April 24, 2008
Israel and Syria Hint at Progress on Golan Heights Deal

By ISABEL KERSHNER
JERUSALEM — Peace overtures between Israel and Syria moved up a gear on Wednesday when a Syrian cabinet minister said that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel had sent a message to President Bashar al-Assad to the effect that Israel would be willing to withdraw from all the Golan Heights in return for peace with Syria.

The Syrian expatriate affairs minister, Buthaina Shaaban, told Al Jazeera television, “Olmert is ready for peace with Syria on the grounds of international conditions; on the grounds of the return of the Golan Heights in full to Syria.” She said that Turkey had conveyed the message.

Israeli officials did not deny the statement from Damascus but would not confirm it either, offering a more general, positive reaction. “Israel wants peace with Syria; we are interested in a negotiated process,” said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Mr. Olmert. “The Syrians know well our expectations, and we know well their expectations.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the Damascus newspaper Al Watan reported that the Israeli offer was relayed to Mr. Assad by the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, by telephone on Tuesday. Mr. Olmert had told Mr. Erdogan that “Israel was ready to withdraw completely from the Golan in exchange for peace with Syria,” Al Watan reported.

Withdrawal from the Golan Heights is a contentious issue in Israel. The territory is a strategic plateau that overlooks a large swath of northern Israel. Israel has objected to past Syrian demands for access to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, a main water source for Israel.

In the wake of the Syrian reports on Wednesday, an Israeli member of Parliament from Mr. Olmert’s Kadima Party, David Tal, said he would work to accelerate the passage of legislation conditioning any withdrawal from the Golan Heights on a national referendum.

Those in Israel who favor a deal contend it would take Syria out of the Iranian sphere and end Syrian support for some groups hostile to Israel, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas.

Mr. Olmert is said to be spending the Passover vacation with family members and friends in a wooden cabin on the Golan.

Talks between Israel and Syria broke off in 2000 amid disagreement over the extent of the possible withdrawal from the Golan Heights. Israel captured the area from Syria in 1967 and extended Israeli law and administration to the area in 1981.

What a complete withdrawal would mean has long been ambiguous, given the differences among the 1923 international boundary between Palestine and Syria, the 1949 armistice line and the confrontation line between Israel and Syria on June 4, 1967, on the eve of the war.

The Syrian foreign minister, Walid Muallem, said in Tehran on Wednesday that peace talks with Israel could resume “if Israel is committed to withdrawal” up to the June 4, 1967, line, Agence France-Presse reported.

The peaceful overtures followed periods of tension between Israel and Syria. Tensions peaked after an Israeli airstrike last September on Syria, directed against what analysts said was a partly constructed nuclear facility, and again after the assassination in February in Syria of Imad Mugniyah, a top Hezbollah commander long sought by the United States for his role in terrorist attacks.

But in festive interviews with the Israeli news media before Passover, Mr. Olmert described his hopes for a deal. “I am very interested in a peace process with Syria,” he told the Hebrew daily Yediot Aharonot. “I’ve been acting on this issue, and I hope that my efforts mature into something meaningful.”

After visiting Damascus this week, former President Jimmy Carter said that there were only a few details left to work out on a full peace treaty between Israel and Syria, but that the Bush administration was discouraging Israel from proceeding because of other American concerns about Syria, especially related to Iraq.

Separately, the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Wednesday gave Israel’s first official reaction after the arrest Tuesday of Ben-Ami Kadish, 84, an American suspected of spying for Israel in the early 1980s. Without referring specifically to the case, Arye Mekel, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said, “In order to remove any doubt, since 1985, Israel has stringently upheld directives from its prime ministers not to engage in any such activity in the United States.”

Mr. Mekel noted that the events in question related to the early 1980s, and said that relations between Israel and the United States had “always been based on true friendship, shared values and interests.”

Israeli officials were briefed by the State Department on the case on Tuesday night

AP
Apple 2Q profit jumps 36 percent, but stock wobbles
Wednesday April 23, 9:26 pm ET
By Jordan Robertson, AP Technology Writer
Apple 2Q profit, sales beat Wall Street, but stock wobbles on guidance below estimates
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Apple Inc.'s fiscal second-quarter profit jumped 36 percent on blistering sales of Macintosh computers -- and beat Wall Street estimates -- but its stock dipped on a lower-than-expected profit forecast.
The Mac and iPod maker is believed to be especially vulnerable to slowing consumer spending in the United States because of its stronger presence here than overseas and because many of its products carry a premium price tag. Those fears have contributed to a 20 percent decline in Apple's stock price since the start of the year.

But the company has traditionally issued conservative financial forecasts, and sales in the United States were particularly strong in the latest quarter, rising 40 percent over last year. So many investors were left scratching their heads about how to interpret Apple's guidance.

Apple shares fell $1.18, or less than 1 percent, to $161.71 in after-hours trading, climbing back from a dip of nearly 5 percent right after the close of trading and the release of the earnings report. The shares had closed up $2.69, or 1.7 percent, at $162.89, during the regular session.

"The stock was all over the place, but I thought it was a great quarter," said Jane Snorek, senior analyst of technology stocks at First American Funds.

"The most important part is that the Apple consumer seems to be immune to economic weakness," she said. "This is a very U.S.-centric story. The guidance could have been horrendous. They could have said they were seeing pricing pressure, or the stores weren't doing well. But I see it as, I'm perfectly safe buying the stock now."

The Cupertino-based company earned $1.05 billion, or $1.16 per share, in its second quarter, which ended March 29. That's 9 cents per share better than what analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting on average.

During the same period last year, Apple earned $770 million, or 87 cents per share.

Revenue jumped 43 percent in the period to $7.51 billion -- also beating Wall Street's expectations. Analysts were predicting Apple would rake in $6.96 billion.

Apple said this year brought the strongest sales and earnings performance during the March quarter in Apple's history.

Apple's chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, would not specifically address in an interview how Apple might be affected by slowing domestic consumer spending, but he noted that Apple's sales growth overall is expected to continue accelerating, a sign the company is faring well despite the economic downturn.

Management is aware of the economic pressures but is focused on running the company, which performed "exceptionally well" and turned in an "awesome" quarter, he said.

The company forecast profits for the fiscal third quarter of $1 per share, short of the $1.10 per share in the average analyst estimate and at the low end of what all analysts polled were expecting.

The company expects sales of about $7.2 billion, slightly above the $7.16 billion Wall Street was expecting.

Apple sold 2.29 million Macintosh computers during the second quarter, a 51 percent jump over a year ago. The company sold 10.6 million iPods during the quarter, one percent higher than last year, and 1.7 million iPhones.

Apple's stock, which had quadrupled from its recent low of $50.67 in July 2006 to a high of $202.96 in December of last year, has suffered recently amid worries about intensifying competition and fears it could be hurt by economic jitters that are tamping down consumer spending.

The stock dropped as low as $120 earlier this year but has since rebounded on signs Apple's Macintosh business is gaining more market share and optimism about the iPhone.

Apple unveiled new software in March for the iPhone that allows third-party developers to build applications for the multimedia gadget -- they had been locked out before -- and makes the iPhone compatible with Microsoft Corp.'s Exchange software, which opens the door to corporate e-mail users.

The latter is Apple's attempt to woo more business customers while addressing a key weakness in the iPhone and placing it in more direct competition with Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and Palm Inc.'s Treo smart phones.

Apple executives reiterated the company's goal to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.

They also said the company plans to delay recording revenue from iPhone sales between March 6, when the software upgrade to the multimedia gadgets was announced, and summertime -- when the upgrade actually ships to consumers.

Apple executives said the move hurt profit margins in the second quarter and would continue to in the third but is required to properly account for a new product not being delivered in completed form to consumers

Ex-extremists call for 'Western Islam'
By Dominic Casciani
BBC News

Discussing hardline Islamist ideologies and violent extremism isn't exactly the stuff of fashionable London parties.
But the British Museum is on Tuesday the surprising venue for theologians, thinkers and socialite Jemima Khan, all coming together to support the launch of a new think tank to counter Al Qaeda's world-view.

And this seemingly bizarre gathering exposes the question at the heart of the whirlwind romance between the Quilliam Foundation and policymakers.

Is the launch of this campaigning organisation a step forward in the battle of ideas - or just another group with some kind of official pat on the head - but no credibility on the street?

Since the London bombings of July 2005 a whole string of Muslim organisations have come forward, claiming to have the answers to violent extremism.

Search for answers

The Muslim Council of Britain, the main umbrella body, has been marginalised in an ongoing political row - but two others touted as significant players have had little impact.

Vast sums of money are being spent on research into violent extremism, and entire government teams have sprung from nowhere to try to find answers.

Then into this mix came Ed Husain. Last year he published The Islamist, his story of a life in hardline community politics.

He was a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), a global body calling for a single Islamic state across the Middle East.

Husain says the hardline rhetoric of organisations like HT took him and other British teenagers to dark places - places which are the starting point on a road that leads to suicide bombing in the name of al-Qaeda.

It's an alluring argument and the book is a compelling read. One government official e-mailed scores of colleagues inside Whitehall late last year, effectively instructing them to read it.
Now Ed Husain and another, less well-known, man, Maajid Nawaz, are launching Quilliam (named after a 19th century British convert) as the counter-argument to extremism.

They say Islam in its purest universal form, as the last message of God to mankind, sits perfectly well in modern multicultural societies - providing that Muslims find the right way to express their faith.

And if British Muslims rediscover the purity of the faith, they argue, they can cast off the political and cultural baggage that would see Islam as the enemy of the West.

This is, however, an argument fraught with danger - which is why Quilliam's progress will be interesting to watch.

Enemies

Ed Husain's book has annoyed many people who would otherwise be on his side, including serious Muslim thinkers who were once of the same radical mindset as him.

Some Muslims who advise government have raised eyebrows over his links with Conservative thinkers. The author himself is a Labour supporter who says the challenge is not party-political.

Supporters say he has been the victim of community sniping because he has had the guts to stand up and be counted and to reveal, warts and all, what lies beneath the surface.

This is where Maajid Nawaz comes in. For years, Essex-born Nawaz was one of the most influential figures in Islamist politics in the UK.

And he paid for it by being jailed in Egypt for membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir - witnessing the torture of other prisoners and fearing for his own life.

But before finding himself in a Cairo cell, he personally recruited to the cause the very men and women Quilliam is now targeting.

He is known among communities around the country and delivers talks rooted deep in Koranic theology, rather than the writings of the ideologues who provided al-Qaeda's intellectual foundations. In short, he has street credibility.

The two men and Quilliam's other founders form an attractive package - effective communicators who believe they can join the dots between communities, counter-extremism strategy and young Muslims.

But it's this determination to influence government which will be the most challenging issue for Quilliam.

'State-approved Islam'

Islamist political groups will use any kind of association between the think tank and policy makers as an attack, accusing it of doing ministers' bidding.

If Quilliam is to have success with its message it will need to manage this relationship very carefully.

Another organisation, the Radical Middle Way, delivers fascinating lecture tours by progressive Islamic thinkers - but it is dismissed by hardliners because it received Foreign Office funding.

Other schemes involving government cash have also struggled to avoid accusations of "state-approved Islam".

So can Quilliam reach the young men and women who need most to hear the message?

Quilliam's strategy is to bathe in the media and political spotlight - but to back this up with a coherent grassroots campaign of rigorous ideas.

And so it hopes to become a rolling ball gathering the moss of former Islamists - and the more moss it gathers, the greater its momentum in communities.

Its founders have deliberately avoided using the difficult theological term of "reformation" - but the think tank is determined to sell the idea of a "Western Islam".

The organisation initially in its sights is Hizb ut-Tahrir.

By coincidence, it sent out an e-mail on the morning of Quilliam's launch, calling on supporters to "Stand for Islam" against the onslaught of Western values. It appears to be feeling the heat.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/7360652.stm

Published: 2008/04/22 13:29:08 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

India Rejects US Comments on Iran
By VOA News
23 April 2008

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (file photo)
India's Foreign Ministry says it does not need any guidance on handling its relationship with Iran, ahead of a visit this month by Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The ministry statement Tuesday was in response to a U.S. State Department spokesman's comments on Monday. Answering a reporter's question whether the U.S. has concerns about India's invitation to the Iranian president, Tom Casey said it is up to every country to decide how to conduct its bilateral relations.

Casey said Washington hopes all governments that engage with Iran will press the country to meet United Nations' requirements and abandon its controversial nuclear activities. He added he would also encourage India to ask Iran to end what he termed "unhelpful activities" in Iraq.

India rejected the suggestions, saying it is perfectly capable of managing its centuries' old relationship with Iran.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries suffered after 2005, when New Delhi supported an International Atomic Energy Agency vote that found Iran in non-compliance with its international nuclear obligations.

Talks during this month's visit are expected to focus on energy issues, including a proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline that the United States strongly opposes.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

Syria says Israel ready to return Golan for peace accord
By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 22 minutes ago
A Cabinet minister said Wednesday that Israel has passed a message to Syria saying it is prepared to return the Golan Heights in exchange for a peace treaty.

Israeli officials declined to comment on the report, but the message could be a sign of progress in back-channel contacts that the two nations have reported in recent days.

Syrian Emigrant Affairs Minister Buthaina Shaaban told satellite television al-Jazeera that the message from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was relayed to Syrian President Bashar Assad by Turkey's leader.

The message said Olmert "is ready for peace with Syria based on international conditions and the full return of the Golan Heights," Shaaban said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyiop Erdogan is due in Damascus on Saturday for talks with Assad and Shaaban said more details about the message would be disclosed during that visit.

Olmert told Israeli newspapers last week that the two nations had exchange messages clarifying what each would expect from a peace deal.

"They know what we want from them, and I know full well what they want from us," Olmert told the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot. "Israel is open to peace with Syria," he told another paper, Maariv.

On Sunday, Assad told officials of Syria's ruling Baath party that the exchange explored the possibility of resuming peace talks. Israel "knows well what is accepted and not accepted by Syria," he said.

Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations broke down in 2000 over the extent of an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, which was seized from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Syria demands a full return of the territory, but Israel wanted to keep a small strip along the Sea of Galilee to ensure its control of its vital water supplies.

Israel has demanded Syria agree to a full peace and halt its support for militant groups, including Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The peace contacts are taking place despite high tensions between the two countries in recent months, largely stemming from an Israeli air attack on a Syrian military facility in September. Some foreign reports have said the target was a nuclear installation Syria was building with North Korean assistance, a claim Damascus denies.

In Jerusalem, Olmert's office said it had nothing to say on the report beyond what Olmert disclosed in his interviews last week. Government spokesman David Baker also would not comment on whether Erdogan was a conduit between the two countries.

Syria has had poor relations with the U.S. and its regional allies, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and moving the peace process with Israel forward could help break Damascus' isolation.

For Olmert, who has been politically weakened over the past year, progress could boost his standing at home, although Wednesday's reported stirred up hard-line Israeli politicians.

Lawmaker Yuval Steinitz of the hawkish Likud Party accused Olmert of "unprecedented recklessness" with the message exchange.

"Without the Golan, Israel will be hard-pressed to defend its existence, and protect the Sea of Galilee and water sources," said Steinitz, former chairman of the Israeli parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Dovish lawmaker Yossi Beilin of the Meretz Party urged the prime minister to take advantage ___

Associated Press writer Amy Teibel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.