*National Affairs
Political Headlines:
1. Egypt for diplomatic solution to Darfur crisis. (The Egyptian Gazette)
Egypt backs all diplomatic efforts exerted by the international community to end the crisis in Sudan’s Darfur region by supporting negotiations on a settlement, a senior official said yesterday.
President Hosni Mubarak and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir are in constant contact about the situation in Darfur and closely follow up efforts to end the conflict, Minister of State and Legal Affairs Mufid Shehab added, according to Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency (MENA).
www.egyptiangazette.net.eg
2. Egypt names new envoy to Israel. (The Daily Star Egypt)
Egypt says it has named a new ambassador to Israel to replace its outgoing envoy.
A Foreign Ministry statement issued yesterday says the new ambassador will be Yasser Ridha, a key assistant to Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
It describes Ridha as a diplomat with "diverse experience in Arab and Israeli affairs." He previously served in China, Cyprus, Iraq, Germany and Italy.
The outgoing ambassador to Israel, Mohammed Assem, has finished his three-year post and will return to Cairo.
http://www.dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=15547
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*Regional and International Affairs
Political Headlines:
1. GAO: Iraq could have $79 billion budget surplus. (The San Francisco Chronicle)
The Iraqi government could end the year with as much as a $79 billion budget surplus as ever-increasing oil revenues pile on top of leftover income the Iraqis still haven't spent on their national rebuilding effort, congressional auditors say.
A report by the Government Accountability Office made public Tuesday prompted renewed calls from senators that Baghdad pay more of the bill for its own reconstruction, which has been heavily supported with U.S. funds.
The projected Iraq surplus, including unspent money from 2005 through 2008, has been building because of rising world oil prices, increasing Iraqi oil production, the government's inability to execute budgets for spending its money and persistent violence in the country, the GAO said.
The report was requested by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. John Warner, R-Va., the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/05/national/w133830D07.DTL
2. Kuwait FM blasts Iran threat to shut Gulf strait. (The Huston Chronicle)
Kuwait's foreign minister says Iran's renewed threats to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf amount to a "punishment" of its Arab neighbors.
Sheik Mohammed Al Sabah says in comments published Wednesday in Kuwait's Aljarida daily that the latest threats are "odd," because Arab Gulf states support a peaceful nuclear program in Iran.
Tehran reiterated this week that, if attacked, it could shut the narrow waterway along Iran's southern coast, through which up to 40 percent of the world's oil passes. Such a move would send oil prices skyrocketing.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/5927336.html
3. Iran Seeks Details on Nuclear Offer. (The Washington Post)
The Iranian government said yesterday that it is ready to respond to an incentives package that the United States and five other world powers have offered in exchange for suspension of its uranium-enrichment program. But Iran insisted that the big powers "simultaneously" provide a more detailed explanation of the offer, a formula that may lead to drawn-out talks.
Iran's position was outlined in a statement its chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, sent Tuesday to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. The statement, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, said that "such mutual clarification can pave the way for a speedy and transparent negotiating process with a bright prospect."
"The Republic of Iran is ready to provide a 'clear response' to your proposal at the earliest possibility, while simultaneously expecting to receive your 'clear response' to our questions and ambiguities as well," the statement said. "The second phase of negotiations can commence as early as possible, if there is such willingness."
Iran's response fell short of demands by the United States, Britain and France that Tehran immediately accept the offer or face new sanctions. U.S. and European officials characterized Tehran's reaction as evasive.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080501727.html
4. 'Freeze-for-freeze' package ignored as Iran stalls for time on nuclear demands. (The Guardian Unlimited)
Iran has ignored the demand that it freeze all nuclear activity in its answer to the international offer of a package of incentives to try to defuse the looming crisis over its nuclear ambitions.
Tehran yesterday reinforced the impression among western diplomats that it is still playing for time by waiting yet another day before delivering a written response to Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, who is leading efforts to avert a confrontation in the Middle East.
EU officials confirmed they had received the text from Iran's ambassador in Brussels last night but gave no details of its content. There was little hope of an unambiguously positive answer but no expectation of an clear rejection either.
"We are used to these tactics from the Iranians but the fact is that they haven't yet broken things off," a diplomat said. But there is likely to be strong pressure from Washington for a tough response.
On Saturday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed that Iran would not move "one iota" on its nuclear rights.
The five permanent members of the UN security council, plus Germany, have offered to refrain from imposing more sanctions if Iran freezes expansion of its nuclear work. The "freeze-for-freeze" idea is seen as a stepping stone towards negotiations on a package of economic and technological incentives.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/06/iran.nuclear
5. Bush urges North Korea to live up to nuclear deal, China to allow more religious freedom. (The Chicago Tribune)
President Bush offered poverty-wracked North Korea hope Wednesday that it could share in South Korea's economic prosperity, while warning that it first must take concrete steps to live up to a promise to end its nuclear weapons program.
Bush, kicking off a three-nation Asian visit, made clear the reclusive communist regime must continue to meet the step-by-step denuclearization demands contained in a framework agreement reached in six-party talks involving both Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
But while he spoke of a future in which North Korea is no longer part of the "axis of evil" he first outlined in 2002, along with Iran and prewar Iraq, Bush said much work remains, including improvement of Pyongyang's human rights record.
"North Korea traps its people in misery and isolation," Bush said.
Addressing a news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Bush also advised China that its pre-Olympics crackdown on dissent was "a mistake."
The communist country considers the Olympics a source of huge national pride and is pulling out all stops to ensure no embarrassments. It has rounded up dissidents, detaining some. Journalists covering the games have objected to restrictions on Internet sites, worried about possible censorship.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-bush-asia,0,4882023.story
6. Pro- and Anti-Bush Rallies Mark President's Visit to S. Korea. (The Washington Post)
As President Bush rode a motorcade out of Seoul air base on Tuesday night, he was greeted by hundreds of people waving South Korean and American flags and signs announcing "Friends Forever." But in downtown parts of the capital, anti-Bush protests drew thousands of marchers, and police used water cannons to keep them at bay.
U.S. officials portrayed the protests as a sign of vitality in one of Asia's largest democracies. The gatherings also reflected persistent resentment here over U.S. pressure to buy American beef and U.S. policy toward North Korea and its nuclear weapons.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080500929.html
7. Exiles try to rekindle hopes for change in Myanmar. (The International Herald tribune)
Win Min has spent 20 years trying to recover a moment of hope in Myanmar, when it seemed that the people had defeated their brutal military rulers and freedom lay ahead.
Friday is the anniversary of the beginning of a huge popular uprising in 1988 that was crushed by soldiers at the cost of 3,000 lives, leaving the country in the grip of a military junta and setting the course of Myanmar's history ever since and likely well into the future.
"We had a big hope that we would succeed," said Win Min, who was a student leader in Myanmar, which was then known as Burma. "It was the biggest struggle ever in Burmese history. Not just in one town but even in remote villages. The whole country was marching in the streets."
On Thursday, Win Min will be among a small group of activist exiles who are scheduled to meet here with President George W. Bush, who has given his backing to what has so far been an unsuccessful struggle for democracy in Myanmar. The military junta that seized power in 1988 has only tightened its grip since then, locking up opponents and hunkering down in the face of criticisms and sanctions from the West. The pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for 12 of the past 18 years.
The junta violently suppressed a peaceful uprising led by monks in September and restricted foreign aid to victims after a cyclone in May.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/06/asia/06myanmar.php
8. Mugabe offered amnesty and job for life in draft agreement. (The Independent)
Robert Mugabe is set to receive a blanket amnesty and a post as ceremonial head of state followed by a life term as "founding president" on his retirement, under the terms of a draft deal to set up a transitional government in Zimbabwe.
According to the proposed settlement, obtained by The Independent, Morgan Tsvangirai will take over the running of the country as the new executive Prime Minister in an interim administration that will pave the way for fresh elections at a date to be determined in the future.
The detailed draft of more than 50 pages has already been circulated between the two rivals when they bypassed talks in South Africa two weeks ago, preferring to liaise indirectly with one another in Harare via intermediaries.
The draft agreement, as yet unnamed, will also provide the basis of the face-to-face meeting between the two men in the Zimbabwean capital tomorrow, an encounter that will be facilitated by the South African President, Thabo Mbeki.
Although there is still no final deal on the table, sources close to both sides of the talks say their respective parties are receptive to the draft. According to the document, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, will head the country through a period of transition, the duration of which is still to be negotiated. While the MDC is pushing for a term of 24 or 30 months, Zanu-PF is negotiating for five years. A compromise has still to be reached.
The outcome of negotiations remains uncertain and the draft could still be rejected.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/mugabe-offered-amnesty-and-job-for-life-in-draft-agreement-886144.html
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US:
1. White House Denies Author's Accusations of Document Forgery. (The Washington Post)
The Bush administration joined former top CIA officials in denouncing a new book's assertion that White House officials ordered the forgery of Iraqi documents to suggest a link between Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the lead hijacker in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The claim was made by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind, whose book "The Way of the World" also contends that the White House obtained compelling evidence in early 2003 that Iraq possessed no significant stocks of nuclear or biological weapons but decided to invade the country anyway.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/05/AR2008080501750.html
2. Obama leads McCain nationally in AP-Ipsos poll. (The San Francisco Chronicle)
Solid margins among women, minorities and young voters have powered Barack Obama to a 6 percentage point lead over John McCain in the presidential race, according to a poll released Tuesday.
Obama is ahead of his Republican rival 47 percent to 41 percent, The Associated Press-Ipsos poll showed. The survey was taken after the Democratic senator from Illinois had returned from a trip to Middle Eastern and European capitals, and during a week that saw the two camps clash over which had brought race into a campaign in which Obama is striving to become the first African-American president.
McCain, the senator from Arizona, is leading by 10 points among whites and is even with Obama among men, groups with whom Republicans traditionally do well in national elections.
Obama leads by 13 points among women, by 30 points among voters up to age 34, and by 55 points among blacks, Hispanics and other minorities, the poll shows.
Independent Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr both won support from less than 5 percent of the registered voters surveyed. When people were asked who they would support if Nader and Barr were not on the ballot, Obama's lead over McCain was virtually unchanged.
The poll showed a huge Democratic advantage when voters ponder which party they would like to see control Congress next year. Democrats were favored over Republicans 53 percent to 35 percent, underscoring the mountainous disadvantage McCain and other GOP candidates are facing in the Nov. 4 voting.
The poll illustrated other ways damage has been inflicted on the Republican brand name as well.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/05/politics/p111651D04.DTL
3. In Ad, McCain Breaks With Bush. (The New York Sun)
Senator McCain is making his most abrupt break with President Bush yet, releasing a new television ad that asserts that Americans are "worse off than we were four years ago."
The new 30-second spot hails the presumptive Republican nominee as "the original maverick" and criticizes Washington gridlock.
"Washington's broken. John McCain knows it," a narrator says during the ad. "We're worse off than we were four years ago."
The script continues: "Only McCain has taken on Big Tobacco, drug companies, fought corruption in both parties. He'll reform Wall Street, battle Big Oil, make America prosper again. He's the original maverick."
The message is a departure for Mr. McCain from seven months ago, when he was asked in a Republican primary debate whether Americans "are better off than they were eight years ago."
http://www.nysun.com/national/mccain-makes-sharp-break-from-bush-in-new-ad/83228/