WASHINTON: Operation of Lockheed Martin’s F-16 production line in Fort Worth could be extended “perhaps another year” as a result of an agreement, announced Tuesday, under which Egypt would buy up to 24 of the jet fighters, company spokesman Joe Stout said.

“Right now, production in Fort Worth extends through the first quarter of 2012,” he said. “It extends it perhaps another year. … It’s very good news.”

Lockheed has about 2,100 employees in Fort Worth building the venerable F-16 — the world’s most widely flown jet fighter — at a rate of about two planes per month.

The U.S. government signed an agreement with Egypt on Dec. 24 to sell the planes to the African nation, and the Pentagon had notified Congress of the possible sale in October, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

Stout said Lockheed is expected to enter into a contract with the U.S. government, probably in the first quarter of next year, to produce the planes for Egypt. With contract negotiations ahead, the specific value of the contract isn’t yet known, Stout said.

Production of the planes for Egypt is expected to take about three years from the signing of the contract, Stout said. That could extend the Fort Worth plant’s F-16 production line through the first quarter of 2013, he said.

This is the second piece of good news for Fort Worth’s F-16 operations in a week.

On Dec. 22, Lockheed was awarded an $841.9 million contract to complete production of 24 F-16 fighters for Morocco, as well as for electronic warfare gear and support equipment.

Lockheed Martin said Tuesday that it is “pleased that the U.S. and Egyptian governments have reached agreement” on a program to deliver F-16s to the Egyptian air force. “Egypt has acquired more than 200 F-16s in the past, in six previous orders, and is a valued customer,” the Bethesda, Md.-based company said.

The US President Barack Obama has asked Afghan President Hamid Karzai to speed up efforts to eliminate corruption from the country, adding that a new chapter of relations should open between American and Afghanistan.

US President telephoned and congratulated Afghan President Karzai for becoming president for the second term after the formal announcement by the election commission. US President told his Afghan counterpart that this was the right time to open new chapter of relations between two countries

Health experts from the Association of British Hujjaj (Pilgrims) UK (ABH), a National Hajj specific organization express their grave concern about the safety and wellbeing of over 25,000 British Hajj pilgrims who will start traveling from next week to join more than 2 million people from all over the world to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The health experts are concerned that despite a clear advice from Saudi Arabian Government and the World Health Organisation (WHO) a substantial number of high risk categories i.e. people who suffer from chronic disease, pregnant women, children under 12 and those aged over 65 are travelling to perform Hajj without getting vaccinated against the swine flu which can result in serious consequence effecting the people and the health system.

The health experts are issuing a last-minute warning to the prospective pilgrims that they should be prepared for the screening process that is taking place at all ports of entry to Saudi Arabia. If pilgrims are suspected of having swine flu then they will be temporarily quarantined and if tested positive they will be admitted to hospital for isolation.

The pilgrims must take the threat of swine flu seriously and they should take all necessary precautionary measures to safeguard their health. They should make personal hygienic habits such as covering the nose while sneezing, coughing into a tissue and washing hands with water and soap. They should also utilise the personal hygiene kit that includes face masks and hand sanitizers which will be made available to them by the Saudi authorities at the airport upon arrival.

Khalid Pervez, General Secretary of ABH advised that “prospective British Hajj pilgrims should take lead of Egypt which has made health insurance coverage mandatory for all their pilgrims so that they would not have any problem in getting treatment in Saudi hospitals”.

Khalid Pervez , General Secretary

Association of British Hujjaj (Pilgrims) UK (A.B.H), Southside Business Centre

Tel: +44 (0)121 440 1700. E-mail: abh12@btconnect.com , Website: http://www.abhuk.com

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered aid on Tuesday to boost ties with the Muslim world and urged Israel, the Palestinians and Arab countries to move beyond recrimination in the search for peace.

“We are determined and persistent in the pursuit of that goal,” she said in a speech at a development forum in Morocco attended by Arab ministers. After a weekend of heated words about the perceived U.S. tilt towards Israel on the issue of settlements on the occupied West Bank, Clinton said it was important for all sides to “be careful about what we say” and avoid angry rhetoric.

MAKKAH: Heavy rains have failed to dampen the spirits of millions of pilgrims as they readied themselves today on the plains of Arafat where they will pray to the Almighty for His mercy and blessings.

Arafat is the second day of Haj and one of the highpoints of the holy pilgrimage. When dawn breaks, pilgrims will stand on the place where Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered his last sermon 14 centuries ago.

Yesterday pilgrims circumambulated the Ka’ba and then traveled to Mina for the Day of Tarwiyah, where they rested in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet.

Saudi authorities have warned pilgrims to move carefully amid Wednesday’s storms, the first in years to occur during the Haj.

Water seeped into tents in the sprawling tent city in Mina where pilgrims were staying.

“We are staying in tents for now. Heavy rain turned red-carpeted corridors into streams of water with empty cans of soft drinks floating,” Zohra Nasef, from Morocco and on her second Haj, told Reuters.

“Some pilgrims could not find enough space in tents so we deployed additional ones to shelter them,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Al-Turki.

The pilgrims, however, have continued with their Haj rituals and no evacuation was reported. A power outage hit parts of Makkah, SPA said.

Khaled Merghalani, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, said the threat of heavy rain in Makkah could result in health risks for pilgrims, but was confident the authorities could handle any crisis.

“We have planned for this possibility,” he said. Plans to counter natural calamities such as heavy rains and floods have been well laid out, said Khaled Al-Habshi from the Red Crescent.

The security and safety of pilgrims has been a major concern for the authorities this year, with certain groups calling to politicize the Haj, the conflict with the infiltrators on the Saudi-Yemeni border, and the threat of swine flu. Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Al-Turki said Tuesday the government would not allow surprise attacks on pilgrims.

Four pilgrims have already died from the A(H1N1) virus here, the authorities said. On Tuesday the Health Ministry said all hospitals and medical centers in Makkah and the holy sites were prepared to receive flu cases.

“There is no risk of the illness spreading as we are well-prepared and have taken the necessary measures to prevent an outbreak,” Merghalani told a news conference.

Shahul Ebrahim, a consultant from the Atlanta, Georgia-based CDC at the Haj, said it was too early to tell if the rains could exacerbate the spread of H1N1, the flu virus. “Rain can lead to other waterborne diseases … such as the common cold, flu. But we still don’t know how it will affect H1N1. We can’t predict,” he told The Associated Press.

So far, the rain has mainly caused traffic snarls. Winter is the rainy season in Makkah, and light showers are not uncommon, but such a heavy downpour has not been seen for years during the Haj.

Civil Defense spokesman Maj. Abdullah Al-Harthi said his organization has plans to deal with flooding, including 300 buses to evacuate pilgrims if necessary. He said no casualties have been reported from the rains, SPA reported.

One lane of the main road into Makkah was closed by flooding, said Amer Al-Amer, an Interior Ministry official. “It cannot handle the pressure of all the people coming from outside Makkah,” he said, adding that it would cause delays of several hours for people trying to reach the sites.

Water covered the floors in many of the tents, said Suleiman Hamad, a 29-year-old pilgrim in Mina. He said the scene was “muddy, but manageable,” with many pilgrims throwing blankets over their heads when they walked outside. Rain fell sporadically throughout the day, and stopped by late afternoon in many sites – though it continued to fall in Makkah.