January 1996, pgs. 22-24

Issues in the News

Compiled by Shawn L. Twing

ARABIAN PENINSULA

Kuwait

Kuwaiti Airplane Hijacked Over India:

Thirty-seven passengers were injured Dec. 1 when they slid down emergency escape chutes after their hijacked Kuwait Airways Airbus landed in southern India. Velayudhan Janardhanan, a 28-year-old Indian passenger, told the aircraft's captain that a bomb had been planted in a briefcase on board the aircraft shortly after the flight took off from Doha, Qatar. The plane made an emergency landing in the city of Thiruvananthapuram, where emergency and security personnel were waiting. Janardhanan was taken into custody shortly after the plane landed, and no bomb was found.

Oman

GCC Holds 16th Annual Meeting:

The 16th annual meeting of heads of state of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was held in Muscat Dec. 4-6. Oman was chosen as the site of the 1995 GCC summit, which was preceded by a two-day ministerial meeting, in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the accession to the throne of Oman's ruler, Sultan Qaboos.

United Arab Emirates

UAE Court Adjourns Embezzlement Case:

An Abu Dhabi court adjourned an appeal hearing on Nov. 29 for Mahdi Bahr Al Ulum, who is accused of participating in an embezzling scheme that stole $80 million from the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). The accused, an Iraqi-Canadian, was convicted in absentia in 1987 and was sentenced to 75 years in jail. After being extradited from Lebanon last November, he appealed the case on the grounds that he wasn't officially informed of his crimes. The court will meet again to consider the appeal on Feb. 28.

UAE Celebrates National Day:

The United Arab Emirates celebrated on Dec. 2 the 24th anniversary of the seven-emirate federation among Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain. Government officials noted that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) had risen from $1.9 billion in 1971 when the UAE was established to $33 billion in 1994.

Yemen

Yemen Will Lift Commodity Subsidies:

Yemeni finance minister Muhammad Amad Junaid announced on Nov. 29 his country's intention to lift subsidies on basic commodities gradually over the next three years under a two-phased economic reform plan that began in 1995. Prices have been raised on petroleum and basic services to help alleviate Yemen's enormous budget deficit and retard inflation. Further price increases for fuel, water and electricity are predicted. Phase two of the plan, scheduled to start in January, will include privatization, trade liberalization and creation of a free-trade zone in the port of Aden. Yemen hopes to conclude negotiations in February with the World Bank for a structural reform package.

FERTILE CRESCENT

Jordan

Islamists Sweep Engineers Association Election:

Islamists dominated November elections in Jordan's Engineers Association, despite government attempts to limit the political activities of the country's 12 professional associations. The engineers elected seven sectoral councils, each comprising seven members, which will elect a 10-seat executive board in February. The 35,000-strong organization is dominated by leftist and Islamist parties opposed to Jordan's peace with Israel. King Hussein repeatedly has warned trade unionists to stay away from politics and has called for laws to circumscribe their opposition to the peace process.

Jordan, France Sign Defense Agreement:

Jordan and France signed a wide-ranging defense agreement on Dec. 2 which includes equipment for Jordan's military and joint military exercises. French Defense Minister Charles Millon told reporters: "We have signed an accord which is wider in scope than a framework treaty, with articles that can be implemented." Among Jordan's requests were upgrades for its aging fleet of French Mirage fighter jets. France has supplied Jordan with 31 Mirage F-1 fighter aircraft over the past two decades, and in 1988 Amman ordered $1 billion worth of the new Mirage 2000s. Due to cash shortages in the kingdom following the 1991 Gulf war, the order for new aircraft was canceled. A Jordanian official said the possibility of new aircraft purchases "was not raised" in the current agreement.

Syria

U.N. Renews Mandate for Golan Forces:

The United Nations Security Council approved a six-month renewal for the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights on Nov. 27, extending its mandate until May 31, 1996. The force serves as a buffer between Syrian and Israeli troops in the Israeli-occupied portion of the the Golan Heights.

IRAN/IRAQ

Iran

Foreign Minister Says Iran is Ready to Negotiate Islands:

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati told Al Watan newspaper that his country was ready to reopen negotiations with the United Arab Emirates over the three disputed islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs. Inhabitants of the islands, which historically have been recognized as parts of the UAE, are ethnically and linguistically Arabs. The dispute arose when Iran sent military forces to occupy the islands. Qatar has served as a mediator in the dispute which both parties say they would like to resolve peacefully.

Second Phase of Kangan Gas Line Complete:

The second phase of Iran's Kangan natural gas plant came on-line on Dec. 1 with the help of South Korea's Daelim Industrial Company and $480 million, 70 percent coming from the Korean company and the remainder from the Iranian government. Tehran Radio announced that production by the facility designed to exploit Iran's enormous natural gas reserves eventually will reach 50,000 barrels per day. The first phase of the Kangan project began production in 1990 with a total capacity of 34 million barrels per day. Foreign and Iranian investment for the Kangan and Nar fields project so far totals $911 million, including the funds invested in the Kangan processing facility.

Iraq

Ekeus Says U.N. Needs More Information on Iraqi Weapons:

The head of the United Nations special commission on the destruction of Iraq's weapons programs, Rolf Ekeus, said that during a three-day visit to Iraq "some important evidence of destruction of Iraq's biological weapons" had been handed to him, but he "still needs more information on the issue." The U.N. envoy was collecting information before a December Security Council vote on continuation of sanctions against Iraq under U.N. Security Council Resolution 986, which calls for destruction of Iraq's nonconventional weapons programs.

ISRAEL/PALESTINE

Israel

Knesset Minister Shulamit Aloni Receives Death Threat:

Israeli Communications Minister Shulamit Aloni, a member of the dovish Meretz party, received a written death threat on Nov. 26 in an official Knesset envelope postmarked with a Knesset stamp. The threatening note read: "Your place is above. The land is ours." Also contained in the envelope was a rifle bullet. The outspoken MK contacted Knesset Speaker Shevah Weiss to conduct an investigation and increase security in Israel's parliament.

"Third Way" Selects Chairman:

Israel's "Third Way" party, combining Labor-oriented domestic policies with an anti land-for-peace platform, unanimously elected Labor MK Avigdor Kahalani as its chairman on Nov. 26, and also selected former chief of general staff Dan Shomron as the chairman of its secretariat. Although officially not yet a party because of Israel's campaign financing regulations, the Third Way movement has announced plans to become an official party in May and to field candidates in the 1996 national elections.

Peres Sends Ultimatum to Arafat:

Prime Minister Shimon Peres sent a message to Palestinian National Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat warning him to remove clauses in the Palestinian Covenant calling for Israel's destruction by March or "the [peace] train will be halted." Peres was quoted in the Jerusalem Post as saying during a Nov. 27 meeting of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that "Arafat is not only the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, he is still the PLO chairman. Therefore, either the PNC, which adopted the covenant, must abolish those clauses or Arafat should leave the PNC."

Palestine

Beilin: Settlements Probably Will Be Annexed:

Israeli Minister Yossi Beilin told a group of young members of the National Religious Party that most of the Jewish settlements in the occupied territories probably will be annexed by Israel in the final status agreement with the Palestinian National Authority. Immediately after making these statements Beilin reportedly told the group, "Forget I said that." He added that in an ideal world he would prefer to arrange the borders differently but "the map that has been created" cannot be ignored.

No Legislative Seats Reserved For Women:

Palestinian leaders rejected a proposal to guarantee seats for women on the 82-member legislative body to be elected on Jan. 20, but reserved places for members of Palestine's Christian minority. The decision not to reserve seats for women was taken during a Dec. 2 meeting chaired by Palestinian National Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and attended by members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leadership, as well as leading opposition groups including Hamas and the Popular and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of Palestine. PNA Minister of International Cooperation Nabil Shaath told Agence France Press that "We shall allocate no special seats for groups, apart from Christians from Jerusalem, Ramallah and Bethlehem." He added that it was up to the individual parties to nominate women. According to Shaath the PLO will nominate 16 women among its candidates for the January elections.

Palestinian Police Begin Deployment in Bethlehem:

The first group of Palestinian police arrived in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Dec. 3 amid cheers from an enormous gathering of the city's residents. Twelve PNA security officers took their posts at a joint Israeli-PNA liaison office on the outskirts of Bethlehem in preparation for the scheduled Dec. 18 withdrawal of Israeli forces. Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ and home to the West Bank's largest Christian population, is flooded with tourists every year during the Christmas season. This year PNA president Yasser Arafat will attend Christmas celebrations in the city, marking Bethelehem's transition from Israeli occupation to Palestinian self-rule.

NILE VALLEY

Egypt

NDP Takes Overwhelming Victory in Polls:

Tentative results of Egypt's two-round parliamentary election announced Dec. 7 gave Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) 317 seats in the 444 seat parliament. Independents won 114 seats and opposition parties won 13 seats. The elections were held after the arrest of a number of Muslim Brotherhood members who had stated they planned to participate and also of opposition party poll watchers. Some 4,000 candidates, more than three-quarters of them independents, contested 444 seats in parliament's 222 constituencies. Opposition groups have contested the final tally, arguing that the elections were dominated by government-led fraud.

Filipino Diplomats Arrested For Car Smuggling:

Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Tomas Padilla told reporters on Dec. 2 that his government's foreign affairs department plans to investigate the Philippine ambassador to Egypt for alleged involvement in smuggling cars into Egypt. The ambassador and two other employees of the embassy in Cairo are accused of using their diplomatic privileges to purchase five Mercedes-Benz cars in the Philippines and ship them to Cairo where they were resold. The Philippine ambassador denied the charges.

SUBCONTINENT

Afghanistan

Air Strikes Kill 35 in Kabul:

Jets from the rebel Taleban militia pounded Kabul's western suburb of Wazir Akbar Khan on Nov. 26, killing 35 and wounding at least 140 others. An official statement by the Afghan government charged that "There is evidence that the Pakistan air force provided support for the Taleban's Russian-built planes." Pakistan denied the charge. The Taleban have captured more than a third of the country in recent months. Journalists have reported that Afghan government forces are receiving arms and ammunition flown into Kabul airport from India.

Pakistan

Egyptian Embassy Bombing Suspect Identified:

The fatal car bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad was the work of two suicide bombers, according to reports issued on Dec. 2 by Pakistani officials. The bombing, which killed 17 persons and wounded 60 others, was the work of an Egyptian identified as Muhammad Ahmed and an unidentified accomplice who allegedly drove an explosive-laden vehicle into the embassy compound, killing themselves in the blast. Egyptian officials reportedly had issued an arrest warrant for Ahmed and cooperated with Pakistani investigators in the investigation, providing a handwriting sample belonging to Ahmed that matched handwriting found on the rental agreement for the truck used in the bombing. Government sources said that Ahmed arrived in Pakistan in 1992 to attend a Quranic school there.

NORTH AFRICA

Algeria

Zeroual Sworn in as President:

Algeria's recently elected President Liamine Zeroual was sworn in on Nov. 27 after an election in which large percentages of eligible voters turned out despite death threats by major Islamist opposition parties. During his inaugural address Zeroual urged political groups in Algeria to respect the law and engage in dialogue but avoided calling for governmental dialogue with the country's Islamist opposition parties. Some leaders of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), Algeria's main Islamist opposition party, announced that they were considering a cease-fire following the Nov. 16 elections.

Morocco

Moroccan Cabinet Approves New Budget:

Morocco has changed its fiscal year to run from July 1 through June 30 so that the annual harvest can be taken into consideration for economic planning. The country faces continuing economic austerity measures and, according to an Oct. 15 World Bank report, needs to increase its gross domestic product (GDP) by 6 to 7 percent annually to keep up with the growing population. Morocco's economy was hard hit by a drought in 1995, which has reduced the year's GDP by an estimated 6 percent.