April 25th

Bush Wants A Deal On A Palestinian State By End Of Term ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by James Gerstenzang And Richard Boudreaux - April 25, 2008 - 5:47pm President Bush said Thursday that he wanted to lock in the outlines of a Palestinian state before he left office, even as Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, said the road was "paved with obstacles." With less than nine months to achieve his goal, Bush is holding a flurry of diplomatic meetings, including a session with Abbas in the Oval Office on Thursday, seeking to pressure Israel, the Palestinians and their Arab allies. » Read more

April 24th

White House: Syria Must 'come Clean' About Nuclear Facility ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Shmuel Rosner, And Barak Ravid - April 24, 2008 - 5:56pm The White House on Thursday urged Syria to "come clean" about an alleged nuclear facility, which a senior U.S. official said earlier in the day had been near completion when it was reportedly targeted and destroyed by the Israel Air Force in September 2007. "The Syrian regime must come clean before the world regarding its illicut nuclear activities," White House press secretary Dana Perino said, shortly after U.S. intelligence officials presented members of Congress with evidence that Pyongyang had assisted a secret Syrian nuclear program. » Read more

Don't Be Afraid Of Peace With Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) April 24, 2008 - 5:54pm Peace with Syria is once again knocking at our door, and it even seems to be meeting with a less-frosty reception on the Israeli side. The time is ripe for negotiations with Syria, especially since U.S. President George W. Bush's reign is drawing to a close, and among his potential successors, whether Democrat or Republican, there is a willingness to negotiate with Bashar Assad instead of boycotting him. » Read more

We Must Guard Against The Worst In A Nonpolar World ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Richard N. Haass - (Opinion) April 24, 2008 - 5:54pm Today's world is dominated not by one or two or even several powers, but rather is influenced by dozens of state and nonstate actors exercising various kinds of power. A 20th century dominated first by a few states, then, during the Cold War, by two states, and finally by American preeminence at the Cold War's end, has given way to a 21st century dominated by no one. Call it nonpolar. » Read more

Israeli Imbroglio ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National Interest by Jacob Heilbrunn - (Opinion) April 24, 2008 - 5:52pm If secret agents are supposed to be handsome, or seductive, masters of derring-do, then America’s latest spy scandal has to come as something of a disappointment.  The octogenarian Ben-Ami Kadish, whom the Justice Department is accusing of operating as an Israeli spy from 1979 to 1985 and who faces four counts of conspiracy, clad in a blue windbreaker and black sweatpants as he headed toward the courthouse, simply doesn’t cut the mustard. But his arrest has already created an uproar in Israel, where officials are scrambling to deflect blame. » Read more

Israeli Premier Willing To Give Back Golan Heights: Syrian Cabinet Minister ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters April 24, 2008 - 5:51pm Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has told Turkey that Israel is willing to give back Syria’s Golan Heights in return for peace with the Arab state, a Syrian Cabinet minister said yesterday. “Olmert is ready for peace with Syria on the grounds of international conditions; on the grounds of the return of the Golan Heights in full to Syria,” Expatriates Minister Buthaina Shaaban told Al Jazeera television. She said the message about the Heights occupied by Israel since 1967 was made through Turkey. » Read more

Palestinians Pledge Fuel For Aid Agency Amid Shortages ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory Mccarthy And Allegra Stratton - April 24, 2008 - 5:50pm Palestinian fuel distributors in the Gaza Strip agreed today to provide an emergency shipment to a UN aid agency that had warned it would have to halt food distribution unless its trucks received fuel. UN food assistance to 650,000 Palestinian refugees had been scheduled to stop today due to fuel cuts, but Mahmoud al-Khuzundar, of the Association for Petrol Station Owners in the Gaza Strip, said 50,000 litres (13,209 gallons) of diesel would be delivered to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). » Read more

U.s. Briefing On Syria Sets Off Tension In Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Media Line Staff - April 24, 2008 - 5:49pm A CIA briefing to members of Congress about Syria’s nuclear capabilities is causing tension in Jerusalem, which is rumored to be engaged in negotiations with Damascus over the Golan Heights.   The Bush administration is presenting lawmakers with proof that the Syrian facility Israel is suspected of having bombed last September was, indeed, a nuclear weapons facility being built with the assistance of North Korea.  » Read more

Bush Seeks Boost For Abbas, Mideast Peace Bid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters April 24, 2008 - 5:47pm President George W. Bush hosts Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on Thursday to try to bolster him and shore up a fragile U.S.-backed peace effort with Israel. With 10 months left in office, Bush will hold talks with Abbas in the face of deep skepticism over the chances for securing a Middle East peace deal before the U.S. president finishes his term early next year. » Read more

Israeli Law Would Pay Settlers To Leave West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Laurie Copans - April 24, 2008 - 5:46pm When the Ventura family moved to this West Bank settlement from a Tel Aviv suburb 20 years ago, they sought open spaces and mountain air. But years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting have scared away their children and grandchildren. Now the retired couple wants to move back. "We came here for quality of life when there were no worries here," said Tzuri Ventura, 68, a retired truck driver. "We just want to get out of here ... but we don't have enough money." » Read more