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New York Monthly Herald. July 2006 Issue P. 13                                                                                                

MIDDLE EAST

Abducted US student returned to Israel

Palestinian gunmen send news agencies tape showing young religious man holding Hebrew University student certificate, saying 'if prisoners are not released, I will be executed'; at around 3 a.m., student transferred to PA Preventive Security Service, then released at Hawara checkpoint Ynet reported that what began as a kidnapping drama, apparently ended peacefully early Sunday when sources in Nablus reported that the American student kidnapped near the city was transferred to the Palestinian Authority Preventive Security Service, and then handed over to Israel at the Hawara checkpoint. Following a short interrogation by security forces, the student was released to his home in Jerusalem, where he is staying as part of a student exchange program. The student spoke to his father on the phone at the checkpoint and assured him that he was okay. The student, Benjamin Bright-Fishbein, who says he likes the local culture, has already visited Jericho and Jordan in the past, and now decided to pay a visit to Nablus. This time he was almost forced to pay a heavy price: While sitting relaxed in a city café, he was kidnapped by gunmen who threatened to execute him. Israelis are banned from entering the Palestinian Authority's zone A, but this prohibition does not apply to foreign citizens. The drama began at around midnight, when the defense establishment began looking into a report that a foreign civilian, a resident of Jerusalem, was kidnapped near Nablus by members of the Fatah's al-Aqsa Brigades. Photographs showing the abducted student were sent to the Reuters news agency and were aired on the al-Jazeera network. Israeli officials said that "the report has not been verified yet, but both the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet are looking into it." The al-Aqsa Brigades also sent a tape showing the young man, in his 20s, demanding that prisoners be freed in exchange for this release, threatening to kill the man if the prisoners are not released. The defense establishment began searching Jerusalem for students meeting the kidnapped student's description. The inquiry also focused on the intelligence level. Rafa Hawajaba, commander of the Preventive Security Service in Nablus, told Ynet earlier that the young American passed through his officer. According to the Hawajaba, Bright-Fishbein was in good condition and was not hurt. The commander said that he had been in contact with the Israeli side in order to hand over the young man. He added that the student was allowed to talk to his family. Ali Waked, Efrat Weiss and Hanan Greenberg contributed to the report.

As Qassam attacks continue DM Peretz devotes day to planning evacuation of outposts.

Peretz speeds up evacuation preparations. Defense minister instructs army to expedite preparations for plan to evacuate illegal outposts in West Bank. He gave the Israel Defense Forces two weeks to complete preparations for a plan to evacuate illegal outposts in the West Bank. Peretz ordered the army to concentrate its preparation efforts on settlements with a history of violence against soldiers, policemen and Palestinians. In talks with chief of general staff Lit.-Gen. Dan Halutz, and senior military and legal officials Peretz was presented with the legal criterions for the planned evacuations. "I attach great importance to maintaining law and order and to places where people take the law in their hands and mock law enforcement authorities."

Israel satellite 'to spy on Iran'

Photo: Nuclear facilities such as those at Natanz could be under scrutiny.

Israel has launched a satellite that officials say will enhance its ability to spy on Iran's nuclear program. The satellite, reportedly capable of taking clear photographs of objects on the ground as small as 70cm (2ft), was sent into space from eastern Russia. The device needs several days before it can begin operating, an official said. Iran's president has often called for Israel's destruction but the government in Tehran denies Israeli and US claims that it is building a nuclear bomb. Iran says its nuclear program is purely intended to produce energy. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Monday that Tehran's nuclear program posed the biggest threat to Jews since the Nazi Holocaust.

Spy camera: Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Mofaz said the Eros-B satellite would make it easier for Israel to gather intelligence from further afield. The satellite was launched from a Russian military site in the country's far eastern Amur region, a spokesman for the site told the Itar-Tass news agency. Shimon Eckhaus, from the ImageSat International firm which helped manufacture the satellite, told the Reuters news agency: "Everything has gone completely to plan." He told the agency the satellite's camera could spot objects on the ground that were 70cm (2ft) across in length, or were at least that distance apart. "The satellite covers every square kilometre worldwide, including Iran," Mr Eckhaus said. ImageSat is part-owned by the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently described Israel's existence as "an injustice and by its very nature a permanent threat". "Whether you like it or not, the Zionist regime is on the road to being eliminated," he said.

 

"Islamic countries have every right to nuclear energy"

Mubarak and Larijani during talks in Cairo.

The conflict over Iran's nuclear file may have brought Ali Larijani, Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator, to Cairo, but there are few signs that his visit will break the 27-year-old diplomatic freeze between the two countries, writes Amira Houwedi in AlAhram . It may have been unexpected, and the first of its kind for three decades, yet the visit of Ali Larijani, Tehran's chief nuclear negotiator and head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, to Cairo on 10 and 11 June was surprisingly low key. Following an hour and a half long meeting with President Hosni Mubarak the Iranian official kept mum while the presidential spokesman explained only that they had discussed "bilateral" ties, developments in Iran's nuclear file and the Iraqi and Palestinian tracks. Later, at a joint press conference with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, Egyptians finally got a chance to see and hear Larijani, the highest ranking Iranian official to visit Egypt since Tehran cut diplomatic ties after Cairo signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1979 and provided asylum for the deposed Iranian Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi. Relations further deteriorated when Egypt backed Iraq during the 1980-1988 Gulf War.