Excerpts: Hamas confident re Egypt's new President. Abbas/ Saudi King
Abdullah meeting 13 July. Uzbek man gets 15+for death threat to Obama July
14, 2012

+++SOURCE: Egyptian Gazette 14 July '12:"Hamas sees Egypt's Mursi defying
Israel, ending blockade",Reuters

SUBJECT: Hamas confident re Egypt's new president

EXCERPT:GAZA - The head of the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip said
on Friday he was confident Egypt's new president would shield the
Palestinian enclave from Israeli attack and fully open its borders to end a
trade blockade.

+++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 14 July '12:"Abbas seeks urgent Saudi aid Kingdom
thanked for its continued support"
SUBJECT: Abbas/ Saudi King Abdullah meeting 13 July '12

QUOTE: "donor countries were not honoring their pledges"

FULL TEXT:JEDDAH — King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting here Friday[13
July] discussed the latest developments in the region with particular
emphasis on the sufferings of the Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Jamal Shobaki, the Palestinians’ top diplomat in Riyadh, told AFP that
President Abbas sought urgent aid for his administration as the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan nears.

The leaders discussed “the financial crisis of the Palestinian Authority
(PA) which will no longer be able to pay its employees as the holy month of
Ramadan approaches,” the diplomat said.

“President Abbas asked for the help of the Kingdom which he thanked for its
continued support to the Palestinians,” Shobaki said.

He said they also discussed the stagnant Israeli-Palestinian peace process
and Israel’s policy of building Jewish settlements on the occupied West Bank
and in annexed East Jerusalem (Imra: eastern Jerusalem), a major obstacle to
a resumption of peace negotiations.

The PA’s debts have climbed to $1.5 billion, said Shobaki who, citing
statistics from Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s government, estimated $500
million was needed in urgent aid to tackle the current crisis.

The Palestinian Authority faces its worst financial crisis since it was
founded in 1994, Labor Minister Ahmed Majdalani said at the start of July,
warning that donor countries were not honoring their pledges.

Arab and other states have pledged around one billion dollars, of which the
authority has received only $480 million, according to Finance Minister
Nabil Qassis. — Agencies

+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 14 July '12:" Uzbek Man Gets more than 15
Years over Plot to Kill Obama", Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: Uzbek man gets 15+ for death theat to Obama

FULL TEXT:A U.S. federal judge sentenced an Uzbek man to more than 15 years
in prison Friday[13 July] on terror and weapons charges for threatening to
kill U.S. President Barack Obama, U.S. prosecutors said.

Ulugbek Kodirov, 22, was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison
for providing material support to terrorism, threatening to kill the
president and possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, they said in a
statement.

Kodirov, who entered the United States on a valid visa but later was in the
country illegally, will be deported to Uzbekistan after he completes the
sentence, the statement said.

"This case has a happy ending -- Kodirov is going to prison for more than 15
years and no one was hurt," said U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.

Kodirov was arrested on July 13, 2011, at a motel in Alabama, after
attempting to buy explosives and guns from an undercover agent. He pleaded
guilty to all charges in February.

As part of his plea agreement with prosecutors, Kodirov admitted he had
communicated with a suspected member of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
identified only as "the Emir" who suggested that he kill Obama.

The U.S. State Department lists the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan as a
foreign terrorist organization.

"This case demonstrates the continuing threat posed by violent extremists in
this country and how law enforcement works together to neutralize such
plots," said the DOJ's assistant attorney general for National Security,
Lisa Monaco.

Kodirov entered the United States from Uzbekistan in June 2009 on a student
visa that was revoked in April 2010 after he failed to enroll in school. But
he did not leave the United States.

SourceAgence France
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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA