Hizbullah planned 3 simultaneous attacks in Sinai
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roee Nahmias - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am


Hizbullah planned three simultaneous terror attacks against Israeli and Egyptian targets in three different tourist spots in Sinai, head of a Hizbullah cell in Egypt Sami Shihab told police in his investigation. Parts of Shihab's investigation were published in Egyptian daily al-Ahram on Tuesday, and according to the report, the organization planned to publish an announcement after the attacks claiming responsibility for them.


Mitchell visit to see if Netanyahu really against 2-states
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am


Prominent voices from within Benjamin Netanyahu's government have already made it clear they oppose the two-state solution and the understandings agreed upon at the Annapolis Peace Summit. Ascertaining whether this is indeed the genuine position of the new Israeli government is the top priority for US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, during his visit this "It's one thing to hear statements in the press, it's another to hear it in a one-on-one meeting," a source in Washington told Ynet on Monday evening.


Candidly Speaking: Netanyahu & the two-state solution
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Isi Leibler - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am


When our government enters into formal discussions with Washington, it will be obliged to make decisions that may set the tone for its long-term relationship with the new administration. President Barack Obama has yet to fully show his hand, but his policy of engaging with jihadists is likely to encourage efforts to pressure Israel into additional unilateral concessions to the Arabs that will need to be vigorously resisted.


'Sounds worrying'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ahram
by Dina Ezzat - April 14, 2009 - 12:00am


Karen Abu Zayd is commissioner general of UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). Her job is to make sure that relief and human development are accessible to Palestinians under occupation, in Gaza, the West Bank and refugee camps scattered in countries neighbouring the occupied Palestinian territories. This mission is met through providing education, healthcare, social services and emergency aid to over 4.6 million refugees living in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic.


Israel: New govt and old policies
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) April 13, 2009 - 12:00am


Lest it not be clear or be forgotten, Palestinians and other Arabs are spelling out what a peace settlement in their view entails: The two-state formula in accordance with the agreed references, particularly the Arab peace initiative. These policy positions, recently expressed by the chief Palestinian negotiator in Palestine, and in neighboring Jordan where Arab foreign ministers met to review of the Middle East peace process, were meant to reiterate the ways of reaching peace.


If we give, we'll get
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - April 13, 2009 - 12:00am


It's a good thing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak didn't listen to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Instead of going to hell, as Lieberman has recommended, he sent his police to stop would-be terrorists planning to send many Israelis to that destination. I wonder what Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, well known for his fondness of Egypt, might have to say about the operation against Hezbollah in Egypt.


Egyptian guard killed on border with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 13, 2009 - 12:00am


An Egyptian security official says a border guard has been killed while patrolling the frontier with Israel. The officials say Magdi Abdellah Hamza was shot in his neck early Monday while on duty, the official said on condition of anonymity because he is not allowed to speak to the media. The official said an investigation is underway. Security is tight along porous border area where local Bedouins engage in drug, weapons and human trafficking.


Borderline outcast?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck, Roula Khalaf - (Analysis) April 13, 2009 - 12:00am


It has been a tough few months for Israel's diplomatic corps. At the start of the year, diplomats were fending off accusations that Israel was using excessive force in its offensive against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. After that conflict they faced a torrent of allegations that their actions had amounted to war crimes, claims that they deny.


US envoy in fresh bid to kickstart peace talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Vita Bekker - April 13, 2009 - 12:00am


George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the Middle East, returns to the region today for the first time since the new Israeli right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu took power in a bid to push forward the stalled peace process.


Pride and empty words
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Eitan Haber - (Opinion) April 12, 2009 - 12:00am


At the height of the settlement enterprise in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, when thousands of settlers danced before Ariel Sharon and sang songs of praise for him, I used to tell my friends in the settlement movement: Arik, and none other than him, will kick you out of all the settlements one of these days and won’t look back.



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