Rocket From Gaza Strikes Israeli City
GAZA — Palestinian militants fired a long-range rocket from Gaza into the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon on Tuesday and Israel retaliated with airstrikes against smuggling tunnels and a Hamas outpost in southern Gaza, as Egyptian-brokered talks for a sustainable cease-fire continued in Cairo with no obvious progress.
No injuries were reported on the Palestinian or the Israeli side.
But the rocket that fell near a clinic in central Ashkelon was an imported Katyusha, the first of that more powerful type since a tenuous calm took hold more than two weeks ago. It presented a new challenge to Israeli leaders ahead of elections next Tuesday and raised the possibility of a military escalation should the Egyptian initiative fail.
“We promised peace and safety to those living in southern Israel, and we will deliver,” the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, vowed Tuesday.
Israel pulled its troops out of Gaza on Jan. 18, ending a devastating three-week offensive that Israel said had been primarily meant to deter such rocket attacks. Israel and Hamas, the Islamic group that rules Gaza, declared separate cease-fires. But tit-for-tat attacks have increased since Jan. 27, when Palestinian militants detonated a bomb that killed an Israeli soldier patrolling the border.
Until Tuesday, the trickle of mostly homemade rockets fired into Israel had landed primarily in open areas close to the Gaza border. Ashkelon is a city of 120,000 people about 10 miles north of Gaza, on the Mediterranean coast.
Hamas denies that it has been firing the rockets. The Gaza branch of Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades, a militia nominally affiliated with Hamas’s main rival, Fatah, has claimed responsibility for some of the launchings. Others have been claimed by smaller groups, or by no one.
In Gaza, some leaders explained the rockets as a means of testing and challenging Israel, Egypt and Hamas.
Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said Israel’s decision to declare a unilateral cease-fire, without reaching agreements with Hamas, “opens the door for some factions to prove themselves at this time.”
A Fatah leader, Ibrahim Abu al-Naja, suggested that Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades and others had been, in effect, protesting their exclusion from the Cairo talks. Israel rejects such explanations and holds the Hamas rulers of Gaza responsible for all the rocket attacks. Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman, noted that Hamas had not been taking any action against the groups firing the rockets.
Some Israeli analysts speculate that Hamas wants to show it has not been defeated, and that it may be trying to better the terms for any cease-fire deal.
Egypt has been holding separate talks with Israel and Hamas, and has indicated that it is trying to reach a formula for consolidating the cease-fire by Thursday. Hamas representatives were in Cairo on Tuesday for more talks.
In return for a cease-fire lasting a year or more, Hamas is demanding the lifting of Israel’s 18-month economic embargo on Gaza and the opening of the border crossings for regular commerce.
Israel is seeking assurances from Egypt about the prevention of weapons smuggling into Gaza, and says it is prepared to allow only humanitarian aid into Gaza at this stage. Israel has made the resolution of the case of a captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, a condition for the full operation of the border crossings.
Hamas has been holding Corporal Shalit since 2006 and has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for his return. The group has rejected any linking of the issue of the border crossings to the soldier’s release.
Egypt may be trying to press Hamas into accepting a partial opening of the crossings, but Hamas officials have continued in recent days to demand an end of the embargo and have not hinted at a compromise.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that the new administration’s special envoy to the Middle East, the former senator George J. Mitchell, would revisit the region this month.
Mr. Mitchell returned Monday from the region, where he held talks with Israeli officials and with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank who were considered more moderate and pragmatic than Hamas. “This is the first of what will be an ongoing high level of engagement by Senator Mitchell on behalf of myself and the president,” Mrs. Clinton said.
The United States, like Israel and the European Union, refuses to deal with Hamas unless it fulfills certain conditions, including recognizing Israel’s right to exist and renouncing violence. Hamas has so far rejected those conditions.
source by: Yahoo!News
Iraqi prime minister's bloc wins provincial vote
AFP – An Iraqi soldier secures a street in Ramadi. Iraq boosted security in the former Sunni insurgent stronghold … BAGHDAD – Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's allies swept to victory over Shiite religious parties during last weekend's provincial elections in Iraq — a rousing endorsement of his crackdown on extremists, according to official results released Thursday.
The impressive showing, which must be certified by international and Iraqi observers, places al-Maliki in a strong position before parliamentary elections late this year and could bolster U.S. confidence that it can begin withdrawing more of its 140,000 troops.
The results were a major blow to Iraq's biggest Shiite religious party — the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council — which trailed in every Shiite province including its base in the holy city of Najaf.
Still, the margin of victory in a number of Shiite provinces was narrow, indicating the prime minister's supporters will have to cut deals with their rivals in order to govern.
And al-Maliki's Coalition of the State of Law gained little traction in Sunni areas, suggesting that sectarian divisions still play a major role in Iraqi politics. Al-Maliki is himself a Shiite from a religious party but his bloc ran on a platform against sectarianism.
Some Western diplomats believe al-Maliki's biggest problem now will be fending off challenges from fellow Shiites as well as Sunnis and Kurds — who all underestimated him two years ago but now have a strong vested interest in curbing his power.
The elections, for ruling councils in 14 of the 18 provinces, were the first nationwide balloting since December 2005 and went off peacefully. But a suicide bomber struck Thursday in an ethnically tense northern town, killing 14 people, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.
The election commission must apportion seats on provincial councils based on the percentages of the vote won by each party, a process that could take weeks. Council members in turn elect the provincial governors.
Al-Maliki's biggest victories came in Baghdad and Basra, Iraq's second largest city, where voters rewarded him for last spring's offensive crushing Shiite militias that had ruled the streets for years.
The election commission announced that al-Maliki's coalition claimed 38 percent of the votes in Baghdad, followed by allies of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and a Sunni party with 9 percent each.
In Basra, al-Maliki's followers won 37 percent to 11.6 percent for the Supreme Council, which maintains ties to both Iran and the United States. Parties linked to the Basra militias garnered less than 5 percent.
The vote in Baghdad and Basra was also seen as a repudiation of religious parties widely blamed for fueling sectarian tension that plunged the country to the brink of all-out civil war three years ago.
However, in many southern provinces the margins among the top finishers were much closer. In Najaf, al-Maliki's coalition won 16.2 percent compared with 14.8 for the Supreme Council and 12.2 percent for al-Sadr's followers.
Al-Maliki's bloc finished third in Karbala, the prime minister's home province. The top finisher was a local group headed by a former senior provincial official in Saddam Hussein's regime.
Al-Sadr, whose fortunes waned after the defeat of his Mahdi Army militia last spring, won enough votes in Baghdad and the south to remain a player in Shiite politics.
In Sunni areas, the picture was also mixed.
A Sunni bloc linked to the al-Maliki's government finished ahead in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces but trailed a close third in Anbar, behind a party led by government critic Saleh al-Mutlaq and an alliance of tribal sheiks who rose up against al-Qaida two years ago.
A leader of the Anbar sheiks, Ahmed Abu Risha, had accused his rivals of rigging the election but said Thursday he would wait for the election commission to investigate the fraud allegations.
In Nineveh province, still a major battlefield in the war against Sunni insurgents, a local Sunni Arab party won 48.4 percent of the vote on a campaign to end Kurdish political domination.
Kurds won a disproportionate share of power in Nineveh, which includes Iraq's third largest city of Mosul, because Sunni Arabs largely boycotted the last provincial election in January 2005. A Kurdish ticket finished second Thursday with 25.5 percent. The election was aimed at redistributing political power at the local level and encouraging disaffected Sunnis and Shiites to settle their differences politically instead of on the battlefield.
"Iraq is a developing democracy. It's going to have to ups and downs. But I think the fact that you had Iraqis going to the polls, very little violence that took place around the election time, it's just great for the Iraqi people," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in Washington.
"This is what so many have died for, so many have wanted. It's a very good thing."
U.S. officials were watching the outcome to determine if Iraq was stable enough for significant reductions in the U.S. military force. President Barack Obama has asked the Pentagon to draw up options, including accelerating the pace of the withdrawal.
U.S. commanders here have warned against a hasty withdrawal, fearing that the security gains of the past two years are not irreversible.
Although violence is down significantly in Baghdad and most of the country, many areas remain unstable, especially those in which Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds are competing for power.
Elections could not be held in the ethnically mixed province around Kirkuk because Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen could not agree on a power-sharing formula. The three provinces of the Kurdish self-ruled region will choose councils later this year.
Thursday's suicide attack happened at a restaurant in Khanaqin, a largely Kurdish town in mostly Arab Diyala province 90 miles north of Baghdad near the Iranian border. The town has been a source of friction between Kurds and the Arab-run central government.
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Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Hadeel al-Shalchi in Baghdad and Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah contributed to this report.
Source by: Yahoo!News
The impressive showing, which must be certified by international and Iraqi observers, places al-Maliki in a strong position before parliamentary elections late this year and could bolster U.S. confidence that it can begin withdrawing more of its 140,000 troops.
The results were a major blow to Iraq's biggest Shiite religious party — the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council — which trailed in every Shiite province including its base in the holy city of Najaf.
Still, the margin of victory in a number of Shiite provinces was narrow, indicating the prime minister's supporters will have to cut deals with their rivals in order to govern.
And al-Maliki's Coalition of the State of Law gained little traction in Sunni areas, suggesting that sectarian divisions still play a major role in Iraqi politics. Al-Maliki is himself a Shiite from a religious party but his bloc ran on a platform against sectarianism.
Some Western diplomats believe al-Maliki's biggest problem now will be fending off challenges from fellow Shiites as well as Sunnis and Kurds — who all underestimated him two years ago but now have a strong vested interest in curbing his power.
The elections, for ruling councils in 14 of the 18 provinces, were the first nationwide balloting since December 2005 and went off peacefully. But a suicide bomber struck Thursday in an ethnically tense northern town, killing 14 people, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.
The election commission must apportion seats on provincial councils based on the percentages of the vote won by each party, a process that could take weeks. Council members in turn elect the provincial governors.
Al-Maliki's biggest victories came in Baghdad and Basra, Iraq's second largest city, where voters rewarded him for last spring's offensive crushing Shiite militias that had ruled the streets for years.
The election commission announced that al-Maliki's coalition claimed 38 percent of the votes in Baghdad, followed by allies of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and a Sunni party with 9 percent each.
In Basra, al-Maliki's followers won 37 percent to 11.6 percent for the Supreme Council, which maintains ties to both Iran and the United States. Parties linked to the Basra militias garnered less than 5 percent.
The vote in Baghdad and Basra was also seen as a repudiation of religious parties widely blamed for fueling sectarian tension that plunged the country to the brink of all-out civil war three years ago.
However, in many southern provinces the margins among the top finishers were much closer. In Najaf, al-Maliki's coalition won 16.2 percent compared with 14.8 for the Supreme Council and 12.2 percent for al-Sadr's followers.
Al-Maliki's bloc finished third in Karbala, the prime minister's home province. The top finisher was a local group headed by a former senior provincial official in Saddam Hussein's regime.
Al-Sadr, whose fortunes waned after the defeat of his Mahdi Army militia last spring, won enough votes in Baghdad and the south to remain a player in Shiite politics.
In Sunni areas, the picture was also mixed.
A Sunni bloc linked to the al-Maliki's government finished ahead in Diyala and Salahuddin provinces but trailed a close third in Anbar, behind a party led by government critic Saleh al-Mutlaq and an alliance of tribal sheiks who rose up against al-Qaida two years ago.
A leader of the Anbar sheiks, Ahmed Abu Risha, had accused his rivals of rigging the election but said Thursday he would wait for the election commission to investigate the fraud allegations.
In Nineveh province, still a major battlefield in the war against Sunni insurgents, a local Sunni Arab party won 48.4 percent of the vote on a campaign to end Kurdish political domination.
Kurds won a disproportionate share of power in Nineveh, which includes Iraq's third largest city of Mosul, because Sunni Arabs largely boycotted the last provincial election in January 2005. A Kurdish ticket finished second Thursday with 25.5 percent. The election was aimed at redistributing political power at the local level and encouraging disaffected Sunnis and Shiites to settle their differences politically instead of on the battlefield.
"Iraq is a developing democracy. It's going to have to ups and downs. But I think the fact that you had Iraqis going to the polls, very little violence that took place around the election time, it's just great for the Iraqi people," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in Washington.
"This is what so many have died for, so many have wanted. It's a very good thing."
U.S. officials were watching the outcome to determine if Iraq was stable enough for significant reductions in the U.S. military force. President Barack Obama has asked the Pentagon to draw up options, including accelerating the pace of the withdrawal.
U.S. commanders here have warned against a hasty withdrawal, fearing that the security gains of the past two years are not irreversible.
Although violence is down significantly in Baghdad and most of the country, many areas remain unstable, especially those in which Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds are competing for power.
Elections could not be held in the ethnically mixed province around Kirkuk because Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen could not agree on a power-sharing formula. The three provinces of the Kurdish self-ruled region will choose councils later this year.
Thursday's suicide attack happened at a restaurant in Khanaqin, a largely Kurdish town in mostly Arab Diyala province 90 miles north of Baghdad near the Iranian border. The town has been a source of friction between Kurds and the Arab-run central government.
___
Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Hadeel al-Shalchi in Baghdad and Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah contributed to this report.
Source by: Yahoo!News
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