Excerpts: Abbas hopeful of U.S.Taliban says "No".Sabre-rattling Hizbullah
alerts Saudi.Hamas backtracks on apology February 06, 2010

+++SOURCE:EGYPTIAN GAZETTE 6 Feb.''10:"Abbas questions US on peace talks",
by
Ashraf Madbouli

QUOTES: "Abbas: 'the tunnels are used to smuggle whisky,drugs and Mercedes
cars' " . . . Hamas also uses them to import weapons .. and send fighters
abroad for training"
EXCERPTS:THE Palestinians have asked the Obama administration to clarify a
US envoy's proposal to restart long-stalled peace talks with Israel
indirectly by shuttling between the two sides, Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas said yesterday (5 Feb). . . . President Hosni Mubarak, whose
country has also served as an intermediary between Israel and the
Palestinians, held talks in Cairo yesterday(5 Feb) with Abbas over the new
US plan.
"We have asked the American side some questions ... and the answers will
be discussed within a joint Arab framework and then we will announce our
position," Abbas said.
The Palestinian leader said . . . . he wants clear guidelines on the offer
by US envoy George Mitchell to conduct shuttle diplomacy.. . .
.
"I'm optimistic that the American administration is capable of doing
something to bring about a breakthrough in the peace process," Abbas said
Friday(5 Feb).
He made it clear, however, that the Palestinians were not willing to offer
more compromises to get the process moving again.
The Palestinians insist first on a full freeze of Israeli settlement
building in the West Bank. They rejected a partial 10-month freeze imposed
in late November as insufficient because it does not include East Jerusalem,
where Palestinians hope to establish a capital. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu told a conference Wednesday(3 Feb) that he had reason to
believe the talks could resume in a matter of weeks, though he gave no
details.
Abbas said he supported the building of the controversial barrier, which
seeksto stem smuggling through a network of underground tunnels linking
Egypt to Gaza.
"The steel wall does not seek to starve the Palestinian people... the
tunnels are used to smuggle whisky, drugs and Mercedes cars," Abbas said in
the interview published in the daily Al Ahram.
"As for the humanitarian goods, thousands of tonnes enter (Gaza) through
the border points," Abbas added. The tunnels are mainly used for food, fuel
and household appliances, Hamas also uses them to import weapons into the
territory and send fighters abroad for training.

+++SOURCE: SAUDI GAZETTE 6 Feb.'10:"Taliban say no to peace deal", Reuters
FULL TEXT:KABUL - The Taliban have said they will not enter into any "deal"
with the Afghan government or the West to bring peace to Afghanistan, and
their fighters will continue to die to achieve a victory they say is around
the corner.
At a conference in London last month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai invited
the Taliban to a peace council and set out plans to lure fighters down from
the hills in return for cash and jobs.
But in a statement posted on the Taleban website (alemarah.info/english)
Thursday(4 Feb), the Taliban vowed to "collude" with no one.
The statement made no specific reference to Karzai's proposed talks. The
Taliban had initially told Reuters they would decide "soon" on whether to
take part in talks.
The militants have repeatedly rejected previous offers of talks before all
foreign troops are withdrawn.
"During the past eight years, the Islamic Emirate has not shown any
willingness to reach collusion with any party as regards the Jihad, the
country and the people, national and Islamic interest," the Taliban said.
"Now, it is not ready to have any illegitimate, valueless deal about the
victory, which is near at hand."
The statement was entitled "The impracticable decision of the London
conference" and addressed to the meeting's "conveners and donors."
The luring away of militant foot-soldiers is referred to by the West as
reintegration while efforts to make peace with Taliban leaders is being
called reconciliation.
Afghanistan's allies are backing the efforts to start talks with the
Taliban. - Reuters

+++SOURCE: NAHARNET 6 Feb.'10:"Hizbullah Cadres on Alert"
SUBJECT: Sabre-rattling Hizbullah alerts Saudi
FULL TEXT:Informed Lebanese sources have said that Hizbullah cadres have
been on alert in all Lebanese regions and the party's officials have been
advised to take precautions against any possible Israeli attack.
The sources told the Saudi Okaz daily in remarks published Saturday(6 Feb)
that "the party is preparing for all military possibilities." [IMRA: Why
Saudi Okaz daily?
"It is betting on containing the first strike of any Israeli aggression,"
the sources said, adding that "containing the attack would bridge half of
the victory path."

+++SOURCE: HAARETZ 6 Feb.'10:"Hamas Backtracks on Apology Over Harming
Civilians "By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
QUOTE:"Human Rights researchers said that most of the rockets fired from
Gaza hit civilian area in Israel"

FULL EXT:GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- The Hamas government in Gaza on
Saturday(6 Feb) backtracked on its apology earlier this week in which it
expressed regret for harming Israeli civilians in rocket attacks.
The apology had signaled a rare deviation from Hamas' violent ideology, and
the subsequent zigzag reflects the Islamic militants' conflicting
objectives.
Hamas, which seized Gaza by force in 2007, is trying to reach out to the
West in hopes of winning recognition and getting Israel to lift its blockade
of Gaza. However, Hamas is also reluctant to discard its violent ideology
for fear of losing credibility at home.
The apology for the rockets was part of the Hamas government's response to a
U.N. report that alleged both Hamas and Israel committed war crimes during
Israel's three-week Gaza offensive last winter.
The U.N. investigators, headed by jurist Richard Goldstone, accused Hamas of
firing rockets indiscriminately at Israeli civilians. The U.N. report also
said Israel used disproportionate force and deliberately targeted civilians.
Some 1,400 Gazans were killed, among them hundreds of civilians, as well as
13 Israelis.
During the war, Gaza militants fired some 800 rockets and mortar shells into
Israel, killing three Israeli civilians and wounding about 80. The attacks
forced hundreds of thousands of Israelis to seek protection in bomb
shelters.
Hamas wrote to the U.N. that its primitive rockets were not intended to hit
civilians, but often strayed from their course. Hamas said the rockets were
meant to defend Gazans against Israeli military strikes, but also maintained
that the Palestinians have a right to resist Israeli occupation.
''We apologize for any harm that might have come to Israeli civilians,'' the
Hamas government wrote.
On Saturday(6 Feb), the government claimed the response to the U.N. was
misinterpreted.
''The report that was submitted regarding the Goldstone report does not
include any apologies and what took place was an incorrect interpretation of
some of its wording,'' the government said in a statement.
The government did not attempt to explain the contradiction and Hamas
officials declined comment.
Hamas likely came under domestic pressure after news of the apology became
public, said Gaza analyst Naji Sharrab. ''They are addressing two different
audiences,'' Sharrab said of Hamas.
Hamas militants have maintained an informal truce with Israel since the war
ended in January 2009, but smaller Palestinian groups continue to
sporadically fire salvos.
Gaza militants have been firing rockets at Israeli border towns since 2002.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas repeatedly urged Hamas to halt the
attacks, saying they are counterproductive and harm Palestinian interests.
Abbas' Fatah movement, which lost Gaza to Hamas in 2007 and now holds power
only in the West Bank, said Saturda(6 Feb) y the apology was proof Hamas had
erred.
''With this apology, Hamas acknowledged that these rockets and this kind of
resistance does not serve the Palestinian interest,'' Fatah said in a
statement.
Israel rejected Hamas' initial apology. Human rights researchers said most
of the rockets fired from Gaza hit civilian areas in Israel, suggesting
Hamas deliberately targeted civilians.
Hamas and Israel handed over their reports to the U.N. last week, after the
U.N. General Assembly urged both sides in November to investigate their
actions during the Gaza war.
Both Israel and Hamas have rejected the war crimes allegations.
On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon refused to pass judgment on
the reports, saying ''no determination can be made on the implementation of
the resolution by the parties concerned.''
The U.N. chief was criticized by human rights groups, including Amnesty
International, which said he sidestepped his responsibility by avoiding
judgment.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza said neither Israel nor
Hamas made a sufficient effort to investigate the allegations. The group
said the U.N. Security Council should now refer the matter to the
international criminal court.
=========
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA