Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1998, pages 38-41

Issues in the News

Compiled by Delinda C. Hanley

ARABIAN PENINSULA

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished:

When a little boy lost consciousness after convulsions on a Saudia flight from Jeddah to Taif, Jizan and Sharourah, the pilot made an emergency landing in the Saudi mountain resort town of Abha. After the child safely reached the hospital, the plane faced another problem. Abha is 7,000 feet above sea level, which made it difficult for a fully fueled plane to take off. After de-fueling, the captain discovered that his next stop didn’t have fueling facilities, so he had to fly to another town to fill up. The boy’s father expressed his deep appreciation to the staff of Saudia Airlines.

Kuwait Starts Internet Club:

The first Arabic Internet Cultural Club began in September in Kuwait, the Saudi Gazette reported. Intellectuals can participate in creative works and exchange information in cultural fields. The only condition for writers publishing their work in the Internet club is they should adhere to moral principles and shariah.

Omani Port Opening:

Mina Raysut, Oman’s modern port in the southern Dhofar region, opens in November. Communications Minister Salim bin Abdulla al Ghazali told the Khaleej Times the port’s three cranes are the biggest and first of their kind for any port in the Middle East.

Qatari Satellite Channel Is a Hit:

Though there are no audience estimates, The Economist reports diplomats think Al-Jezira (the Peninsula), a new Qatari-based satellite channel, is the most popular channel in the Middle East. The station’s most popular programs are “More Than One Opinion,” which features panel debates, and “Opposite Directions,” in which people question rival politicians. In addition to providing lively entertainment, the unfettered discussions have provoked some angry reactions from a number of governments, including the United States.

UAE Demands Israel Sign Pact:

UAE acting Foreign Ministry Under Secretary Saif Saeed Bin Saed called on the international community, especially Israel, to sign the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Biological Weapons, which the UAE has already signed. TheEmirates News also reports the UAE asked for the U.N. to put pressure on Israel to end its exploitation of Palestinian resources in the occupied territories. “Israeli actions include expropriation of land, water, and other natural resources,” Ahmed Saeed Al Tanhani, a member of the UAE mission to the U.N., told a General Assembly meeting. “These actions amount to grave violations of international law, which bans the seizure of other people’s lands and wealth by force.”

UAE Gas Exports Worth $4 Billion:

The UAE reports that it is exporting more than $4 billion in liquefied gas per year, with most supplies going to Japan, the world’s largest buyer of liquefied gas. The UAE, which supplies almost one-eighth of Japan’s requirements, has a natural gas reserve of around 205 trillion cubic feet, the fourth largest in the world after Russia, Iran and Qatar.

Successful Hotline for Teens:

A UAE juvenile hotline has received more than 500 calls since its inception less than a year ago. Children and parents call psychiatrists and other experts to ask advice for problems ranging from stress caused by school to divorce.

Short Story Awards:

Abu Dhabi writer Juwaireh Al Khaja is among 10 finalists who received the Sheikha Fatima Bint Hazza bin Zayed Award for Stories for Children in Arabic. Shaikha Fatima said the short story contest encourages Arab literature and culture by maintaining Arab traditions among children. There were 260 entries from all over the Arab world. Award-winning stories will be published in a book and proceeds from its sale will go to charities for disabled children.

First UAE Female Pilot:

Aisha Al-Hamily, a 17-year-old woman from the United Arab Emirates, graduated from the Jordanian Royal Aviation Academy in September to become the UAE’s first female pilot.

Sharjah Has Children’s Parliament:

The children’s parliament, first introduced in Sharjah last year, met to discuss children’s concerns in regard to teachers beating students in school, safety on school buses, and reduction of violence in TV programming for children. The parliament, according to the Khaleej Times, is made up of 70 young students and was formed to train children to express their opinions freely and without fear, laying the foundation for a democratic experience.

Yemen’s Port Reconstruction:

The Yemeni Port of Aden, near the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, was one of the busiest ports in the world prior to the 1960s. Half of the world’s container trade and much of its oil still pass near the port, but without stopping. The Yemeni government hopes an ambitious construction project now underway will attract container ships to this port’s updated facilities and cut days steaming time by trans-shipping containers onto smaller vessels at Aden.

FERTILE CRESCENT

Lebanon Refugees Get Little Help:

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) charges that Lebanon is not providing needed services to Palestinian refugees in the country. Lebanon’s ambassador in Amman, William Habib, responds that his government’s main priorities are re-integrating and finding jobs for 700,000 returning Lebanese who left Lebanon during the civil war, and reconstructing Beirut. The Beirut Daily Star reports Lebanon cannot provide free health services to Palestinians while Lebanese citizens have to pay for the same health care. As for education, 12 percent of Palestinian students study in public or charity schools.

Golden Arches in Lebanon:

The McDonald’s hamburger chain opened the first of many planned restaurants in Lebanon on Sept. 17, the Khaleej Times reports. This is the highest-profile American company to open its doors in Lebanon since Washington lifted a ban on U.S. citizens traveling to Lebanon last year. The golden arches arrived in Morocco in 1992, and in the next three to five years, the fast-food giant plans to open 60 new restaurants a year in the Middle East.

Trial of Jordan Extremists Begins:

Twelve Jordanians and an Egyptian went on trial Sept. 20, charged with various bombings in Amman early this year, the Arab News reports. The members of the Reform and Challenge Movement planned attacks on the Modern American School in Amman, a traffic police post and a number of cars, in protest against Jordan’s 1994 peace agreement with Israel.

Scarf Ban Protesters Arrested:

Turkish police arrested more than 200 people in rallies organized by Islamist organizations and attended by 100,000 demonstrators across the country on Oct. 11 to protest the ban on Islamic women’s headscarves in universities, the Saudi Gazette reported. “The ban represents a violation of the Constitution which guarantees basic freedoms,” Mehmet Elkatmis, a deputy in the Virtue Party, the largest party in the 550-seat Turkish parliament, told an Ankara rally. Turkey’s secular government regards wearing scarves as a political statement and radical Islam as a threat to Turkey’s secular system.

Turkey Says Syria Helps Kurds:

Turkey accused Syria of providing logistical support to rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from eastern Turkey and of harboring PKK party leader Abdullah Ocalan in Syria or in the Bekaa in Lebanon. Syria said it had closed down PKK camps, and blamed Israel for instigating Turkish threats of military reprisals against Syria. More than 31,000 people have died since the PKK began its rebellion in 1984 for an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey.

Turkey Denies Exercises with Israel:

Reports that Israel and Turkey would hold their first joint air maneuvers were denied by Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Necati Utkan on Sept. 9, although under existing military agreements between Turkey and Israel their pilots often train in each other’s countries, and this year’s second joint naval search-and-rescue exercises will be held in November. The Israeli prime minister invited the Turkish prime minister to join a regional security system during September talks in Jerusalem. Commenting on Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz’s visit to Israel, Syria labeled military cooperation between Turkey and Israel as “unholy.” Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said that talk of regional security pacts at this time of high tension in the Middle East could undermine the peace process. Iranian President Muhammad Khatami said that Turkey’s military cooperation with Israel “shocked the Muslim world.”

IRAN/IRAQ

Iran Considers Gender Separation:

Iran’s parliament passed a controversial bill on Oct. 4 for gender segregation in hospitals in accordance with strict Islamic laws. The Saudi Gazette reported on Oct. 15 that Iran’s Guardian Council, a legislative state body that examines the constitutionality of laws, objected to the bill on the technicality that no money was added to the budget to pay for the extra expense. The cost of separating sexes in state and private hospitals and other health institutions, including pharmacies, would be enormous. The bill returns to the assembly for further discussion.

Parliamentarians Threaten Rushdie:

In September the Iranian government lifted the 1988 fatwah calling for the death of British author Salman Rushdie for blasphemy in his book The Satanic Verses. However, the majority of Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament insists that the religious decree is still valid. Although Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazzi said on Sept. 24 that his country would not aid or reward anyone who killed Rushdie, other Iranian groups continue to offer bounties for Rushdie’s death. London announced that it would restore full diplomatic relations with Iran only after Iran dissociated itself from the bounty.

Iraqi Envoy Denies Defection:

Iraqi President Saddam Hussain’s half-brother, Barzan Al-Takriti, whose term as Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva has expired, has denied that he is refusing to return to Iraq. Eighteen Iraqi envoys who have served more than eight years abroad were recalled in June, but Al-Takriti said he has chosen to stay in Switzerland for the time being for family reasons. The Khaleej Times reports that his wife is undergoing chemotherapy and his children are studying in Switzerland. Al-Takriti denied other reports that he has defected due to strained relations with Saddam’s eldest son, Uday.

Iraq Restores Gulf Arab Holdings:

Property owned by Gulf Arabs in the Iraqi city of Basra before the 1990 Gulf war is to be rented in a public auction and the revenues sent to the actual owners. After Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, 85 Saudi-owned properties and 678 Kuwait-owned properties were abandoned. Renters will protect the properties while maintaining the owners’ rights, Iraqi officials said. This move is seen as a goodwill gesture as Iraq seeks to improve its ties with other Arab countries.

ISRAEL/PALESTINE

Israeli Rubber Bullets Protested:

B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, called on the Israeli government and army to stop using “rubber bullets” against Palestinian demonstrators. In an ad placed in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, the group pointed out that rubber bullets are really metal balls coated with rubber which have killed 57 Palestinians, including 28 children, and injured thousands of others in the 10 years since the beginning of the intifada, the Palestinian uprising, in the occupied territories. “There is no longer any doubt rubber bullets are not a means of dispersing demonstrations. They are a deadly weapon,” the advertisement said.

Jewish Black Family May Stay:

When Elazar Yisrael’s wife and four children tried to join him two years after he immigrated to Israel from Chicago, they were stopped at Ben-Gurion Airport and asked to leave the country. An Oct. 2 article in the Jewish Week of New York said family advocates charged racism was behind the Israeli government action since the family is black. Israel’s Law of Return grants citizenship to any Jew who makes aliyah, including those who have converted to Judaism outside Israel. The Yisrael family, which converted to Judaism a decade ago, now will be allowed to stay after four months of legal wrangling.

Anti-Proselytizing Bill in Knesset:

As 5,000 Christian evangelicals gathered in Israel to attend an annual conference, ironically an anti-proselytizing bill was winding through the Israeli Knesset. The bill, the Jewish Week of New York reports, imposes a $14,000 fine and a three-year prison term on anyone found guilty of “preaching with the intent of causing another person to change his religion.” Many evangelical Christians believe that Jews are the Lord’s Chosen People, and their return to Jerusalem is part of divine prophecy. Evangelical Christians in Congress and U.S. public life, therefore, have given substantial political and financial support to Israel. Regarding the proposed bill, Dave Parsons, public relations officer for the International Christian Embassy, which operates in close coordination with the Israeli government, says, “A lot of Christians have been alarmed by it. Sharing our pro-Israel message with Christians will be harder than before.”

Jewish Extremists Imperil Al Aqsa:

Israeli police prevented Jewish extremists from entering the grounds of Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque, the third holiest Islamic site, Oct. 7 to begin construction of a Jewish temple there. Waving Israeli flags, 60 militants tried to lay a four-and-a-half-ton cornerstone for the temple. After police barred the militants from the compound, they assembled in a square near the Western Wall, the Arab News reports.

Two Knew Plans to Murder Rabin:

A friend of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s killer has been sentenced to nine months in jail for knowing of the assassination plans but failing to warn police. At her sentencing Margalit Har-Shefa expressed remorse for her actions for the first time, the Jewish Week of New York reported. Minutes of a 1997 cabinet meeting were leaked to Israel’s Yediot Aharonot newspaper showing that a former agent of Israel’s Shin Bet internal police, Avishai Raviv, had infiltrated right-wing Jewish extremist groups and also had prior knowledge of Yigal Amir’s plans to assassinate Rabin.

PA Asks Israel to Extradite Settler:

The Palestinian Authority demanded Israel hand over for trial the Jewish settler who is accused of killing Iyad Karadssi, a 16-year-old Palestinian high school student near Ramallah. Avshalom Ladani confessed to shooting two youths who he said were throwing stones at his car on Sept. 17, but he was released after only three days in jail. Israel has asked the PA to hand over dozens of Palestinians who have attacked Israelis, but this is the first time that the Palestinians have made a similar request.

Israeli Majority Would Expel Arabs:

Peace talks with Palestinians should continue, said 79 percent of Israelis in a recent Gallup poll, reported in the Israeli daily Ma’ariv on Sept. 20. However, 65 percent would also support expelling Palestinian Arabs from the West Bank and Gaza if it were possible to do so without paying too high an international price. Also 65 percent of Israelis support the Oslo agreement. There is no indication that Israeli Arabs, who comprise about 20 percent of the population inside Israel’s Green Line borders, took part in the poll.

Israel’s Nuclear Reactor Damaged:

Radiation is eating away Israel’s nuclear reactor facility in Dimona, according to a report in Israel’s Yediot Ahronot newspaper. “The damage to the metal building covering the nuclear reactor is severe and it may collapse as a result of high levels of radiation,” says Harold Howe, a U.S. nuclear expert. Howe cited “internal documents” from the nuclear facility and satellite photos taken by a Russian spy plane in 1989 as evidence of radiation leaks. The photos show an absence of vegetation around parts of the reactor. He compares the site with a facility closed 10 years ago in Hanford, Washington that has cost billions of dollars to clean up. The Jewish Week of New York recommends Israel and the Bomb, a new book by Avner Cohen, which traces Israel’s nuclear weapons program, including its first two crude nuclear weapons, hurriedly developed on the eve of the Six-Day War in 1967.

U.S. Offers Israel Fighter Jets:

The Pentagon has approved the sale of 30 F-15 and 60 F-16 fighter jets to Israel for $5 billion to help the Jewish state retain its military edge over potential threats in the region, according to The Jerusalem Post. The newspaper said that many of the planes will have low-altitude navigation and night-targeting capabilities. An Oct. 2 article in the Forward, a New York Jewish weekly, quotes a Pentagon spokesman as saying the proposed sale would help “improve the security of a friendly country which has been and continues to be an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.” According to a Washington source quoted in Detroit Jewish News, the administration also will propose some creative financing on the deal, if Israel moves forward with West Bank redeployment.

NORTH AFRICA

Call for Early Algerian Election:

Algerian President Liamine Zeroual has called for early elections before the end of February 1999. The Arab News reported Sept. 11 that Zeroual said, in an announcement that surprised Algerian politicians and voters, he would not be standing for a second term, though he would continue in office until his successor is elected. Zeroual received more than 60 percent of the vote in the first multiparty election since Algeria became independent in 1962.

Egypt Deplores Israeli Weapons:

On the 25th anniversary of the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak expressed concern over Israel’s military arsenal. Mubarak spoke Oct. 6 on Egyptian television, addressing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and referring to an Israeli report issued in September that denounced Egypt’s military buildup. “We are the ones who are very concerned about the weapons with which you have equipped yourselves: long-range missiles and the research you are engaged in,” Mubarak said. Alluding to the 1992 crash of an El Al plane in the Netherlands that was found to contain some of the chemical components used to manufacture the nerve gas Sarin, he expressed concern about Israel’s development of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. “We are keeping this in the back of our minds and there eventually will have to be a balance of forces,” Mubarak said.

Bomb Kills Algerian Rebels:

Six Algerian rebels were killed as they planted a bomb at a farmhouse in Mechra-Sfa in the Tiaret province of Algeria, Oct. 4, the Saudi Gazette reported. Thousands of civilians have been killed in violence in Algeria in the last six years.

Africans Break Libyan Embargo:

Five African heads of state from Chad, Eritrea, Niger, Mali and Sudan flew into Libya to take part in festivities Sept. 1 to celebrate Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s rise to power. The Organization of African Unity decided it would no longer honor the U.N. air traffic embargo on Libya. The Saudi Gazette reports that a UAE newspaper has called for Arab nations to end their support for the six-year-old U.N. sanctions imposed after Libya refused to extradite two suspects in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am plane over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Morocco to Release Prisoners:

The Moroccan Consultative Commission on Human Rights approved a plan to release political prisoners and clean up the country’s record on human rights, Liberty for the Muslim World reports. Prime Minister Elyousefi said that if a political prisoner was convicted of criminal acts he would be disqualified from being released. Liberty acknowledged Morocco’s efforts to improve human rights, but suggested it grant general amnesty to all political prisoners or a re-examination of the files of all detainees.

Egyptian Women Win Travel Right:

An Egyptian court overruled a 24-year-old decision that barred women from going abroad without their husband’s consent. The court rejected an Egyptian man’s application to prevent his wife from teaching in another Arab country.

Carter Supports Sudan Probe:

Former President Jimmy Carter has called for a technical investigation into the Aug. 21 U.S. bombing of a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, saying U.S. credibility is on the line. Sudan invited the United Nations to study the site of the Shifa Pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum to prove that the plant only made medicine and veterinary supplies. The Security Council denied the request after listening to U.S. arguments. In a Sept. 17 statement, Carter said many foreign leaders are skeptical of U.S. assertions that the factory was producing ingredients for nerve gas. “If the Sudanese are guilty, they should be condemned both for lying and for contributing to terrorist activities,” Carter said. “Otherwise, we should admit our error and make amends to those who have suffered loss or injury.”

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark and a delegation from the International Action center visited Sudan on Sept. 20, bringing $25,000 of antibiotics and anti-malarial medicines. After interviewing workers and victims, Clark apologized for the destruction and called for the U.S. to make financial restitution.

CENTRAL ASIA

Albanian Muslims Slaughtered:

Serb forces massacred 16 unarmed Albanian Muslim refugees in the Albanian-populated province of Kosovo on Sept. 30. Journalists visiting the crime scene described it as one of the worst single acts of butchery in a decade of Balkan conflict. Close-range shots to the head killed four women, one pregnant. A baby and little children were among the victims found with throats slit or heads blown apart.

Uzbekistan, Israel to Cooperate:

Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov visited Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Israel Sept. 16 and agreed to exchange information about Iran, which is seen as a common threat to both countries. The leaders discussed cooperation in fighting regional security threats, and signed deals on taxes, trade, and cooperation in health and agriculture. Karimov, who is wary of Iranian influence in Central Asia, is known to be tough on Islamic fundamentalism inside Uzbekistan. Trade between Israel and the Central Asian country of 23 million people was $23 million in 1997.

THE SUBCONTINENT

India Building Nuclear Sub:

India is developing a nuclear-powered submarine which will use a 50-MW reactor to power the ship. The Times of India reports it could take up to 10 years to build the ship. The Indian navy has 17 conventionally powered ships.

Child Laborers Demand Freedom:

A rally of 300 rescued child laborers was held in New Delhi, India’s capital, to protest the bonded labor of about 10 million minors working as domestic servants. The children want the government to introduce legislation banning child labor. The Indian constitution provides free education for children up to the age of 14 and prohibits their employment in hazardous occupations. Abuses occur, however, where children work in private homes cleaning, cooking and babysitting.

Pakistan Currency Devalued:

Pakistan devalued its currency by 4.4 percent as economic sanctions imposed after its nuclear tests prompted foreigners to pull investments from the country. The rupee had already been devalued to keep exports competitive amid currency declines across Asia. Sanctions have hurt the cash-short Pakistani economy, and foreign currency reserves have dramatically declined.