Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, September 2003, pages 44-46

Issues in the News

Compiled by Nizar Wattad and Paola Rizzuto

Arab League Reform Proposed

According to a June 12 Gulf News Online report, Saudi Arabia has proposed a detailed plan that would change the 22-member Arab League into what Secretary-General Amr Moussa called "a solid regional organization in the full sense of the word." Moussa announced the plan at a joint press conference with Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al Khalifa, who noted that "the new reality," as evidenced by the changing situations in Iraq and Palestine, demands a shared Arab effort "based on modern principles, away from the old ways which didn't achieve the least of our hopes and ambitions." The league, he said, "should be re-constructed in a way that would allow it to confront future challenges through common Arab policies."

The announcement came after debates over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq left the League especially divided, with Kuwait refusing to pay its dues until after the proposed reforms and Libya threatening to quit the league entirely. The Saudi proposal includes calls for a complete reorganization of inter-Arab ties and international relations, including the requirement that "members must commit to the peaceful settlement of all internal disagreements." Economically, the plan calls for the establishment by 2005 of a zone "free of any administrative and technical restrictions"—a first step toward establishing an Arab common market. A final decision on the proposed reforms is expected to be made at the March 2004 Arab summit in Tunis.

ARABIAN PENINSULA

Iraqi Refugees Demand Return

A report in the June 6 Arab News detailed the plight of Iraqi refugees living in Saudi Arabia's Rafha camp since the 1991 Gulf war who want to go home. The 467 refugees demanding repatriation are among some 5,233 Iraqis still in the camp, originally built to accommodate 33,000 Iraqis fleeing Saddam Hussain's forces after the latter crushed a 1991 Shi'i revolt in southern Iraq. Since then, 25,000 have been resettled in Europe, the United States and Australia, while about 3,300 returned to Iraq.

Said UNHCR official Mamoon Muhsen, "We [the UNHCR] are not encouraging the refugees to return…because of the lack of security and stability [in Iraq]…But we facilitate the repatriation of those who want to leave on their own responsibility."

Bahrain to Generate 12,000 Jobs

The Bahraini government has announced the expected creation of 12,000 new jobs over the next two years in the Gulf state, where unemployment is estimated at 15 percent, according to the June 12 Gulf News Online. At a press conference the previous day, Finance and National Economy Minister Abdullah Saif said the new jobs would be due to "the expected economic growth of five to six percent in the fiscal years of 2003 and 2004, accompanied by a number of investment projects," including the $1 billion Bahrain Financial Harbor, the $800 million Durrat Al-Bahrain resort, and a Formula One race track currently under construction.

Conservatives Sweep Kuwait Vote

According to a July 8 AFP report, Kuwaiti liberals conceded defeat the previous day to Islamists and pro-government ministers in parliamentary elections. The new 50-seat body, which includes 24 new members and 26 incumbents, has seen its total number of liberal ministers reduced from eight to three. There are now 17 Islamist MPs from all sects of Islam in the legislative assembly, which also includes 26 pro-government MPs. Of Kuwait's local population of 898,000, a total of 136,715 men were qualified to vote for the new parliament. Women in Kuwait are barred from voting or running for office.

Saudis Approve Economic Reforms

Saudi Arabia in Focus reported on June 23 that Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers has endorsed a new Capital Markets Law, providing a legal regulatory framework for the Saudi stock exchange, the largest in the Arab world. The new legislation is intended to accelerate several desired economic reforms, including promoting foreign and private sector investment and creating an accountable, transparent environment for capital-related activities.

News Anchor to Head Al-Jazeera

Former news anchor Adnan Al-Shareef was named acting director of Al-Jazeera on June 3, according to the next day's Arab News, after his predecessor, Mohammed Al-Ali, was removed amid reports that Saddam Hussain's spies had infiltrated the Qatari television station. Shareef, a Palestinian, was appointed to the post by board chairman Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani of Qatar's ruling family. Former director Al-Ali had held the position since the Arabic-language satellite station was launched in 1996.

FERTILE CRESCENT

Lebanese TV Building Bombed

According to the June 16 Daily Star, a previously unknown group named Ansar Allah (Supporters of God) bombed Beirut's Future television building—owned by Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri—the previous day. Security guards said that two rockets were fired from a BMW parked across the street. The perpetrators were able to avoid the facility's surveillance cameras and thus escape undetected. Ansar Allah announced it would "not allow anyone, even if they are powerful and influential, to fire poison arrows at the heart of resistance."

In a display of unity, both opposition and loyalist political figures condemned the attack on Hariri's facility, claiming that it targeted press freedom and the country's security and peace. The Amal Movement issued a statement describing the attack as "cowardly," while the Phalange Party said Ansar Allah's aim was to undermine the country's stability. Future TV is the first Lebanese media provider to be attacked since the country's 1975-1990 civil war.

Allies of Missing Lebanese Unable To Meet Assad

A delegation of the Paris-based organization SOLIDA, comprising both relatives and supporters of Lebanese nationals believed to be detained in Syria, made its way across the Lebanese-Syrian border on June 9, the third such delegation this year. According to the next day's Daily Star, its members were prevented from having an official meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, and SOLIDA issued a statement saying, "Dialogue has been discontinued."

Dr. Ghazi Aad, spokesperson for another support group called SOLIDE, said the group decided to "address the source [Syria] directly because of the indifference shown by Lebanese authorities" toward the estimated 172 missing Lebanese nationals. In response to criticism from non-governmental organizations, the Lebanese government decided in January 2001 to set up a committee to investigate the issue, but concluded its inquiry that July without publishing a report.

Jordan Holds Parliamentary Vote

Jordanians casting their ballots on June 17 chose from 765 candidates (including 54 women) competing for 110 seats in the parliament's Lower House. The majority of seats went to government loyalists, with Islamist parties securing only 15 percent of the vote.

This year's elections were met with some voter apathy. While 62 percent of citizens voted in 1989, a mere 54 percent voted in 1997. This year approximately 58 percent of Jordanians voted. King Abdullah urged voters to elect candidates who were "capable" and would help to develop the financially ailing Kingdom, which has been in a state of emergency since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

The elections, Jordan's first since 1997, also set a new precedent with regard to female participation. According to the June 17 Jordan Times, 34-year-old Adab Al-Saud, who holds an MA in ecology and is the first female candidate from the Tafileh region, enjoyed the unanimous support of her electorate. Also, the hard-line Islamist Action Front, Jordan's largest opposition party, presented the public with its first female candidate, Haya Museimeh, who was one of six qualified to fill parliamentary seats reserved exclusively for women.

IRAN/IRAQ

Ahwazis Face Danger in Iraq, Iran

An open letter sent May 25 by the Ahwazi Human Rights Committee (AHRC) to various heads of state, including U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, drew attention to the plight of tens of thousands of Ahwazi Arab refugees living in southern Iraq. Having fled their native Khuzestan region of Iran, many Ahwazis have spent two decades evading political repression and persecution, and now are subjected to revenge killing by pro-Iranian militias that crossed the Iran-Iraq border following the collapse of Saddam Hussain's regime.

According to the AHRC letter, Ahwazis have been expelled from their camps in southern Iraq, their homes and businesses looted and burned, and some executed by the pro-Iranian Badr Brigade, allegedly accompanied by Iranian security forces. Ahwazis have sought political and cultural autonomy and self-rule since the semi-autonomous, oil-rich province of Khuzestan came under Iranian control in 1925. The estimated population of Arabs is over 4 million in Khuzestan, where oil reserves provide the Iranian government with roughly 90 percent of its income. Thousands of Ahwazis fled the province after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when attempts at sovereignty were violently suppressed; subsequent migrations occurred during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and in the early 1990s, after the government instituted land expropriation and "Persianization" programs.

Saudis Donate Water Purification Plants to Iraq

Saudi Arabia is donating 10 water purification plants to Iraq, each capable of purifying 520,000 gallons of water daily, reported the June 20 Arab News. The plants will provide much-needed potable water to Iraqi cities and villages where clean water resources have been destroyed or contaminated, and where water-borne illnesses including cholera, dysentery and diarrhea are proliferating. According to recent studies by the World Health Organization, diarrheal disease caused by impure water supplies has been among the three main killers of Iraqi children.

New Iraq Currency Announced

American civilian and current ruler of Iraq Paul Bremer has announced the printing of a new Iraqi currency to replace old bills bearing the portrait of ex-President Saddam Hussain, according to a July 8 Reuters report.

The new unit, a variation on the so-called Swiss dinar currently exchanged in northern Iraq, would be exchanged at parity with dinars bearing Hussain's portrait, and at the rate of 150 new dinars to one northern Swiss dinar. Iraqis will begin swapping their old bills Oct. 15, and will have three months to complete the changeover, Bremer said.

ISRAEL/PALESTINE

High School Refuseniks Testify

According to the June 24 Ha'aretz, the first of five Israeli high school "refuseniks" testified at a military court, having been held in military prisons for several months for refusing compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. The 12th-graders, who were denied their requests to perform alternative national service, are signatories to the High School Seniors' letter of 2001, a rejection of Israeli army conscription signed by 62 teenagers and sent to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

First to testify was Haggai Matar, one of the letter's authors. He recalled visits with various peace organizations to the occupied territories, where he witnessed the Israeli army destroying the homes, caves, and wells of some 1,000 residents of the Hebron area. Next, Matan Kaminer discussed the effects of occupation on Israeli society. As the court session opened, the refuseniks' attorney, Dov Hanin, presented his clients' legal position, arguing that a constitutional revolution in Israel since the 1990s had created conditions in which "the governing system must recognize freedom of conscience and protect it."

Jerusalem, Haifa Gay Pride Parades Draw Thousands

On Friday, June 20, Jerusalem and Haifa hosted their second and first annual gay pride parades, respectively. According to that day's Ha'aretz, thousands of people flocked to the festivities in both cities. Jerusalem's parade, originally scheduled for the previous Friday, had been postponed after community activist Alan Bier died in a suicide bombing that week.

Interior Minister Avraham Poraz gave his support to the crowd at the concluding rally in Jerusalem's Independence Park. "There are a few ministers in the government who aren't happy that I'm taking part in such an event," he stated, "but despite everything, I came to wish you a happy holiday. We are all proud of you." Uri Lupolianski, Jerusalem's first ultra-Orthodox mayor, who also expressed his support, was criticized by the Haredi community for doing so. A Shas representative on the city council provided the only opposition to Haifa's parade by declaring that gays should "go back to Tel Aviv."

Israel Rejects French Peace Plan

A French proposal for a Middle East peacekeeping force has fallen on deaf ears. According to a June 17 AFPreport, in a June 15 interview on the French Jewish radio station Radio J, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin stated: "If it seems that all the [international] parties want it and that such a peacekeeping force would permit reining in the terrorist movements, then let us decide [on peacekeepers]."

The Israeli government flatly rejected the French proposal. Ra'anan Gissin, spokesperson for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, stated that "the only thing that Israel has accepted is the presence of observers for the implementation of the various stages of the road map…If France wants to help advance peace, it should use its influence with [Palestinian President] Yasser Arafat for him to stop damaging the peace efforts of [Prime Minister] Mahmoud Abbas."

Palestinian leaders have endorsed the French plan. Senior Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina noted that "we [Palestinians] have repeatedly requested and demanded an international presence and our calls and requests have been put off by the Americans in order to satisfy the Israelis."

During the week prior to Israel's rejection of the French proposal, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also suggested that peacekeepers should be present on the ground in Israel and Palestine. In a June 12 Ha'aretz interview, Annan stated that an "armed peace force as a buffer zone between the Israelis and the Palestinians" could be a possible solution to the conflict. In addition, he called on the Israeli government to break the cycle of violence that leads to terror attacks.

Amnesty Denounces Israeli War Crimes

The London-based human rights group Amnesty International has condemned Israel for committing "war crimes" in the occupied territories, and simultaneously labeled Palestinian attacks against Israelis as "crimes against humanity." According to the May 29 Arab News, Amnesty's annual report, released a day earlier, described Israel's practices of "unlawful killings, obstruction of medical assistance, wanton destruction of property, torture, unlawful confinement and the use of human shields."

Amnesty also released a statement containing the number of casualties that Palestinians incurred in 2002, noting that "at least one thousand Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in 2002, and most of them unlawfully. They included 150 children and at least 35 individuals killed in targeted assassinations." In addition to those killed, more than 3,000 were incarcerated.

Palestinian tactics were not spared criticism from Amnesty, which stated that "the deliberate targeting of [Israeli] civilians [also] constituted crimes against humanity." Amnesty also said that Palestinian President Arafat had not done enough to stop attacks against Israelis, although the group did emphasize that this was partly because of the detrimental effects of Israeli raids on Palestinian security offices.

NORTH AFRICA

Homosexuals Freed in Egypt

The June 5 Arab World News reported on the release of four Egyptian men jailed in May 2001 after a State Security Court found them guilty of "habitual debauchery"—a euphemism for homosexuality, which is not explicitly illegal in Egypt but which can be tried under a variety of 'morality laws.' In a case that sparked international outrage, 50 men were arrested in 2001 on a Nile riverboat, 21 of them receiving sentences of one to two years each. A retrial in mid-March 2003, ordered by President Hosni Mubarak after protests by international rights groups and world leaders, produced harsher sentences of three years each. However, an appeals court on June 4 reduced the sentences of four of the accused to time already served, and they were ordered freed. Sources close to the case note that 12 of the 17 remaining prisoners had their appeals rejected after failing to appear in court, most likely out of fear.

Human Rights Advances in Egypt

Several important developments have taken place on the human rights front in Egypt, reported ArabicNews.com on June 6, including the approval of a draft law providing for the foundation of a national human rights council. To be composed of one president and 20 public figures, the council will be aimed at "consolidating and enhancing the culture of human rights and enhancing its practices." Additionally, according to the June 17 Arab News, Egypt's parliament the previous day abolished the controversial State Security Courts, under which prosecutors were able to produce less evidence than in normal Egyptian courts, and outlawed forced labor in the country's prisons.

THE SUBCONTINENT

Amnesty: Torture Frequent, Probes Rare in Bangladesh

In its 2002 annual report, Amnesty International charged that 38 people in Bangladesh "reportedly died after torture in army custody and eight after torture in police custody." The report, summarized in the May 28 Daily Star, noted that "despite international calls for independent inquiries into these deaths, no investigations were carried out."

Most of the reported deaths took place after Prime Minister Khaleda Zia mobilized tens of thousands of troops in a three-month crackdown on crime beginning last October. Over 10,000 people were arrested in the crackdown, including several journalists, Amnesty alleged, and authorities have tortured criminals and members of the political opposition.

U.S. Offers $100 Million for Pakistan Education

According to a May 29 Dawn report, the American Consulate in Pakistan has pledged $100 million to purchase computers, software and training facilities for several educational institutions in the country. At an initiation ceremony for the American Discovery Center at Peshawar's Islamia College, consulate official Arlene Ferrill stated that "[America wants] to strengthen educational institutions and keep them abreast with the challenges of this modern age. We want to share our skills and expertise with Pakistani students." Ferrill also asserted that the U.S. would continue working to modernize the educational sector on the frontier, where local government has recently approved Islamic shariah law.

CENTRAL ASIA

Landmines Remain in Karabakh After Cease-fire

Despite a 1994 cease-fire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, landmines and other explosive devices remain in and around Nagorno Karabagh, which has been an area of conflict between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Karabagh Armenians since 1988. According to a May 23 Eurasianet.org report, approximately 347 square miles of the disputed area were embedded with landmines during the war.

Children suffer the most from the presence of these landmines, which they treat as toys or a potential source of income. Citing Armenian government estimates, the International Committee to Ban Landmines noted that "up to 80,000 landmines remain unaccounted for" in the region.

Children and teenagers harvest metal or other parts of explosive devices because they can be sold for scrap or used as makeshift fireworks. Since neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan agreed to sign the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, there is currently no wide-scale mine removal project underway.

Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan Discuss Gas Pipeline Project

According to a May 28 Pakistan News Service press release, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Chairman Nouraiz Shakoor told interviewers that work on a Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline would begin next year. At a conference on "Optimizing Drilling Efficiency in Pakistan," he stated that the $3.5 billion project would be completed in two-and-a-half years. Shakoor also stated that the participating nations collectively invited India to take part as both an investor and a major purchaser. The proposed pipeline will transport eight trillion gallons of natural gas per year to each country that agrees to be part of the project.

Turkish Human Rights Groups Concerned Over Reform Package

Leading Turkish human rights associations criticized the government's reform package, compiled in an ongoing bid to gain entry into the European Union, as having been developed without notifying or consulting the country's human rights advocates. In a joint statement, the Human Rights Association (IHD), Turkish Human Rights Foundation (THIV), and the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER) said of the reform process that "the Turkish public and its nongovernmental organizations are alienated from this process. Human rights associations learn about these important implementations closely related to our democratic life from the press. This process should be transparent and the contribution of the public should be maintained."

According to the May 28 Turkish Daily News,the package includes arrangements allowing private radios and TVs to broadcast in languages and dialects other than Turkish, and enabling international observers to monitor elections. Human rights associations say that while the package aims to lift Article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror law, which restricts freedom of expression, it also includes a new article to the Turkish Penal Code allowing courts to sentence convicts to tougher penalties.