Saudi King presents Faisal Award

Mar 9, 2010

RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah presented awards to this year's winners of the King Faisal International Prize on Tuesday.

Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, a number of princes, Cabinet ministers, diplomats, senior government officials and other dignitaries attended the presentation ceremony held at Prince Sultan Hall in the Al-Faisaliah complex here.

The Prize for Islamic Studies was withheld this year as none of the entries qualified for the award. Each winner of the award received SR750,000 ($200,000) in cash, a certificate outlining the laureate's work and a commemorative 22-carat gold medallion.

In his citation, Abdullah Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the King Faisal International Prize, cited Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the winner of the 2010 King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam. He said that Erdogan was nominated for the prize by the World Assembly of Muslim Youth. Erdogan, he said, has been given this prestigious award for his role in advancing a series of economic, social and cultural reforms in Turkey besides being a leading Muslim exponent, who "builds rapport between civilizations."

In his acceptance speech, Erdogan said that it was “a distinct pleasure for me to receive the King Faisal Award on behalf of my country and my people." He called for the restoration of peace and security in the Middle East, saying that it disturbs his conscience that "the Middle East is known as a geography of blood and cries."

King Abdullah presented the prize for Arabic language and literature to professor Abdulrahman El-Houari Hadj-Saleh of Algeria and professor Ramzi Mounir Baalbaki of Lebanon. "Professor Hadj-Saleh is recognized for his insightful analysis of Al-Khalil's linguistic theory and its relation to contemporary grammatical thought," said Othaimeen, while reading out the citation. He said that professor Baalbaki's publications in Arabic and English have enhanced Arabic grammar education both in Arab and Western universities and familiarized Western scholars with the fundamental manuscript of Si-Bawaihi, an ancient scholar and founder of Arabic grammar.

The prize for medicine was shared by professor Reinhold Ganz of Germany, professor Jean-Pierre Pelletier of Canada and professor Johanne Martel-Pelletier of Canada. They were honored for their pioneering works on non-arthroplasty management of degenerative joint disease.

In the science category, professors Enrico Bombieri of the United States and Terence Chi-Shen Tao of Australia shared the prize for their distinguished contributions in their respective fields. Bombieri work addresses fundamental and difficult problems in mathematics, said Othaimeen, while Tao is known for his "technical brilliance in the use of the necessary mathematical machinery."

The topics for 2011 King Faisal International Prize were also announced on this occasion. In Islamic studies category, the topic is "socioeconomic aspects in the Islamic world through 16th to 19the century", while in Arabic language category the topic is "renovation trends in Arabic poetry up to the end of the 7th Century Hijri".

In the science category, the Faisal award will be given for outstanding achievements in chemistry, while stem cell therapy is the topic under medicine category. The deadline for nomination is May 1, 2010.

Erdogan hopeful of reviving Israeli-Syrian talks

RIYADH - Israel might accept Turkey as a mediator to restart stalled talks between Syria and Israel, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

While Israel has not yet endorsed Syria's proposal of Ankara as an interlocutor in their frozen peace talks, it is moving in that direction, he told journalists in Riyadh.

"There is an interest in revitalising these talks. Syria wants Turkey as the mediator," he said.

"Israel has been moving on this so possibly we can restart talks, I hope," he said.

Erdogan spoke in Turkish and his remarks were translated into English.

The last round of Turkish-mediated indirect peace talks was launched in May 2008 but collapsed at the end of that year when Israel launched a devastating military offensive in Gaza.

In December 2009, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman dismissed indirect talks with Syria through Turkish mediation, calling instead for direct talks, to be held in Damascus and Jerusalem.

Biden urges Israel to take risks for peace

(AP) 9 March 2010,

JERUSALEM — The U.S. will back those willing to “take risks for peace,” U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday during the highest-level visit to Israel by an Obama administration official.

Biden said he was pleased that Israelis and Palestinians had agreed this week to resume indirect peace negotiations with U.S. mediation. His two-day visit to Israel seemed clearly aimed at assuaging Israeli concerns that President Obama has been less friendly to Israel than his predecessors, saying the relationship has always been a “centerpiece of American policy” and offering effusive praise.

“Progress occurs in the Middle East when everyone knows there is simply no space between the United States and Israel,” he said, a day after the U.S. announced Israelis and Palestinians had agreed to begin indirect peace talks, breaking a 14-month deadlock.

The announcement of indirect talks, which will be held through a U.S. mediator, marked President Barack Obama’s first diplomatic breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the new peace push is sure to face enormous challenges, including sharp divisions among the Palestinians and a hardline Israeli government seen as unlikely to make wide-ranging concessions.

Biden said he hoped the beginning of indirect talks would be “a vehicle by which we can begin to allay that layer of mistrust that has built up in the last several years.”

“The United States will always stand with those who take risks for peace,” Biden said standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He told the Israeli leader, “you’re prepared to do that.” The appearance, which included warm banter between the two men, ended with Netanyahu telling Biden that trees had been planted outside Jerusalem in honor of the vice president’s late mother. “My love for your country was watered by that Irish lady,” Biden responded.

Polls show that Israelis have come to see Obama as less sympathetic to Israel than previous presidents. Biden’s comments appeared aimed at softening the administration’s image both among Israelis and their American supporters, whose backing is seen as crucial ahead of November’s congressional elections.

The vice president also offered assurances that the U.S. remained committed to Israel’s well-being, speaking of the administration’s “total, unvarnished commitment to Israel’s security.”

Iran appeared to loom large in Biden’s discussions with Netanyahu, and in the joint appearance with the Israeli leader Biden said: “We are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”

Israel has been pushing for stricter international sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear program, and has refused to rule out a military strike if sanctions fail.

Obama began his term with a push for Mideast peace, prodding Israel to freeze its construction of West Bank settlements that swallow up land the Palestinians want for a future state. But that call came just as Netanyahu took over in Israel, and though the Israeli leader scaled back settlement construction, he would not accept a full freeze. Obama’s insistence on a total settlement freeze is seen by many in the region to have backfired by encouraging Palestinians to stake out a position that was politically untenable for Israel’s hawkish government.

Biden called Netanyahu’s partial freeze “significant,” but the Palestinians are still saying they will not talk directly to Israel unless it freezes settlement building completely.

But hours after Biden’s arrival Monday, the U.S. announced the sides would begin indirect peace negotiations. The fact that the discussions will be held through a U.S. mediator attests to the estrangement between the Israelis and Palestinians, who have been speaking to each other directly, on and off, since the early 1990s. The agreement to restart talks was marred the same day by an Israeli announcement of approval for 112 new housing units in a West Bank settlement, drawing Palestinian condemnation.

To reach a peace agreement, the sides will have to agree on the border between them, including a division of Jerusalem. They will also have to work out a compromise on the fate of Palestinians who lost their homes when Israel was founded in 1948 and agree on how to guarantee Israel’s security after it leaves the high ground and strategic depth of the West Bank.

Despite numerous rounds of peace talks over nearly 20 years and heavy U.S. involvement, the sides have been unable to bridge the gaps on those tough issues.

With the Islamic militant Hamas openly committed to Israel’s destruction and now in charge of the Gaza Strip, and with Israel governed by a coalition suspicious of concessions to the Palestinians, there are reasons to doubt whether an agreement will be possible this time.

On the other hand, the fact that some Israeli hard-liners, like Netanyahu himself, have come to accept the idea of Palestinian independence, and that the Palestinians in the West Bank are now ruled by moderates, might offer some hope.

Murdoch: Abu Dhabi is future HQ for News Corp

ABU DHABI - News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch announced on Tuesday that the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi is to become the headquarters of his global media empire in the Middle East.

Addressing some 400 delegates at the opening of the Abu Dhabi Media Summit, Murdoch said his corporation had started out as a small Australian firm to become a US-based international company that employs 64,000 people.

"I have every confidence that Arab companies can do the same and more. I also believe that Abu Dhabi can lead the way."

Murdoch said News Corp would headquarter its Middle Eastern global online advertising operations in Abu Dhabi, and move a number of satellite television channels to the capital of the United Arab Emirates from Hong Kong.

"We will (also) establish a production office here for one of our documentary film-making companies," he said.

"When we look to the future, News Corporation is betting on the creative potential of the more than 335 million people who make up the Arab world," he added.

Organised by the Abu Dhabi government, the three-day summit is expected to address the potential of the emerging media markets in the Middle East, India and China.

Mohammed Khalaf al-Mazrouei, who heads the Abu Dhabi Media Company, told delegates that "the Middle East is experiencing radical change," and that its media should "accompany this revolution."

News Corp has already established strong links with the region, last month agreeing to invest 70 million dollars in the Rotana Group, which is controlled by Saudi tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, after buying a 9.0 percent stake in the firm.

Alwaleed's Kingdom holding company also owns around 7.0 percent of News Corp's class B common stock.

Kuwait Embassy in DC holds gala dinner for building schools in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON: The Embassy of Kuwait in Washington, with the cooperation of the KuwaitـAmerica Foundation, held recently its annual gala dinner titled "Journey for Hope."

2.1 million US dollars were raised for the benefit of the Central Asia Institute (CAI) and its founder Greg Mortenson to build schools, especially for girls, in the remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In an exclusive statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), Kuwait''s Ambassador to the US, Sheikh Salem Abdullah AlـSabah said, "The charity efforts of the embassy are a completion of the goodness of the Kuwaiti Government and people that extend worldwide."

He added that the Kuwaiti official and popular aid have reached across the world and in many domains, such as the "health, development and especially the educational fields." He affirmed that the major American corporations were "keen on participating in this annual gala dinner due to the status this event enjoys among the American circles and also due the money that has been gathered in the previous galas as important aid and contributed in elevating the suffering of many persons worldwide." Sheikh Salem stressed that the participation of prominent political, economic, media figures and artists in this gala highlighted the "credibility and major importance" the Kuwaiti humanitarian and charity efforts enjoy among the various American circles.

He indicated that the participation of a number of officials from the Obama administration and chairmen of major American corporations in this gala is a clear indication of Kuwait''s "important status" to the US, "especially since the two countries share strategic vital relations," and which contribute in maintaining security and peace in the region. The Kuwaiti Ambassador added that Kuwait and the US also constantly coordinate and hold consultations over important security and international issues.

During the Gala, Mortenson, who is 2009 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and author of the international bestـseller, Three Cups of Tea, received the 2010 Humanitarian Award.

Mortenson expressed appreciation in his speech for Ambassador Sheikh Salem and his wife, saying he is "touched by the support" they have offered for his cause, which he adopted 17 years ago.

In an exclusive statement to KUNA, Mortenson, who has helped to build over 135 educational institutions for over 38,000 children in Central Asia, said he finds it "very important we have our schools" in Pakistan and Afghanistan and have the different subjects those children are taught, and also "teach the children five languages by fifth grade, including English and Arabic." Mortenson praised the great efforts exerted by Kuwait''s Ambassador to the US, saying his work shows how he understands about relationship building and his ability to bring "such a diverse group together" in Washington, where "everybody here today is celebrating education."

Dubai accuses Israel of 'vast falsification' of passports

DUBAI - Dubai's police chief on Tuesday accused Israel of "vast falsification" of travel documents, noting that dozens of false passports were uncovered following a Hamas leader's murder in the emirate.

"I ring alarm bells. Israel is falsifying Western passports on a large scale. We discover forged passports on a daily basis," Dahi Khalfan said.

"The world must stop an operation of vast falsification of official documents (that) a formal body (Israel's spy agency Mossad) is carrying out," he added.

Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a founder of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas organisation's military wing, was found dead in a room of the Al-Bustan Rotana hotel near Dubai's airport on January 20.

Dubai police have accused the Mossad of being behind the murder.

International police agency Interpol issued arrest notices Monday for 16 suspects wanted by Dubai in connection with the killing. It had previously issued notices for 11 suspects.

Alongside the new alerts, Interpol also announced that it had joined a Dubai-based international police task force investigating the killing.

Dubai police have identified 26 out of 27 suspects from the hit squad murder they say bore the hallmarks of the Mossad. The Hamas man had been drugged and then suffocated.

Dubai police say the suspects entered Dubai on fake passports using the identities of 12 people from Britain, six from Ireland, four from France, three Australians and a German, before fleeing the Gulf emirate.

Australian foreign ministry announced Tuesday that there was a fourth Australian-passport holder on the Interpol list.

Two members of the hit squad had "returned to the United States after passing through a European country," said Khalfan last week.

Israeli officials have refused to confirm or deny the reports.

But Israel's media sees the killing as Mossad's work, and the probe has caused a diplomatic headache for the Jewish state with the countries whose passports were used summoning its envoys to hear angry protests.

UAE economy to grow 3.2 percent in 2010

DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates economy is expected to expand by 3.2 percent in 2010, in sharp contrast to an International Monetary Fund forecast of 0.6-percent growth, a minister said on Tuesday.

"The coming period will witness gradual growth, initially, picking up momentum," UAE Economy Minster Sultan al-Mansuri told a forum in Dubai.

He also said the oil-rich Gulf state's economy grew by an estimated 1.3 percent last year, although the IMF said last month that the UAE economy had contracted by 0.7 percent in 2009 due to the global financial crisis.

"Our GDP (gross domestic product) grew 6.2 percent in 2007 and 7.4 percent in 2008 and (had) an estimated growth of 1.3 percent in 2009 and (is expected to grow) 3.2 percent in 2010," he said.

The IMF said last month that the UAE's economy was "adversely affected by a series of external and domestic shocks in 2009."

These shocks included the global economic slowdown, the shutdown of international capital markets for borrowing and the impact of the "bursting Dubai property bubble in mid-2008," the IMF said.

The economy was also affected by plummeting oil receipts, and a contraction in global trade, logistics and construction activities, it added.

And it was disrupted in the final quarter by Dubai's multi-billion-dollar debt woes, when the emirate's government announced it would seek to freeze debt payments by its largest and most-indebted group -- Dubai World.

Lebanon's defence strategy meets dead end

BEIRUT - Talks between Lebanon's rival political parties focused on Hezbollah's weapons have little chance of succeeding, analysts say.

"This dialogue is going nowhere," said Rafic Khoury, chief editor of the independent daily Al-Anwar, referring to national defence strategy talks that resumed on Tuesday at the presidential palace.

"Hezbollah, as well as Syria and Iran, clearly stated recently their strategy of resistance against Israel," he added.

The national defence strategy talks, which were launched in 2006, have repeatedly been adjourned because of the successive political crises that have shaken Lebanon.

The last round was held in June of last year.

The stated aim is for Lebanon's Hariri bloc and a coalition led by the Shiite group to agree on a national defence strategy as concerns neighbouring Israel, considered an enemy state.

Hezbollah is the only faction in Lebanon that has refused to surrender its arsenal following the country's 1975-1990 civil war.

It argues that Lebanon's army is ill-equipped and as such its weapons are needed to defend the country against Israeli aggression and occupation of the Lebanese Shabaa Farms.

The Hariri bloc, however, argues that any decision concerning war or peace must be made by the state.

"You have two diametrically opposed views with one side arguing that the new national defence strategy must protect Hezbollah's arsenal and the other wanting to do away with it," Khoury said.

"They're going around in circles and each camp is holding its ground," he added.

"It's like a debating club: you argue but no decision is ever taken."

Prior to the resumption of the talks on Tuesday, Hezbollah set the tone saying that its weapons were not open to discussion.

"We are not going to the negotiating table to discuss the weapons of the resistance or even the raison d'etre of the resistance," Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said.

The Hariri bloc for its part argues that Hezbollah cannot be allowed to become a state within a state.

"No one is talking about disarming Hezbollah," said Ammar Houry, a pro- Hariri bloc MP. "We want to come up with a solution whereby Hezbollah's arsenal becomes part of an overall defence strategy overseen by the state."

"This is a complex issue that carries regional ramifications," said Osama Safa, head of the Lebanese Centre for Policy studies. "Israel and Syria have a vested interest.

"Dialogue is positive but no one believes that this issue is going to be settled in seven or eight sessions or even a year."

The daily Al-Akhbar, close to Hezbollah, summed up the situation Tuesday with a headline that read "National dialogue: the play," while An-Nahar daily, close to the Hariri bloc, said no breakthrough was expected.

"Circumstances inside and outside Lebanon point to low expectations and no one should expect results anytime soon," it said in an editorial. "That's why these talks are taking place with no illusion on anyone's part."

Hezbollah has participated in government since 2005 and has two ministers in the 30-member unity cabinet.

The winning alliance headed by Saad Hariri won 71 seats in the 128-member parliament in the election against 57 for the opposition led by Hezbollah.

The Hezbollah opposition had actually secured the majority (52%) of the votes in Lebanon, but could not secure a majority of Parliamentary seats (it won 45%) because of the nature of the sectarian government system in the country.

Israel waged a bloody 34-day war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 after Hezbollah fighters seized two Israeli soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid that aimed to free Lebanese soldiers from Israeli prisons. The bodies of the soldiers were returned in a prisoner swap.

The war claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.

Hezbollah, originally a resistance group formed to counter an Israeli occupation of south Lebanon, had forced the Israeli military out of Lebanon in 2000. Israel, however, continues to occupy the Lebanese Shabaa Farms.

Israeli flights over Lebanon occur on an almost daily basis and are in breach of UN Security Council resolution 1710, which in August 2006 ended the war.