h t t p : / / w w w . t e h r a n t i m e s . c o m / i n t e r n a t i o n a l
TEHRAN TIMES INTERNATIONAL DAILY
15 MAY 3, 2011
By Marwa AwadSince Mubarak’s resignation on February 11, the CAIRO (Reuters) —The Palestinian reconciliationPalestinianinterim military rulers have steered foreign policy away accord brokered by Egypt means as much to Cairo as from Mubarak’s legacy to show that Egypt now wants the rival factions it united, because it signals a clear shift to slowly but surely expand its alliances and restore its in Middle East policy from the era of deposed presidentdeal a signal ofstatus as a regional power. Hosni Mubarak.Military intelligence supervised the Hamas-Fatah By pushing Fatah and its rival Hamas to end theirEgypt shiftaccord, and Egypt said it would send a security team to feud, the generals who now rule Egypt are seeking to Gaza soon to implement the agreement. gain leverage over Israel and gain credibility among a Thecouncil allowed two Iranian warships to pass largely pro-Palestinian population. in 1979, but many Egyptians remain hostile to their through Egypt’s Suez Canal in February despite loud Egypt also shares a border with Gaza, the tiny neighbordue to its occupation of Arab land seized objections from Israel and the disapproval of Washington. coastal enclave which Hamas rules, and an accord that during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Al-Araby reached out ends Palestinian infighting would mean a more secure Israel was worried that Mubarak’s overthrow by earlier this month for closer diplomatic ties with Iran that frontier, analysts said. pro-democracy activists could mean an end to peace,Palestinian Islamic Jihad members Khalid al-Batch (R) and Nafiz Azamsevered in the early days of the Islamic Republicwere “Cairo has a number of interests in this deal and but one of the first announcements made by the ruling(L) speak as they arrive at the Rafah border terminal in the southernwhen Egypt was forging ahead with peace with Israel. the provisional military authority played a lead role generals was to reinforce the accord.Gaza Strip on May 2, 2011 before crossing to Egypt.Egypt’s intelligence service has also eased the in the intra-Palestinian deal,” said Kamran Boukhari, Shortly afterwards, the military-appointed government(Getty Images)movement of Palestinians from Hamas-ruled Gaza over Middle East analyst with Stratfor Global Intelligence reached out to Iran, Israel’s arch-enemy, saying the time tried to suppress the opposition Muslim Brotherhood its Gaza border. consultancy. was ripe for better ties. andquashed an armed Islamist uprising in the 1990s. After Mubarak’s ouster, the government has put on “Egypt does not wish to see turmoil in Gaza at a time Egyptalso appears to have coordinated with Iran He survived an assassination attempt in Addis Ababa trialseveral officials in his administration over corruption, when it is engaged in a transition on the home front. It its efforts to bring Hamas and Fatah together, a sign of in 1995. including a former energy minister over allegations of appears also that Egypt is trying to assert itself vis-a-vis further closeness. “The policy against Hamas and the close alliance selling natural gas to Israel below market prices. Israel. The“Iranian foreign minister’s praise of the deal with the U.S. and Israel stemmed from the Mubarak On Wednesday, hours before the Palestinian accord ” Egypt is the most populous Arab country, but its indicated Tehran is backing the reconciliation,” Boukhari administration’s attempt to prioritize personal interests was signed, the gas pipeline was blown up, which also regional influence was seen to fade after three decades said. ahead of national ones,” said a senior Egyptian official supplies Jordan and local industries. of Mubarak’s rule, during which foreign policy was Egypt’s foreign policy over the past 30 years was involved in policy making. The “army believes a more balanced Egyptian solidly aligned with the U.S. but increasingly distant from seenas the private domain of the staunchly pro- “Mubarak was busy with internal affairs, such as foreign policy is necessary and that Egypt still has a key popular sentiment. American Mubarak. engineeringthe succession of his son Gamal. This regional role that it may have lost track of previously but Egypt signed a peace accord with U.S. ally Israel A vehement opponent of Islamist groups, Mubarak characterized his administration’s policy,” the official said. can regain,” said Safwat Zayat, a military analyst. What nexttherwrote.tuatneh”,cionaoptrchiiifistturntotasa.eCing,willsisnewiessuHdoG“”.n Bin Laden and his after binwhichn”levelorettcoif“roecpdsesitinyeacrlimratieht.S.Uandns,tizenciiracAemfroeltraelavtreiddwrlowadeussitnemS..tstaeedaptrTheUuresmeasmyth are dead, (Contd. from p. 1)Laden death?eahrrtsorepd,teoht.hguialsaidtherewreeonsepiccfitseA.esdmaornitartsinicfifonoieatsthrimiltobsaatyr ‘No other country was informed’ The CIA had been hunting that courier for years, ever since detainees told interrogators that theBy Gregg CarlstromOne pressing question is what bin Laden’s death means messenger was so trusted by Bin Laden that he might l-Qae very well be living with the Al-Qaeda leader.AlceehsaseirvahcwontouTp.thehtsvoreectnmnolyinredpublictdsweorwchtgrnoinreneihcseekristeondr..SsUfosaeehcretdovnanistaPakPs-u.fSsriokUaSe.ni.a.rUpsediiotaitchailnlsynimtoameelntro-amifwr-osenthtseenaiddyBasttrcktrhaebaalOraeedadltaeds’nlopsihaamOsrdeLanbi Nestled in an affluent neighborhood, the compound was surrounded by walls as high as six meters (18 which gathered outside the White House even before Raymond Davis, the CIA contractor arrested for murder in feet), topped with barbed wire. Two security gates his speech on Sunday night. Lahore and then released after “blood money” was paid to guardedtheonlywayin.Athird-floorterracewasmeIatssuriem.pactonAl-Qaeda,though,ishardertothefOabmailimeasofhhaidsviicntimths.epastpraisedthePakistanishielded by a 2.33-meter (seven-foot) privacy wall. No phone lines or Internet cables ran to the property. The Peter Bergen, an American journalist, said on CNN government for its co-operation in the hunt for bin residents burned their garbage rather than put it out that bin Laden’s death marked “the end of the war on Laden. And some officials in the ISI, Pakistan’s spy forcollection.TheU.S.intelligenceofficialsbelievedtQerareord”a.,Bafuttermaall,niysaotvheerryadinffaelryestnstowrgoaulndizdaitisoangrinee2:0A1l1-aagceconrcdyi,nrgetpoortmeeddliyaprleapyeordtsa.roleinhiseventualkilling,the million-dollar compound was built five years ago toprotectamajorterroristfigure.Thequestionwas,trhaanngieno2f0a0ffi1l,iawtiethgraounpesw.cadreofleadersandawiderInBautctohneferWehnicteeHcoalulseonquiScuklnydraeyjecntiegdht,thaatscleaniimo:rwho? Analysts have long debated the extent to which administration official told reporters that Pakistan was The CIA asked itself again and again who might be binLaden -- and his deputy, Egyptian-born Ayman not briefed in advance on the operation which led to living behind those walls. Each time, they concluded it was almost certainly Bin Laden . al-Zawahiri -- direct Al-Qaeda’s operations. The two bin Laden’s death. The first question is: Why the CIA decided to men have largely been in hiding since September 11, “An operation like this has the utmost operational assassinateBinLadennow,andsecond,wast2o00h1a,nadltetacmkasnyonofththeeUg.rSo.,ulpe’savdianyg-ttoh-ediraysuobpoerrdaitnioatness.csoecuunrtirtyywatatascihnefodrmtoedit,,”atnhdeaofsfimciaalllsciaricdl.e“oNfopeotohpelerPakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) involved? The answer to seconded question is, probably yes. Affiliate groups, like Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, basedFoundation for the Defense of Democracies. withinthe United States knew about it.” Lastmonth,ISIchiefLt.Gen.AhmedShujaPasha“alreadyoperatewithrelativelylittledirectionfromthe“ThejihadigrouppossessesotherleaderswhocanObama,inofferingpraiseforPakistan,alsowenttotheU.S.andconductedaseriesofmeetingslea“Idterisshiopf”teonnthaessAufgmheadnitsthaant-tPhaekiristparninbcoiprdaler.rolessteBpiinnLtaodseenr’vsedaesatfihg,iunreothheeardwsofrodrst-hwehgilreousyp.m”bolicallyiste“eesmseednttioalatdhamtoPniaskhistthaenccoounnttirnyu’selteoajdoienrsUhi.pS,.cinalltihnegwith CIA Director Leon Panetta and other high- , ranking officials in Pentagon, in which, it seems, was particularly in bin Laden’s case, are as propaganda significant- may mean little for Al-Qaeda’s capabilities. fight against Al-Qaeda”. Other administration officials decided to get rid of Bin Laden and end the conflict in leaders or even mere figureheads,” said Barbara‘Catastrophic if it is authentic’went further, describing bin Laden’s long hideout Afghanistan. Sude, a former CIA Al-Qaeda analyst, in a policy paper Reactionfrom Al-Qaeda and its sympathizers has in Pakistan as a cause for concern and a potential ItwasajointoperationinwhichU.S.BlackhawkrelIenadseeeddl,asatyseearir.esofyoungerleaders--someofsnootfayretbiesesnuemduatevdi.dTeohetrgirbouutep’tsopbrionpaLgaadnedn,anwoirnghahsaistsou“rWceeoafrferictvieornyinctohnecreerlnaetidonasbhiopu.tthesituationinhelicopters ferried about two dozen troops from Navy SEALTeamSix,atopmilitarycounter-terrorismunititnhethmengorowudpeocveearsethde--peasmtefregwedyteoarpsl,aybrloeaaddiennginrgolietsscomOnmeinntteedrnoentthfeorruemposrtssyofmhpisatdheeatitch.toAl-Qaeda,tPhaekiPsatakinst…anbiugtotvhiesrnismseontmoetnh,i”nagsweeninoereodffitociawlosrakidw.ithinto the compound while Pakistani security forces cordonedofftheareaandalsoprovidedtheair-lLeiabid;earsnhdipA.tiyTahheyaibndclaul-dReaAhbmuaanl.-Yazid;AbuYahyaal-raepmoratjsoroitfybionfLcaodmenm’sendteaattohr.sseemshockedbytheanyAilsmopaucntcloenarthisewwhaertihnerAfbgihnaLnaisdteann’,sndoewatihniwtislltheanvthecover in which the Pakistanis lost a helicopter and its crew.BinLadenwasshotintheheadafterheandargIfuebitnhaLtadheenhisasonallyreaadfiygusreerhveeadd,hitshepnuropnoesec:ouHlidsofInhitghhe-rpaanskti,ngwhAeln-QUa.Se.doafficmiaelsmbaenrnso,unccoemdmtheentdaetoartshydeuarir.ngObhiasmsapediedchn;otbinmeLnatidoennawnyaschkiallnegdeisntoPsatkriastteagny,his bodyguards resisted the assault. After 40 minutes offighting,BinLadenandanadultson,Hamza,oneiQdeaoeldoag,ybaonthdtshtreatceegnytrhalasorpgearnmizeaatitoenditnhroAfugghhaonuitstAaln-oafntennourenjceectmeedntthboyseOrbeapmorat,soonutthofehoatnhde.rBhauntdt,hesleaetemsstnhoatndAffuglhoafnAisl-taQna;eadnadmUe.mS.beorfsficriealmsaiandinmitAftghhaatniosntlayn.aunidentified woman and two men were dead. and Pakistan and its affiliate groups elsewhere. to be viewed as somewhat more credible. In other words, the war - started to punish the The killing of Bin Laden at this time indicates thatbothPakistanandtheU.S.arenowinterestedin“mTuhlitsipliseawnayes,nobrumtoitusdobelsownottoktilhleAlji-hQaadeidnae,”twsoarikdwas“Ifnitotisatbrlueettohecnapwtueremhuismttahliavne,k”AollnaehctohamtmAemntearitcoaropuetrlpaesttrtathoersarocfhittheectSofetphtoesmebaetrta1c1ksa.ttacks-maywellin ending the Afghan conflict. Pakistan wants to see U.S. out of Afghanistan as soon as possible and the Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, director of the Centre for wrote. “Else they would be humiliating him like Saddam(Source: Al Jazeera) Obama administration has have its hands full of this war that his predecessor George W. Bush started onMourners demandindressedpitanoddneaaitnnaemnorpfocriforefoosrtwa,efrfmftahsisopeh’rlesssibssorucceSfieI-lamalson,pcegeegasdkcdetaatameddednsihsuoropstteserowh,hwciheldnaAter.SouthAfrica the pretext of hunting down Al-Qaeda chief whom his administration accused for the September 11 terrorist traditional Libyan garb, with a black cap and a black in Libya, said Monday that “attacks on leaders and attacks in New York. However, not many bought Bush administration’srevenge in Libya afteredgcbosonsainetssoocpnrfleicnliisegnrlaalnaadteadnsautlofnkeermaactoroevevuersi.ttahiTlhiscrnitiegnhowofificointlcyesrreestalscannoeehlacstlutnientonsiioatofnclaim that Bin Laden actually conducted history’s most i oli’s sophisticated terrorist operation on the U.S. soil.NATO strikecfifidult.”RussiaaccuesdANOTofad“prisoropontieatesuffoecrono”daySuncallandroadefemidnmiasceeate-rofegnever,engveRe“ngtianchccoioasTn.ushodekcfforofehtundthehearse,nasdcordwdeaorpian-HalrTnihadichblobeenbhroengi,hwohdo Many people always knew that it was an inside job or fully facilitated by the CIA and Pentagon in orderTRIPOLI (AP) — fire. you, Libya” and flashing victory signs.More than 2,000 Libyans shouting to launch new wars against the Islamic countries for revenge on Monday buried Muammar Gaddafi’s From there, the mourners carried the casket to Gaddafi has also called for a cease-fire, but rebels to achieve multiple targets, like destabilizing of the second youngest son, who officials say was killed in a the nearby cemetery, where weeds and thistles grew don’t believe it is genuine, especially since he has Islamic world by creating ethnic and sectarian divisions, NATO airstrike along with three of the Libyan leader’s among stone slabs that marked graves. continued to pound the besieged town of Misrata, the territorial conflicts, and leaving a legacy of simmering young grandchildren. Seif al-Islam stood at the freshly dug grave as the only major rebel bastion in western Libya. disputes in the regions of Central Asia, Southwest Asia Seif al-Arab Gaddafi’s body, wrapped in a white bodyof his 29-year-old brother was removed from the Gaddafi’sforces used tanks to shell Misrata on and North Africa. The wars were also meant to boost burial shroud, was lowered into a grave to the simple coffin and lowered into the ground in a burial Monday, as rumors fueled fears that the Libyan leader American economy by triggering Military Industrial thundering sound of anti-aircraft guns being fired from shroud. was preparing to use chemical weapons. Complex in action and then starting a process of near the cemetery in a Tripoli neighborhood. Seif al-Arab was killed late Saturday, along with Hundreds have been killed in Misrata over the past rebuilding of war-torn countries. Two of his older brothers, Seif al-Islam and three of Gaddafi’s grandchildren, ages six months to two months as Gaddafi has attempted to seize the Over more, the U.S. involvement in the energy- Mohammed, paid their respects, but his father was two years, when NATO bombed the family’s compound town. Rebels succeeded in pushing Gaddafi forces rich regions is also meant to curtail the rise of China absent. Members of the Gaddafi family have only in Tripoli. A French orthopedic surgeon, who runs a out of several areas of town about a week ago, but by denying it easy flow of energy, and ultimately made infrequent public appearances since the start of private clinic in Tripoli, told reporters he saw three of they have responded with relentless shelling from the aiming to remove China and Russia from the the uprising against the Libyan leader in mid-February. the four bodies and that one was most likely Seif al- outskirts. Mediterranean. South Africa on Monday joined Russia in criticizing Arab, based on photographs he had seen. The most recent barrage started early Monday Because of the United States’ “war on terror”, the NATO strike on the Gaddafi family compound. Gaddafi and his wife were present during the morning and only paused with the threat of NATO Pakistan has been engulfed in the flames of NATO officials have denied they were hunting attack but were unharmed, said Libyan officials, airstrikes, said Libyan activist Rida al-Montasser. extremism and terrorism, and its economy and society Gaddafi to break the stalemate between better trained whoaccused NATO of trying to assassinate the “Only when we heard the NATO planes flying over, suffered badly for a decade-long war. So the current governmentforces and lightly armed rebels, who Libyan leader. the shelling paused,” said al-Montasser. administration has finally decided to eliminate the control much of eastern Libya. Some foreign countries also criticized the strike, Even as the shelling paused, fear spread cassis belly, leaving the U.S. with no option except to In Monday’s tumultuous funeral, the Gaddafi saying it exceeded the UN mandate of protecting through Misrata that Gaddafi forces were leave the region. brothers were thronged by a huge crowd pushing to civilians in Libya. The UN approved the implementation preparing to use chemical weapons in their fight get closer to the coffin, draped in a green Libyan flag. of a no-fly zone over Libya in March after Gaddafi to defeat the rebels.