Daniel 12:4   But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end ...

Remember ...And never forget 9/11

Magog Revisited
KHouse 2007/1/31
...All the allies of Magog are in position, except one (watch Turkey!).  After nearly two decades of waiting, Turkey has finally begun official negotiations for admittance into the European Union.  The two largest impediments to Turkey’s EU membership are its predominantly Muslim population and its refusal to recognize the island nation of Cyprus (an EU member).  This could push a wounded Turkey back into the arms of the nationalists and hard-line Islamic fundamentalists. ...In the end, Andropov knew that the Soviet Union had only one thing the West wanted: geopolitical space. So space was what he gave. This continued the traditional Scythian ''defense in depth'' strategy! ...This was the strategy for nearly 25 years, until the loss of the Ukraine raised the specter of Russian dissolution. The Russians have now stepped away from the Andropov Doctrine, abandoned the implicit bargain within it, reformed the government under the leadership of pragmatists loyal to Putin, and have begun pushing back against American and Western pressure. ...Among American defense planners, there is a belief that the vast majority of weapons in the Russian nuclear program is nearing the end of its reliable life-cycle, and that replacing it would be well beyond Russia’s financial capacity. From the U.S. point of view, there is no reason to subject itself to a new treaty that would limit U.S. options, particularly when the Russia of today is far less able to support an arms race than the Soviet Union of yesteryear. The weapons that will be used in the Magog Invasion, or the Battle of Armageddon, may already be in inventory today. ...After losing the Mid-East foothold provided by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, the Russians have been building a new axis of power based on ties with Turkey, Iran and Syria. Russia is now Turkey’s second-largest trading partner, with a volume of $10 billion in trade per year; Russia strengthened ties with Iran by supplying it with nuclear-related technologies; and, Russia and Syria have made plans to increase diplomatic and military cooperation. ...
Comment: NOTE: TURKEY IS RUSSIA'S HISTORICAL ENEMY!
Article, emphasis, and comment contributed by Bob Anderson.

Israel restrained after Eilat bombing
Washington Jewish Week 2007/1/31
Israel has decided not to resume assassinating Palestinian terrorist leaders despite Monday's suicide bombing in Eilat that killed three people in a bakery in a residential neighborhood.   Security sources said Tuesday that Defense Minister Amir Peretz turned down a request by top military brass to permit heads of Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Brigades, which both claimed responsibility for the Eilat suicide bombing, to be targeted in air strikes. ...

Arab League says resolution of Lebanese crisis on track
Kuwait News Agency 2007/1/31
Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa said he made several phone calls on Wednesday which showed possible resumption of the second phase of an Arab initiative to tackle the Lebanese crisis. ...

Worldview | Mideast needs a bold step on peace
CentreDaily.com 2007/1/31  (Trudy Rubin)
One of the most compelling themes of last week's World Economic Forum at Davos was the urgent need for a breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ..."The Iraq war has opened the doors to hell," said Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the Arab League at Davos, "and we will all enter if a regional Shia-Sunni conflict emerges." ...if that's the case, Rice, and her boss, should make every effort to promote it. They must not miss any chance to close those Mideast gates of hell.
Too bad they don't yet see that only God can settle this thing.  It's obvious that Trudy Rubin is speaking, and most probably the world at large is acting out of fear of man and not fear and reverence of God,

Arab states urged to fight terrorism
Middle East Online 2007/1/31
...Mohamed Ali Kuman, the Saudi secretary general of the 22-nation league's council of interior ministers, denounced "those who act under the cover of religion" in committing terrorist acts. ...He said the summit, whose theme this year is terrorism, came at a crucial time, citing current hotspots for attacks and insurgent violence in league members such as Iraq, Sudan, Somalia and the Palestinian territories.   Tunisia's President Zine Abidine Ben Ali said Arab countries should increase cooperation in combatting terrorism. ...
? Daniel 8:23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

Rabbis face criminal probe over death threat to IDF officer
Haaretz 2007/1/31
The State Prosecution on Wednesday decided to open a criminal investigation against a group of rabbis who issued a halakhic ruling against GOC Central Command Yair Naveh for authorizing restraining orders against West Bank settlers. The rabbis ruled that in signing such orders, Naveh was guilty of crimes punishable by death according to Jewish law.   About two weeks ago, a group of rabbis linked to the revived Sanhedrin movement - or high court of Jewish law - ruled that Naveh was guilty of three crimes: "Causing the masses to sin"; being a "moser" - someone who informs against fellow Jews or hands over Jews or Jewish land to gentiles; and terrifying the public in a blasphemous way." ...

Arab League envoy to Baghdad resigns, resignation accepted
International Herald Tribune 2007/1/31
...The statement from the League's press office gave no reason for the resignation of Mukhtar Lamani, but media reports had said the Moroccan diplomat was disenchanted with the lack of a clear Arab policy on Iraq.   Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the 22-nation League, was "determined to continue the League's efforts to support Iraq and achieve reconciliation among all Iraqi parties as the only way to help the country get out of its current crisis," the statement said.   Lamani had run the League's office in Baghdad since it opened last June ...

P.A. Lawmaker: U.S. Support of ‘Abbas Is Unwise
The Media Line 2007/1/31
The United States’ embrace of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas is counterproductive, a prominent Palestinian lawmaker said.   “I think such interfering and taking sides in an internal conflict is not useful, especially if it is associated with violations of democratic means and principles,” Dr. Mu’stafa Barghouthi, an independent member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, told The Media Line.   Barghouthi’s remarks came as U.S. President George W. Bush approved a transfer of $86 million to bolster ‘Abbas’ security forces. ...

Bush takes swipe at Iran, Syria, Hizbullah
The Daily Star 2007/1/31
President George W. Bush has accused Iran, Syria and Hizbullah of fomenting the latest violence in Lebanon in a bid to force its government to resign and said that "those responsible for creating chaos must be called to account." Bush's comments late Monday were his first on last week's sectarian clashes in Beirut between pro- and anti-government demonstrators that left four people dead and 200 injured, rekindling memories of Lebanon's 1975-1990 Civil War. ...
? Daniel 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots
Continued justification for Assad's uprooting.

Welcome to Palestine
Jewish World Review 2007/1/30
In the world of international diplomacy few issues receive more wall-to-wall support than the notion that it is essential to establish a Palestinian state. Leaders worldwide are so busy speaking of how essential it is for a State of Palestine to be founded that none of them seems to have noticed that it already exists.   This state was officially founded in the summer of 2005, when Israel removed its military forces and civilian population from the Gaza Strip and so established the first wholly independent Palestinian state in history. Israel's destruction of four Israeli communities in Northern Samaria and curtailment of its military operations in the area set the conditions for statehood in that area as well. ...In the State of Palestine, two-year-olds are killed and no one cares. Children are woken up in the middle of the night and murdered in front of their parents. Worshipers in mosques are gunned down by terrorists who attend competing mosques. And no one cares. No international human rights groups publish reports calling for an end to the slaughter. No UN body condemns anyone or sends a fact-finding mission to investigate the murders.   In the State of Palestine, women are stripped naked and forced to march in the streets to humiliate their husbands. Ambulances are stopped on the way to hospitals and wounded are shot in cold blood. Terrorists enter operating rooms in hospitals and unplug patients from life-support machines.   In the State of Palestine, people are kidnapped from their homes in broad daylight and in front of the television cameras. This is the case because the kidnappers themselves are cameramen. Indeed, their commanders often run television stations. And because terror commanders run television stations in the State of Palestine, it should not be surprising that they bomb the competition's television stations.   ...The Palestinians, who receive more aid per capita than any people on earth, are needy not because they lack funds. They are poor because they prefer poverty, violence and war to prosperity, peace and moderation. So it is that 57 percent of Palestinians support terror attacks against Israel.   The multitude of protesters worldwide who demand an end to the so-called "occupation" and the establishment of Palestine should be made aware of the fact that Palestine already exists. The hordes of political leaders mindlessly squawking about "visions" and "two-state solutions" should know: This is Palestine. Enter at your own risk.
Contributed by Bob Anderson.

Negroponte says Iran cannot go unchallenged in Iraq
The Washington Post 2007/1/30
Iran's support for anti-U.S. extremists in Iraq should not go unchallenged, despite U.S. hopes of avoiding confrontation with Tehran, President George W. Bush's pick for deputy secretary of state said on Tuesday. ..."I would characterize our policy as desirous of resolving any issues we have with Iran by peaceful means. But at the same time, we don't believe that their behavior, such as supporting Shia extremists in Iraq, should go unchallenged," Negroponte said at his Senate confirmation hearing.   "If they feel that they can continue with this kind of activity with impunity, that will be harmful to the security of Iraq and to our interests in that country," he added. ...

Envoy says France, U.S. agree time not right for talks with Syria
International Herald Tribune 2007/1/30
France agrees with the United States the conditions are not right for talks with Syria because of Damascus' continued interference in Lebanon, the French ambassador said.   Jean-David Levitte said in an interview published Tuesday in The Washington Times, "We share the frustration of the United States, and for the time being, we have decided not to maintain a high-level dialogue with Syria...There is not much difference between Washington and Paris." ...
? Daniel 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots
Continued justification for Assad's uprooting.

Israel must negotiate with Hamas, Qatari ruler says
yNetNews 2007/1/30
DOHA, Qatar - Vice Premier Shimon Peres rejected a proposal made Tuesday by Qatari Emir Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani to hold direct negotiations with the Hamas-led Palestinian government.   Peres said Israel will not offer any opportunity to Hamas for direct peace negotiations unless the Palestinian group recognizes Israel. ...

The American Iraq    Not the stuff of glory, but with a power and legitimacy all its own.
The Wall Street Journal 2007/1/30    (I consider this article (complete) a pretty good analysis.)
...There is a "balance of terror" today between the Sunni and Shia protagonists. More and more Sunni Arabs know that their old dominion is lost, and that they had better take the offer on the table--a share of the oil revenues, the promise that the constitution could be amended and reviewed, access to political power and spoils in return for reining in the violence and banishing the Arab jihadists. ...
? Daniel 8:25 ...and by peace shall destroy many

Rice Pitches Realignment
Courant.com 2007/1/30
What's America's strategy in the Middle East? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week sketched a new framework based on what she calls the "realignment" of states that want to contain Iran and its radical Muslim proxies. ...
I suspect that the ultimate result of this 'realignment plan' will be the formation of a 'new Arabia' with Baghdad, Iraq as it's capital.  This new 'United Arabia' would be under the head of a progressive western aligned leader, and I think you may know what that means.

Bernard Lewis: Iran in apocalyptic mood
yNetNews 2007/1/29
..."Ahmadinejad and his group clearly believe, and I don't doubt the sincerity of their belief, that we are now entering an apocalyptic age, which will result in the triumph of their messianic figure," Lewis said, referring to the twelfth Imam, Mahdi.   "Muslims, like Jews, believe that there are things you can do to hasten the messiah. M.A.D doesn't work with these people."   Lewis added that the threat of many Iranians perishing in a war did not deter the Iranian leadership, which believes "it would be doing them a favor, by giving them a free pass to heaven."   "Iran is a mortal threat, and one also has to take account of the apocalyptic mood of Ahmadinejad and his circle. Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, has an end of time scenario," the scholar said. ..."The truth is somewhere in the middle," he said. "Holy war is part of the religion, and part of holy law…

Stepped street of King Herod times unearthed in Jerusalem
Itar-Tass 2007/1/29
An international archaeological team excavating the City of David in Jerusalem has found a stepped street of the King Herod days.   The 600-meter-long street led from the City of David to the Second Temple ...The archaeologists have also unearthed drainage canals mentioned in the Jewish War chronicles by Joseph Flavius. Locals were hiding there when soldiers of Roman Emperor Titus seized Jerusalem and burned down the Second Temple in 70 B.C. Dishes, stone instruments and other household appliances were found. ...

Are You Ready? Here's The Plan...
The American Daily 2007/1/29
...Iraq is, at minimum, the Yugoslavia of the Middle East--a unified, artificial state that really never should have been sired--created after the collapse of an empire. It was pieced together with populations historically at each others’ throats for yet others’ interests…in this case, those of Arab nationalism and British petroleum politics. An Arab Iraq created out of the Mandate of Mesopotamia for the Brits’ Hashemite Arab nationalist friends needed the oil of the Kurdish north, etc. and so forth.   Further complicating matters, while some of this latter divide was submerged in the era when the Dar ul-Islam was vigorously spreading (not that it has really stopped) and non-Arab populations jumped on its bandwagon (with the Kurdish leader, Salah al-Din, for example, becoming the terror of Christendom), in the modern age of nationalism, those bloody divisions would reemerge…along side, yet apart from, the Sunni-Shi’a problem. ...

The Treachery of the "Two-State Solution"
Arutz Sheva 2007/1/29
Almost everyone involved in diplomacy aimed at a peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israel conflict thinks that the solution is a "two-state solution" - a state of Israel and a state of Palestine, living in mutual harmony side by side, without terror or conflict between them. President George Bush, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, the leaders of the European Community, Russia and the United Nations - all are advocates of the "two-state solution." In effect, it is a call for a "three-state solution" - Jordan, Israel and a terror state in between, threatening the elimination of both. ...

Why Israelis are afraid — very afraid
Jewish World Review 2007/1/29
The first reports from military intelligence about an Iranian nuclear program reached the desk of Yitzhak Rabin shortly after he became prime minister in May 1992. Rabin's conclusion was unequivocal: Only a nuclear Iran, he told aides, could pose an existential threat to which Israel would have no credible response. But, when he tried to warn the Clinton administration, he met with incredulity. The CIA's assessment — which wouldn't change until 1998 — was that Iran's nuclear program was civilian, not military. Israeli security officials felt that the CIA's judgment was influenced by internal U.S. politics and privately referred to the agency as the "cpia" — "P" for "politicized."  ...Now, more than a decade later, the worst-case scenario envisioned by Rabin is rapidly approaching. According to Israeli intelligence, Iran will be able to produce a nuclear bomb as soon as 2009. In Washington, fear is growing that either Israel or the Bush administration plans to order strikes against Iran. In Israel, however, there is fear of a different kind. Israelis worry not that the West will act rashly, but that it will fail to act at all. And, while strategists here differ over the relative efficacy of sanctions or a military strike, nearly everyone agrees on this point: Israel cannot live with a nuclear Iran. ...
Contributed by Bob Anderson.

Abbas' Call For Murder Inspires Eilat Suicide Bomber
Zionist Organization of America 2007/1/29
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), one of the two terrorist groups that claimed joint responsibility for today’s suicide bombing in the Israeli resort city of Eilat, which killed three Israelis, virtually quoted Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas’ recent exhortation for Palestinians to stop fighting each other and turn their guns on Israelis instead. At a rally of 250,000 Palestinian Arabs on January 10, Abbas said “We have a legitimate right to direct our guns against Israeli occupation ... Our rifles, all our rifles are aimed at The Occupation” ...

How The UK Threatens US Security – Part One
Family Security Matters 2007/1/29
...Dr. Pipes said: "British-based terrorists have carried out operations in at least 15 countries, going from East to West ... Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Algeria, Morocco, Russia, France, Spain and the United States. I give you one example from the United States - this was Richard Reid, the British shoe bomber."   He quoted from American authors who wrote in 2006 that: "The biggest threat to US security emanates not from Iraq, not from Iran, not from Afghanistan, but rather from Great Britain", and concurred: "And I believe this is the tip of the iceberg."...

Betrayal: France, the Arabs, and the Jews
The Middle East Forum News Mailing List 2007/1/29 (original article dated 2006/11/2)
...Mr. Pryce-Jones emphasizes France's disturbing role in bringing about the Iranian Revolution, which he calls the "most important revolution in modern times". France received Khomeini in 1978, when it was clear he was planning an insurrection against the shah, and provided him lines of communication through which to mobilize demonstrations. This is the most dramatic example of the French penchant for harboring Islamic extremists, Mr. Pryce-Jones points out, noting that they granted a safe haven to Haj Amin el-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem, returning him to the Middle East when he was wanted as a war criminal in 1945. He concludes that "twice now the world has been handicapped by French-harbored monsters – Haj Amin and Khomeini – who were fascists." ...
Article with emphasis submitted by Bob Anderson.

Indonesia must prevent tunnel construction under Aqsa mosque
Indian Muslims.Info 2007/1/29
..."The Indonesian government must file a protest with the UN against the Israeli activity," said Suripto, a member of the House of Representatives` Commission on defense, information and foreign affairs.   The tunnel construction was deeply hurting the feelings of Muslims all over the world as the Al Aqsa Mosque is Islam`s second most holy shrine, he said. ...
Now it's the second most holy shrine, and now the Indians are restless too?

Suicide Bomb Kills 3 at Bakery in Israel
The New York Times 2007/1/29
A Palestinian suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside a bakery in the Red Sea resort town of Eilat today, killing three people.   Security officers investigating the scene of a suicide attack in Eilat, Israel.   It was the first suicide bombing inside Israel in nine months. And the location made it even more unusual. ...A masked spokesman for Islamic Jihad told a news conference in Gaza City that the bombing was carried out in retaliation for Israeli raids against Palestinian groups. The spokesman also said that the bomber reached Eilat by traveling through Jordan.   The Jordanian government denied the claim, saying there was no record of the bomber entering or leaving the country ...

Interfaith leaders to urge greater U.S. involvement in Mideast peace efforts in meeting with Sec’y Rice
Catholic Online 2007/1/29
A delegation of Catholic, other Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders is scheduled to meet Jan 29 with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to urge increased Bush administration engagement in working toward achieving long-term peace in the Middle East.   The State Department meeting follows up with a December call by 35 interfaith leaders for a face-to-face meeting to outline “elements of a way forward” and to make Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace in the Middle East an urgent foreign policy priority with a two-state solution as its centerpiece.  ...

U.S. naval buildup in Gulf targets Iran
The Militant 2007/1/29
...In his January 10 speech, Bush charged the governments of Iran and Syria with fomenting sectarian violence in Iraq and warned that Washington will “seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.”   Any such networks “are outside Iraq,” said ultrarightist politician Patrick Buchanan in a January 12 column. “Otherwise, they would have been neutralized by air strikes already.   “So where are they? Answer: inside Syria and Iran. And Bush says we are going to ‘seek out and destroy’ these networks.” This suggests, he said, that “Bush has in mind a different kind of escalation—widening the war by attacking the source of instability in the region: Tehran.” ...

Desolate Roads Part 2 of 2
Michael Yon Online 2007/1/28
There will be huge changes in Iraq this year.   2007 is truly "the year" for Iraq, for various reasons, including the upcoming elections in the United States.  Barring an asteroid strike on some major city, the war in Iraq will be the most important topic in 2007.  It will also be one of the most under-reported.   There are two types of media sources covering this war: the ones who are here, and those who are not.  The media is Missing In Action, and reporting from afar.  Yesterday, for instance, major media reported on an attack in a small village north of Mosul.  None of those sources actually visited the village.  I did.   I'll bring home frontline information all year, or until something sends me home.  Please support these dispatches by spreading the links. ...
Contributed by Bob Anderson.

King receives Cable from Chief of Islamic Higher Commission in Jerusalem
Jordan News Agency 2007/1/28
...King Abdullah II on Sunday received a cable from Imam of Al Aqsa Mosque and Chief of the Islamic Higher Commission in Jerusalem Dr. Ekrema Sabri in which he praised the endowment of His Majesty by rebuilding the platform of Saladin and returning it back to al Aqsa Mosque.   Sabri said that this endowment embodies the Hashemite’s keenness to rebuild the Islamic holy places and to save them as well as to save the Islamic civilization in Jerusalem.

Qasrawi Meets Officials from Paraguay and Honduras to Discuss G-11 Initiative
Jordan News Agency 2007/1/28
...Qasrawi said it was important for the G-11 countries to work together and coordinate their stands to receive the support of the G-8 industrial nations during their upcoming meeting.   Officials from both countries expressed appreciation of efforts exerted by Jordan under King Abdullah’s leadership to support the initiative and achieve the aspired for goals. They affirmed keenness to activate cooperation with Jordan in all fields.   The G-11 initiative was launched by His Majesty on the sidelines of the 60th session of the UN General Assembly last year. ...
? Daniel 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand

German Ambassador Holds Press Conference
Jordan News Agency 2007/1/28
German ambassador to Jordan Dr. Klaus Burkhardt launched the German Presidency of the European Union in Amman at a press conference on Sunday.   The ambassador said that the German EU Presidency is marked not only by high expectations vested in the EU, but also by new joint efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.   Ambassador Burkhardt referred to the talks of His Majesty King Abdullah II with German Chancellor Angela Merkel meeting in Berlin on Sunday. He said the talks focused on the situation in the Middle East and other important issues on the global and regional agenda. ...He stressed the close and cordial European-Jordanian partnership marked by intense economic, cultural and technical cooperation. Out of 27 member states, 17 EU countries and the European Commission are represented by diplomatic missions and a delegation office respectively in Jordan.   The ambassador said that Germany, Europe’s most powerful economy, is Jordan’s no.1 European trading partner with bilateral trade amounting to around 580 million Euros in 2006. ...
? Daniel 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand

Fatah, Hamas accept Saudi king offer for urgent talks in Mecca
Al Bawaba 2007/1/28
Saudi Arabia invited feuding Palestinian leaders for urgent talks the holy city of Mecca and both the Hamas-led Palestinian government and rival faction Fatah said on Sunday they had accepted the invitation. The special offer from Saudi King Abdullah was declared on the third day of fierce clashes between Palestinian gunmen in Gaza Strip in which over 20 people have been killed.   "I invite them all ... for an urgent meeting in brotherly Saudi Arabia at the sacred house of God to discuss disputes in a neutral (atmosphere) without intervention from any other side," the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) quoted Abdullah as saying in an open letter.   "Unless the wise in Palestine put a decisive and immediate end to the dispute ... it would deny the steadfast Palestinian people any hope in ridding itself of the hell of the Zionist occupation and (block) the creation of an independent free state of Palestine," he said.   "What is happening in the land of brotherly Palestine serves only the enemies of the Islamic and Arab nations and puts question marks in the minds of the international community which respects our just (Palestinian) cause." ...
Talk about a credibility gap, ...if it exists anywhere on earth, it exists with the Palestinians and Arabs.
Contributed by Brother Sal.

Jerusalem: A Cup of Reeling (Zech. 12:2)
Israel Today 2007/1/28
Meir Shamgar, the former chief justice of Israel’s Supreme Court, quoted this verse during a conference on Jerusalem to illustrate that, 3,800 years after Jacob’s dream, Jews and Arabs still revere the Holy City.   The forum posed this question: Will a compromise on the holy places in Jerusalem ever be possible? The answer from both Jewish Knesset (parliament) member Arieh Eldad and his Moslem counterpart Ahmed Tibi was a resounding, “No!” Neither Jews nor Arabs will be willing to relinquish control of the Temple Mount, marking the site of the biblical Temples and the holiest place in Judaism, and home to the Mosque of Al Aksa, the third holiest place in Islam. ...

JORDAN, PAKISTAN DISCUSS NUKE COOPERATION
Middle East Newsline 2007/1/27
...Nuclear cooperation was discussed during the visit by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to Amman on Jan. 23. Officials said Musharraf and King Abdullah agreed to expand strategic relations, including defense and security.   "Musharraf pledged to help Jordan technically for the construction of a nuclear reactor for peaceful purposes," an official said.

International conference on religions and reform
Jordan News Agency 2007/1/27
...Experts from Arab and foreign countries are expected to participate in the two day conference, where deliberations will focus on inter-relations of religious heritage of all religions, in a bid to reach more comprehensive understanding to the essence of religions.   Among the topics to be discussed in the conference which is due to be held in the Dead Sea area are religion and human interest, Judaism and reform, Christianity in reform eras, and means of reform in Islam.
Hmmm.

King, Merkel focus on peace process and economic cooperation
Jordan News Agency 2007/1/27
...King Abdullah II on Saturday discussed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel the reviving of peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis and Lebanese situation, in addition to bilateral relations, particularly economic ties. ...King Abdullah also noted there is global consensus on the dangers resulting from failure to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the core issue in the region. ...Merkel underlined the importance of taking serious steps to pave the way for the peace process, noting achieving peace is not only in the interest of the region, but rather for the interest of Europe and whole world.   She commended the economic accomplishments Jordan has achieved ...
? Daniel 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand

Jordan, Chile discuss economic ties
Jordan News Agency 2007/1/27
Chairman of Amman Chamber of Commerce Haider Murad voiced hope that a Chilean investment delegation’s visit to Jordan would yield fruit to further enhance trade volume and increase joint investments between Jordan and Chile. ...
? Daniel 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand

Livni warns Abbas against striking deal with Hamas
Haaretz 2007/1/27
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas yesterday that should he reach a compromise with Hamas, that would send the diplomatic process into a deep freeze.   "Compromising with extremists will not promote anything, but it can lead to further stagnation," Livni told Abbas during a session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. ...

Livni, Peres, Abbas Share Visions for PA State at World Forum
Arutz Sheva 2007/1/26
..."We have the road map, a road map that includes the Arab initiative as well as President Bush's vision regarding the two-state solution," Abbas said. "What is required now, in all honesty, is for us to trace the beginning and the end of this peace process."   Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres also addressed the forum, expressing a vision of shared economic cooperation between Israel and the PA.   He said Israel and the Palestinians should work together alongside Jordan to stimulate foreign investment in the region.   Peres stated that Israel, Jordan and PA have already agreed in principle "to take the whole length of the frontier," a 500 kilometer-long strip along the current Israeli-Jordanian border, "and convert it into an ongoing economic zone."   "We cannot save the Dead Sea unless we do it together. We cannot build new industry ... unless we do it together," Peretz added. ...
? Daniel 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand

Turkey mulls 'invading' Iraq
Aljazeera 2007/1/26
Turkey's parliament went into secret session this week to debate sending troops to invade and occupy northern Iraq for security purposes. ...Onur Oymen, the deputy chairman of the Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said: "Northern Iraq is the only place in the world where a terrorist group can operate without being pursued."   "If the Iraqis and the US are not prepared to take action over this, then we must." ...
Contributed by Bob Anderson.

America is risking credibility in the Middle East, says King Abdullah
Jordan News Agency 2007/1/26
...King Abdullah today warned that U.S. credibility is on the line in the Middle East. The King said that the United States' failure to tackle the major crises in the region accounts for the apparent decline in its reputation.   "If America again moves the peace process forward only half-heartedly, I don't think America will ever be trusted again in the region," King Abdullah said during a question and answer session with American journalist Charlie Rose. "What that bodes for the future of the Middle East is not very bright." ...the King disputed that regional conflict, including conflict between Muslims, had its origins in religion. For the past several centuries, he said, there has never been a Sunni-Shia conflict. However, he said, some political organizations and countries today are using politics to try and create a religious conflict inside Islam. He added that sectarianism had been injected into the regional political vocabulary only since the 2003 Gulf War, and the use of it threatened to "open a Pandora's box".   "If you do start this, then the conflict wouldn't just be in Iraq, it would be from Beirut to Bombay," he warned. "We've got to make sure that this never happens, because that’s one flame that, once it starts, it’s going to be impossible to put out."

King Abdullah calls for new vision for Middle East
Jordan News Agency 2007/1/26
...King Abdullah II on Friday challenged delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos to use their insights, tools and strategies to articulate a new vision for the Middle East.   The King said that such a vision should be one “of ordinary life where people can go to shop or work without fear … where ambulances don’t face checkpoints to get the sick to hospitals … where young people are able to build families and plan long careers … where the first-grade students of 2017, Israeli and Palestinian, can look back as adults, and have no memory of the conflict years.”   “It is a v