I. TELEGRAPH - U.S. sends Ground Zero mosque imam to Middle East
"Imam Feisal (Abdul Rauf) will be travelling to Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) on a US government-sponsored trip to the Middle East," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. "He will discuss Muslim life in America and religious tolerance." Imam Feisal is behind plans for an Islamic centre that includes a mosque, sports facilities, a theatre and restaurant that would be open to all visitors to demonstrate that Muslims are part of their New York community, planners say. But the proposed location, two blocks from the gaping Ground Zero hole, where the Twin Towers were destroyed by Al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people, has touched raw nerves. And the imam's trip under the auspices of the State Department is being criticised by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Peter King, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee. "It is unacceptable that US taxpayers are being forced to fund Feisal Abdul Rauf's trip to the Middle East," the pair said in a joint statement. "Abdul Rauf has cast blame for 9/11 on the US, and even refuses to call Hamas what it is - a foreign terrorist organization," they said. "This radical is a terrible choice to be one of the faces of our country overseas. The US should be using public diplomacy programs to combat extremism, not endorse it," they said. "The State Department's selection of Feisal Abdul Rauf to represent the American people through this program further calls into question the administration's policy and funding priorities," they added. When Mr Crowley announced the trip at the daily State Department briefing, he described Imam Feisal as a moderate who has already made two similar government-sponsored trips to Arab and Muslim countries.
Lebanon's defense minister says he would reject any American military assistance to the Lebanese army if it comes with conditions that the weapons not be used against Israel. Elias Murr was commenting Wednesday on a decision by a U.S. congressman to suspend $100 million of aid over concerns the weapons could be turned on Israel and that Hezbollah may have influence over the Lebanese army. Murr says those who want to help the Lebanese army but place conditions on how their funds or weapons are used, should keep the money. He also says a Lebanese soldier who opened fire across the border with Israel earlier in August was acting on orders. The clash killed two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and a senior Israeli officer.
III. JPOST - Netanyahu set to visit Greece
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to go to Athens next week, sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said on Tuesday, adding that this will be the first ever visit by an Israeli premier to Greece. The visit, coming three weeks after Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou visited Israel, is a testament to the rapidly warming ties between the two countries, and – according to sources – is not disconnected to the tension between Israel and Turkey, Greece’s long time adversary. “This trip shows the new dynamism in the relationship between Israel and Greece,” one diplomatic official said. In addition to meeting Papandreou in Israel last month, Netanyahu also coincidentally met him at a Moscow restaurant during a visit there in February. The Prime Minister’s Office would neither confirm nor deny speculation that among the issues that will be discussed will be the possibility of an agreement on allowing Israeli jets to train in Greek skies. Since the deterioration in Israeli-Turkish ties that was accelerated after Operation Cast Lead a year and a half ago, the IAF has been looking for other places – such as Romania, where an IAF helicopter crashed last month – to train. Netanyahu’s discussions in Greece are also expected to address expanding bilateral cooperation in a gamut of areas, including tourism, trade, establishment of a political dialogue and defense issues. The recent sharp deterioration in ties with Turkey has also led to a warming of ties with other traditional Turkish rivals in the region, such as Cyprus and Bulgaria. Both the Cypriot and Bulgarian foreign ministers were in the country earlier this year. In a briefing before Papandreou’s visit here last month, one diplomatic official said that the Greeks – looking at the Israeli-Turkish and Turkish-US tensions – are realizing that strategic alliances in the region are shifting, and that this might be a good time to get closer to Israel as a way of warming ties with Washington. When Israel had a close strategic alliance with Turkey, the official said, Athens gave up any thought of forging such an alliance with Israel. But now that the situation with Ankara has changed dramatically, Athens is seeing more opportunities with Jerusalem.
IV. KURDISTANCOMMENTARY - Turkish Embassy refuses letter from Archbishop Tutu
A letter from Archbishop Desmond Tutu was to be personally delivered by Rev Matthew Esau, Vice-Chair of KHRAG and a delegation of UK supporters to the Turkish Embassy in London, on Tuesday 10 August 2010 at 11.00 am. However despite prior arrangement the delegation were met on the doorstep by a police officer who not only refused entry to the Embassy but informed them he was under strict instructions not to allow the delivery of any letters. Rev Esau was accompanied by supporters of a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish Question, Siobhain McDonagh MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Jonathan Fryer, lecturer and Liberal Democrat politician, Frances Webber, human rights lawyer and Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London. In a letter dated July 2010, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and the Chair of ‘The Elders’ called on the Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as the political head of Turkey, to use his office and his influence to bring a lasting end to the conflict in Turkey with regards to the Kurdish question. The Chair of ‘The Elders’ pointed out however that he was “concerned at the escalation of the conflict between the Turkish and the Kurdish peoples in which innocent young people, from both sides, are losing their lives.” Tutu continued, “We know from experience that no-one can emerge as the victor in such a conflict.” Like the situation in the Middle East, where “Peaceful negotiations are the only lasting solution to their problems, we are firmly of the view that the Kurdish question can likewise be resolved through peaceful negotiations with the genuine leadership of the Kurdish people.” Archbishop Emeritus Tutu offered the help of the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group (KHRAG) “a human rights organisation in South Africa (who are) prepared to help in the initiative and (who will) assist in mobilising international support for the peaceful resolution of the Kurdish question in your country.” To download the entire letter in PDF, please click here.
V. VOICEOFRUSSIA - Kosovo scenario in Romania
Ethnic Hungarians in Romania demand a territorial autonomy to Hungarian-populated areas in Romania. Three Hungarian associations linked to the Democratic Union of Romanian Hungarians have filed a request with the UN, accusing Bucharest of breaching the rights of ethnic Hungarians in Romania. Romania’s 1.5 million Hungarians are determined to preserve their ethnic identity and homeland. The Hungarian minority in Romania was formed as a result of the redrafting of borders in Europe after the defeat of Austria-Hungary in the First World War. Thus, 1.5 million Hungarians found themselves living on territories which formally belong to Romania. What makes this conflict yet worse is that Hungary and Romania, both members of the EU and NATO, are dreading whatever conflict there might spring from within. But Hungarians in Slovakia and Slovakians in Hungary are facing similar challenges. The Basques are undermining stability in Spain, souring Spain’s relations with France. And France has to deal with separatist-minded Corsicans. The government of neighboring Italy has long included representatives of the Northern League, who seek independence for the northern areas. In Belgium, conflict between Flanders and Wallonia has disrupted overall effort to form a viable government. And the Cyprus issue is a constant headache in Southeast Europe. Cyprus joined the EU as a single whole but part of it is the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus recognized by Turkey. Instead of stabilizing the situation on the continent, the enlargement of NATO and the EU triggered an upsurge in separatism. Expert Alexander Karasev of the Slavic Studies Institute puts the blame on the double standard approach demonstrated by the West. "The world community should produce a decision which would meet the interests of all parties concerned," he says. "The western support of Albanian separatists in Kosovo, including the recent recognition of its unilaterally declared independence by the UN International Court, has encouraged separatists across Europe. Even though Russia has been urging the UN and the OSCE to work out a common approach regarding ethnic minorities, the West stayed deaf to the demands. No wonder then that these ethnic minorities are claiming ever more rights and are set on following the Kosovo scenario." This dangerous trend can also be felt in Canada’s Quebec and in China’s Taiwan, which sends instability waves throughout the whole of the Pacific Rim countries.
VI. RFE/RL - Armenia Seeking Long-Range Weapons
Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian says the Armenian government plans to acquire long-range, precision-guided weapons for possible armed conflicts with hostile neighbors, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. Ohanian's announcement today followed a meeting of an Armenian government commission on national security that approved two programs envisaging a modernization of the country's armed forces. One of the documents deals with army weaponry, while the other details measures to develop the domestic defense industry. Ohanian said the programs "will qualitatively improve the level of the armed forces in the short and medium terms... The two programs envisage both the acquisition of state-of-the-art weapons and their partial manufacturing by the local defense industry," Ohanian said. "The main directions are the expansion of our long-range strike capacity and the introduction of extremely precise systems, which will allow us to minimize the enemy's civilian casualties during conflicts." Ohanian said that "their application will also allow us to thwart enemy movements deep inside the entire theater of hostilities." He did not specify whether Yerevan will seek to acquire surface-to-surface missiles capable of hitting targets in historic rival Azerbaijan. Ohanian acknowledged that the modernization plan is connected with the risk of another war with Azerbaijan over the disputed breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is not immediately clear whether Yerevan's desire to obtain more powerful weapons is connected with a new Russian-Armenian military agreement expected to be signed soon. The agreement will reportedly take the form of significant changes to a 1995 treaty regulating the presence of the Russian military base in Armenia. Russian and Armenian sources have said in the context of that agreement that Moscow will also commit itself to providing Armenia with "modern and compatible weaponry and [special] military hardware." Armenia and Russia announced plans last month to significantly step up cooperation between their defense industries. According to Baghdasarian, that cooperation includes setting up Russian-Armenian defense joint ventures.
VII. RIANOVOSTI - Russian Church collects $217,000 in aid for wildfire victims
The Russian Orthodox Church has collected 6.5 million rubles ($217,000) for those affected by wildfires, the Moscow Patriarchate said on its website Monday. Wildfires caused by an extreme heat wave are raging in 22 Russian regions. A total of 52 people died in the fires and 472 have received medical assistance. Over 1,900 houses have burned down, leaving 3,500 Russians without a roof over their heads. The Church's Synodal department for charity and social services also invited volunteers to collect and distribute aid to those in need. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia blessed efforts to help those affected by fires. Special commissions have been set up within the Church to distribute donations. "In these testing times for our nation, we are called upon to unite and render all possible moral and spiritual support to those affected," a senior Church member, Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, said. Yuvenaly himself donated 300,000 rubles ($10,000) from his own pocket.