Nervous Arab states fear a war in the Gulf but a nuclear-armed Iran is an even greater concern.
Iranian retaliation against oilfields, refineries and desalination plants in the Gulf, especially in eastern Saudi Arabia, is an obvious worry. Tehran has gone on the record as threatening to close the Straits of Hormuz, the choke point for [...]

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The West might be alarmed at the prospect of the mullahs arming themselves with nuclear weapons, but it is the Arabs who are first in their direct line of fire.
Relations between Tehran and the Saudis have been strained ever since Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were implicated in the 1996 bombing of the US Marine base in [...]

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Salvo after salvo of missiles and rockets fired by Syria, Hezbollah and Gaza militants thudding into Israel’s major population centres. Hundreds dead. Thousands injured.
That’s the scenario Israel is preparing for, and it was the working assumption during the five-day civil defence drill conducted last week — the largest ever exercise of its kind in the [...]

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Israel’s intelligence community has concluded that the next war would involve missiles and Hizbullah, last at least a month and include Syria.
The intelligence community has drafted a series of scenarios for Israel’s emergency services to prepare for future war. The scenarios envisioned the next war as including massive missile and rocket salvos, some of them [...]

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In her new book, Sandra Mackey uses the calamity that is Lebanon to provide some useful insights to the Arab world she knows well. Mirror of the Arab World is well worth reading with the caveat that Mackey has bought into the view that Israel does not have any right to exist. For her it [...]

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VIENNA (AFP) — Arab states on Thursday pushed through a resolution at the UN atomic agency clearly aimed at Israel, calling for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons.
The UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted an Egyptian-sponsored resolution on a nuclear weapons-free-zone in the Middle East with Israel and the US voting against [...]

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RIYADH (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states began working on feasibility studies for a joint nuclear program on Monday and a leading Gulf official said they were set on pursuing atomic energy for peaceful purposes only.
“The promising future of nuclear energy in electricity generation and desalination can make it a source for meeting increasing needs,” Gulf [...]

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Russia is also the Great Power with the most open lines of communications with Syria, Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, all sworn foes of the Bush White House. Russia hosted Khalid Meshal in Moscow in defiance of both the US and the EU, who view Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Moscow built the Bushehr nuclear reactor, [...]

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“We [Arabs] have become extinct,” said Syrian poet Adonis in a March 11 Dubai television interview transcribed by the Israeli media monitor MEMRI, [1] but ignored by the mainstream Western media. The prognosis by Adonis, the only Arabic writer on the Nobel Prize short list, for the Arab prospect has become more bleak over the [...]

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PARIS: France is often described as having a special relationship with the Arab world. Paris is widely seen as the Western advocate for Arab people. But that could change with election of a new president in May.
Some people summarize the French Arab policy as being a “weapons for oil” policy.
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France Faces the Future
As [...]

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Saudi Arabia’s baby boomers, born after the 1973 oil embargo, are redefining the kingdom’s relationship with the modern world .
Scented smoke from dozens of water pipes mingled with Lebanese pop music at Al-Nakheel, a seaside restaurant in the Red Sea port of Jeddah. Saudi men in white robes and women in black abayas, their head [...]

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1. Arab leaders have no interest in genuine peace with Israel.
2. Israeli-Arab peace will come on the Arabs’ timetable.
3. All minorities living within the Arab world are under siege.
4. The Arab world is not about to make an exception for the Jews.
5. Arab regimes also demonize non-Muslim and non-Arab peoples living beyond the Arab [...]

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Why are the Arabs so low in so many measurements? Even before the dissolution of the Ottoman Caliphate in the beginning of the 20th century, we went down a slope that took us to where we stand today — at the bottom of the achievement ladder. Collectively, we contribute less than most nations to world [...]

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King Abdullah brushes aside the United States and seeks to take the lead in a strife-torn Middle East.
Yet now, say senior Saudi princes and members of the government, Abdullah has grown so angry and “emotional” about the disasters confronting the region that he’s decided to take on a new role. No longer will Saudi Arabia [...]

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A new port is a boon locally, a potential military asset for Beijing and a worry to the U.S.
GWADAR, PAKISTAN — Along a scenic beach where fishermen mend their nets by hand, an endless row of storefronts stretches into the distance, all selling the same thing. Not sunscreen, umbrellas or cold drinks. Land.
Never mind that [...]

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Riyadh summit concludes with dire warning, backing for Mideast peace plan.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - An Arab summit ended in Saudi Arabia on Thursday with endorsement for an Arab land-for-peace proposal with Israel and a warning about a possible nuclear arms race in the region.
“We affirm a just and comprehensive peace as a strategic option for [...]

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The “lords of war” will decide Israel’s future if it rejects a blueprint for peace crafted by the entire Arab world, Saudi Arabia’s veteran foreign minister warned yesterday.
As leaders began gathering in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for today’s summit of the Arab League, Prince Saud al-Faisal told The Daily Telegraph that the Middle East risks [...]

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