12/30/06 Middle East Live Daily Thread

An apparent reaction to media reports that Ethiopia was being supported by the US and fighting the latter's proxy war in Somalia, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Thursday that Ethiopia is carrying out the operation on its own.

On the contrary, he said, the Americans were very skeptical about Ethiopia's military involvement in Somalia.
Western Union

In a press conference that he gave in his office for the second time in a week, Meles told journalists that the US had in no way supported his government in this war that has already cost the country an estimated 10 million birr.

Meles for the first time also hinted that the number of Ethiopian troops that have died during the operation is close to five hundred.

"The [Americans] have not in any way been involved in the military operation in Somalia. From the very beginning they told us that if we must fight that we would be on our own. We had no illusions about that and we did not expect anything from the United States. We are on our own in Somalia."

However, he said the long standing arrangement between the two countries to share intelligence on terrorist activities still stands.

Meles said that Ethiopia's mission in Somalia was now 85% complete and expected his troops to be out of Somalia in the coming few weeks.

According to him, what remained is to pursue the hard core elements of the Shabbab, and of the extremist leadership of the courts, and the Eritrean troops that are fleeing.

In a related news, forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) on Thursday took control of parts of Mogadishu.

Somalia's interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi was expected to enter the capital Mogadishu Friday. Thursday he met local clan leaders outside the capital to discuss the city's handover. The Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) melted away abandoning the city and large numbers of arms. As soon as Mogadishu locals realized that its court administrators had fled, the city was hit with lawlessness and looting. The UN-backed government has imposed a three-month marshal law.

Ethiopian troops as usual have been positioned outside the city.

On Thursday, a six-month old strict rule in Mogadishu collapsed as swiftly as it had been established. The might that the UIC flaunted in past months seemed superficial as its leadership fled farther southwards to the port town of Kismayo.

In the few days after December 19, the Union of Islamic Courts suffered a heavy defeat when it lost close to three thousand fighters that it had lined up. Most of those were Eritreans and fighters from nations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and some even carried British passports.

The Shura-Supreme Council of the Union of Islamic Courts was dissolved.

The Supreme leader of the courts and one time Al-Ittihad commander Hassan Dahir Aweys headed to his home town Kismayo early Thursday morning.

The executive leader of the courts Sheik Sharif Ahmed Sharif said that his forces were in a strategic retreat and that they were going to fight against the "invading Ethiopian forces."

Most UIC militia have laid down their arms and are submitting themselves to clan administrators.

There are fears, however, that the courts might employ tactics such as hit and run guerilla attacks, suicide bombings and assassination of key figures.

Other analysts however play down the possibility of any significant threat from the UIC as long as such leaders as Aweys, Aiden Hashi Ayro - an Al-Qaeda trained fighter - and Sharif are captured or killed.

Muktar Robow Abu Mansur, one of the leaders of the Shabbab movement, was killed in battle, state media here reported.

Ethiopia, according to Meles, will stay in Somalia until these "hard core elements are accounted for."

As for Ethiopian troops staying in Mogadishu to support the TFG, Meles said on Thursday: "We are discussing what we need to do to make sure Mogadishu does not descend into chaos. We will not let Mogadishu burn."

http://allafrica.com/stories/200612300070.html

Hizzbolah's response to Jumblatt

Hizbullah flays Jumblatt as a fickle friend

By Hani M. Bathish
Special to The Daily Star
Saturday, December 30, 2006

BEIRUT: Hizbullah accused leading March 14 Forces member Walid Jumblatt on Friday of discarding allies when it suits him and embracing new ones on a whim, adding that the MP now has a "new master" in the form of the United States. Loyalty to the Resistance MP Hussein Hajj Hassan was responding to comments made by the Progressive Socialist Party leader in an interview with Al-Arabiyya television channel.

Speaking during a religious ceremony in the South, Hassan said that when Jumblatt needed Iran he would go and see Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and issue speeches of support.

Addressing his comments to Jumblatt, Hassan said: "Now you no longer need them [Iranians and Syrians] you are against them and you discard them."

Responding to Jumblatt's accusations that Hizbullah was involved in the string of assassinations that targeted Lebanon's anti-Syrian politicians and journalists, Hassan said: "We demand to know the truth behind the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri and this truth will be determined by the investigation commission and the court, not by Jumblatt."

He said that while the Druze leader accused Hizbullah of being behind the assassinations, in past statements both Jumblatt and the parliamentary majority leader, MP Saad Hariri, exonerated Hizbullah, "so which statements are we to believe?"

In his interview with Al-Arabiyya, Jumblatt accused Hizbullah and its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, of being behind "some, if not all" of the assassinations in Lebanon, accusing them of obtaining weapons from Israel in exchange for the release of Western hostages in what was known as the "Iran-Contra" affair.

Referring to earlier statements made by Jumblatt that he would rather be a trash collector in New York than a political leader in Lebanon, Hassan said that "if Jumblatt's imagination convinces him he would rather be a 'trash collector' in New York, he is free to do so, but to link [Hizbullah] with Israel ... I do not know how he can do that.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb

"The Israelis who have admitted to their defeat have not made such statements. It is the strangest thing to say Israel arms us so we can fight them and humiliate their army," Hassan added.

In his interview, Jumblatt said that both Hizbullah and Nasrallah are not Lebanese and receive their orders from Syria and Iran. He said he feared that those who control Hizbullah's decision-making "are pushing for a civil war in Lebanon."

Jumblatt's comments came on the heels of an announcement the day before that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri would launch a new initiative to end the political standoff between the two rival camps. Jumblatt, in his most scathing attack on Hizbullah yet, said the party

hijacked the Shiite sect, leading it astray and far from its Arab and Lebanese identities, harming the Shiites culturally, politically and economically.

Jumblatt said there is no possibility to work with Hizbullah as it represents the "culture of death," stressing that there will be no resolving matters with the Syrian regime either.

The majority has the right to seek help from any country, he added, except Israel, in facing the Syrian regime.

In response, Hassan said: "We are students of the culture of martyrdom; we differ from you [Jumblatt] in culture, for we have not called for the invasion of another Arab country even if we disagree with them," referring to Jumblatt's call on Turkey to "sweep Syria away."

As a result of Jumblatt's allegations that footage of Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh's booby-trapped car has disappeared from the archives of the Military tribunal, to later surface in the office of former Surete Generale Chief Major General Jamil Sayyed, the latter's lawyer filed a complaint with Beirut's Court of Cassation demanding an investigation into Jumblatt's claims.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=78112

Another affect of Hamas sabotaging the peace process back when:

Michel Moutot

Agence France Presse

GAZA CITY: For the children of Gaza, prisoners of the narrow coastal strip surrounded by the Israeli Army, the outside world is nothing but fury, violence and tragedy - a menacing universe that they fear. Most of Gaza's minors - 840,000 out of a population of 1.4 million - have never left their narrow piece of land stretched out on the Mediterranean coast, access to which is strictly controlled by Israel.

They grow up in frustration, anguish, anger and poverty.

Bassam Nasser, 37, director of the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution, was one of the rare Palestinians in Gaza allowed to study at a university in Tel Aviv.

"My generation knows Israel because we used to work in Israel, so we are ready to make peace," he said. "We know Israelis are human beings." "I remember Israelis visiting Gaza in the 1970s to have their cars fixed, or to buy furniture because it's cheaper here. And I remember my friends working summer jobs in Israel."

"The kids today never see Israelis as human beings. All they see are soldiers, in tanks or helicopters. For them, they are just killing machines.

"They are surrounded by violence, human rights violations, poverty. Put all this in a big box, close it, shake it up and imagine what kind of new generation is growing up here," he said.

Mental-health hospitals in Gaza say more and more parents are coming in, overwhelmed by the traumas suffered by their children.

Dr. Sami Owaida heads one such center.

"The symptoms - anxiety, fear, rebellious behavior, refusal to leave the house - they need to be protected and their parents cannot do so. For a child, this is terrible," Owaida said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb

"I often go to Israel for medical conferences," he said. "When I tell some adolescents in Gaza that all Israelis aren't monsters, they treat me like a traitor."

"The Israeli doctors and researchers whom I meet know that it is dangerous to see a new generation grow up with such hate next to them ... We talk about it, but what can you do?" Gaza's northern town of Beit Hanoun has seen its share and more of Israeli troops. Over 80 people, including an entire family, died in an Israeli offensive in November.

In a town garage, "Smile Again," a Palestinian nongovernmental group, organizes activities and therapy for children.

On this particular day, around 30 children, five of them girls, sit in a circle. The theme of the day's session is written on a pink piece of paper taped to the wall: "How to protect myself." Yazid al-Shinbari, 12, sits with a "Top Gun" hat pulled to his eyebrows and says that he is "a prisoner. In Gaza, but also in the house because my parents don't want me to go out to the street." A whistling noise sounds outside. The children's faces brighten. "A Qassam, a Qassam! Bravo!" they cheer, referring to the homemade rockets fired by Gaza fighters into Israel.

Arij Nasser, a 13-year-old girl with a serious look, recounted how she passes her hours watching Israeli television, especially programs for children. "They play on clean beaches. I've seen gardens, games, even a zoo ... It seems very far from here."

Olaa al-Shinbari, the director of the center, said that "the children are becoming more and more aggressive, at a younger age. They argue and fight between themselves, threaten each other with death for nothing."

"In the streets, they play stone throwers against the soldier. The soldiers are cruel, the stone throwers intrepid. The game is called 'Arabs and Jews.'"

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=78087

Breeding a generation of young people tailor made to be warriors for the next wave....

Early in 2006, Transparency International, a Berlin-based assessment bureau, announced that Egypt's corruption index had improved from "highly acute" to "rampant." Economist Ahmed al-Naggar wasn't the only one to remark that "rampant isn't good enough." January headlines descried a ruling-party member's sale of expired dialysis equipment to state hospitals, retirement funds used to cover national budget deficits, and the embezzlement of 1 million Egyptian pounds ($175,000) from a fund to provide university students with computers. There was a "Cabinet reshuffle," a euphemism for the sacking of a few outstandingly crooked officials.

The ferry that sank in the Red Sea in February reflected the state of the nation. It was overloaded, its lifeboats, life jackets and fire extinguishers all shoddy. When informed of a fire onboard the ship, its owner, Shura Council member Mamduh Ismail, neither contacted the authorities, nor encouraged nearby vessels to help. He was probably too busy packing, since he left Egypt shortly after the disaster that cost 1,000 people their lives.

The case was referred to the misdemeanor court, as opposed to the criminal one, perhaps because the latter is occupied putting on trial journalists critical of the regime. The judges themselves were in trouble in February, and several had their immunity stripped so they could be interrogated for having the temerity to demand an independent judiciary. On the bright side, Egypt's soccer team won the Africa Cup; indeed, hours after the ferry sank, the nation was glued to the tube watching a match.

March brought Mothers Day, a moment of gratitude and respect for women, a welcome respite from the rest of the year when they were assaulted in the street, paid less than men in the workplace, and virtually excluded from government. The minister of social affairs awarded Loza Ismail, 53, the title of "Mother of 2006." She was described in Al-Ahram Weekly as having "one of those rare wrinkled faces that oozed age and melancholy."

April was the cruelest month, with sectarian violence in Alexandria, in which three churches were simultaneously attacked by knife-bearing Muslims, who killed one and injured several other Christians. The Sinai resort town of Dahab was bombed: Twenty-four people lost their lives and dozens more were injured. Two days later, suicide bombers attacked the Multinational Force and Observers base near Al-Arish, killing only themselves.

A controversial fatwa condemning statues incited a man to enter a sweets shop and smash the sugar dolls and horses traditionally eaten on the Prophet Muhammad's birthday. There was more confusion when Sudanese cleric Hassan al-Turabi said that, contrary to popular belief, it was alright for Muslim women to marry Jews and Christians. Egyptian cleric Youssef al-Badri set things straight by observing that "Islam is the highest religion ... It is therefore impossible for a Muslim women [to marry outside of her faith, since] what is higher cannot go below what is lower."

President Hosni Mubarak, a Taurus, celebrated his 78th birthday in May. On the occasion of the World Economic Forum, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Al-Wafd published a cartoon by Amr Okasha featuring the prime minister escorting a toothless old man on crutches, labeled "the economy." The caption read: "Don't conk out on us now, especially in front of the foreigners." There were more demonstrations in support of the judges, more beating of protesters with sticks and shoes, more arrests and detainments.

June brought an unlikely array of summer fashions; fake-gem-encrusted t-shirts, bikini-strapped mini-dresses, and crocheted halter tops. In short, the season's raiment reflected everything Egyptian girls don't have - wealth and the possibility to air their bodies. Some responded to the challenge by layering. Others donned the abaya, a traditional ankle-length black garment that appears to be making a comeback.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb

The abaya is the favored outfit of Fulla, a popular new doll comparable to Mattel's Barbie. Beneath her head-covering, Fulla has long black hair with burgundy streaks. She comes with a hair-brush, jewelry and a pink prayer mat. Optional accessories include lace underwear.

Within six weeks of Israel's July attack on Lebanon, health offices in Alexandria reported that 128 newborns were named after Hizbullah's secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The Egyptian version of Viagra hit the market, though smuggled Viagra reportedly remains popular, especially the one made in America.

The monolith of Ramses II was finally moved from central Cairo, to a quieter place in the country. Many Cairenes wished they could follow him and thousands did for kilometers along the way. The capital's downtown area was crammed with frenzied boys who seemed less interested in historic moments than in groping female behinds. Several bystanders said that the statue's moving marked the end of an era, but oddly, it did not seem to mark the beginning of a new one. Meanwhile, Egypt and Sudan worked together to contain unprecedented flood waters issuing from the Ethiopian Blue Nile.

On the last day of steamy August, pedestrians were astonished when a 25-square-meter chunk of the downtown caved it, dropping a full 5 meters. Authorities blamed what they called "the descent," on a crack in the sewer system.

There were train wrecks in August and September, resulting in some 58 passenger deaths. September was also notable for Mubarak's announcement of Egypt's wish to pursue a nuclear energy program, which prompted filmmaker Youssef Chahine's quip, "we can't even pick up our garbage." Ramadan began in September, the tail end of a suffocating summer. It was still hot during the October Eid al-Fitr, when mobs of aimless males ripped the clothes from women's and girls' bodies.

The price of onions, meanwhile, rose. In November, 3,000 workers shut down a Port Said shipyard, demanding compensation for a colleague killed on a crane; 2,000 pharmacists protested police raids on their shops; hundreds of Al-Azhar students protested the suspension of fellow students who had joined the Free Students Union, an organization formed to combat state security's campus incursions. FSU members were photographed by Al-Masry al-Yom practicing martial arts and wearing uniforms bearing the slogan "steadfast."

In December three men were sentenced to death for taking part in the Taba bombings; three men were arrested for allegedly murdering 18 street children and disposing of their bodies in the Nile; three fishermen were killed by police for refusing to take their fishing cages out of the fetid waters of Lake Manzala, and 20 more were suspected "lost in the river." There were demonstrations in Giza protesting the mountains of trash on city streets. On a semi-positive note, some 30,000 striking textile workers, including around 4,000 women, cowed the government into paying a portion of the paltry bonuses it had promised and attempted to withhold.

Mubarak spoke before the Shura Council and the People's Assembly at year's end, promising great things for 2007: constitutional amendments galore, the curtailing of presidential powers, revamping of the electoral system and introducing anti-terror laws (to replace the existing emergency law). He also swore to "continue with [us] on the path [to] the future, bearing the responsibility and burden of it, as long as my heart beats in my chest and I draw breath."

We know, we know.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=78097

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