captured east Jerusalem from Jordan, but has left its administration largely to Jordan and the Palestinians. When Israel opened a tunnel alongside the compound in 1996, it touched off clashes that killed 80 people. In 2000, when then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the site, the ensuing riots were followed by years of
violence.

Iran to hit U.S. interests if attacked By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer FEB 08,07

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's supreme leader said Thursday that if the United States were to attack Iran, the country would respond by striking U.S. interests all over the world — the latest sharp exchange in an escalating standoff between the two countries. The comments by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came on the same day that another top official, Tehran's ambassador to the United Nations, Javad Zarif, warned in a column in The New York Times that efforts to isolate Iran would backfire on the United States, increasing sectarian tensions in the volatile Middle East, including Iraq.The United States is reaping the expected bitter fruits of its ill-conceived adventurism, he said.But rather than face these unpleasant facts, the United States administration is trying to sell an escalated version of the same failed policy. It does this by trying to make Iran its scapegoat and fabricating evidence of Iranian activities in Iraq, he said.

The United States and Iran have been in an increasingly tense standoff over Tehran's nuclear program. The tensions have worsened recently because of U.S. allegations of Iranian influence in Iraq.The United States has denied it has any plans to strike Iran militarily but has sent an additional aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf in what U.S. officials call an effort to show strength in the face of rising Iranian regional influence.

Speaking to a gathering of air force commanders, Khamenei said: The enemy knows well that any invasion would be followed by a comprehensive reaction to the invaders and their interests all over the world.In another sign of the tensions, Iran's intelligence minister also said the government had detected a network of U.S and Israeli spies, and had detained a second group of people who planned to go abroad for espionage training, state television reported.

It gave few details.The allegation comes just a few days after an Iranian diplomat was detained in Baghdad in an incident that Iran blamed on U.S. forces. The Americans have denied involvement in the diplomat's detention.Also Thursday, Gen. Ali Fadavi, a navy commander in the Elite Revolutionary Guard, said Iransuccessfully test-fired a cruise missile over the Oman Sea and the northern Indian Ocean. Iran routinely tests missiles.The missile, with a 217-mile range and a 1,100-pound warhead, was fired in low-level flight from a launcher, Fadavi told state-run radio. The missile can detect its target quickly and destroy any type of warship, he said.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said the United States did not see the missile test as a direct assault on our ships.Iranian leaders often speak of a crushing response to any U.S. attack. While the remarks are seen as an attempt to drum up national support, Iran's position on Iraq and its nuclear program has provoked harsher international and especially U.S. pressure in recent months.President Bush has ordered American troops to act against Iranians suspected of being involved in the Iraqi insurgency in addition to deploying the second carrier. The U.N. Security Council has imposed sanctions because of Iran's refusal to cease uranium enrichment, and is due to consider strengthening later this month.Some people say that the U.S. president is not prone to calculating the consequences of his actions, Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state television, but it is possible to bring this kind of person to wisdom.U.S. policymakers and analysts know that the Iranian nation would not let an invasion go without a response, Khamenei added.

Last week, a publication called Sobh-e Sadegh, the official publication of the Revolutionary Guards, also warned against American attacks, pointing out that because the U.S. has large numbers of troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, central Asia and Europe, it would be easy to kidnap Americans in retaliation.In his column, Zarif said Bush's plan to send an additional 21,500 troop to Iraq can only be expected to worsen tension and increase the possibility of unintended escalation. He called instead for intensified regional cooperation on Iraq, saying a proposed meeting next month of Iraq's neighbors in Baghdad would be a good place to begin.In his talk Thursday, Khamenei also addressed rumors about his health — a subject that is rarely discussed openly in Iran. Last month, there was speculation his health had deteriorated seriously. Enemies of the Islamic system fabricated various rumors about death and health to demoralize the Iranian nation, but they did not know that they are not dealing with only one person in Iran. They are facing a nation, Khamenei said.

Palestinian factions to resume talks By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press Writer FEB 08,07

MECCA, Saudi Arabia - Rival Palestinian factions drew close to an agreement Thursday over the outlines of a power-sharing government in which the militant Hamas group would promise to respect peace deals signed with Israel, officials said. But the deal raises the question of whether any government that emerges from the Mecca conference will be accepted by the United States and Israel.

They have demanded that Hamas explicitly recognize Israel and renounce violence, which the militant group has so far refused to do.Unless they feel Hamas has sufficiently moderated its stance, the United States is unlikely to lift a crippling international financial boycott of the Palestinian government and Israel will not open peace talks with a new Palestinian government.Delegates from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' mainstream Fatah movement and Hamas negotiated until 3 a.m Thursday, then resumed talks midmorning in closed-door meetings that lasted throughout the day, trying to reach a deal. An agreement is vital to averting a civil war between the factions: Many Palestinians fear that without a strong enough agreement in Mecca, fighting that has killed dozens in past months could grow even stronger.A Hamas delegate said the political outlines of an agreement for a coalition government between Fatah and Hamas would be announced later Thursday.

Now we are forming the principles of the agreement. Tonight we are going to announce an agreement in principle on forming a national unity government, the delegate told the Associated Press.He said the outlines of the new government's political platform would be announced, including a provision by which the factions including Hamas would respect previous peace deals between the Palestinians and Israel. The delegate spoke on condition of anonymity because he was giving the information before the formal announcement.They will also be based on a document drawn up last summer by Hamas and Fatah activists jailed in Israeli prisons. That document calls for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.If Hamas joins a government that adopts that document, it would be the militant group's most concrete commitment ever to a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict though Hamas has said that would not necessarily mean recognizing Israel.The vague provision for Hamas to respect past deals may fall short of the explicit terms demanded by the United States and Israel.Moreover, it appeared Hamas and Fatah still have been unable to agree on who would take up the vital post of interior minister in the coalition government. The interior minister would control security forces which each faction has been loathe to see fall into the other's hands.

Maher Mekdad, a member of the Fatah delegation, said the two sides had reached an agreement on the division of Cabinet posts. The interior minister would be an independent: Hamas would propose a list of candidates and President Mahmoud Abbas, head of Fatah, would approve one of them, Mekdad told the Associated Press.That result may fall short of the solid, comprehensive deal Saudi Arabia had hoped for when it called the summit, held in a palace in Mecca overlooking Islam's holiest site the Kaaba, the cube-shaped shrine that all Muslims face when they pray.The summit is a last-ditch attempt to resolve the turmoil that has shaken the Palestinians and the peace process with Israel since Hamas won January 2006 elections and formed a government. The U.S. and the West slapped the boycott on funding to Hamas' government and Israel refused any negotiations with it, though it has held talks with Abbas.Meanwhile, the power struggle between Hamas and Fatah has grown bloodier, and many fear that without a deal in Mecca, the factional fighting could turn to outright civil war.Saudi Arabia, a powerful U.S. ally, may have to play a role in selling any agreement to the West.

So far, Washington has publicly backed Israel's stance reiterated by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipo Livni on Wednesday that a Palestinian government must explicitly renounce violence and accept the right of Israel to exist.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Abbas and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are due to meet on Feb. 19 in Jerusalem for talks intended to revive the peace process.Abbas had asked Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal to sound out the Americans on whether respect the accords is acceptable, a Fatah delegate said. Abbas is ready to give Hamas a blank check on the wording so long as the Americans will buy it, a Fatah delegate said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad bristled at the pressure on the militant group to recognize Israel, saying doing so would not necessarily lead to the Palestinians' ultimate goal of a state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Recognizing Israel is not like the staff of Moses (a magic wand) by which we can solve all the crises, he said. We want to ease the Palestinian people suffering (from the boycott), but that is not going to be done with any price ... The international community cannot force the Palestinian people to follow all its conditions.In Gaza, people waited anxiously for the talks to produce results. Gunmen added sandbags and other reinforcements to their positions on streets and rooftops in Gaza City. More than 30 people were killed and over 200 wounded in four days of fighting that ended with a truce, called for the Mecca talks, on Sunday. The imprisoned Fatah militant leader Marwan Barghouti sent an e-mail from an Israeli jail that warned: If the dialogue currently taking place in Mecca fails, history will have no mercy on those who took part, and they will not soon be forgiven by the Palestinian people.

Ethiopian Jews: Stop Bringing in Falash Mura
By Gil Ronen and Hana Levi Julian (INN) FEB 08,07

Spiritual leaders of the Ethiopian Jewish community have called on government officials to stop bringing members of the the Falash Mura community to Israel. Ethiopian kessim (high priests) and rabbis charged Monday at a conference in Rehovot that many of the Falash Mura conduct Christian missionary activity within the Ethiopian immigrant community.

Hundreds of Ethiopian Jews attended the Ending Missionary Activity in the Community conference, a fact that attests to the depth of concern over the issue.The Falash Mura are said to be the descendants of Ethiopian Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity several generations ago. According to members of the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel, the Falash Mura have no desire to return to the Judaism of their ancestors.We came [to Israel] to be Jews, said the community leaders. We weren’t different from the Christians in skin color we were different from them only because of our Judaism. The missionary activities have crossed red lines and could set the community aflame and cause bloodshed, they warned.

The conference appointed a committee led by the kessim, which will create a list of missionaries as well as a map of the Christian missions in each city, and submit them to the Interior Ministry. The community’s leaders intend to ask the Interior Ministry to bar Falash Mura from marrying Jews and block their burial in Jewish cemeteries.Israel has absorbed more than 100,000 Ethiopian Jews and Falash Mura in the past 20 years. Currently 300 Ethiopians are being brought to Israel each month.

Ethiopian Israeli advocacy groups are demanding that the number be increased to 600 and that Jewish aid services in Ethiopia be extended to an additional 7,800 people.

European Union to open four embassies in Central Asia countries
08.02.2007, 12.52

LONDON, February 8 (Itar-Tass) - The European Union plans to open four embassies in Central Asian countries. The diplomatic offices will be opened in Astana (Kazakhstan), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan). This initiative is voiced in a document submitted by Germany that presides over the EU to member-countries. The document says that the EU’s goal is to establish special relations with Central Asian states, mainly in energy. Germany also proposes concrete projects – the construction of a new gas pipeline from Central Asia along the Caspian seabed to the EU. The EU plans to engage heavy financial resources to support its breakthrough to Central Asia. The existing mandates of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank will be expanded.

The Arabs Want the Overpass to Collapse, to Keep Jews Out
By Hillel Fendel (INN) FEB 08,07

MK Eldad: The Mughrabi Gate struggle is not over a bridge, but over the principle of Jewish presence. Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad (National Union) says that if the State of Israel is not able to carry out safety maintenance work at the Western Wall plaza, it means that we are on a dangerous path towards disappearing from the political map of the Middle East.Speaking with Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine, Eldad said, The struggle is over the preservation of the only Temple Mount gate left out of Wakf [Muslim Authority] hands and in Jewish hands.The Arabs actually want the Mughrabi Gate passway to collapse, Eldad said, so that they will be able to close the only gate that is under Jewish control. That will end the era of Jewish visitation rights to the Temple Mount. They have been waiting for this for a long time, and that's why they don't want us to refurbish it.The bridge in question leads from the plaza leading to the Western Wall up to the Temple Mount, and is considered a safety hazard in its current condition. Israel's Antiquities Authority is carrying out archaeological works there in anticipation of its refurbishing. Arabs around the country have taken advantage of the situation to accuse of Israel of trying to destroy the Temple Mount complex, and have called for a response sharper than the previous intifadas.

It's true, Eldad said, that the original sin was when the Jewish People, immediately after the Six Day War in 1967, ceded its hold on the Temple Mount in an unholy alliance between the Chief Rabbinate and Moshe Dayan - each side for its own reasons - but now the danger is that the Arab sovereignty on the Temple Mount will spill over to the Western Wall plaza, and from there to other places.

Then-Defense Minister Dayan, just days after Israel's liberation of the Old City, informed the Muslims running the Temple Mount that they could continue to run the mosques there - and later went further by preventing Jewish prayer all over the Mount. It was evident that if we did not prevent Jews from praying in what was now a mosque compound, Dayan later wrote, matters would get out of hand and lead to a religious clash... As an added precaution, I told the chief of staff to order the chief army chaplain to remove the branch office he had established in the building which adjoins the mosque compound.Eldad said that the Arabs' objective is to acquire a veto right over what the State of Israel can do on its property, wherever the Arabs feel the area is a sensitive and explosive holy Moslem site. He noted that the Arabs openly demand the rights of a national minority in a joint state. Israel cannot allow itself to live under threats and blackmail every time it wants to do something necessary or in keeping with our national and historic rights.

New Arab Minister Wants New Anthem and Flag
15:56 Feb 08, '07 / 20 Shevat 5767

(IsraelNN.com) Israel's first Arab Cabinet minister, Raleb Majadle, said that the Jewish state should change its anthem and flag. These were made and meant for the Jews, and did not take the Arab minority into account, he told the The New York Times. If Israel wants to integrate us fully, then we need an anthem and flag that can do that, but it must be by agreement.The Labor party minister did not directly reject recent calls by Arab academics calling for Israel to drop its definition as a Jewish state. The fact is that Israel is a Jewish State, a state with a Jewish majority. Can we change that reality with words? he said.Muslim and Bedouin leaders have urged their constituents in the past several years to change that reality by multiplying quickly and creating an Arab majority in Israel without force. Arabs already constitute a majority in the Galilee outside of Haifa and in the triangle east of Netanya and Kfar Saba. Bedouin polygamy, permitted by Israeli authorities on the grounds of religious freedom, has propelled Bedouins from less than 15,000 people 50 years ago to more than 150,000 today, representing close to 40 percent of the population in the Negev.