ALWATAN DAILY 2 WORLD saturDAY, January 1, 2011 NEWS IN BRIEF Abbas seeks US backing in US frustrated with Egypt military, show Wikileaks UN settlement condemnation CAIRO: Egypt’s military, the biggest recipient of Egypt has its own complaints, too. RIO DE JANIERO: Palestinian Author- US military aid after Israel, is in decline, according Egyptian military officials don’t welcome pres- ity President Mahmoud Abbas said his to American diplomats, who blame the Arab nation’s sure by the Americans to change the doctrine of their new attempt to get the United Nations top brass for failing to modernize and adapt to deal armed forces. They also complain that Washington to condemn Israeli settlements was spe- with new threats. has increased annual military aid to Israel - growing cifically designed to win US support, in US diplomatic memos leaked this month show from 2.55 billion US dollars in 2009 to an expected a Thursday speech in Brazil. The Palestin- previously unknown friction between the two al- $3 billion in 2011. ians have drafted a proposal and are lob- lies over military assistance and strategy. Military Since its peace deal with Israel, Egypt has re- bying for a Security Council resolution cooperation has always been seen as an unshakable ceived nearly $36 billion in military assistance - an that would declare West Bank settlements link between Egypt and the US, even as the political annual installment of $1.3 billion. illegal and an “obstacle to peace.” The US has said it does not support the move. Is- side of the alliance has gone through public ups and With an estimated 1 million active and reserve rael says it’s an attempt by the Palestin- downs over Washington’s on-and-off pressure on re- personnel, the Egyptian military’s last combat mis- ians to avoid negotiations. Abbas says the form and human rights. sion was in the 1991 Gulf War, when it fought as part Palestinian draft used the “same words” The disagreements, the memos show, are over of a US-military alliance to liberate Kuwait from as US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham a wide range of topics, with the US pressing Egypt Iraqi occupation. Clinton has in criticizing settlements, and to focus its military toward terrorism, halting cross- According to the leaked US memos, Egyptian he “doesn’t see why” the US would veto border smuggling and helping out in regional crises. officials told visiting US defense officials they must the move. -AFP They also suggest that, to the dismay of the Ameri- convince Congress that Egypt was worth more than cans, the Egyptian military continues to see Israel, the $1.3 billion a year it is getting in military aid, ac- its enemy in four wars spanning 25 years in the last cording to a memo dated Feb. 28, 2010. Turkish police century, as its primary adversary 31 years after the In the memos, US diplomats lament that the two neighbors signed a peace treaty. Egyptian military has a “backward” posture and has detain 10 Al-Qaeda suspects “The United States has sought to interest the been resistant to US efforts to “adjust its focus to re- ISTANBUL: Turkish police have detained Egyptian military into expanding their mission in flect new regional and transnational threats.” 10 suspected Al-Qaeda militants who ways that reflect new regional and transnational se- They also criticize the military for assuming a di- they believe were planning an attack curity threats, such as piracy, border security, and rect role in the Egyptian economy, saying it “stifles ahead of New Year, state-run Anatolian counterterrorism,” said a memo dated Dec. 21, 2008, free market reform” with large military-owned com- news agency reported. The agency said the released by WikiLeaks. panies active in industries like retail, construction suspects, eight of whom were detained in “But the aging leadership, however, has resisted and hospitality. anti-terror raids in the northwestern city of Bursa on Wednesday, were expected our efforts and remained satisfied with continuing to One memo specifically singles out Egyptian De- to be brought before a court on Friday. do what they have done for years: train for force-on- fense Minister Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, in office A further two people were detained in force warfare with a premium on grounds forces and since 1991, as the “chief impediment” to US efforts Istanbul and taken to Bursa, the agency armor.” to develop military ties between the two allies. said. Bursa police said in a statement that The memos exposed that public talk of shared “During his tenure, the tactical and operational eight suspects linked to a terror group had goals between the US and Egyptian military is just readiness of the Egyptian Armed Forces has decayed,” been detained. Turkish police often arrest rhetoric, says Steven Cook, a fellow at the New York- a memo addressed to U.S. Gen. David Petraeus ahead suspected Islamist militants and describe based Council on Foreign Relations and the author of of a visit he made to Egypt in 2008. Petraeus is now them as having links to Al-Qaeda, though a book on the Egyptian military. the top commander of the NATO force in Afghani- details seldom emerge. -Reuters “There doesn’t seem to be much more and there stan. Egypt has resisted sending troops to Iraq and hasn’t been much for a while,” he said. “The US criti- Afghanistan and only recently started training mili- cism further reinforces what the Egyptian military tary personnel from the two nations where US forces Iran threatens is all about — the ultimate instrument of political are fighting stubborn insurgencies. control. They are not there to project power, but to Instead, the memos say, Egypt places emphasis on trial for opposition leaders protect the regime.” trying to achieve military parity with Israel through TEHRAN: Tehran’s chief prosecutor said The military is the power base of the regime of the acquisition of modern conventional arms such as Friday it was only a matter of time before President Hosni Mubarak, himself a former air force aircraft and tanks. opposition leaders are put on trial for the pilot. The army ousted the monarchy soon after it One US diplomatic memo said Congressional unrest following the disputed 2009 presi- dential election, the latest sign that Ira- seized power in a 1952 coup and all of the country’s debate to review - and attach conditions to - aid to nian authorities may make a potentially our presidents since have come from the ranks of the Egypt may act as a pressure tool to force the Egyptian An Egyptian soldier watches from his tank as a US marine corps Cobra helicopter explosive escalation of their crackdown. military. military to change its doctrine. -AP flies overhead during Bright Star war games on Egypt’s north west coast. (AP) Hundreds of opposition supporters have been arrested and tried in the fierce crack- down that crushed opposition protests in the wake of the election, which the oppo- sition claimed hard-line President Mah- moud Ahmadinejad won by fraud. So far, January a decisive authorities have stopped short of trying to jail the reform movement’s top lead- Rain exposes poor drainage in Jeddah month, says ers - Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to JEDDAH: Parts of the western region of ly 10,000 vehicles. said spokesman of the Civil Defense in Makkah have been the real victor in the election, Saudi Arabia were once again struck by heavy “Civil Defense helicopters rescued four province Maj. Abdullah Al-Amri. fellow candidate Mahdi Karroubi and downpours on Thursday morning that wreaked women and five children in the Umm Al-Khayr According to an official source in the Civil Lebanon Parliament former President Mohammad Khatami - apparently out of concern it could spark havoc and raised concerns of flash-flooding. Jed- residential complex in the Quwaiza district,” said Defense, the flood waters gushing in from out- a new wave of protests and fuel the op- dah’s roads were clogged with traffic as drivers Commander of the Civil Defense Helicopter Di- side collected in Wadi Marikh and caused power Speaker Berri position. -AP navigated through raging rivers of rainwater that vision Maj. Gen. Muhammad Al-Harb. failure in the Umm Al-Khayr residential complex BEIRUT: January is “a decisive exposed the city’s drainage problems. Traffic was halted on Haramain Expressway in the Quwaiza district and also inundated the month” for Saudi-Syrian efforts to find a Trees fell and manhole covers popped up as to the north after the roads close to the Palestine lower stories of buildings. solution for Lebanon’s months-long po- the existing drainage network quickly reached Overpass and the Harazat district became lakes Jeddah Mayor Hani Abu Ras visited flood-hit litical stalemate, the Parliament Speaker capacity in some parts of the city. of water deep enough to submerge vehicles. spots including Madinah Road, King Abdul Aziz said Thursday. Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal said The Civil Defense declared emergency in the Street, Al-Andalus, King Abdullah Underpass Speaker Nabih Berri told visitors that ‘Mossad, US, UK the situation in Jeddah and other parts of the area in the afternoon. A number of dinghies were and neighborhoods in the east of the Haramain a solution for the Lebanese crisis had al- province is under control. “The floods caused the brought out to help in rescue operations in the Expressway. most been completed before Eid Al-Adha cooperating to death of a man and three children in the suburbs Wadi Qaus. Municipal authorities were busy pumping out in November.