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Top Turkish General Slams EU Thu Mar 7, 2:50 PM ET ISTANBUL, Turkey - (AP) A senior general said Thursday that Turkey's efforts to join the European Union (news - web sites) were doomed to fail, and called for closer ties with Russia and Iran instead. Gen. Tuncer Kilinc — head of the powerful National Security Council — spoke of his doubts about the EU quest at a conference on Turkish foreign relations organized by the military. The remarks were unusual because generals rarely take positions in public that differ with government policy. "Turkey hasn't seen the slightest assistance from ...

UN: Israelis kill guard in ambulance Published 3/7/2002 7:46 PM JERUSALEM, March 7 (UPI) -- A U.N. security guard -- a 40-year old refugee and father of five escorting a critically wounded Palestinian in a U.N. ambulance struck by Israeli gunfire -- was instantly killed Thursday when shot in his back, U.N. officials said. The critically wounded patient being brought to Tulkarem Camp also died. Kamal Hamdan was the first U.N. staff member killed since the intifada began nearly 18 months ago, according to a statement issued in Jerusalem by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in ...

Alert patrons and staff at a popular Jerusalem restaurant foiled a suicide bombing yesterday. The bomber arrived at the Cafit coffeehouse, a favorite hangout in Jerusalem's yuppie German Colony neighborhood, at about 1:20 P.M. He was wearing a knapsack that contained a powerful bomb, to which an electric cable and a detonator were attached. About 50 patrons and staff members were there at the time, and one diner, suspicious of the newcomer, alerted the owner. "He had just entered and he was soaked with sweat," related owner Gabi Altratz. "I immediately called the police." At the same time, waiter Shlomi ...

US boosts Israel's missile-detecting system By Janine Zacharia WASHINGTON (March 8) - The US has transferred to Israel an advanced system to help it detect incoming ballistic missiles, like Scuds from Iraq, more quickly. The system links up with the Arrow anti-missile system and enhances its early warning capability, an Israeli official and a US legislator said yesterday. As talk of a US strike on Iraq has mounted, Israel has pushed for US assistance in securing better early warning capability, as Iraq is expected to retaliate against Israel, as it did during the 1991 Gulf War. The US had been ...

<p>A Palestinian gunman infiltrated a Jewish settlement in Gaza and killed five Israelis late Thursday. Israeli hit back early Friday with attacks in Gaza and Bethlehem, killing a top commander and nine other Palestinians after a day of intense Israeli strikes throughout the Palestinian territories.</p>

Principal recommendations by the international Mitchell Commission, led by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, on ending Mideast violence and reviving negotiations: JEWISH SETTLEMENTS: The report says Israel should "freeze all settlement activity," including the "natural growth" of existing settlements. The report recommends that Israel consider whether existing settlements are "valuable bargaining chips for future negotiations or provocations likely to preclude the onset of productive talks." * __ TERRORISM: The report says the Palestinian Authority should "make clear through concrete action to Palestinians and Israelis alike that terrorism is reprehensible, and unacceptable, and that the Palestinian Authority will make a ...

The Tenet work plan for a Mideast cease-fire, advanced by CIA Director George Tenet, has not been made public. According to Israeli and Palestinian officials, these are the key details: * An immediate cessation of hostilities, the arrest of militants and efforts to stop anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian media. * Israel in turn would ease travel restrictions and pull its troops back from Palestinian population centers. * A cooling-off period before implementing peacemaking suggestions by the international Mitchell Commission. * Arafat's forces would stop attacks against Israel from Palestinian-controlled parts of the West Bank and Gaza. * Palestinians would ...

Money for peace Mark A. Heller March, 08 2002 (March 8) - It has become commonplace by now to insist that there's nothing new in Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's proposal, floated through New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, to trade land for peace. Instead, it is argued, the proposal has caused a stir for two other reasons. The first is that it comes from Saudi Arabia, traditionally reluctant to get out ahead of the Arab pack, and especially from Abdullah, who has stronger Arab nationalist credentials than most of his relatives in the ruling elite. The second is that ...

BETHLEHEM. West Bank -- With attack helicopter providing cover, Israeli tanks and troops rolled into biblical Bethlehem from two directions early Friday, witnesses said, targeting refugee camps the Israelis believe harbor Palestinian militants. Two Palestinians were killed, witnesses said. One died when Israeli helicopters fired on the Deheishe refugee camp, and the other was killed during an Israeli incursion into the Aida camp. Two Israeli tanks moved into neighboring Beit Jalla, where Palestinian gunmen have been firing at a Jewish neighborhood across a valley. The neighborhood, called Gilo, was built in a disputed part of Jerusalem claimed by both ...

NABLUS, West Bank -- A West Bank militia leader who recruits and dispatches suicide bombers says his ultimate goal is to build a Palestinian liberation army that will hunt and kill Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers living in Palestinian areas. Mahmoud Titi, a leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades, a militia with links to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, told The Associated Press in an interview this week that he has access to a large pool of willing fighters with military training and said he and his colleagues are poring over maps in search of new targets. "Many of us ...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- An Israeli incursion early Friday into central Gaza claimed the life of Maj. Gen. Ahmed Mefraj, the highest-ranking Palestinian officer ever killed in a clash with Israeli forces, Palestinian security officials said. Mefraj, 55, a top security commander, died during the sweep into villages east of the city of Khan Younis. Doctors said he was shot with several times. Mefraj, deputy to Palestinian public security commander Maj. Gen. Abdel Razek Majaidie, was also a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, an arm of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. In a statement, the Palestinian ...

IDF launches massive strike against Gaza By Arieh O'Sullivan and Margot Dudkevitch March, 07 2002 >JERUSALEM (March 7) - The IDF launched its most massive assault yet on the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip and struck in the West Bank by air yesterday in actions that cost the lives of two soldiers. At least 13 Palestinians were also reported killed, including two bombers stopped at separate roadblocks and two terrorists trying to place a bomb on the main road to Gush Katif. The soldiers killed in separate incidents in Gaza were identified as Lt. Pinhas Cohen, 23, of ...

March 7, 2002 Bush Sending Mideast Envoy to Region to Quell Violence By REUTERS Filed at 4:31 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush said on Thursday he is dispatching Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni back to the region to try to quell escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence. ``I am deeply concerned about the tragic loss of life and escalating violence in the Middle East,'' Bush said in the White House Rose Garden, with Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell at his side. Bush, under pressure from Arab leaders for a stronger U.S. role in the Middle ...

A suicide bomber blew himself up shortly after 3:30 P.M. Thursday afternoon in the lobby of the Eshel Hashomron hotel in the commercial center on the outskirts of the West Bank settlement of Ariel. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack, and said that it was carried out by Shahadi Nasar from the Nablus area. According to medical and police sources on the scene, ten people were injured in the blast. The suicide bomber was killed in the blast. Magen David Adom reported from Ariel that one person sustained serious injuries, one was moderately ...

<p>The Bush administration, frustrated over its inability to stop bloodletting in the Middle East, is starting to lean on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon while continuing to urge Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to call off attacks on Israelis.</p> <p>President Bush so far has not joined the criticism of Israel, but Secretary of State Colin Powell and White House spokesman Ari Fleischer have begun to jab at Sharon, especially over his declaration of war against Palestinians.</p>

Large contingents of Israeli infantry troops and engineering units took control Thursday of the Palestinian city of Tulkarm and the nearby Tulkarm and Nur A-Shams refugee camps. Residents were confined to their homes and the city's electricity supply was severed as soldiers searched for suspected terrorists. Gunfire exchanges with armed Palestinians continued throughout the morning and at least five Palestinians were killed and dozens were injured in the operation....(more)

March 6, 19:05 -- Israeli exports to the Arab world rose eight percent to $128 million in 2001 the Israel Export Institute said today. The growth comes despite the ongoing clashes with the Palestinians for the last 17 months, which has led to the suspension of diplomatic and commercial relations between Israel and various Middle Eastern countries. Imports from Israel's neighbors rose a more moderate 3%, reaching $67m. "The type of exports that we see are very specific, therefore they have not been affected by the general decrease in industrial exports," said Shraga Brosh, Israel Export Institute. Industrial exports fell ...

Approximately two weeks prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington, DC a dispute emerged between the CBS network and heads of two Islamic organizations in the U.S. regarding the motivation of suicide bombers in Israel. The dispute was forgotten following the attacks, but in their aftermath, another look at it is warranted: The Translation Dispute On August 19, 2001, CBS's 60 Minutes aired a report on the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas. Reporter Bob Simon interviewed Hamas operative Muhammad Abu Wardeh, who recruited terrorists for suicide bombings in Israel. Abu Wardeh's words were translated into ...

<p>NICOSIA, Cyprus — Radical Palestinian groups, fearful that Israel will succeed in its effort to undermine Palestinian Authority chief Yasser Arafat, have begun clandestine efforts to establish an alternative organization to replace him.</p> <p>Reports on the groups' efforts have appeared in the Saudi press and have been confirmed by Arab and European diplomats. An Arab source said the effort is still in the stage of "secret and serious consultation."</p>

<p>JERUSALEM — Sixty thousand additional gun permits are to be distributed to Israeli civilians as authorities loosen licensing restrictions to help fight a growing wave of terrorism.</p> <p>Armed civilians have played a significant role in bringing down terrorists during the Palestinian uprising, most recently during an attack this week by a Palestinian gunman at a Tel Aviv restaurant where a wedding party was under way.</p>