* US ‘opposes’ nuclear North Korea The US “will not accept” a nuclear-armed North Korea, Defence Secretary Robert Gates has told an Asian summit.

* ‘Abbas wants US to oust Netanyahu’ Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will not resume negotiations with Israel unless the Netanyahu government agrees to a complete settlement freeze.

* Pakistan army ‘regains’ Swat city The Pakistan military says it has regained control of the largest town in the Swat valley from the Taliban.

* Hamas says disappointed with Abbas-Obama meeting Spokesman for Islamist group says implementation of Road Map for peace plan will turn PA into Israeli armed wing.

* EU Parliament Elections Loom as Political Bellwether The European Union’s legislature, accustomed to toiling in obscurity, will be thrust into a rare spotlight next week as its elections gauge voter anger.

* ‘Iran will gladly give Hizbullah arms’ Leading up to Lebanese elections on June 7, Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah called Friday for unity in the country.

* Russia opens WMD disposal plant Russia has opened a facility in the Ural Mountains that will decommission vast stocks of its chemical weapons.

* Moussa: Halt all settlement construction Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said Friday it will become impossible to establish a Palestinian state unless Israel halts settlement construction in the West Bank immediately.

* Chávez Seeks Tighter Grip on Military The efforts of President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela to strengthen his hold on the armed forces have led to high-profile arrests and a wave of reassignments.

* White House: Obama Speech to Engage Muslim Community White House officials say U.S. President Barack Obama will emphasize his “personal commitment” to improving U.S. relations with Muslims around the world.

* Chinese ships ‘quit Korea waters’ Chinese fishing boats are reported to be leaving the tense inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea after North Korea’s threat of military action.

* Obama says Israel must stop settlement construction Gingerly trying to advance Mideast peace, US President Barack Obama on Thursday challenged Israel to stop settlement construction in the West Bank on the same day the Israelis rejected that demand.

* Obama ‘confident’ on two-state solution US President Barack Obama says he is confident that Israel will recognise that a two-state solution is in the best interests of its security.

* PA official: Abbas expects US pressure to push out Netanyahu Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will not resume negotiations with Israel unless the Netanyahu government agrees to a complete settlement freeze and publicly accepts a two-state solution.

* Allotting of Iraqi Oil Rights May Stoke Hostility Sheik Habih Shawqi Hamakan peered through his binoculars on a recent afternoon at a sight he considers, despite the rising columns of black smoke that blot out the sun, pure beauty.

* Hizbullah builds up its might No longer a purely guerrilla organization, Hizbullah is engaged in a huge political battle that culminates in the June 7 elections.

* Nuclear Aims By Pakistan, India Prompt U.S. Concern Sometime next year, at a tightly guarded site south of its capital, Pakistan will be ready to start churning out a new stream of plutonium for its nuclear arsenal.

* US to set out cyber security plan US President Barack Obama is to set out plans for securing American computer networks against cyber attacks.

* Sarkozy cancels Sweden visit over Turkey French President Nicolas Sarkozy has cancelled a visit to Sweden scheduled for next Tuesday (2 June) in order to avoid a clash on the question of Turkey’s EU membership.

* Parashat Shavuot: Joy to the world Why do we read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot? What is the relationship between the giving of the Torah and the festival of first fruits in the Temple – the two names for Shavuot?

* ‘Iran ups uranium enrichment capacity’ Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country has boosted its capacity to enrich uranium.

* Alert level raised on North Korea South Korean and US troops have gone on higher alert after North Korea said it was scrapping the treaty that halted the Korean War more than 50 years ago.

* Settler rabbis: Don’t evacuate outposts Religious leaders headed by the head of the Judea and Samaria Rabbis’ Committee, Rabbi Dov Lior, gathered Wednesday at an unauthorized outpost slated for removal.

* No exception on Israeli settlement: Clinton US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said there must be no exceptions to President Barack Obama’s demand that Israel stop its settlement activity.

* Is Abbas still relevant to the peace process? If ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the analysts tried to assess the intensity of the confrontation with U.S. President Barack Obama.

* Israel rejects US call over settlement work Israel will continue to allow some construction in West Bank settlements despite US calls for a freeze on its work.

* Abbas to urge Obama: Push pan-Arab peace plan Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be pushing United States President Barack Obama on Thursday to facilitate peace with Israel.

* EU sketches out conditions for upgrade with Israel The EU will at a meeting with Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman next month sketch out three conditions for upgrading relations.

* Fresh blasts hit Pakistani city At least ten people have been killed in two separate attacks in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

* Strong quake jolts Honduras, at least one dead A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake rocked Honduras on Thursday, killing at least one person whose home collapsed.

* Raad Salah: Netanyahu will Try to Rebuild the Jewish Temple Sheikh Raad Salah, leader of the Northern Wing of the Islamic Movement in Israel, believes Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will try to rebuild the Jewish Temple.

* N Korea threatens military action North Korea says it has abandoned the truce that ended the Korean war, amid rising tension in the region.

* Jordan summons Israeli ambassador on bill Jordan’s foreign minister summoned Israel’s ambassador Tuesday to protest a proposal National Union MK Arye Eldad made in the Knesset last week.

* Abbas to press Obama on settlements Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday he would focus on Israel’s refusal to stop the building of settlements.

* Ya’alon: ‘Palestinian entity cannot be formed’ Vice Premier Moshe Ya’alon, who is very close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, ruled out the creation of any “Palestinian entity”.

* Russia fears Korea conflict could go nuclear Russia is taking security measures as a precaution against the possibility tension over North Korea could escalate into nuclear war.

* Number of Europeans keen to vote in EU elections increases The number of people intending to vote in the European Parliament elections next week has increased.

* Somali radical takes over militia The head of Somali Islamist armed group Hisbul-Islam has passed the leadership to radical cleric Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is on the US terror list.

* Obama adds Saudi Arabia to Mid-East agenda US President Barack Obama’s foreign tour next week will include a stop-off in Saudi Arabia, his spokesman said in a late addition to the schedule.

* Netanyahu: Arab states should normalize Israel ties now Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday urged Arab countries to make immediate moves toward normalizing ties with Israel.

By: Avi Issacharoff, Aluf Benn, Barak Ravid and Jack Khoury – Haaretz

The newly appointed minister for Jerusalem affairs in the Palestinian Authority cabinet, Hatem Abdel Khader, has released a statement Monday noting that he favors transferring control of the Temple Mount to the 57-member Islamic Conference Organization in the framework of an Israel-PA peace agreement.

Haaretz reported last week on the P.A.’s willingness to transfer control of the Temple Mount to the organization. “The most important thing is to end the Israeli occupation,” Abdel Khader also said.

PA president Mahmoud Abbas is to meet Thursday in Washington with President Barack Obama, in their first meeting since Obama took office.

The northern branch of the Islamic Movement, however, blasted the week before the proposal to relinquish sovereignty over the Temple Mount.

“The proposal to transfer sovereignty to a third state stems from the attempted to internationalize the Al Aqsa Mosque, and actually this is a proposal whose significance is the continuation of the occupation; therefore, such a proposal must be aggressively rejected,” the Israeli Arab group said in a statement.

Palestinian sources have said the PA would accept the management of the site by the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Conference, whose 57 member states include Iran, as part of a final-status peace agreement.

Sheikh Ra’ad Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement, has called for in the past an intifada to “save” the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which sits atop the Temple Mount.

The movement’s statement continued: “No one has the right to determine the future of the Al Aqsa Mosque, which has Islamic, Arab and Palestinian implications, and full Islamic sovereignty over the mosque will only be implemented when the occupation of Jerusalem and the mosque is lifted,”

The OIC is signatory to the Arab Peace plan, a initiative that would provide the Palestinians with backing from all Muslim states toward a historic compromise with Israel in a peace agreement.

According to the Temple Mount proposal, the Western Wall and the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City will be under Israeli sovereignty, while the Muslim, Christian and Armenian quarters would be transfered to Palestinian sovereignty. Israel objects to Palestinian sovereignty over the Armenian Quarter.

There is also a dispute building over the Western Wall; the PA plans to demand that Israeli sovereignty applies only to part of the wall.

Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said that if Israel opts for peace and has a leader who is willing to make genuine compromises, a peace agreement could be reached within three to six months.

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced Wednesday that he was canceling his planned visit to Washington next week due to the death of his grandson.

Abbas is expected to meet U.S. President Barack Obama next week. Abu Rudeina said Abbas will ask for clarifications on the U.S. stance on negotiations with Israel.

“During the meetings with U.S. special envoy George Mitchell, we made it clear that there must be an Israeli recognition of the principle of two states for two peoples and a freezing of construction in the settlements,” Abu Rudeina said.

“We will hear what happened during the meeting between [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and Obama on the Palestinian question and what the American plans are for the coming months. Abu Mazen [Abbas] will consult with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan to formulate a position ahead of the meeting. In any case, the result of the negotiations between Israel and the PA must be clear: the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, whose capital is East Jerusalem,” the senior PA official said.

‘Israel must accept responsibility for creation of refugee problem’

With regards to the right of return, the Palestinians reiterated their traditional position: Israel must acknowledge responsibility for the creation of the refugee problem.

Abu Rudeina says the Palestinian position on the issue is identical to that of the Arab Peace Initiative: a just and agreed solution to the refugee question, on the basis of UN Resolution 194.

But other Palestinian sources say the PA will probably agree to an arrangement under which refugees will have the right of return to the Palestinian state, with Israel agreeing to absorb up to 100,000 Palestinians within its borders under family reunification.

Regarding borders, Abu Rudeina said that the principle of territorial exchange was agreed, although there are disagreements over the exact areas. He said that in the most recent talks the Palestinians agreed to an exchange involving 1.2 percent of West Bank land, while then prime minister Ehud Olmert demanded 6.5 percent.

“But the issue also depends on quality. If [Israel] receives land in the Jerusalem area or Bethlehem we will not agree to receive desert land in exchange,” Abu Rudeina said.

He told Haaretz that the Arab states are willing to agree to peace. “The problem is that now Israel is unwilling. They used to tell us that with Olmert involved in corruption the negotiations can’t be completed with him. Now they say Netanyahu will be restricted because of his coalition problems. Every time it’s a different story. Perhaps that’s why 15 years have passed and we haven’t seen peace.”

By: Niv Lillian, Nir Boms – Yedioth Internet

As online indoctrination spreads to the relatively untapped American market, we take closer look at the darker alleys of the Internet

“I see 16, 17-year-olds who have been indoctrinated on the Internet turn up on the battlefield,” says US Army Brigadier-General John Custer. And as head of intelligence for the US Central Command, he should know. “We capture them; we kill them every day in Iraq, in Afghanistan.”

But while the use of the Internet as a recruiting tool is old news in the Middle East, experts are now warning that jihadist websites aimed at young Americans have made the jump from amateurish to dangerously sophisticated.

As with any new product in an oversaturated market, the polished online publication aimed to tap into an overlooked niche. And from the worried reviews of terrorism experts, ‘Jihad Recollections’ may well have succeeded in doing just that.

Nothing short of a comprehensive guide for the beginning jihadist, the Internet magazine provides its readers with everything from translations of the teachings of Al-Qaeda leaders Osama Bin-Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, to discussions on how best to expand the global jihad and detailed explanations of night vision technology and the principles of guerrilla warfare.

“What started off as some angry kids in their basement has transformed over the past several years into a robust Al Qaeda propaganda outlet right here in our backyard,” Fox News quotes terrorism scholar Dr. Jarret Brachman as saying.

Brachman, a renowned expert on Al-Qaeda and the spread of jihad, added that the new magazine “raises the bar for pro-Al Qaeda propaganda in English. Its presentation is flashier than any English language Al Qaeda propaganda that we’ve seen to date.”

Hunting for candidates

But while ‘Jihad Recollections’ manages to avoid any explicit calls for violence, the jump to places like the ‘Al-Hesbah’ forum is short. Dedicated to global jihad, the forum offers a detailed plan Muslims interested in joining the “struggle.”

Authored by a well-known online figure called ‘Dar Li-man Wahada,’ the PDF document is aimed at preparing the next generation of Al-Qaeda loyalists. After explaining that the plans were drawn up after consulting active Mujahideen, Dar Li adds that the target audience is young men under the age of 25 “who have not yet succeeded in reaching the fighting areas.”

Opening with a series of verses from the Quran, the instruction manual offers its readers thorough training regimens and advises them on how to conceal their efforts from prying familial eyes.

Another program posted to the ‘Shabkat Al-Muhahideen Al-Electroniya’ forum outlines the necessary precautions to ensure a successful attack on infidels. “The youth who are carrying out Jihad in their country against the Zionists, the Crusaders and against Muslims who have left the religion, must consider a number of very important questions,” the author writes, such as whether they have sufficient funds to carry out the attack and whether they can purchase arms without raising suspicion.

While some schools of thought dismiss the aforementioned publications as fantasy outlets – terror organizations have and continue to recruit new members to their ranks through the Internet. By closely monitoring content and activity levels, jihadist headhunters are able to identify potential candidates among the surfers and offer them to put theory into practice.

By: Michael Slackman – The New York Times

Abedin Taherkenareh/European Pressphoto Agency

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, hosted a summit with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, left, and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan.

CAIRO — Iran hosted its first three-way summit meeting on Sunday with Pakistan and Afghanistan to discuss cooperation on regional issues, the latest sign of Iran’s emergence as the regional power.

With Pakistan and Afghanistan fighting to hold back the rising tide of radical, Islamic insurgencies led by the Taliban, the meeting in Tehran seemed intended by Iran to assure its neighbors that working together the three could solve their problems without having to rely on the West.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran suggested that the United States was the main problem when he described “others who are alien to the nations and culture of our nations.” It was a not-too-subtle swipe, but still one that Washington’s allies from Pakistan and Afghanistan did not rebut. That served as another sign that Iran was increasingly seen as less of a threat to the West, and the region, than the prospect of the Taliban’s controlling Pakistan or Afghanistan.

“If we can save Pakistan and Afghanistan from these problems, from extremism,” President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan said in comments broadcast in Iran, “then such trilateral meetings are meaningful.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad, Mr. Karzai and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan signed an agreement — called the Tehran Statement — in which they committed to work together to fight Islamic extremism and stop drug smuggling across their borders. Though the declaration did not outline specific action, it served as a sort of bookend to changes in regional dynamics that began after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, with the United States-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 and of Iraq in March 2003.

The summit meeting also served as proof that Western efforts to isolate Iran over its nuclear energy program, through unilateral and United Nations Security Council sanctions, have given way to more pragmatic regional concerns.

Although the presidents of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan had met before in a larger gathering of regional leaders, the summit meeting on Sunday was the first among just the three of them.

Iran’s president, Mr. Ahmadinejad, said he was confident the meeting would “guarantee security and expansion of cooperation in the region,” in remarks reported by Iran’s official Islamic Republic News Agency. Iran was once bitter enemies with the Taliban, which controlled Afghanistan before the American-led invasion there. Iran was also once a regional rival of Pakistan. Iran is a Shiite Muslim state. Pakistan is a Sunni Muslim state, and often sided with other Sunni states, like Saudi Arabia, against Iran in political and regional matters.

Now, with the Taliban routed from power but waging an aggressive insurgency in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, the presidents of those two countries have turned to Iran, on their western borders, for help.

“There are many problems along our joint borders,” Mr. Zardari said, in comments reported by the Islamic Republic News Agency. “We cannot underestimate the problems and we should look for solutions to all of them.”

President Obama has also sought to re-engage diplomatically with Iran after three decades of animosity between it and the United States. Iranian officials have given mixed signals, sticking with their death-to-America ideology at home while suggesting that after presidential elections in Iran next month they may be willing to open talks.

* North Korea ‘will pay’ over tests North Korea will “pay a price” for the nuclear and missile tests it has carried out in recent days.

* EU-Israel relations set to stay in limbo The EU is unlikely to upgrade relations with Israel when its foreign minister comes to Brussels in June, after a six month break in normal bilateral relations.

* PA minister: Hand Temple Mount over to global Islamic group The newly appointed minister for Jerusalem affairs in the Palestinian Authority cabinet, Hatem Abdel Khader, has released a statement Monday noting that he favors transferring control of the Temple Mount to the 57-member Islamic Conference Organization.

* Muslim nations link better ties with Israel to peace Muslim countries meeting in the Syrian capital criticized Israel on Monday but said they were open to better ties with the Jewish state.

* Pope urges China reconciliation The Pope has told Chinese Catholics of the officially tolerated Patriotic Church and those who worship secretly to take steps towards reconciliation.

* The Jihadist’s guide to the galaxy “I see 16, 17-year-olds who have been indoctrinated on the Internet turn up on the battlefield,” says US Army Brigadier-General John Custer.

* Obama Set to Create A Cybersecurity Czar With Broad Mandate President Obama is expected to announce late this week that he will create a “cyber czar,” a senior White House official who will have broad authority to develop strategy to protect the nation’s government-run and private computer networks.

* France Opens First Military Bases in the Gulf President Nicolas Sarkozy opened France’s first military facilities in the Gulf on Tuesday.

* Iran’s Presidential Election Campaign Heats Up The four contenders in Iran’s presidential election campaign have been criss-crossing the country in an effort to gain support ahead of the June 12 vote.

* Medvedev’s Grim Prognosis on Russian Economy Months of infighting between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev over Russia’s budget ended on Monday – with Medvedev on top.

* Outrage over N Korea nuclear test There have been expressions of international outrage after North Korea said it had successfully carried out an underground nuclear test.

* Report: Iran dispatches six warships to international waters Iran has sent six warships to international waters, including the Gulf of Aden, to display its ability to confront any foreign threats, its naval commander was quoted by a local news agency as saying on Monday.

* Iran Hosts Regional Summit Meeting Iran hosted its first three-way summit meeting on Sunday with Pakistan and Afghanistan to discuss cooperation on regional issues, the latest sign of Iran’s emergence as the regional power.

* Arab League Throws Cold Water on Pan-Muslim Peace with Israel U.S. President Barack Obama’s plans for a regional peace between Muslim countries and Israel received a jolt Saturday with Arab League secretary Amr Mussa’s rejection of the reported offer of Jordan’s King Abdullah II for a pan-Muslim peace with Israel.

* ‘Home front drill scenario not fiction’ The upcoming home front drill, Turning Point 3, is based a scenario in which “a combined missile and rocket attack on Israel from all sides combined with terror attacks from within,” and is “not a fictional scenario,”, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilan’i told members of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday.

* ‘Israel won’t yield to U.S. demands, won’t halt settlement construction’ Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon spoke to Channel 2 on Saturday about the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama, held earlier this week, saying that Israel’s government will not allow the U.S. to dictate its policy, and that “settlement construction will not be halted.”

* Netanyahu defies Obama on Israeli settlement freeze Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rebuffed U.S. calls for a full settlement freeze in the occupied West Bank and vowed not to accept limits on building of Jewish enclaves within Jerusalem.

* Settlers: Outposts to double themselves Rightists, Hilltop Youth prepare new plan of action aimed at struggling against evacuation of illegal West Bank outposts.

* Church enters the fray in European elections The Christian church has in the UK, Austria and Poland spoken out against far-right parties in the EU elections, while in Sweden a fringe movement calling for internet freedoms is gaining ground.

* First Quarter Was New Low for World’s Developed Economies The economies of the developed world turned in their worst quarterly showing ever in the first three months of 2009, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday.

By: Xiong Tong – Xinhua News Agency

The latest European Union (EU)-Russia summit has not radically increased mutual trust mainly due to the EU Eastern Partnership project involving six post-Soviet countries and disputes on Russia’s gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine, political scientists here said Friday.

Martin Larys took issue with the view of Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who chaired the two-day EU-Russian summit ending Friday in Russia’s Khabarovsk on behalf of the EU presidency.

Klaus told journalists after the summit that the talks “increased our mutual trust, which is very much needed and very important.”

Another political scientist Petr Just said the summit showed Russia’s gas supplies to Europe remained a key question and the main source of disputes between the EU and Russia.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the summit warned the EU against the possibility of a new dispute with Ukraine over gas supplies if Ukraine was unable to pay Russia for gas.

Medvedev suggested the EU would only be able to ensure reliable gas supplies from Russia to Europe via Ukraine by lending money to Ukraine to help it pay for gas.

“The EU will now have more motives to look for alternative sources, which would lower its dependence on Russia,” Just said.

According to Larys, an expert on Russia, Moscow harbored the suspicion that the EU’s Eastern Partnership project was aimed at the implementation of its geo-political ambitions, and through the project the EU intended to increase its political and economic influence in these countries and weaken Moscow’s influence in some of them.

“This mainly concerns Belarus, which is trying to balance very wisely between Europe and Russia,” Larys said, adding the EU and Russia considerably differed in their views on energy security.

According to Larys, Medvedev’s statements are a logical step by which Moscow seeks to secure itself against the repetition of a crisis similar to the cuts in Russian gas supplies via Ukraine this winter.

Russia wants to secure the EU adopts a joint course against the transit countries’ inability to pay for gas to Russia.

Klaus in Khabarovsk had a bilateral meeting with Medvedev, at which Czech-Russian relations were discussed.

Klaus said after the meeting he was convinced that no dramatic problems existed between the two countries. The dispute about the planned stationing of a U.S. missile defense radar base on Czech soil was no longer on the agenda.

“This matter is not on the agenda of the day, and it is not the major current topic… either in bilateral relations or in the worldwide situation with the new U.S. administration. Since it does not top the agenda, it has definitely not played such a role as during my visit to Russia two years ago,” Klaus told reporters.

“Relations between the Czech Republic and Russia, compared to Russia’s relations with some other new EU member states, really cannot be considered dramatic because the main reason of disputes, the American radar, was postponed by the new U.S. administration of Barrack Obama. It cannot be considered one of the main priorities of U.S. foreign policy,” Larys said.

Former Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said the radar was a marginal problem for Russia from the military point of view and that Russia was only seeking to “mark its territory.”