December 20, 2009
Excerpts: Egypt's protective wall.Polygamy for Muslim women?U.S. aids Yemen
against al-Qaeda.Hizbullah plots reported in Turkish media
December 20, 2009
+++SOURCE: EGYPTIAN GAZETTE 20 DEc.'09:"Egypt confirms Gaza barrier"
QUOTE:" 'Egypt has the right to control its border' "
EXCERPTS: EGYPTIAN Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit implicitly confirmed
yesterday that his country was building an underground barrier with the Gaza
Strip,saying it was Cairo's right to protect itself."Be it a wall or
detection hard- ware,the important thing is that Egypt's territory must be
protected;it must not be violated in any way," Abul Gheit told the semi
Ø°official weekly Al-Ahram Al-Arabi . The magazine was questioning him about
"reports concerning the construction by Egypt of a steel barrier along the
border with Gaza and the deployment in the border area of American equipment
to detect tunnels"used by smugglers moving goods into the Palestinian
enclave. It was the closest confirmation so far that Egypt is building the
barrier to stem smuggling into Gaza through underground tunnels,according to
AFP .Previously,security sources had only confirmed witness reports
anonymously,while Israel's Haaretz newspaper said the barrier would reach a
depth of 30 metres (100 feet) and 10 kilometres long (six miles). Abul Gheit
told Al-Ahram Al- Arabi :"Egypt has the right to control its border". "The
Palestinian cause is dear to our heart and the Egyptians have paid a heavy
price defending this cause,but Egyptian territory and its security are more
important than anything else,"the foreign minister said. . . . .
+++SOURCE: EGYPTIAN GAZETTE 20 Dec.'09:"Polyandry article sparks row"
FULL TEXT:A MEMBER of Egypt 's Parliament has filed a lawsuit over an
article questioning why polygamy is allowed for men in Islam but not for
women.The article carried by the independent newspaper Al-Masry Al- Youm was
written by a female Saudi journalist Nadine al-Bedair. It has been denounced
by some Muslim clerics as inflammatory and anti-Islamic. But others have
said it serves the purpose of highlighting how badly some husbands treat
their spouses. The article sugggests that polygamy should either be allowed
for both men and women Ø° or else there should be a new concept of marriage
where men are not allowed to take a new wife just because they are bored
with the old one.
+++SOURCE: SAUDI GAZETTE 20 Dec.'09:"US helped Yemen’s strike against Qaeda:
Report"
SUBJECT: U.S.aids Yemen against al-Qaeda
FULL TEXT:WASHINGTON – The US provided firepower and other aid to Yemen in
its strike this week against suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts and training sites
within its borders, the New York Times reported.
US President Barack Obama approved the military and intelligence support,
which came at the request of the Yemeni government. It was intended to help
stem growing attacks against American and other foreign targets in Yemen,
the Times reported in its online editions late Friday.
Officials said at least 34 militants were killed in the Yemeni strike
Thursday in what was an unusually heavy assault as the Obama administration
presses the deeply unstable country for tougher action against the terror
network.
Witnesses, however, put the number killed at over 60 and said the dead were
mostly civilians, including women and children.
They denied the target was an Al-Qaeda stronghold, and one provincial
official said only 10 militant suspects died.
The United States has repeatedly called on Yemen to take stronger action
against Al-Qaeda, whose fighters have increasingly found refuge here in the
past year.
Worries over the growing presence are compounded by fears that Yemen could
collapse into turmoil from its multiple conflicts and increasing poverty and
become another Afghanistan, giving the militants even freer rein. Speaking
to the AP, Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for the Yemeni embassy in
Washington, denied the US launched missiles in the attack
+++SOURCE: NAHARNET (Lebanon) 20 Dec.'09:"Analysis: 6 Alleged Hizbullah
Plots
Likely behind Israel-Hizbullah Tension
FULL TEXT:The series of alleged Hizbullah plots to attack Israeli targets in
Turkey were likely behind the tension between the Jewish state and the
Shiite party this past summer and fall, Haaretz daily reported Sunday(20
Dec).
"The foiled attempts may explain the numerous warnings Israel has issued
since August to Hizbullah to abstain from acts the group might regret,"
Haaretz said.
The newspaper said that so far, there have been reports of at least six
foiled attacks against Israeli targets overseas. The plots, according to
Haaretz, were in retaliation for the killing of Hizbullah commander Imad
Mughniyeh in a Damascus car bombing in February 2008, which the group blamed
on Israel.
Haaretz quoted Turkish media as saying that Hizbullah's planned attacks were
extremely ambitious and organized well in advance, reportedly with the help
of Syrian and Iranian intelligence.
It is suspected that Hizbullah operatives planned to attack a series of
targets linked to Israel and possibly the Jewish community in Turkey, the
newspaper said.
Turkish security forces managed to uncover the plots after receiving
information from a Western intelligence service, Haaretz added.
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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA
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