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27 JANUARY 2006 Jordan Business Elaph Unknown Women, women Jordanian women are called on to boycott Israeli goods Elaph, a web-based pan-Arab newspaper, published in its January 27 edition that: "Economic exchange is an essential factor for the revival and expansion of the relations between Amman and Tel Aviv. The ongoing commercial exchange between the two has been witnessing a spectacular rise since they have signed the peace treaty. "The high executive committee for the protection of the nation and fighting normalization has called upon Jordanian women to rise in their turn and boycott all Israeli products in the Jordanian market. The committee mentioned that agricultural and industrial Israeli products are entering the Jordanian markets, which is benefiting Tel Aviv while it is negatively affecting local and Arab products. "Economic reports have revealed that Israeli exports into Jordan during the last nine months of last year, have reached a rate of 120% compared to those in 2004. These exports have exceeded $86 million and the number of Israeli companies exporting their goods to Jordan has approximately reached 1,800 companies."

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19 JANUARY 2006 Egypt Society Elaph Unknown Religion, wife, she, woman, women Mona Chalabi's Hijab (Islamic veil) crisis Mohammad Abdel Rahman reported in the January 19 edition of Elaph, a privately owned pan-Arab website, that: "All of a sudden, and with no prior introduction, religious scholars launched a media attack against the new Egyptian movie 'Wija'. This was not due to the fact that the movie addressed the concept of honor in different social classes, the story of a husband abandoning his wife after years of pleasure marriage, or the phenomenon of repetitive abortions and other interlaced issues, but because of a short scene, in which actress Mona Chalabi [lead role] wears a Hijab to meet a fellow student from university in his apartment. In the movie she used the veil as a pass to escape the neighbors' eyes. "Scholars considered the use of the Hijab in this context, to be demeaning for the Hijab as a symbol of Islam, because it makes every veiled woman a suspect [...]. Film director Khaled Yussef, explained that what was intended in the scene, was to convey the intellectual contradiction in our society and show that clothes do not reflect what is going on in people's minds. This became more relevant over the past few years, ever since many offenses were committed by veiled women, or men hiding their features behind veils. "[...] It is known that the movie raised controversy because of its shocking content, that calls for tolerance vis-?-vis illegitimate relationships. As it was said in the movie, the human psyche is full of contradictions [...]. "The film raised another controversy when director Khaled Yussef announced he had invited the General Adviser of the Muslim Brotherhood to attend, but the Brotherhood's General Adviser ignored the invitation and did not respond. Through his invitation, Yussef was trying to prove how the Brotherhood is far from being supportive of art [...]."

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19 JANUARY 2006 Egypt Politics Elaph Unknown Unrest, Religion, girl, girl, wife ''Clashes between Muslims and Copts in upper Egypt'' Nabil Sharaf Eddin reported in Elaph, a pan Arab newspaper, on 19 January that: ''the village of 'Adissat' in the 'Al Aqsar' district in southern Egypt witnessed the latest clash between Muslims and Christians. Fourteen people were injured, amongst them two police officers who intervened to break up the confrontation. This was a backlash against the dozens of Muslims who had set fire to construction material [earlier] in the village. Local eye witnesses told Elaph that the construction material was for building a local church that did not have a license. The security forces arrested ten of those Muslims and the home owners of the house that the church was supposed to be built on. Sharaf Eddin reported: ''Last October, the city of Alexandria witnessed, the most recent clash in a series of sectarian clashes that Egypt has been witnessing ... thousands of Muslims demonstrated outside of St. George's church in protest against the staging of a play that was allegedly offensive to Islam. Sharaf Eddin continued: ''The first and most dangerous sectarian clash occurred in the early 70's., At the time, those in power, deemed the incident to be a political affair and dealt with it on a political level. Indeed, a fact finding committee was established and an important report was prepared that discussed all sorts of issues that the Copts face. The report, however, was never discussed, nor were any of its recommendations implemented. The Coptic file, just as the Islamic fundamentalists file who have had bloody confrontations with the authorities over the last three decades, was transferred to the ministry of defense. Sharaf Eddin added: ''A number of Copts had also demonstrated on February 27 of last year in 'Al Fayoum' region in Cairo, in protest against the disappearance of two Coptic girls Marianne Makram and Theresa Ayad who were alleged to have converted to Islam. The case was closed when the court convinced the two girls not to go ahead with their conversion to Islam. Cairo also witnessed a similar scenario recently [with] the 'wife of the Coptic priest' [who also converted to Islam].... Sharaf Eddin concluded: ''there have been many incidents of sectarian tensions between the Muslims and Christians. The number of Copts according to official estimations account for 10% of a population of 73 million people in Egypt. The Coptic Church however claims the figure of Copts to be closer to ten million ...''

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18 JANUARY 2006 Saudi Arabia Society Elaph Unknown Human Rights, wife, wife "Saudi Truck Drivers: worried and do not bathe" Elaph, a privately owned pan Arab newspaper, reported on January 18 that: "Muhammad Al-Chehab, a Saudi national who is 38 years old, drives a truck almost 1,285 kilometers per week to the tunes of 'Um Kulthum' [a classic Egyptian singer] and consumes 3 packs of cigarettes per day. He tells Elaph: '[I do this] so that I forget the loud sound of the goods in the truck that I move from the east to the west of Saudi Arabia'. Muhammad whose smile has turned 'rusty' from Nicotine stains wishes he could give up smoking and listen to his Indian boss who tells him off on a weekly basis when he arrives at the delivery point. Muhammad continues: 'He [the boss] mocks my smell and asks me to bathe' but Muhammad wonders: 'how can I bathe when I'm on the road? Are there proper toilets between Mecca and Al Dammam(the distance between them is over 170 km)'. "Ali Alawi, who is 35 years old, however, has a different thoughts and concerns. He asks the Saudi Minister of Labour, Dr.Ghazi Al-Qusaibi through 'Elaph' for the authentication of the contracts between labourers and private sector enterprises so that none of the party's rights are violated which is what happens currently when one of them breaches the contract. Ali Alawi, who has a degree from a technical college...says 'I do not see anything wrong in driving a truck [as a profession], what concerns me is the availability of an authority that will protect myself, children and family from the exploitation of large enterprises'. Ali supports his wife and three kids and earns no more than a mere $400 per month. He says he is happy in his current job and hopes that his compatriots can fight the embarrassment and fear of taking on any job no matter its nature. ''Saoud Al-Harithy, who is 32 years old, has resigned from his job as a truck driver for a well-known Saudi dairy company because of the bad road connections between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He used to travel on that road four times a week and says: 'I almost died many times on that road, there are not enough security patrols to monitor the driving conduct, let alone first aid stations nearby'. Al-Harithy continued: 'I perform ablution and pray everyday in case I die'. He used to earn $600 a month before he resigned and asks Elaph: 'is it enough that I feed my wife and family?'. 'Is it worth this constant risk?' ''Dr. Isam Al-Saadoun, who is currently researching the conditions of Saudi truck drivers for Elaph, believes that the ministry of labour ought to establish an organisation or society for these drivers...''

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13 JANUARY 2006 Middle East Business Elaph Unknown Unknown sister Trade between Syria, Lebanon drastically affected by political situation Reporting from well-informed economic sources in Damascus , Elaph said on January 13 that "the trade volume between Syria and Lebanon has decreased by an average of more than 60% in comparison to last year, prior to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon." The sources added that most of the commercial sectors that were active between Syria and Lebanon were affected starting with agriculture, industry and transit for the exchange of laborers - [all due] especially to the 'unprecedented tensions' between the two countries." Elaph added "Lebanese agriculture is the sector that was mostly damaged because in the past the different kinds of agricultural products especially those that get spoiled fast had a wide market in Syria." Furthermore, "Lebanese bananas that were very well-known in Damascus are no longer available in Syria. Syrian merchants now import bananas from Egypt, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela and Ecuador." According to the newspaper, "there was no specific number for the commercial exchange between Syria and Lebanon and that is because most of those responsible for the commercial transactions had influence and their products passed without customs or constraints." It was difficult to monitor the products since they didn't pass through the tax departments. "The same was also applicable in both countries and at the [different] levels of officials." Most of the sectors that were affected in Syria were the commercial markets in Damascus and some cities on the borders with Lebanon. Thousands of Lebanese people would come daily to Damascus, they would shop and benefit from the great difference in prices between the two markets. Customs officials in both countries acknowledge that the "number of people crossing the border daily has been reduced to more than half. It is expected that this number will drop down more due to the media campaigns and the cautions against traveling to Syria." According to data from Syria - which wasn't included in statistical data - Lebanese laborers in Syria were greatly affected because now the Lebanese who want to work in Syria have to present identity papers and have insurance. Elaph added that in the past, before the crisis, their number was over a hundred thousand and most of them worked in financial and banking sectors, and telecommunications. Their salaries were high unlike the Syrian laborers in Lebanon who were of a low grade and who worked in construction, agriculture and other services. Amid these circumstances, Lebanon's commerce is controlled by the "Syria's mood" in banning cars coming in from Lebanon from crossing the borders - giving different kinds of excuses. This means that Lebanon is "immediately deprived" of half of its commercial exchanges with other countries because it is difficult for commercial exchanges to occur by other ways. The Syrians also have started to change directions. Except for the unskilled laborers who are only good at working in construction sites and agriculture, the skilled educated ones are heading to Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf for work. As for the smuggling that used to occur on both sides - that used to bring in billions of dollars annually. But today, with the sand barriers and the "alert" border guards, things are getting difficult for smuggling operations. All these events are a result of the political circumstances of the two countries. A change in politics automatically means a change in economic circumstances. There are some who describe Lebanon as "twin sisters" who can't give up each other even if they fight for a friendship, Elaph concluded.

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12 JANUARY 2006 Lebanon Opinion Elaph Unknown Unrest, Military/Defense, United Nations, wife "Why are the Palestinian weapons in Lebanon?" On January 12, Khairallah Khairallah wrote for Elaph about the Palestinian weapons in Lebanon. He said: "Once again, the issue of Palestinian weapons in Lebanon is raised again ... and much stronger this time. There are some who are trying to force the Palestinian weapons in a clear process that has a clear aim of covering up for the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri - and other crimes that were committed in Lebanon lately - by using the Palestinians as fuel in a battle that they have nothing to do with at all. It is certain that [as] the ... day the whole truth is unravelled draws near, then the remains of the Syrian-Lebanese security regime will start to surfance in Lebanon. ... " Khairallah continued: "It is clear that the common security regime that is considered as [being primarily] responsible for Hariri's assassination and that of journalist Samir Qassir, ex-Communist party leader George Hawi and MP and jouranlist Gibran Tueini will use all the mines and weapons it has to prove that Lebanon is an non-viable country after the withdrawaal of Syrian forces. It is as if [the question is whether] Lebanon should be a Syrian arena or not. In this context, Syrian President Bashar Assad was clear with the representatives of Palestinian organizations who opposed the [Palestinian] Authority when he met with them last September. In that meeting, Assad emphasized the importance of the military escalation on Palestinian territories. He was also keen on emphasizing the importance of maintaining the Palestinian weapons in Lebnaon until they return to their territories, by virtue of UN Security Council Resolution 194. And that is regardless of whether Lebanon can bear to have the Palestinian weapons outside or inside the camps." Khairallah questioned: "Is it logical that Lebanon remains captive of the Palestinian people's right of return, knowing that it is Lebanon's duty to provide decent conditions for any refugee on its territory? Is is logical that Lebanon alone pay the price of the oppression that was inflicted upon the Palestinian people, and that this price be doubled? The first time was when the camps turned into security islands with no authority ... and that caused a concern for Lebanon ... . The second time was when the Palestinian organizations, which directly follow the Syrian regime, became tools in a game that was useless - except when it meant to say that Lebanon is not able to protect itself, by itself." "In any case, the Palestinians and the non-Palestinians who are carrying weapons in Lebanon to serve their masters in the region should remember one thing, which is [that] Lebanon has changed, and the [idea of] dividing the Lebanese is out of the question. And proof of that is that Christian and Muslim Lebanese stood together in the face of those who shot at two Lebanese municipal workers because they got close to a Palestinian base. And this proves that those Palestinians carrying weapons are ready to be mercenaries for this or that Arab regime instead of seeking to return to Palestine." Khairallah concluded by saying: "Sooner or later, the Palestinians will have to give in their weapons in Lebanon. Sooner or later, Israel's agents who shot the Lebanese citizens will discover that they are only agents and that the Syrian regime will not save them, because it needs to be saved. Sooner or later, they will discover that Lebanon has changed and that the Muslim Lebanese will fight them before the Christians. Sooner or later, they will discover that these words are true, and, if it they weren't true, the Lebanese wouldn't have been able to get the Syrian forces out of Lebanon. Who would have dared to dream about that less than a year ago, or to dream of telling his wife that he dreamt of such a dream?"

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09 JANUARY 2006 Middle East Opinion Elaph Unknown Religion, mother, aunt I am not calling on evil to befall Sharon On January 8, Hani Naqshabandi wrote for Elaph: "In every Arab house, there is a person praying for Sharon to die. My mother is praying, my siblings, our neighbor next door, the grocer, everyone is praying for Sharon to die. For me, I look at things from two perspectives first: A humanitarian perspective makes me not wish evil on any person and not to pray for his death or illness even if this person was my enemy. The political perspective believes that Sharon's life or death will not change anything." He added: "We Arabs were used to following one person who made our internal and foreign policies. If this person dies, then all our cards will change. This is not applicable to Israel, for it is a more regulated political institute than us. It follows goals that no Prime Minister can avoid. That's why I believe that our prayers should be for something else that we can benefit from, besides praying and hoping for Sharon to die." "But the praying thing and hoping has made me think of something I was avoiding to think of: We are the people who mostly pray whether for small things or big things. We pray in every prayer, in Friday's sermons, during Eid speeches, in any occassion and even if there wasn't any occassion. Then I don't see any of our prayers coming true!" "We pray in our mosques, every night for the Muslims to achieve victory, for the detainees to be released, and pray for a long list of things! But then days go by, months go by, but still nothing improves, but things go worse. Some people say that the reason for our prayers not coming true is because our prayers lack good intention, or we are tested by God, or this could be weak faith." Naqshabandi added: "But I say the opposite. I say that our prayers don't reflect our faith. We pray to God because we flee the defeat that haunts us, we flee the responsibiliy. We convince ourselves that we did our best by praying to God, as we always say. I don't know if there is a true prayer or a false one. Moreover, we pray too much because we believe that God Almighty will bring down on us a lot of gold, or that He will destroy our enemies while we are sitting in cafes, or that God will open the doors of prisons so that the detainees will be released, or that God will throw the Jews in the sea and will hand us Jerusalem that is sound and good. All of this as a reward for our prayers." "Then we conclude our prayers by saying: It's victory time, but all what we see is more defeat!" "This image of our prayers should make us think that prayer should be paralled with work, and that working is better than prayers, and that is more guaranteeing and better." Naqshabandi concluded by saying: "I am not eliminating the importance of prayers, but it is useless if we don't work at the same time. Finally, I would like to get back to the beginning of my subject and say if we want to achieve victory over Sharon and all the Sharons, then let's get working, something that will give us power and influence. We should not only sit on prayer carpets praying for death and pain to be inflicted on other people."

elaph news source

06 JANUARY 2006 Jordan Politics Elaph Unknown Terrorism, Media, woman, mother Syrian national arrested in Jordan for threatening security via Internet Syrian national Rifaat Daghestani, 29 years old, living in Jordan, was arrested for threatening the government's Jordanian Media Center, Elaph reported on January 5. A source at the center asserted that Jordanian security authorities cooperated with the center closely in the past few days, after it received threats via its website. The incident caused panic and fear at the center, as employees immediately informed authorities about the electronic threat and the promises of recurring terrorist attacks in Jordan. In a Thursday statement, the center said that it was "threatened electronically by an unknown person who logged on to the website under a false name." Jordan's media website is "available to all and is not confidential," the statement added. The newspaper learned that, last week, Jordan's prosecuting authority arrested the suspect in question and accused Daghestani of "threatening to use violence, committing e-terrorism, demanding a ransom worth one million Jordanian dinars ($1,410,437), and demanding the release of the Iraqi woman Sajida Rishawi, who tried to blow up one of Amman's hotels." The indictment list said that Daghestani "threatened to resort to violence in order to carry out terrorist activities, destabilize public order and cause fear among people." Furthermore, the indictment said that Daghestani would go every weekend and visit his mother in a city called Al-Zarqaa. And during his visit, he would go to Internet cafes and log onto the center's website. He became a member using a username of "911" and a password of "blood."

elaph news source

06 JANUARY 2006 Egypt Politics Elaph Unknown Democracy, Women, Media, Religion, women, women, women, women Butros Ghali calls for "political inclusion" of Muslim Brotherhood The president of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights [NCHR], Butros Ghali, said the council received "406 complaints during [parliamentary] elections," Elaph reported on January 5. Ghali, who heads the council established by the Egyptian government in 2003, said he has referred the complaints to the officials concerned. The former UN Secretary-General said he "received reactions from those officials, including the Higher Electoral Committee." He sent the complaints to the People's Council, the Shura Council, Justice and Interior Ministries and other parties concerned. Speaking in a press conference following the release of the report on parliamentary elections that were held in Egypt in November and December of last year, Ghali said that, in terms of running for office, "the rights of parties, movements, political forces or independent individuals" should not "be taken away." This was seen as an official recognition that the Muslim Brotherhood party won 88 member seats in Parliament, forming the largest opposition bloc in that body. Elaph reported that Ghali, who was appointed by the Shura Council in 2004, is preparing studies that he claims will "reinforce his recommendations and proposals about those elections." He also added that he will "do a private study for women representation and allocating seats for them in the local and parliamentary councils." He revealed that the council is thinking of establishing an independent judiciary commission to supervise the elections that will look into the complaints. Ghali noted that the council will also prepare a study about the possibility of having international organizations take part in monitoring elections. The Egyptian official called for "amending laws related to the election system and political parties, in order to strengthen the political parties and rebuild the institutes of the society on modern basis far from individual monopolization, and family and tribal fanaticism." Regarding women and religion, the NCHR's report demanded an activation of the legal texts that ban the use of religious mottos, and for supporting the fairness of women's representation in parliamentary and local councils with a percentage not less than 20 percent. This is in addition to allocating seats to women in those councils. The report further called for "immediate investigation" into all events, murders, and violence. Other issues underscored in the report included the "elimination of all legislative, administrative and security barriers from media performance, and the need for developing a charter for press conduct to include texts related to vocation principles."

elaph news source

06 JANUARY 2006 Yemen Politics Elaph Unknown Media, female Reporters Without Borders details "black year" for press freedom in Yemen In its January 6 edition, Elaph reported from Sana'a, Yemen that Reporters Without Borders "observed 51 cases of violations of the freedom of practicing journalism." The newspaper said that most of the violations were suffered by Yemeni journalists. The incident that was most focused on by the organization was the assault on 10 reporters back on July 21, 2005, when they were covering mass protests all over Yemen. Other incidents of note included judicial verdicts that closed down many newspapers and deprived reporters of the ability to practice their work. The newspaper further reported that the organization- which is headed by female reporter Tawakol Abdel Salam Karman - said in its annual report that "the year 2005 was a black year for the profession of journalism in Yemen." The report added that, in 2005 alone, "the rights of all press institutes were violated without fear of punishment. Other violations included the shutting down of press institutes ... ." Many journalists were kidnapped, beaten, imprisoned and received death threats sometimes. "All this occured with no action taken from authorities," the report said. Other violations included "threats made to journalist Abdel Baset Al Qaedi by security authorities on the phone, on December 24, 2005. ... On December 23, 2005, Al Ousboo and Al Rased newspapers are sealed with red wax. ... On December 10, 2005, Al Jazeera's correspondent and photographer were arrested in Sana'a while covering an event. ... On Spetember 14, 2005, Al Arabiya's country office director suffered an attempted assault opposite Parliament."

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05 JANUARY 2006 Lebanon Politics Elaph Unknown Terrorism, Media, Judicial Affairs, sister Houssam Houssam's new appearances On January 4, Elaph reported from Beirut that, after publishing the photographs of the Syrian spy and intelligence operative Houssam Houssam, taken by the newspaper's photographer Wael Lathiki the day George Hawi was assasinated on June 21, 2005, journalists did not pat any attention to the spy at that time because he was already infamous. But on Wednesday, Hawi's son, Rafi, who had promised to publish new photographs of Houssam in his red shirt and black sunglasses, said in a press conference there were other new photographs that show Houssam was at the crime scene after his father's assassination. This latest development prompted doubts and fear about Houssam being in at the scene of Hawi's killing, and in the place where former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed. And this has been revealed by Houssam's Lebanese fiancee. Elaph continued to say that Hawi's family has reaffirmed it will demand that the Lebanese judiciary question Brigadier Rustom Ghazali and the Syrian and Lebanese security leaders that are responsible. During the press conference, Hawi's family asked: "What was Houssam Houssam doing at that crime scene?" The press conference that Hawi's son, Rafi Madoyan, and Nara Hawi held at their attorney's office discussed the photographs showing Houssam in the scene just after the assassination took place. Following the press conference, Madoyan read a statement, in which he said: "The Lebanese and foreign public opinion was surprised to see Houssam Houssam, from the Syrian intelligence, at the place ... where martyr George Hawi was assassinated." Madoyan also questioned why a Syrian intelligence operative would appear in more than one crime scene. He added that "according to his [Houssam's] fiancee, Houssam was at the crime scene of Hariri's assassination." Hawi's son further noted that "his being there, since he is a Syrian intelligence operative, refutes the claims that the Syrian forces and intelligence have pulled out from Lebanon, and contradicts the items of UN Security Council Resolution 1559." Furthermore, Madoyan continued to say that Houssam returned to the same area on September 20, 2005 after giving his statement as a "masked witness" to the international investigating committee. He also visited Hawi's widow Sossi Madoyan, a doctor, along with another person - and both were carrying guns. He pretended to be a person called Abdel Wahab Mohammad Hassan, since he hadn't appeared in the media. Later on November 21, 2005, Houssam returned to the same area, but this time to the local New Television station, after Madoyan's sister Nara's car was opened by a stranger on November 7, 2005. Madoyan said that the family will request that the Lebanese judicial authorities question Houssam Houssam, the suspect in Hawi's assassination. The family will also request that Brigadier Rustom Ghazali and the Lebanese and Syrian security leaders be questioned regarding their father's assassination, and about the reasons for sending a Syrian intelligence operative to the crime scene more than once before allowing him to flee to Syria.