-Caveat Lector- >From ArabicNews.CoM Collective leadership for the Iraqi conference to unify Iraqi opposition Iraq, Politics, 4/9/99 The Iraqi opposition groups rallied under the umbrella of the US-backed Iraqi National Congress on Thursday eliminated an obstacle which has obstructed the implementation of "Iraq's Liberation Law," following the success of these groups in electing a collective provisional presidency for the conference's executive council at the conclusion of two-day meetings held near London. Sources in the Iraqi National Assembly members who attended the meeting in Britain stressed that seven members were elected to the presidency of the provisional group until the convening of the national assembly in order to elect a permanent collective leadership in July 7. The conference's provisional leadership included Ahmad al-Jalabi, chairman of the conference's executive council; Riyadh Elwawer (independent); Hoshiar Zebari (the Kurdistani Democratic Party); Eyad Allawi (the National Reconciliation Movement); Muhammad Abdul Jabbar, (the Islamic Call Cadres); Latif Rashieed (the Kurdistani National Federation); and Hamid al-Bayatti (the Higher Council of the Islamic Revolution). Al-Bayati said he was elected without being consulted about that, as he did not attend meeting. US Senator Robert Kerrey asserted the need to topple the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein before the year 2000. He stressed that the US congress and administration "decided to provide military aid to the Iraqi people in order to topple the regime. He expressed his satisfaction to the inclination of the Iraqi opposition groups to further closeness and coordination, noting that there has become a vast area now to implement the " Iraq's liberation law' which signed by US President Bill Clinton. Members at the executive council said that Kerrey extended an invitation to the new collective presidency to visit Washington shortly and to meet with US Congress members and officials. Besides the " Islamic revolution higher council," the meetings were also boycotted by the Islamic call party and the Iraqi communist Party." Prince Khaled praises US on Yugoslavia, asks for similar treatment of Israel Regional, Politics, 4/9/99 Commander of the allied troops during the Gulf War, Saudi Arabian Prince Khaled Bin Sultan, has called upon Washington to adopt the same tough stand it takes now in Yugoslavia against Israel. In an article published by the London-based al-Hayat daily on Wednesday congratulating the United States for its actions in Kosovo, Prince Khaled said the US bias toward Israel is damaging to US interests. He expressed his hope that there will be a day on which the American people would realize that "it is their interest to achieve justice and lift repression and not to abide by whatever is said by Israel." Prince Khaled added, "We ask the US, when you are the only superpower, to get rid of being a follower of Israel, and her supporter, when she is oppressive or very oppressive, since Israel has never been oppressed," so that "we" can praise you, as "we" praise you now for your action in Yugoslavia. Prince Khaled called for greater support for the US for its action, and for not stopping the raids against Yugoslavia before the refugees are able to return within the framework of a political solution for the Kosovo crisis. Copyright � 1998 Arabic News .com . All Rights Reserved. Send comments & suggestions to the webmaster. ArabicNews.com is a trade mark of ArabicNews.com >From Ha'aretz Friday, April 9, 1999 Netanyahu, Sharon draw fire over Kosovo By Mazal Mualem and Amira Segev, Ha'aretz Correspondents The government is speaking with "two voices" on Kosovo, say One Israel's Ehud Barak and the Center Party's Yitzhak Mordechai, both opposition candidates for prime minister. Lashing out at Israeli policy on the war in Kosovo and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon's efforts to improve relations with Russia, the two spoke up yesterday during Mimouna parties they attended on the campaign trail. Mordechai complained about Sharon's "suddenly frequent visits to Russia, considering the aid Russian companies are providing Iran for the development of strategic weapons that could be used against the region and Israel." "The Russian romance that Netanyahu and Sharon are conducting with [Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny] Primakov is harming our strategic relationship with the U.S. which, with Israel's support, has been stubbornly opposed to Russian aid to Iran," said Mordechai. The former defense minister asserted that he had turned down several invitations to travel to Russia while in the government "in order to make clear my dissatisfaction with Russian policy in Iran." Expressing "full support" for the U.S. and NATO activities in Europe, Mordechai added that in addition to support for the U.S., Israel is committed to help the refugees from Kosovo. He criticized what he called the "ambiguous messages emanating from Israel and the lack of coordination between Netanyahu and Sharon. The government is stuttering and the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing." Barak, too, charged that the government is failing on the Kosovo front. "I called for the government and Netanyahu to fully back NATO and President Bill Clinton," said Barak, but the government "is speaking in two voices." "A government should speak with one voice, and I'm glad," said Barak, "that after a week of confusion and stuttering on TV, Netanyahu woke up and is working according to our recommendations." MK Shlomo Ben Ami of the One Israel list also added his criticism of government policies in the Balkans, saying, "With a combination of megalomania and an embarrassing ignorance of Balkan affairs, Foreign Minister Sharon is dragging us into a confrontation with our friends in the West and the U.S." According to Ben Ami, "Instead of being happy that, through its punishment of Serbia, the U.S. is sending a message to the enemies of Israel that they must accept the rules of the civilized world. � copyright 1999 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved U.S. to lay down next steps to peace By Nitzan Horowitz, Ha'aretz Correspondent WASHINGTON - The United States is set to issue an official statement this morning detailing the steps Israel and the Palestinians must each take to jump-start the peace process, Ha'aretz has learned from a senior state department source. According to the source, the U.S. wishes to clear up the ambiguity created in recent weeks regarding the two sides' commitments under the Wye accords, and to unequivocally state what each side must do in order to move the peace process along. Sharon is scheduled to meet this morning with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for what was described by her aides as a "brief meeting." The aides explained that the secretary's schedule is very busy due to the war in Kosovo and the Chinese prime minister's visit to Washington, disabling her from clearing much time for meeting with the Israeli foreign minister. Sharon is currently in the United States accompanying his wife, who is undergoing medical treatment. U.S. sources stressed that, in contrast to the impression created in Israel after Sharon's recent remarks about Kosovo and the dangers allegedly posed by a "greater Albania," the Middle East peace process would be the focus of today's meeting. In recent months, Israeli officials have insisted that the Wye accords were deadlocked because the Palestinians had failed to carry out their side of the deal. In Israel's view, the Palestinians must first fulfill their commitments and only then will Israel be required to carry out its troop withdrawals. But a senior U.S. official said this week that Israel should implement its own commitments instead of engaging in a futile argument over who must move first in order to break the deadlock. "The issue here is not who will move first. Instead of focusing on the sequence of the implementation, the Israeli government must simply focus on implementing its own obligations," the senior official said. According to the U.S., in the first stage both sides "worked together" to fulfill their commitments. In the second stage, however, according to the official, while the Palestinians only fulfilled "some" of their commitments, mainly regarding the fight against terrorism, while neglecting to fulfill others, "the Israelis, on their part, have not fulfilled any of their commitments for the second stage." The official did acknowledge, however, that all sides know there will be no significant progress in the peace process in general and in the implementation of the Wye accords in particular before the Israeli elections next month. Earlier this week, Sharon said that the Israeli government would not accept any unilateral Palestinian declaration that was in contrast to the Oslo accords. Sharon noted that even the European Union emphasized that a decision regarding a Palestinian state must be made through negotiations between the two sides. � copyright 1999 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved 'Peace progress leads to more terror' By Amir Oren, Ha'aretz Correspondent The more progress is made in the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, the more efforts by terror organizations to conduct suicide attacks against Israelis increase, according to a report prepared by the State Prosecutor's Office and the Shin Bet security service. "The most shocking attacks, with the most far-reaching results, have been suicide attacks," the report says. "Some were carried out in crowded buses, some in crowded streets and in city centers. These horrendous attacks are, ironically, a direct result of the advances in the peace process that terrorist organizations hope to stop with their actions," said the report. The report, which was completed in January but has not been publicly released, was compiled by a team led by lawyer Talia Sasson, who heads the special tasks division of the State Prosecutor's Office. "It is precisely since the Oslo agreement was signed and the bandwagon of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians has started down the road that the terrorist threat against Israel has intensified and increased," the Sasson report says. The report notes that there has been some decrease in the number terrorist attacks and resulting injuries in the past two years, after a marked increase in the number of people injured in 1997. In 1996, there were 121 bombing, suicide, shooting and stabbing attacks, and an additional 193 firebomb attacks. A total of 63 Israelis and foreign citizens were killed in the attacks and another 273 were injured. In 1997, there were 101 suicide and bombing attacks and 165 firebomb attacks, killing a total of 29 people and injuring 414. In 1998, there were 70 bomb and suicide attacks and 262 firebomb attacks, killing a total of 11 people and injuring 153. The report notes that although preventive action by Israeli security agencies to stop terror attacks constitutes "an important factor in advancing peace," a far more important factor is whether terror groups have the resolve to carry out attacks. � copyright 1999 Ha'aretz. 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