Excerpts: Haifa terror/Iran.Gulf economies. Water desalination.Lebanon/Syria
relations.Supreme Leader Khameinie 'in charge'.Obama/Hamas March 23, 2009

+++HAARETZ 23 March '09:"PA source: Iran-backed group may be behind Haifa
bomb
attempt "
By Avi Issacharoff, Amos Harel and Fadi Eyadat
EXCERPTS:A senior source in the Palestinian Authority told Haaretz Sunday(22
March) that he suspects (Lebanon's)Hezbollah or another organization with
links to Iran was behind the attempted bombing of the Lev Hamifratz shopping
mall in Haifa on Saturday night.

According to the source, the PA holds definitive intelligence that Hezbollah
has been trying for some time to recruit members of Fatah, Hamas and Islamic
Jihad in an attempt to get operatives of those terror groups to carry out an
attack in Israel.

+++EGYPTIAN GAZETTE 23 March '09:"Gulf economies seen slowing down",Reuters
QUOTE: " 'Nowhere is imune' "
DUBAI (Reuters)-The Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates economies will
nar rowly avoid contracting this year,while Kuwait shrinks as the Gulf is
dealt a double blow from oil output cuts and weak consumer demand,a
Reuters(March 11-19) poll showed...
Real economic growth in all Gulf oil exporters except Qatar is set to slow
to about two per cent or less,marking an abrupt end to a boom that saw most
Gulf economies expand six per cent or more last year,according to the poll
of 14 econo- mists and analysts.. . ..At zero per cent,the UAE's GDP would
display its weakest performance since 1993 after surging 6.8 per cent in
2008, while Kuwait's economy will shrink one per cent,its first contraction
since the late 1990s."Nowhere is decoupled from the global economy and
nowhere is immune,"said Monica Malik,regional economist at EFG- Hermes. .
.
+++SAUDI GAZETTE 23 March '09:"KACST helps invent a smarter water
purification
membrane"
RIYADH - King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) is one of
the international collaborators in the successful invention of a novel
membrane technology for water desalination, which can help alleviate the
growing shortage of drinkable water worldwide.
Using nanotechnology, scientists at IBM Research, together with
collaborators from KACST, Tokyo-based Central Glass and the University of
Texas, Austin, created the new membrane that filters out salts as well as
potentially harmful toxins in water such as arsenic while using less energy
than other forms of water purification.. . .
In short, the membrane, which is made with fluorine materials, transforms
from a low water transporting filter to a high water transporting state in a
basic environment - what the researchers call a "water superhighway." . .
.
"Access to fresh drinking water is more than a regional challenge; it's a
global challenge," Dr. Turki Al-Saud, vice president for research
institutes, KACST, said in a press release.
"Currently, Saudi Arabia is the largest producer of desalinated water in the
world. . . .Bob Allen, manager of the water purification project at the
IBM Almaden Research Center, said "the promising results we're seeing, stand
to create a whole new paradigm for how we manage natural resources such as
water."

+++THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon) 23 March '09:"EDITORIAL:Only Assad can make it
clear that Syria is embarking on a new path"
QUOTE:"the shift in position on the part of Damascus still has to be
officially confirmed by ...Prsident Bashar Assad"
EXCERPTS:Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem responded positively over
the weekend to the olive branch recently extended to Damascus by Lebanon's
parliamentary majority, the March 14 Forces. The Lebanese coalition had
issued its election campaign a week earlier calling for an "end the conflict
with Syria" and the constructing of "normal and amicable relations ... on
the basis of brotherhood, equality and common interests."
During an interview with Al-Jazeera, Moallem on Saturday reciprocated by
stressing that Damascus was ready for normal relations with all Lebanese
leaders, including parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri, saying: "We
have a big heart, we forgive."
This exchange of friendly words is a welcome development, as it signals the
potential end of a nasty feud between Damascus and Lebanon's parliamentary
majority that had long prevented the two countries from negotiating a new
framework for formal bilateral relations.
However, the shift in position on the part of Damascus still needs to be
officially confirmed by the country's top leader, Bashar Assad. Because
Moallem is one of the region's most seasoned diplomats with a long-time
record of service for his country, his words carry significant weight, but
they still fall short of representing the official position of the Syrian
state. Only Assad can make it clear that his country is moving in a new
direction with regard to official policy toward Lebanon.
Once an official policy is articulated by Assad, the Syrian leadership can
then act to minimize the influence of the parties and individuals in Lebanon
who seek to assert their own interpretations of Damascus' positions, often
to the detriment of improved bilateral relations. A clearly defined position
outlined by Assad will set the record straight, and will allow the
soon-to-be-fully-launched Syrian Embassy in Beirut to position itself as the
official channel through which Damascus conveys its stances on policy
matters. It would also pave the way for Lebanon and Syria to build a strong
partnership that will bring multiple benefits to both states.

+++JORDAN TIMES 23 March '09:"Khamenei seen stamping authority on US
relations",By Siavosh Ghazi,Agence France-Presse
QUOTE:" ' He (Khamenei) wanted to send a message to the whole world that he
is the one who takes the big decisions' "
EXCERPTS::TEHRAN - The swift response from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to US
President Barack Obama's overtures to Iran shows the supreme leader's
determination to keep a tight grip on the issue of ties with Washington,
analysts said on Sunday(22 March).
"He wanted to send a message to the whole world that he is the one who takes
the big decisions," said Parviz Esmaili, who is close to Iran's dominant
conservatives.
"The silence of both President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the foreign ministry
proves it," Esmaili told AFP.
Another analyst, Said Leylaz, who is close to the reformist minority in the
Iranian parliament, also commented on the unusual silence on the issue from
the hardline president.
"I am certain that President Ahmadinejad would have wanted to give this
response to President Obama himself as that would have boosted his chances
of reelection," Leylaz said.
"But the supreme leader has signalled that he's the one in charge."
Ahmadinejad has yet to confirm that he will stand in the June 12
presidential election although an aide has said he will be a candidate.
He will face at least two challengers - moderate ex-premier Mir Hussein
Moussavi and reformist former parliament speaker Mehdi Karoubi.
With the election just three months away, the question of renewed relations
with Washington could become a major campaign issue as opinion polls suggest
the majority of Iranians support a rapprochement.
But the issue may not necessarily help the reformists who have been the most
outspoken advocates of an opening to Washington, as the polls also suggest
that most Iranians think it would be easier for a conservative president to
oversee any rapprochement.
Leylaz acknowledged that his own reformist camp was unlikely to profit from
the issue at the polls.
"The conservatives would never allow a reformist president to reap the
benefits of a rapprochement with the United States," he said.. . .

+++JORDAN TIMES 23 March '09:"Hamas welcomes Obama's 'new language'",Reuters
QUOTE:" (Obama's) offical overture to Hamas is only a matter of time"
FULL TEXT:ROME (Reuters) - US President Barack Obama is using a "new
language" in relations with the Middle East and an official overture towards
Hamas is only a matter of time, the Islamist group's leader Khaled Mishaal
said in a newspaper interview. "A new language towards the region is coming
from President Obama. The challenge for everybody is for this to be the
prelude for a genuine change in US and European policies. Regarding an
official opening towards Hamas, it's a matter of time," Mishaal told Italian
daily La Repubblica in an interview published on Sunday. The newspaper said
Mishaal was reacting to Obama's offer of better ties with Iran, Hamas' main
backer along with Syria.
=======================================
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA