European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton on Thursday met with Israeli President Shimon Peres who said that Israel’s policy towards construction in Jerusalem should not be changed.
“For 40 years there was a certain pattern which is that we build in the suburbs which are basically Jewish, and we didn’t build in the suburbs which are basically Arabs. That was done by all governments. It was accepted by everybody including, in fact, the Palestinians. It never disturbed the negotiations. I think that we have to continue the same policy,” said Peres.
During their private meeting in Peres’ residence in Jerusalem, Ashton — on a first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories since she took office — said the aim of her trip is to support the peace process.

“I’ve come with two purposes in mind: the first is to support the peace process and to ensure that the European Union plays its part in support of that process, and to have the opportunity to discuss the issues of concern with the leadership here and also to have the opportunity to visit some of the projects that we’re supporting.

And my second purpose is to recognise the bilateral relationship, especially economically,” Ashton told Peres.
Ashton’s visit came as tensions between Palestinians and Israel peaked with violent incidents erupting in and around Jerusalem.

Israel angered the Palestinians and touched off a spat with US President Barack Obama’s administration after announcing plans, during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden last week, to build 1,600 homes for Jews near East Jerusalem, in West Bank territory it annexed after a 1967 war.

The Obama administration continued to criticise Israel’s announcement to build 1,600 settler homes in east Jerusalem during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden.
In an interview taped on Friday and broadcast Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the announcement an insult to her country. It was insulting. And it was insulting not just to the vice president, who certainly did not deserve that. He was there with a very clear message of commitment to the peace process solidarity with the Israeli people. But it was an insult to the United States, said Clinton. It was not just an unfortunate incident of timing but the substance was something that is not needed as we are attempting to move toward the resumption of negotiations. This was an affront, this was an insult but most importantly it undermined this very fragile effort to bring peace to that region. We just now have started proximity talks, that is shuttle diplomacy between the Palestinians and the Israelis and for this announcement to come at that time was very, very destructive, said Axelrod. The timing of Israel’s disclosure, after Palestinians agreed to indirect peace talks, embarrassed Biden and raised questions over whether Israel’s settlement policy could harm US-Israeli security cooperation on the question of Iran.

India and Saudi Arabia have signed five accords relating to security, economy, defence and energy sectors to boost cooperation.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Saudi King Abdullah inked the accords in Riyadh declaration that aims at beginning a new era of strategic partnership between the two states. The two states agreed to increase cooperation in information exchange relating to terrorist activities, money laundering, narcotics, arms and human trafficking, and further develop joint strategies to combat the said threats. The Indian Prime Minister and King Abdullah condemned terrorism and extremism and affirmed that the issue has acquired global dimensions and poses a threat to all societies.
The treaty, signed by India’s Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Saudi Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, further enhances existing security cooperation and is aimed at helping in apprehending wanted persons in the two countries. Manmohan Singh and King Abdullah also discussed the peace process in the Middle East.

Three persons were injured when a remote-controlled bomb hit a peace committee convoy in Adezai, a suburb area of Peshawar today.
Resultantly, three passers-by wounded. However, leader peace committee Noor Malik said that all the people boarding the car remained safe. Police threw cordon around the area immediately after the blast.

Maldives hosted perhaps their most unusual guests ever during three days of clandestine peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
According to the presidential spokesman, the three-day talks were held at the end of January this year, in which steps to find out peaceful ways for Afghanistan war. He said the Maldivian government was not involved directly in the talks, in which a dozen Afghan government’s representatives, and as many Taliban participated. Reportedly, Gulbadin’s son was also present during the talks.

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan called for truce and peace vis-à-vis the violent protests staged against screening of Shahrukh Khan’s new movie ‘My Name Is Khan’, reportedly instigated by activists of Shiv Sena.
He said this at a function to mark the launching of ‘Bachchan Bol’, an initiative to connect him with his fans via mobile and landline phones across the globe at Mumbai. Bachchan said that the topic has been stretched too far and its time for peace and harmony. “I think this topic has been stretched too far, I think its time to talk about peace, and to talk about harmony. Rather than keep hinting on something, which is not going to get you or me anywhere. So please let’s talk about peace and harmony and I hope that it exists. Everything is working out fine,” he added. Shiv Sena activists have been targeting the theatres and warning theatres operators to stop the screening of the movie ‘My Name is Khan’. Earlier, they had vandalised a cinema hall and broke the glass showcases heralding the movie. It may be recalled that Khan, who is also the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, one of the teams competing in the ensuing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), had said that the participant teams should have considered inclusion of players from Pakistan. The comment has invited the wrath of the Shiv Sena, who have threatened to halt the screening of the film in Mumbai.

KARACHI, Pakistan News: Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad has called a meeting of coalition parties as the tension between PPP and MQM increased and also to overcome the peace situation prevailing in Karachi; where as Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah will have a telephonic talk with Altaf Hussain.
The meeting will consist of all the coalition parties present in the provincial government which include PPP, ANP, MQM and Muslim League Functional; where as Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah will also attend the meeting. Talking to party members at the residence of Senior Provincial Minister Raja Riaz in Lahore, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that we are trying to maintain the alliance between both the parties.

TAIPEI: Taiwan said on Monday it would investigate reports that local firms had sold nuclear technology to Iran, which the West suspects aims to build bombs.

The Economic Ministry’s Import and Export Administration pledged the investigation due in part to a report in an English daily that said Iran had set up a nuclear-equipment smuggling network using Taiwan companies, administration director Chen Ching-chih said.

Other intelligence also pointed to a Taiwan-Iran link, he said. Iran obtained 100 transducers, tools that convert pressure into electrical signals that were made in Europe and sold to a company in Taiwan, the newspaper said, citing Western intelligence officials. It said Taiwan sold them onward to Iran.

TORONTO: Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada have called for an international trial of the Sri Lankan president for allegedly ordering the killing of surrendering LTTE leaders during the ethnic war that ended in May.

Former Sri Lankan army chief and opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka has alleged that Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered troops to kill three top LTTE leaders when they raised white flags to surrender.

The defence secretary is the brother of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The killed Tamil leaders included LTTE Peace Secretariat head Seevaratnam Puleedevan, political wing head Balasingham Nandesan, and top military commander Ramesh and their families.

“From day one we knew that war crimes were being committed by the Sri Lankan army, but the international community asked us: where is the proof? Now the proof has come from the top army guy,” Canadian Tamil Congress spokesman David Poopalapillai .

“What more proof do world leaders and the international community now need to try the Sri Lankan president and his men for crimes against humanity?” he asked.

“Rajapaksa is a war criminal. He should be taken to The Hague to face trial for war crimes. No nation has violated the Geneva Convention as flagrantly as Sri Lanka. No nation ever killed the surrendering enemy.”

The Canadian Tamil leader said the international community should deal with the Sri Lankan president “in a similar way it dealt with Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein.”

He said the Tamil diaspora around the world is writing to the UN, the International Court of Justice and world leaders to put the Sri Lankan president on trial immediately.

“We are drafting our petition and will send it soon to the world leaders, including Canada and India, to put Mahinda Rajapaksa and his men in the dock for war crimes,” he said.

Canada has the largest concentration of Sri Lankan Tamils outside Sri Lanka, with most of the 300,000-strong community concentrated in the Toronto area.

Though Canada banned the LTTE in 2006, the community staged vociferous rallies in Toronto and at the Canadian parliament to put pressure on Sri Lanka to stop the war against the LTTE.

MANAMA: Regional countries are trying to influence Iraq’s upcoming elections but a coalition government is the mostly likely outcome, the foreign minister said on Saturday.

Iraq is due to hold national elections in March and the United States was to an inclusive government formed swiftly after the vote to avoid of a return to sectarian bloodshed.

“Many many regional governments and countries are really involved in supporting and siding with certain Iraqi groups in the elections,” Hoshiyar Zebari said on the sidelines of a security conference in Bahrain.

“Definitely I think there will be a lot of regional interference in these elections, in different forms — in offering financial, political, media support, different ways to different groups… we need to be careful to prevent that from happening or affecting our elections.”

The United States still has thousands of troops in Iraq backing the Shi’ite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose relations with most of the Sunni-led Arab countries are not warm.

Iraq’s government has often accused neighbouring Syria of not taking action to stop militants operating in Iraq. Many Saudis were among the foreign militants who went to Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries say Iran is backing many Shi’ite groups there.

Violence has dipped sharply in Iraq over the past 18 months but the recent bombings have stoked doubts about the ability of Iraqi security forces to keep the peace before the elections.

Militants linked to al Qaeda claimed bombings in Baghdad on Tuesday that police said killed 112 people.

“The government is really reviewing now its security measures and policies and there is definitely a need to take stronger measures against any breaches,” Zebari said.

No measures have been taken so far, he said.

Disagreements between Iraq’s factions held up parliamentary passage of a law needed for the election, originally slated for January, to take place. The presidency council said this week the poll, Iraq’s first since 2005, would take place on March 7.

“This upcoming election will be diversified because there are going to be four or five parliamentary blocks,” Zebari said. “Neither one or two or three would be able to form a government. There will be a need for a broader coalition.”

Washington hopes to end combat operations in Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, before a full pullout by the end of 2011. The U.S. force in Iraq is supposed to be reduced to 50,000 by end of August from around 115,000 now.