*National Affairs
Political Headlines
1. Mubarak-Abdullah talks tackle regional scene. (The Egyptian Gazette)
The latest developments in the Middle East peace process and changes in Israel’s political landscape as well as Egyptian-Jordanian economic links topped summit talks between President Hosni Mubarak and visiting Jordan’s King Abdullah in Cairo Tuesday night.
“The talks focused on the Egyptian efforts to achieve inter-Palestinian reconciliation as well as the Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations,” presidential spokesman Sulaiman Awwad told reporter after the meeting.
www.egyptiangazette.net.eg
2. Cairo and Tehran for ‘closer ties’. (The Egyptian Gazette)
Egyptian and Iranian senior diplomats were engaged in talks yesterday to improve bilateral ties amid tensions over a media row between Cairo and Tehran, Mohamed Ismail writes.
Egypt expressed dissatisfaction with some reports that have been published by Iranian newspapers, which it sees as harmful to the interests of Cairo and Tehran, a senior Foreign Ministry official said during his meeting with Hussein Ragab, the head of the Iranian Interests Section here.
However, Hussein Harridi, Egypt’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs, said that Egypt and Iran were keen to preserve the whole regional security and enhancing bilateral relations.
www.egyptiangazette.net.eg
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*Regional and International Affairs
Political Headlines:
1. Quartet 'creating power vacuum' in Middle East. (The Independent)
The international community is "losing its grip" on the Middle East peace process and failing to improve the appalling living conditions for Palestinians, a group of leading NGOs charges today.
The international Quartet consisting of the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia is accused of creating a "vacuum of leadership" as the aid agencies complain that "visible progress" in the Middle East has "failed to materialize".
The report says that despite the Quartet saying in June that such progress was vital to building confidence in the negotiating process, it has failed to press home its own calls on Israel for a freeze on settlement building, an improvement in the movement of Palestinian people and goods, and a revival of the collapsed economy in Gaza.
On settlements it says there has been a "marked failure to hold the Israeli authorities to their obligation under the [internationally agreed] road map and international law". It urges the Quartet to go "beyond rhetoric" and take "concrete steps" in the face of a "marked acceleration" in settlement building since Israeli-Palestinian negotiations were kick-started by the Annapolis summit last year.
The report, deliberately issued on the eve of a Quartet meeting tomorrow in New York, seeks to expose a growing gap between the stated policies of the international community on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and what it has delivered in practice.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/quartet-creating-power-vacuum-in-middle-east-941474.html
2. Iraq Passes Provincial Elections Law. (The New York Times)
After months of negotiation, Iraq’s Parliament passed a crucial election law on yesterday, but only by setting aside for future debate the most divisive political issues.
The way for provincial elections to take place in much of the country early next year. The elections are viewed by many Iraqi and American officials as crucial for the nation to heal its deep-running political and religious fissures and also to shore up the fragile security gains that have been achieved in recent months.
The question of how to settle a fierce dispute over control of the ethnically mixed and oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, however, was given to a committee for further study. And an article in an earlier version of the law that provided a limited number of provincial council seats for Iraq’s Christians and other minorities was eliminated from the new bill, stirring outrage among the groups.
Still, the bill’s passage represents a significant achievement for a country that has more often resorted to violence than political negotiation in resolving its differences.
The elections are likely to result in broader political representation in many parts of Iraq. And they will be watched closely for what they might forecast for the next parliamentary elections, to be held in 2009.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/world/middleeast/25iraq.html?ref=world
3. Russian Diplomat Says Snub Over Iran Meeting Was Aimed at U.S. (The Washington Post)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that his government had refused to attend a high-level meeting scheduled for today to discuss Iran's nuclear ambitions in retaliation for Washington's refusal to hold a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Group of Eight industrialized powers.
The move was calculated to show the United States that it will pay a price for seeking to isolate Russia on the international scene in response to its military intervention in Georgia last month. "You cannot really have it both ways, punishing Russia by canceling the forums that are very important for the entire world at the same time demanding Russia's cooperation on the issues that are of importance to you," Lavrov said during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday night.
Russia's senior diplomat made the remarks after a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In a "polite" exchange, Rice told Lavrov that Russia "had created grave difficulties for itself" by recognizing Georgia's breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, according to Daniel Fried, the assistant secretary of state for European affairs.
Rice tried to rally European leaders at a luncheon to maintain pressure on Russia to complete the withdrawal of its forces from Georgia and to "make clear that the transatlantic community is not going to accept Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia," Fried said.
But she also sought to signal that although the United States expected Russia to pay for its action, the United States wanted to continue working closely on issues, including Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan. Fried underscored the "businesslike" tone of the discussions. "This was not shouting, table pounding, histrionics," he said.
Both sides agreed that the six major powers coordinating Iran policy -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- would continue lower-level talks aimed at ensuring that Iran further guarantee that it will not pursue nuclear weapons. But they did not schedule another round of talks. "We agreed we have to be pragmatic," Lavrov said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/24/AR2008092403885.html
4. At Assembly, Fretting Over Russia's Rejection of Iran Sanctions U.S Shrugs at N. Korea Nuclear Move. (The New York Sun)
European diplomats are expressing concern that Russia's refusal to impose a new round of sanctions on Iran could spell an end to diplomacy and lead to a military attack to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
A Russian veto at the U.N. Security Council would scuttle any resolution on sanctions, which America is seeking over Iran's refusal to dismantle its nuclear program. Relations between Washington and Moscow have turned icy since Russia's war with Georgia this summer, though Russian diplomats are denying any "spillover" effect from the war into issues relating to Iran and North Korea, both of which have defied Security Council demands that they shut down their nuclear programs.
Still, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who addressed the Council on Foreign Relations last night shortly after meeting with Secretary of State Rice for the first time since the war last month over the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, said yesterday that America should clarify how much cooperation it wants from Russia.
Ms. Rice and her French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, say that if Russia believes the time is not right for a new Security Council resolution on Iran, then the time is not right. But privately, Western European diplomats are expressing frustration that Russia is blocking any punitive measures on Iran, even after the International Atomic Energy Agency last week voiced its frustration with Tehran's intransigence.
http://www.nysun.com/foreign/at-assembly-fretting-over-russias-rejection/86570/
5. U.S., Iran, others urged to join nuclear test ban pact. (The Washington Post)
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday he was worried about the fate of a global pact banning nuclear tests and urged the United States, Iran, China and other holdouts to sign and ratify it.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty opened for signatures 12 years ago. Since then, 179 nations have signed and 144 ratified it. Missing are nine states with nuclear activities, whose ratification is required.
"The (treaty) has achieved near universal adherence," Ban told a meeting of 40 foreign ministers on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. The ministers issued a statement appealing to holdout countries to ratify the pact.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/24/AR2008092401980.html
6. N. Korea orders UN nuclear inspectors from plant. (The Huston Chronicle)
North Korea moved closer to restarting its nuclear arms program yesterday, barring U.N. inspectors from its main plutonium reprocessing plant and announcing it will reactivate the facility that provided the material for its atomic test blast.
The move fed fears about a resurgent nuclear North Korea, but there also is speculation it might be motivated by negotiating strategy. Pyongyang could use the year needed to restart its sole reprocessing plant to wrest more concessions from the U.S. and others seeking to end the atomic program.
Still, coming amid reports leader Kim Jong Il suffered a stroke, the nuclear reversal is raising nervousness about a breakdown in the international attempt to coax the North out of its confrontational isolation a point addressed Wednesday by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
U.S. diplomats are talking with other nations involved in bargaining with the North at this week's meeting of the U.N. General Assembly.
Any move by Pyongyang to restart its nuclear program "would only deepen its isolation," Rice warned. "We strongly urge the North to reconsider these steps and come back immediately into compliance with its obligations" under a disarmament-for-aid agreement reached in six-nation talks.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/6021620.html
7. Terrorism's impact grows as Indian election nears. (The International Herald Tribune)
Politics in India, as in neighboring Pakistan and the United States, is increasingly singed by terrorism.
India, the world's largest democracy, is reeling from four bomb attacks in four months, the latest in the heart of the capital on Sept. 13. How to deal with that threat has moved front and center in the campaign for the national election early next year.
The main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, has called the administration "soft" on radical Islamist organizations and unable to protect citizens from wanton strikes.
"Save India" will be the party's campaign theme, Arun Jaitley, one of the party's top strategists, said in an interview last week as other BJP leaders rallied near the site of one of the most recent bombings. "How do you save India from this kind of terrorism?" Jaitley asked. "The core issue will be terrorism."
The government is scrambling to defend its record, even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh acknowledges "vast gaps" in intelligence gathering on terrorist networks operating in this large, fractious country.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/24/asia/24india.php
8. AP Interview: Mugabe urges west to lift sanctions. (The Washington Times)
Zimbabwe's president said Wednesday he sees no obstacles to carrying out a power-sharing agreement with rivals and hopes it will lead the West to ease sanctions, which he blamed for devastating the country's economy.
In an interview with The Associated Press, the 84-year-old Robert Mugabe was sharp, quick and animated and made clear he is determined to remain president despite what he said were efforts by Britain and the United States to oust him.
"They are waiting for a day when this man, this evil man, called Robert Mugabe is no longer in control," he said. "And I don't know when that day is coming."
So he has no thoughts of resigning?
"No _ or a thought of dying," Mugabe chuckled.
Mugabe, who is to address the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday, dismissed Western reports that the Sept. 15 power-sharing deal could fall apart "because I don't know of any hitch."
Under the agreement, Mugabe remains president but is supposed to cede some of the powers he has wielded for nearly three decades in the southern African country. Long-simmering and bitter differences as well as the nation's economic collapse, though, have put the deal under intense pressure.
Mugabe said yesterday the only outstanding issue is deciding on four of the 31 Cabinet posts, and the negotiations are continuing in Harare while he is in New York. He declined to say which posts are still being discussed.
http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/sep/24/ap-interview-mugabe-urges-west-to-lift-sanctions/
9. Mbeki may retain role as mediator on power-sharing. (The International Herald Tribune)
Thabo Mbeki, who has resigned as president of South Africa, is leaving the door open to continuing to mediate the power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and the opposition leader and prime minister-designate, Morgan Tsvangirai.
"It's very close to President Mbeki's heart," said his spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga.
A decision on whether Mbeki continues as mediator rests with the Southern African Development Community, a 14-nation group that selected him last year.
Mbeki recently became the head of the group, a position he is relinquishing.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/24/africa/24briefsmbekimayretabrf.php
-----------------------------
US:
1. McCain Wants to Delay First Debate to Focus on Economy. (The New York Sun)
Senator McCain said today he wants to delay Friday's debate with Senator Obama and temporarily put aside their partisan campaign to resolve the nation's financial crisis.
Mr. McCain's announcement came after the two candidates held private talks about joining forces to address the Wall Street meltdown. The Obama campaign said the Democrat initiated the talks, but Mr. McCain beat Mr. Obama to the punch with the first public statement calling for the two to rise above politics in a time of crisis.
Mr. McCain said the Bush administration's plan seemed headed for defeat and a bipartisan solution was urgently needed.
Mr. McCain said he would put politics aside and return to Washington tomorrow to focus on the nation's financial problems after addressing President Clinton's Global Initiative session at New York. Mr. McCain said he wants President Bush to convene a leadership meeting at Washington that would include him and Mr. Obama.
http://www.nysun.com/national/mccain-wants-to-delay-first-debate-to-focus/86520/
2. Bush warns of long recession without rescue plan. (The San Francisco Chronicle)
President Bush yesterday warned Americans and lawmakers reluctant to pass a $700 billion financial rescue plan that failing to act fast risks wiping out retirement savings, rising foreclosures, lost jobs, closed businesses and even "a long and painful recession."
His dire warning came not long after the president issued extraordinary invitations to presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, one of whom will inherit the mess in four months, as well as key congressional leaders to a White House meeting on Thursday to work on a compromise.
"Without immediate action by Congress, American could slip into a financial panic and a distressing scenario would unfold," Bush said in a 12-minute prime-time address from the White House East Room that he hoped would help rescue his tough-sell bailout package.
Bush explicitly endorsed several of the changes that have been demanded in recent days from the right and left. But he warned that he would draw the line at regulations he determined would hamper economic growth.
"It should be enacted as soon as possible," the president said.
The bailout, which the Bush administration asked Congress last weekend to approve before it adjourns, is meeting with deep skepticism, especially from conservatives in Bush's own party who are revolting at the high price tag and unprecedented private-sector intervention. Though there is general agreement that something must be done to address the spiraling economic problems, the timing and even the size of the package remained in doubt and the administration has been forced to accept changes almost daily.
Seeking to explain himself to conservatives, Bush stressed he was reluctant to put taxpayer money on the line to help businesses that had made bad decisions and that the rescue is not aimed at saving individual companies. He tried to address some of the major complaints from Democrats by promising that CEOs of failed companies won't be rewarded.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/24/national/w181606D88.DTL
3. House Passes Spending Bill. (The Washington Post)
The House overwhelmingly approved a resolution yesterday to continue funding the federal government until March 6, a stopgap measure needed to avert a government shutdown because Congress has not approved the 12 appropriations bills pending on Capitol Hill.
The measure, passed 370 to 58, includes provisions to lend as much as $25 billion to help the U.S. auto industry build more fuel-efficient vehicles; $2.5 billion more than was spent in 2008 for home heating assistance for the poor; additional money for Pell Grant tuition assistance for low-income students and money for the 2010 census, among many other measures.
The resolution will fund most of the government at fiscal 2008 levels but includes three fiscal 2009 appropriations bills totaling $630 billion for Defense, Homeland Security and military construction/Veterans Affairs. Those measures devote $487.7 billion to defense, $39.98 billion for homeland security, and $72.9 billion for military base construction and veterans' health care.
The bill does not extend the moratorium on oil drilling off the East and West coasts that is set to expire Tuesday. Rep. David R. Obey (D-Wis.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said a new drilling plan that Democrats had hoped to include in the spending resolution was withdrawn after a veto threat from President Bush.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/24/AR2008092403819.html