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		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 December 2000 Issue No.513
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Observer force rejected
THE PALESTINIANS voiced their regret over the UN Security Council's rejection on Monday of a resolution calling for the deployment of a UN observer force in the occupied Palestinian territories to provide protection for civilians against attacks by the Israeli army.
The draft resolution, presented by the Non-Aligned Movement a month ago, was backed by eight of the 15 Security Council members, one short of the necessary votes for a resolution to pass through. The United States, keen not to use the veto in order to avoid angering the Arab world, convinced its allies to abstain. Russia, Britain and France were among the permanent Security Council members who abstained, while China voted in favour of the resolution. The United States and its allies insisted that Israel must approve first of the deployment of an international force. They also expressed belief that passing the resolution at this stage would complicate current efforts to reach a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians. "This is a sad day for the Security Council," said Palestinian representative Nasser Al-Kidwa. He accused the US of having pressured council members to scuttle the measure.
Living with grief
THE FATHER of 12-year-old Palestinian martyr Mohamed Al-Dorra, whose brutal death by Israeli gunfire during the first days of Al-Aqsa Intifada was caught on camera and broadcast repeatedly throughout the world, headed home on Friday after surgery and recovery in a Jordanian hospital.
Al-Dorra was critically injured in late September as he tried in vain to shield his son, Mohamed, from Israeli bullets. The incident was captured by a French television cameraman and was shown around the world, evoking reactions of shock and horror.
The disturbing film showed Mohamed stricken with fear and crying as Jamal tried to shield him. The pair was huddled against a wall, desperately trying to take cover. The last picture showed the boy slumped dead over Gamal.
Failed trading
THE LEBANESE Hizbullah group has rejected an Israeli offer to trade the remains of its fighters for information on four Israelis seized by the guerrilla group in October.
The Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal reported on Monday that Hizbullah insisted on exchanging news on the captives' fate for Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
"Hizbullah is in a very comfortable negotiating position and it is unwilling to give up any of its conditions for the release of the Israelis," the newspaper said.
Hizbullah captured three Israeli soldiers and a reserve colonel in military intelligence in October. Germany is currently mediating negotiations on their release.
Hizbullah's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said last week he would return the Israelis only after Israel frees all Arab detainees and returns the remains of Lebanese and Palestinian fighters killed during its invasions of Lebanon. He also said Israel must provide maps of minefields it planted during its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon and information on the fate of Lebanese and Palestinians who went missing during that period. Israel has described Nasrallah's demands as unrealistic.
Last week, Israel's Supreme Court refused to free two senior Lebanese guerrillas in exchange for the Israeli captives.
Blasted again
DOZENS of suspects were arrested in Saudi Arabia after the third mysterious bombing in less than a month aimed at British nationals. The Friday bombing in the eastern town of Al-Khobar came shortly after Saudi Arabia announced that it has detained an American national, Michael Sedlak, in connection with the other two bombings. David Brown, a Coca-Cola International employee from Scotland, lost one eye and some of his fingers in Al-Khobar on Friday when a small parcel placed near the windscreen of his car exploded as he tried to remove it. Alarmed by the incident, British anti-terrorist police had flown to Saudi Arabia on Monday in a "liaising capacity" with Saudi police to investigate the bombings.
The attacks have heightened concerns that Westerners in the Middle East may have become targets of rising anti-Western sentiment fuelled by the killing of scores of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers in clashes in the occupied territories during recent months, and by the US and Britain's hard-line policies against Iraq.
Democracy reinstituted
TWENTY-FIVE years after its dissolution, a partly elected parliament is to be set up in Bahrain and direct municipal elections will take place as part of promised political reforms in the Gulf Arab state.
Bahrain's Emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Issa Al-Khalifa, said on Saturday the new parliament would have two chambers, one directly elected, in the most wide-ranging constitutional reform since the dissolution of the elected parliament in 1975.
"We see that the democratic and constitutional development around the world require the introduction of a two-chamber system," the official Gulf News Agency quoted Sheikh Hamad as saying in a speech marking the country's National Day.
The reform would make Bahrain the second Gulf Arab state with an elected parliament, after Kuwait.
Bahrain elected its first parliament in 1973, but it was dissolved two years later. Demands for its restoration were behind unrest among the majority Shi'ite Muslim community in 1994-1998, which shook the Gulf's financial and banking hub.
Sheikh Hamad, who took over power after the death of his father in October of last year, pledged a new political era in Bahrain that would include a national dialogue over the constitution.
The Emir's remarks on Saturday followed recommendations by a 46-member body he had appointed to draw up a national charter as part of political reforms.
Compiled by Rasha Saad

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