SanLuisObispo.com: Middle East

Chaos marks Iraq election vote tally

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:40 PDT

By By KATARINA KRATOVAC and SAMEER N. YACOUB -- Dozens of Iraqi journalists waited hours for results in Iraq's election. What they finally got was a single CD containing all the information and instructions to make copies themselves, prompting a mad dash to the nearest Internet cafe where they paid $1.20 each to find out who was ahead in the ballot count.

It was the latest example of the ongoing chaos in Iraq's postelection count, which has fueled uncertainty and allegations of fraud. Questions about the vote's validity could undermine U.S. ambitions to set a standard for democracy in the Middle East.

Preliminary results from Iraq's 18 provinces have trickled out daily. Generally they're released on TV screens for reporters to write down, although recently they've been handed out on CDs.

Gaza rocket kills Thai farm worker in Israel

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:06 PDT

By By KARIN LAUB -- A rocket fired by Gaza militants smashed into a greenhouse in an Israeli border village Thursday, killing a Thai worker in the first such death since Israel's massive offensive against Hamas-ruled Gaza more than a year ago.

The launch defied a long-standing ban by the Hamas on such attacks and highlighted the growing challenge to the Islamic militant group from more radical rivals, including al-Qaida-inspired firebrands.

The rocket also raised the specter of Israeli retaliation and further conflagration at a time of renewed international focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel has drawn tough U.S. criticism in recent days for plans to build hundreds more homes for Jews in disputed east Jerusalem.

US soldier dies in combat in Baghdad

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:06 PDT

The U.S. military says an American soldier has died in combat in Baghdad.

A statement by the military says the soldier from the U.S. Central Division was killed in combat on Thursday in the Iraqi capital.

The name of the deceased soldier is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Dubai hotel releases whale shark back into wild

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:41 PDT

By By ADAM SCHRECK -- A resort hotel on one of Dubai's manmade islands said Thursday it has freed a whale shark whose captivity had been criticized by environmentalists.

The Atlantis hotel on the city-state's Palm Jumeirah island said it released the 13-foot (4-meter) female shark into the Persian Gulf, but did not provide documentation.

Whale sharks, the largest fish in the world, are considered a threatened species.

Sudan and Darfur rebel group sign cease-fire

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:20 PDT

Sudan's government and a collection of Darfur rebel groups signed a cease-fire Thursday - the second such deal in less than a month with a key rebel faction - opening the way for political negotiations ahead of a full peace agreement.

The Sudanese government now has truces with two major rebel blocs, leaving mainly the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Paris-based Abdelwahid Elnur on the outside - though the history of the conflict has been marked by failed peace agreements.

Arduous negotiations on power and resource sharing, the main demand of the rebels, still lie ahead.

Iran frees activists for Iranian New Year holiday

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:12 PDT

By By NASSER KARIMI -- Iran released a prominent opposition politician as well as three activists and a filmmaker detained for suspected involvement in the country's postelection turmoil, a relative and local media said Thursday.

Mohsen Mirdamadi, the leader of the country's biggest reformist party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front, was temporarily freed late Wednesday on $450,000 bail, his son Ali told The Associated Press.

Iran traditionally releases some prisoners before the New Year holiday, which begins March 21 and normally ends April 4. While the semiofficial ISNA news agency said Mirdamadi's release came within the framework of the holiday leaves, it also can be seen a part of an effort by the Iranian government to ease tensions in the country.

Export ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna rejected

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:10 PDT

By By MICHAEL CASEY -- Fishing nations won a victory over environmentalists Thursday when a U.S.-backed proposal to ban export of the Atlantic bluefin tuna was overwhelmingly rejected at a U.N. wildlife meeting.

Japan won over scores of poorer nations with a campaign that played on fears that a ban would devastate their economies. Tokyo also raised doubts that such a radical move was scientifically sound.

In another blow to conservationists, a proposal at the meeting to ban the international sale of polar bear skins failed to pass.

East Jerusalem neighborhood shows no sign of furor

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:30 PDT

By By MATTI FRIEDMAN -- The sleepy Ramat Shlomo neighborhood at the center of the debate over Israeli construction in east Jerusalem shows no signs of the political furor.

On a recent morning, a bearded father carried his son from a car seat to a kindergarten. Teenage girls in shin-length skirts waited in a supermarket checkout line. The monotony of low buildings with light stone facades was broken only by an occasional grocery store or pizzeria.

The gulf between the way Jerusalem is seen by Israelis and by many in the world is nowhere more apparent than it is here.

Yemen-American imam calls for US Muslim revolt

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:14 PDT

By By PAUL SCHEMM -- A Yemeni-American Muslim preacher known for his ties to extremists operating in the U.S. called on American Muslims in a new audio message to turn against their government because of its actions against Muslims around the world.

Anwar al-Awlaki's latest message, excerpts of which were aired on CNN Wednesday, described his own radicalization after U.S. operations against Muslims and called on those in the U.S. to follow his path.

"I eventually came to the conclusion that jihad against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding on every other Muslim," he said in his American-accented English.

Iraq PM keeps lead in election vote count

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:04 PDT

By By REBECCA SANTANA -- The Iraqi prime minister's coalition has kept an edge of almost 40,000 votes ahead of his secular rival in the latest release of preliminary results from the March 7 parliamentary elections.

The latest tally shows Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki locked in a very tight race with his secular Shiite challenger, former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

The partial results, released on Thursday by Iraq's election commission, were based on 89 percent of ballots counted.

Gaza rocket kills Thai farm worker in Israel

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:34 PDT

World's richest man visits Lebanon, ancestral home

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:55 PDT

By By BASSEM MROUE -- The world's richest man told a group of university students in Lebanon, his ancestral home, on Wednesday that education and jobs are the best way to fight poverty.

Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim is the first man from a developing nation to become the world's richest person. With a recovery in the value of his cell phone holdings pushing his estimated fortune to $53.5 billion, Slim jumped past Microsoft founder Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett when Forbes magazine released its 2010 list of the world's wealthiest last week.

Slim, the son of a Lebanese immigrant, is currently on a one week visit to Lebanon, where he met officials and Christian religious leaders.

Wrong religion: Israeli ruins re-identified

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:34 PDT

By By KAROUN DEMIRJIAN -- Israeli archaeologists have announced that ruins long thought to be of an ancient synagogue are actually the remains of a palace built by Arab caliphs 1,300 years ago.

The site, on the banks of the Sea of Galilee, was identified as a synagogue in the 1950s because archaeologists found a carving of a menorah, a seven-armed candelabra that is a Jewish symbol. But scholars said in a report published this week that the identification was an error, and that the site was a winter palace used by the caliphs of the Umayyad dynasty, the same rulers who built Jerusalem's gold-capped Dome of the Rock.

Early Arab historians had described the palace, calling it al-Sinnabra, but its location was previously unknown.

Arab world says hopes in Obama are dwindling

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:14 PDT

By By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY -- Arabs across the Middle East are unconvinced the United States will stand up to Israel despite Washington's rare public outrage over plans to build new Jewish homes in a traditionally Arab part of Jerusalem.

The skepticism is eroding Arab hopes that President Barack Obama will push hard for a long-sought peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians to end a conflict that has fueled anti-U.S. sentiment in the region. America's dwindling credibility could also jeopardize another major Mideast goal - uniting the Arab world against Iran.

Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said Arab countries will be less likely to engage with the U.S. on issues such as Iran if they get nothing in return.

Brazilian president places wreath on Arafat's tomb

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:44 PDT

By By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH -- Brazil's president placed a wreath on the tomb of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Wednesday and sharply criticized Israeli policies, leading Israeli officials to suggest he was not being evenhanded.

Making the first visit by any sitting Brazilian president to Israel and the Palestinian territories, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has termed the trip amission of peace." The visit appears aimed at helping Brazil emerge as a bigger player in foreign affairs.

Brazil could play a bridging role: the country is Israel's largest trading partner in Latin America, but also has close ties to Iran, Israel's archenemy. Silva has been a defender of Iran's nuclear ambitions, which Israel sees as a potentially grave threat.

Steamy text messages lands couple in Dubai jail

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:29 PDT

A string of steamy text messages has resulted in a jail sentence for an Indian couple, local media announced Wednesday, in the latest case of passions clashing with the law in the cosmopolitan, yet occasionally conservative, Gulf city of Dubai.

The conviction said the sexual content of the texts suggested the unnamed pair planned to "commit sin" - a reference to an extramarital affair, which is illegal in the United Arab Emirates.

The pair, who worked as cabin crew for Emirates airlines, each were sentenced to three months in jail, said authorities. Court documents only gave their initials and their ages: 42 for her and 47 for him.