One Trillion Dollars – The Cost of America's Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan

Source: Al-Watan (Qatar), January 16, 2010

Sheikh Al-Azhar Condemns Nag Hamadi Massacre

As part of the efforts to calm the tension between Muslims and Christians in Egypt following the gunning down of six Copts in the city of Nag Hamadi on the Coptic Christmas Eve, Al-Azhar Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi gave his Friday sermon in a mosque in the city, and visited the victims' families to convey his condolences.

He said that the life and property of a Christian are protected just like those of a Muslim, and that the murderers are not members of any religion, for Islam renounces them.

Source: Al-Masri Al-Yawm (Egypt), January 16, 2010

Mubarak: The Gaza Border Tunnels Cause Egypt Great Harm

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said that the tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border cause Egypt great harm, and that this country will not be dragged into another war, unless its territory is attacked.

Referring to the recent tension between Muslims and Copts in the country, he said that Egypt makes no distinction between its Muslim and Christian citizens, and that he is against religious extremism, especially at a time when external forces are trying to destabilize Egypt.

He added that the renewal of diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran depends on whether the latter extradites 37 Egyptians who are staying in Iran and have been convicted of crimes in Egypt.

Source: Al-Ahram (Egypt), January 18, 2010

Turkey's New Policy: Arabs In, Israel Out

Cartoonist: Fares Qarabeat

Source: Al-Watan (Syria), January 17, 2010

Al-Ayyam: West Bank Municipal Elections to Be Held in May

The PA daily Al-Ayyam reports that the municipal elections in the West Bank will begin in May 2010.

Source: Al-Ayyam (PA), January 18, 2010

Mahmoud Abbas' Sons Sue Al-Jazeera

Tareq and Yasser 'Abbas, the sons of PA President Mahmoud 'Abbas, have sued Al-Jazeera TV and two of its employees, Faisal Qassem of the talk show The Opposite Direction and political analyst Yasser Al-Za'atra, for allegedly slandering them during a show that tied them to the postponement of the UN discussion of the Goldstone Report.

Source: Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), January 18, 2010

Prominent Saudi Sheikh Calls to Ban Underage Marriage

Sheikh 'Abd Al-Muhsin Al-'Obikan, an advisor to the Saudi king, called to draft a law banning the marriage of girls under 18, except in rare cases and with special approval. He added that fathers should not force their daughters to marry against their will, and that if such marriages occur, the courts should annul them.

Source: 'Okaz (Saudi Arabia), January 16, 2010

Hamas Bans Flower Shops from Selling Wreaths for Funeral of Fatah Leader's Mother

The mother of Fatah Central Committee member Muhammad Dahlan died recently in Gaza. According to reports, the Hamas authorities have prohibited the local flower shops from selling wreaths for her funeral. A Hamas-affiliated website stated that the families of victims who were killed in Gaza during the lead up to the Hamas coup have called to arrest Dahlan if he shows up for the funeral, and put him on trial for his role in the events.

Hamas members have kidnapped the owner of a Gaza printing press, and forced him to stop printing materials for Fatah.

Sources: www.amad.ps, www.palestine-info.info, January 17, 2010

Iran Will Not Host Islamic Solidarity Games

The Islamic Solidarity Games Federation has decided that Iran will not host the games, owing to its refusal to remove the words "Persian Gulf" from the games' logo, medals and brochures.

Iran said in response that it would seek legal measures against the federation, which is based in Riyadh.

Source: Press TV (Iran), January 17, 2010; ISNA (Iran), January 17, 2010

Saudi Arabia: No to Foreign Forces in Yemen, No to Internationalizing Houthi Conflict

The Saudi Al-Watan daily reports that, at the London Conference on Yemen, slated for January 28, 2010, Saudi Arabia plans to support the Yemeni government and Yemen's unity, to emphasize the importance of aid for this country's development, and reject any interference in its affairs, as well as any proposal to deploy foreign forces there or internationalize the Houthi conflict.

It should be recalled that Saudi Arabia agreed to participate in the conference only on condition that the Yemeni government participate also.

Source: Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), January 17, 2010

Lebanese President: Lebanon, Iran Coordinated in Their Position vis-à-vis UN Security Council

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said in a meeting with Ahmadinejad's deputy Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajeddini that Lebanon's relations with Iran were excellent, and that the two countries were coordinated in their positions vis-à-vis the UN Security Council.

In a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'd Al-Hariri in Beirut, Mir-Tajeddini said that Iran assists all the resistance movements that are fighting the enemies of the Arab and Islamic nation.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), January 17, 2010

Foreign Ministers of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan Discuss Afghan Problem

At a summit in the Pakistani capital, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan signed an agreement which bans the use of each country's territory to harm the others. It was also decided to hold a security summit in Islamabad, an economic summit in Kabul, and a summit in Tehran attended by representatives from the countries neighboring Afghanistan.

The foreign ministers expressed their support for a regional solution to the Afghan problem, saying that any other kind of solution would be ineffective.

Source: Mehr (Iran), January 16, 2010

Qaradhawi to Mediate between Houthis, Yemen Government

Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, head of the Muslim Scholars Union, will visit Yemen at the head of a union delegation in order to mediate between the Houthi rebels and the Yemen government. Another prominent member of the delegation is Saudi sheikh Salman Al-'Oda.

Source: www.islamtoday.net, January 16, 2010

New Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide: The Zionist Entity – A Thorn in the Heart of the Arab World

Muhammad Badi', recently elected Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, said in a January 16 press conference that the movement was promoting reform through peaceful means and dialogue, and was opposed to violence.

He added that the Muslim Brotherhood did not regard the Western peoples as an enemy, but only the Western regimes, "which have thrust the Zionist entity like a thorn into the body of the Arab world," and which are trying to impose Western values upon the Muslims.

Source: www.ikhwanonline.com, January 16, 2010

Cartoon in Kuwaiti Daily

Source: Al-Jarida (Kuwait), January 14, 2010

Iranian Cleric Supportive of Protest Movement Arrested in Qom

Mohammad Taqi Khalaji, an Iranian cleric supportive of the protest movement, has been arrested in Qom. He was about to leave with his family for Dubai, where he planned to apply for a visa to the U.S.

Source: metransparent.com, khandaniha.eu, January 16, 2010

Libya Adds bin Laden to Wanted List

Libya has added Osama bin Laden to its wanted list, so he can be arrested and turned him over to Interpol should he enter its territory.

Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), January 17, 2010

"The Accusations of Ahmadinejad"

Cartoonist: Jihad Awartani

Source: Al-Watan (Saudi Arabia), January 15, 2010

Libyan Ambassador to Iran: My Country Has Not Frozen Its Nuclear Program, Is Not Attempting to Develop Nuclear Weapons

On the eve of a visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki to Libya, Libyan ambassador to Tehran Sa'ad Mujber said that his country has not frozen its nuclear program, but has only discontinued the activity at its old nuclear facilities, and that it will soon attain an important achievement in the nuclear domain. He added that, unlike in the 1970s, his country was not attempting to develop nuclear weapons.

Source: Mehr (Iran), January 15, 2010

Kayhan: The Regime Rejected Apology by Protest Movement Leaders

The Iranian daily Kayhan reports that two leaders of the protest movement, former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami and Mokhtashami-Pour, a member of Mousavi's election campaign headquarters, wrote letters of apology to the regime leaders "in order to avoid the punishment awaiting them," but the regime rejected their apology.

Source: Kayhan (Iran), January 17, 2010

Senior Fatah Official: We Are Proud to Be Pioneers of the Armed Struggle

Zakariya Al-Agha, member of the PLO Executive Committee and Central Committee, said at a ceremony in the U.S. marking the anniversary of Fatah's establishment, that the movement was proud to be the pioneer that first held up the Palestinian rifle and the banner of the Palestinian armed struggle, and that it would continue to adhere to the principles of the revolution. He added that its guns would be aimed at its enemies, not at the Palestinian people.

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), January 16, 2010

'Abbas: I Reject Armed Struggle Today, but Cannot Renounce All Past Military Activity

At a convention of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, PA President Mahmoud 'Abbas said that he cannot renounce everything the Palestinians have done in the past, including their military activity, or oppose the PA's intention to name a square after Dalal Al-Mughrabi, and he does not understand why he is being accused of incitement. He explained that Fatah once advocated revolution and war, which meant resistance, but that today resistance is carried out through popular struggle rather than armed struggle.

Source: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), January 17, 2010

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Antisemitic Cartoon In Bahraini Paper: The Crisis Between Turkey And Israel

Cartoonist: Ali Al-Bazaz

Egyptian Sources: Egypt To Beef Up Security At Gaza Border, In Sinai

Egyptian sources report that as part of efforts to deal with Hamas, Egypt will erect watchtowers along its border with the Gaza Strip and will also beef up its forces in the Sinai – moves that will require changes to the Camp David accords.

Other sources said that construction has begun on moorings at the maritime border with Gaza Strip, in order to prevent maritime smuggling and to keep Egyptian fishing boats from entering Israel's territorial waters and risking harm from Israeli missile boats.

Sources: Maannews.net, Palestine-info.info, January 15, 2010

Yemeni Clerics Threaten Jihad Against Foreign Intervention

A manifesto released by 150 Yemeni clerics bans all foreign intervention in Yemen, military collaboration that is against Islam, and the establishment of foreign bases on Yemeni soil.

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Punishment For Egyptian Imams Who Expressed Support For Hamas On Wall Issue

Egypt's Ministry of Religious Endowments has decided to punish imams who deviated from their instructions by taking a sympathetic stand towards Hamas and who condemned the steel wall that Egypt is building along its border with the Gaza Strip.

Source: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, London, January 15, 2010

Discussions for Merging Jordanian and Palestinian Mobile Phone Companies

Discussions are underway to merge the two leading mobile phone companies in Jordan and Palestine, Zain and Jawal.

The Jordanian company Zain, a subsidiary of the Kuwaiti Zain company, has 2.7 million subscribers in Jordan, while Jawal has 1.8 subscribers in the West Bank. Kuwaiti Zain owns 27 phone companies operating in the Middle East, North Africa and elsewhere.

The merger, if completed, is intended to gain advantage against four Israeli companies which operate in the West Bank.

Source: Al-Ghad, Jordan, January 14, 2010

Iraqi Elections; New Mix of Candidates

The lists of candidates submitted by the major political groups for Iraq's 2010 general elections differs from lists prepared for the previous elections in 2005. The purely sectarian lists have given way to lists with a new mix.

For example, the Iraqi National coalition under Ammar Al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Islamic Council [who is not himself a candidate] includes Sunni and independent personalities. The most significant figure is Sherif Ali bin Al-Hussein, of the royal Hashemite family, who after 2003 claimed the Iraqi monarchy, and Naseer Al-Chaderji, the head of the National Democratic Party [and the son of Kamel Al-Chaderji, one of the leading liberals during the monarchy and the editor of the daily Al-Ahali, which invited many Iraqi Jews to contribute their work.]

Iraqi VP in Washington for Meetings with Obama

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abd Al-Mahdi arrived in the U.S. yesterday at the invitation of President Barack Obama for discussions.

Abd Al-Mahdi is a senior member of the Supreme Islamic Council and is its candidate for the post of prime minister. He is one of the few Iraqi leaders who studied in France and received a doctorate in economics. He is a descendent of a distinguished Shi'a family, the son of a minister during the monarchy. He is considered moderate both politically and religiously, and has distanced himself from political Islam.

In an interview with the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat on the eve of his departure to the U.S., Abd Al-Mahdi said that Iraq has earned $150 billion in the last four years but that there has not been much progress at the level of services or in terms of economic growth.

A Series of Explosions Near Home Of Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani

The scene after the explosions

Within short intervals, two explosive devices and a car bomb went off yesterday evening in a market in Najaf, Iraq, about 100 meters (110 yards) from the home of Iraq's most senior cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani. At least one person was killed and 50 persons were injured, many of them seriously.

[It is not clear whether the explosions were a random act or were aimed at Al-Sistani. Regardless, an attempt on the life of Al-Sistani will raise sectarian tensions in Iraq.]

Source: Al-Rafidayn, January 14, 2010

ISI Makes Play for Support of Iraqi Kurds

On January 12, 2009, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) released a 51-minute film titled "Vanquisher of the Peshmerga." The video is an attempt to win the support of Iraqi Kurds, while at the same time showcasing attacks on institutions of the Kurdish regional government ("peshmerga" is the term for Kurdish armed forces).

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Salafi-Jihadis Extend Their Influence in Gaza, Attract Members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad Organization

Signs indicate that the Salafi-jihadi groups in Gaza are making inroads into organizations other than Hamas.

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Kuwaiti Paper: Iran, Hizbullah Planning Strike At Pakistan Embassy In Beirut

The Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, which is known to be anti-Syria and anti-Hizbullah, reports that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Hizbullah are planning to strike at the Pakistan Embassy in Beirut, and to blame Al-Qaeda for the attack.

The move is aimed at avenging the October 18 attack by the Iranian opposition group Jundallah, which operates out of Pakistan, in Baluchistan in southwestern Iran, in which 42 IRGC members were killed.

Source: Al-Siyassa, Kuwait, December 26, 2009

Cartoon In 'Al-Sharq Al-Awsat': Extremists Forcing Obama To Adopt Bush's Policy

Cartoonist: Amjad Rasmi

Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, January 14, 2010

Cartoon In UAE Paper: West's Response To Iran's Nuclear Program

Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi – Western Wall Stones Are Fake And Have No Religious Significance For The Jews

At an International Al-Quds Institute conference, that began January 13 in Beirut and was sponsored by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, prominent Sunni cleric Sheikh Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi, who heads the International Union of Muslim Scholars, stated that Jerusalem was not a place of ritual for the Jews, and that the Western Wall's stones were fake and had no religious significance at all.

He called on the conference participants to support Jerusalem's Arab residents and fund their entrepreneurs, because some of the Arab and Musliim rulers had abandoned their responsibility towards the city.

The conference participants include senior officials from Hamas and Hizbullah and also Muslim clerics, Lebanese MPs, and Syria's ambassador to Lebanon.

Sources: Al-Safir, Al-Mustaqbal, Lebanon, January 14, 2010

Hamas Is Working For Consensus To Stop Firing On Israel

Recently, Hamas has stepped up the pace of its meetings with Palestinian factions in Gaza in order to draw up an agreement on stopping the firing at Israel.

Also in the Palestinian Authority, calls are being heard for stopping the firing of rockets.

Yahyah Rabah, columnist for the PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida and former PA Ambassador to Yemen, has called to learn lessons from the Al-Aqsa Intifada, and not to allow a situation in which every faction acts on its own and fires rockets at Israel.

He said that another war should be prevented, because Gaza has not yet recovered from its wounds, and that there should be no advancing towards another catastrophe if it can be prevented.

Source: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Al-Ayyam, Palestinian Authority, January 14, 2010

Columnist In PA Daily: PA Will Not Ignore Its Fighter 'Heroes'

Adel 'Abd Al-Rahman, columnist for the Palestinian Authority daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, wrote that Israel is acting immorally and impudently when it claims that the Palestinian Authority's sponsorship of the inauguration of Dalal Mughrabi Square is incitement.

He said that the PA is entitled not to ignore the Palestinian "heroes," and first among them is the "fighter" Dalal Mughrabi.

[Ms. Mughrabi was deputy commander of the 1978 attack on Israel's coastal road.]

Source: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Palestinian Authority, January 14, 2010

Syrian Daily: Egypt Freezing Contacts With Hamas

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and Saudi King Abdallah yesterday in Riyadh discussed the intra-Palestinian reconciliation.

Egypt, which up until now has mediated between Hamas and Fatah, was absent from the summit following its decision to freeze its handling of issues in which Hamas is a party, including the reconciliation agreement and the prisoner exchange agreement, in light of what it called "Hamas's lack of seriousness."

However, Eyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki stated that his country's relations with Hamas had not reached a dead end.

Sources: Al-Watan, Syria, January 14, 2010; Al-Hayat, London, January 15, 2010

Al-Jazeera, Hamas TV Interview Former British MP George Galloway; Viva Palestina's 'Lifeline 3' Convoy Meets with Hamas Rep and Rally Calling for Jihad – As U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee Chairman Calls For Investigating Viva Palestina's Finances, Special Dispatch Series - No. 2720 - December29, 2009

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Releases Statement on Jihadist Website Claiming Responsibility for Attempted Christmas Day Terrorist Attack, Special Dispatch Series- No. 2717 - December 28, 2009

From the JTTM Archives: Commander of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Wrote in October about Attacking U.S. Planes Special Dispatch Series - No. 2716 -  December 28, 2009

In Attempts to Break its Isolation, Iran Makes Creative Overtures Towards Egypt, U.S., Inquiry & Analysis Series - No. 574 - December 28, 2009

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud 'Abbas: No To Violence, Terrorism, Gunfire, or Military Intifada, Special Dispatch Series - No. 2714- December 24, 2009

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