February 20th

Kerry shuns Hamas during Gaza visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English February 20, 2009 - 1:00am The US will not change its stance towards Hamas, John Kerry, the former democratic US presidential candidate, has said during a tour of Gaza. His comments came on Thursday during the highest-level visit by a US official to the territory since Hamas seized control two years ago. "I am here to listen with the UN personnel on the ground to hear ... the things we need to do is to improve the situation in the region," he said. » Read more

'Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps a time bomb’ ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times February 20, 2009 - 1:00am Lebanon’s 12 Palestinian refugee camps are breeding grounds for extremist groups and constitute a “time bomb” that needs urgent attention, the International Crisis Group think tank said Thursday. Successive Lebanese governments were largely to blame for a “catastrophic” situation in the camps which were set up after the creation of Israel in 1948, the Brussels-based ICG said in a report. » Read more

Livni to Haaretz: I may consider a Likud-Yisrael Beitenu coalition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Yossi Verter - February 20, 2009 - 1:00am Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni will not join a government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu that would include Shas, Habayit Hayehudi and National Union, but she would be willing to consider a Likud-Kadima-Yisrael Beiteinu coalition, she told Haaretz on Thursday. President Shimon Peres is expected to meet separately Friday with Netanyahu and Livni to try to promote a broad coalition that would include Kadima. » Read more

Netanyahu Tapped to Form Israel’s New Government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - February 20, 2009 - 1:00am Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the conservative Likud Party, was invited by Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, on Friday to take the lead in assembling the next government. Whatever form that government takes, Mr. Netanyahu, 59, is widely expected to return as prime minister a decade after the last government he led fell apart. » Read more

US lawmakers hear 'heart wrenching' tales during visit to Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star February 20, 2009 - 1:00am US Democratic representatives Brian Baird and Keith Ellison expressed shock at the plight of the war-shattered Gaza Strip during a rare visit to the Palestinian enclave on Thursday. "The amount of physical destruction and the depth of human suffering here is staggering" Baird said in a statement issued jointly with Ellison during their visit which coincided with a similar trip by US Senator John Kerry. The visits were the first by US lawmakers since Hamas, an Islamist movement Washington labels a terrorist outfit, took power in Gaza by force after having won legislative elections in 2006. » Read more

A Second Chance ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times February 20, 2009 - 1:00am Israeli prime ministers often achieve most in their second term. Yitzhak Rabin and Yitzhak Shamir were both able to launch the initiatives, garner the political support and conclude the agreements that brought peace closer when they returned to office after an unfocused first round in Israel's bruising political rink. It now looks likely that Binyamin Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing Likud party, will return to office as prime minister for a second term. » Read more

Keep Lieberman out of the government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz February 20, 2009 - 1:00am Israelis still don't know who won last week's elections, or who will put together the next government. The only clear result is that Avigdor Lieberman is trying to dictate the nature and composition of the new coalition. This is evident from the conditions he demanded of Likud and Kadima for Yisrael Beiteinu's joining the government and from his appearance yesterday at the President's Residence, where he stipulated that he wanted a broad coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. » Read more

John Kerry's role in Damascus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Boston Globe February 20, 2009 - 1:00am Syria may not be as indispensable to Mideast peace as its president, Bashar Assad, says it is, but when John Kerry visits Damascus this weekend as the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he will have an opportunity to prepare the way for a new policy of dialogue with Syria. » Read more

February 19th

Syria Wants Golan Heights On Middle East Agenda ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters October 1, 2007 - 12:00am Syria will not attend a Middle East peace conference set for next month unless the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights are on the agenda, President Bashar al-Assad said in comments broadcast on Monday. "If they don't talk about the Syrian occupied territory, no, there's no way for Syria to go there," Assad told the BBC, referring to the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. "It should be about comprehensive peace, and Syria is part of this comprehensive peace. Without that, we shouldn't go, we wouldn't go." » Read more

Shifting Targets: The Administration’s Plan For Iran. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New Yorker by Seymour M. Hersh - October 1, 2007 - 12:00am In a series of public statements in recent months, President Bush and members of his Administration have redefined the war in Iraq, to an increasing degree, as a strategic battle between the United States and Iran. “Shia extremists, backed by Iran, are training Iraqis to carry out attacks on our forces and the Iraqi people,” Bush told the national convention of the American Legion in August. “The attacks on our bases and our troops by Iranian-supplied munitions have increased. . . . The Iranian regime must halt these actions. » Read more