Post by peterd on Jan 13, 2008 17:29:11 GMT -8
*Iraq Seeks Fair Share of Water from Euphrates and Tigris
A high-level tripartite meeting of the three riparian countries – Turkey, Syria and Iraq – will take place in Damascus January 10-11 to discuss a fair distribution of the water of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
[Iraq has been complaining for a long time that the two other riparian countries have been constructing so many dams upstream that the water reaching Iraq has diminished both in quantity and quality (too many pollutants). Water shortage in Iraq could have a dire consequence for its agriculture. Indeed, Iraq has already become one of the largest importers of wheat in the world.]
Al-Sabah Al-Jadid, Iraq, January 8, 2008
memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=642
*ALESCO: 100 Million Arabs Illiterate/ Educationally Disadvantaged Females Suffer Most
The Tunisia-based Arab League’s Education, Culture, Science and Communication [(ALECSO), the Arab equivalent of UNESCO] warned of the danger of the high number of illiterate people in the Arab world, nearly 100 million.
"The statistical data on the realities of illiteracy in the Arab countries indicate that the number of illiterates in the age groups above 15 years is approximately 99.5 million", ALESCO said in a statement, adding that "the rate of illiteracy in the region reached 29.7%."
About 75 million of the total Arab illiterate population is between the ages 15 and 45, and the rates are higher among women, where nearly 46.5% of them suffer from illiteracy. ALECSO confirmed that the large number of illiterates in the Arab countries "reflects a profound structural gap that influences the development of the Arab community and results in an extremely dangerous political, social and economical outcome." The statement added that in spite of the many efforts that have been made, the illiteracy portfolio did not rise to the level of importance that it deserves in the Arab region, whose population numbers 335 million.
Since its founding in 1970, ALESCO had developed a future vision to combat illiteracy, including the "First Strategy for the Eradication of Illiteracy in the Arab Countries" in 1976, and the "Arab Fund for Combating Illiteracy and Adult Education" in 1980. ALECSO’s budget is nearly $19 million.
According to Al-Jazeera TV, Egypt has 17,000,000 illiterate people, and only 0.6% of people in the region are computer literate. The reason behind the high illiteracy rate was cited as the fact that, unlike in other developed countries, parents and guardians are not penalized in the Arab world for not sending their children to school.
Al-Zaman, Iraq, January 7, 2008; Al-Jazeera TV, January 8, 2008
memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=641
*Al-Suwaidi Confident of Dollar's Strength
UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan Bin Nasser Al-Suwaidi on Monday expressed confidence in the US currency's strength despite the dollar's continued decline against top world currencies.
The U.S. dollar remains a major currency as it is used in 60 to 70% of international trade, Al-Suwaidi told reporters.
There has been speculation for months in the market that the UAE would revalue the dirham, which is getting weaker because of its peg to the dollar. But Al-Suwaidi has been saying that there is no intention of changing the existing exchange policy.
He reiterated yesterday that the UAE would maintain the dollar peg.
"Each currency fluctuates, and if its value fell at a certain time, that does not mean we should start thinking about de-linking," he said yesterday, according to an English translation of his comments made in Arabic. He also played down the link between rising domestic inflation and the existing exchange regime.
Gulfnews.com, January 8, 2008
memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=626
*Saudi Arabia: Academic Program in Nuclear Power
The engineering college at at King Saud University in Riyadh plans to launch a graduate program in nuclear power for peaceful purposes. The dean of the school, Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Hamed underscored "big and rapid efforts" to get the program underway within two years. Teaching staff [faculty] is available but others will be recruited.
The school will accept initially 25 students with degree in electric or mechanical engineering
Al-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 5, 2008
memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=611
*Impact of U.S. Sanctions on Iranian Bank/ Bank Saderat Iran
In an interview with the Financial Times, Hamid Borhani, the managing director of Bank Saderat [export bank], Iran’s second largest bank, said that 200 of the 600 banks that used to do business with his bank "have halted their transactions" following the September 2006 U.S.-imposed sanctions. He added that Middle Eastern banks have become Bank Saderat’s "top foreign partners, as sanctions shifted trade from west to east," In this shift, China has become Iran’s leading trade partner and the impact of sanctions is mitigated through the use of "the re-export hub of the United Arab Emirates."
Figures from the Bankers' Almanac would suggest that sanctions are working, but not fully. The number of Saderat’s correspondent banks (banks that agree to perform services for other banks in inaccessible markets) declined from 29 in August 2006 to eight, two of which are Saderat’s subsidiaries.
Borhani denied U.S. assertions that Saderat is engaged in channeling funding to terrorist organizations (it has three branches in Lebanon where Hizbullah is a major Iranian client).He said he has sent three letters to the U.S. Treasury asking it to reveal its documents on Saderat’s illicit operations. One of the three letters included 1,000 pages of documents. The Treasury is considering more sanctions on Saderat.
The Financial Times, London, January 5, 2008
memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=609
FROM MEMRI’S ISLAMIST WEBSITES MONITOR PROJECT www.memriiwmp.org/
*American Al-Qaeda Operative Adam Gadahn Calls on Mujahideen to Receive Bush in the Middle East with Bombs and Tears Up His U.S. Passport
MEMRI TV Clip 1649- " American Al-Qaeda Operative Adam Gadahn Calls on Mujahideen to Receive Bush in the Middle East with Bombs and Tears Up His U.S. Passport"
Following are excerpts from a video clip of an address by American Al-Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn, which was posted on several Islamist websites, including the Al-Aekhlaas forum, on January 6, 2008.
To view this clip visit: www.memritv.org/clip/en/1649.htm
*Jihadi Sources: President Bush Must Understand That The Region Is Not Safe For Him
On January 6, 2008, on the eve of U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to the Middle East, Islamist websites posted a document announcing a global media campaign called "The [Middle East] Region is Not Safe from January 6 through January 16, 2008."
The document calls on jihad supporters in general, and particularly on jihadist media centers, to set up a team operating around the clock during President Bush's visit that will post, on the Islamist websites www.alhesbah.net/v and www.ek-ls.org, the numbers of martyrs in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Palestine and will incite Muslims to rise up against President Bush.
The document expresses astonishment that Bush dares to visit the region when hosts of jihad fighters are everywhere, and that he dares to come close to the area of danger and to think that he will be protected.
The document concludes with a call to jihad fighters in Palestine, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt – where Bush is yet to visit – to carry out suicide operations and to place bombs during his visit.
It should be recalled that on November 15, 2007, www.alhesbah.net/v posted a message by a contributor calling himself Abu Osama Al-Hazin, titled "This Saturday, Bush Will Be in Riyadh; Lions of the Peninsula, [Get Ready] to Cut Off His Head" (see www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3698.htm).
Source: www.ek-ls.org, January 6, 2008
memriiwmp.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=341
A high-level tripartite meeting of the three riparian countries – Turkey, Syria and Iraq – will take place in Damascus January 10-11 to discuss a fair distribution of the water of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
[Iraq has been complaining for a long time that the two other riparian countries have been constructing so many dams upstream that the water reaching Iraq has diminished both in quantity and quality (too many pollutants). Water shortage in Iraq could have a dire consequence for its agriculture. Indeed, Iraq has already become one of the largest importers of wheat in the world.]
Al-Sabah Al-Jadid, Iraq, January 8, 2008
memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=642
*ALESCO: 100 Million Arabs Illiterate/ Educationally Disadvantaged Females Suffer Most
The Tunisia-based Arab League’s Education, Culture, Science and Communication [(ALECSO), the Arab equivalent of UNESCO] warned of the danger of the high number of illiterate people in the Arab world, nearly 100 million.
"The statistical data on the realities of illiteracy in the Arab countries indicate that the number of illiterates in the age groups above 15 years is approximately 99.5 million", ALESCO said in a statement, adding that "the rate of illiteracy in the region reached 29.7%."
About 75 million of the total Arab illiterate population is between the ages 15 and 45, and the rates are higher among women, where nearly 46.5% of them suffer from illiteracy. ALECSO confirmed that the large number of illiterates in the Arab countries "reflects a profound structural gap that influences the development of the Arab community and results in an extremely dangerous political, social and economical outcome." The statement added that in spite of the many efforts that have been made, the illiteracy portfolio did not rise to the level of importance that it deserves in the Arab region, whose population numbers 335 million.
Since its founding in 1970, ALESCO had developed a future vision to combat illiteracy, including the "First Strategy for the Eradication of Illiteracy in the Arab Countries" in 1976, and the "Arab Fund for Combating Illiteracy and Adult Education" in 1980. ALECSO’s budget is nearly $19 million.
According to Al-Jazeera TV, Egypt has 17,000,000 illiterate people, and only 0.6% of people in the region are computer literate. The reason behind the high illiteracy rate was cited as the fact that, unlike in other developed countries, parents and guardians are not penalized in the Arab world for not sending their children to school.
Al-Zaman, Iraq, January 7, 2008; Al-Jazeera TV, January 8, 2008
memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=641
*Al-Suwaidi Confident of Dollar's Strength
UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan Bin Nasser Al-Suwaidi on Monday expressed confidence in the US currency's strength despite the dollar's continued decline against top world currencies.
The U.S. dollar remains a major currency as it is used in 60 to 70% of international trade, Al-Suwaidi told reporters.
There has been speculation for months in the market that the UAE would revalue the dirham, which is getting weaker because of its peg to the dollar. But Al-Suwaidi has been saying that there is no intention of changing the existing exchange policy.
He reiterated yesterday that the UAE would maintain the dollar peg.
"Each currency fluctuates, and if its value fell at a certain time, that does not mean we should start thinking about de-linking," he said yesterday, according to an English translation of his comments made in Arabic. He also played down the link between rising domestic inflation and the existing exchange regime.
Gulfnews.com, January 8, 2008
memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=626
*Saudi Arabia: Academic Program in Nuclear Power
The engineering college at at King Saud University in Riyadh plans to launch a graduate program in nuclear power for peaceful purposes. The dean of the school, Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Hamed underscored "big and rapid efforts" to get the program underway within two years. Teaching staff [faculty] is available but others will be recruited.
The school will accept initially 25 students with degree in electric or mechanical engineering
Al-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 5, 2008
memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=611
*Impact of U.S. Sanctions on Iranian Bank/ Bank Saderat Iran
In an interview with the Financial Times, Hamid Borhani, the managing director of Bank Saderat [export bank], Iran’s second largest bank, said that 200 of the 600 banks that used to do business with his bank "have halted their transactions" following the September 2006 U.S.-imposed sanctions. He added that Middle Eastern banks have become Bank Saderat’s "top foreign partners, as sanctions shifted trade from west to east," In this shift, China has become Iran’s leading trade partner and the impact of sanctions is mitigated through the use of "the re-export hub of the United Arab Emirates."
Figures from the Bankers' Almanac would suggest that sanctions are working, but not fully. The number of Saderat’s correspondent banks (banks that agree to perform services for other banks in inaccessible markets) declined from 29 in August 2006 to eight, two of which are Saderat’s subsidiaries.
Borhani denied U.S. assertions that Saderat is engaged in channeling funding to terrorist organizations (it has three branches in Lebanon where Hizbullah is a major Iranian client).He said he has sent three letters to the U.S. Treasury asking it to reveal its documents on Saderat’s illicit operations. One of the three letters included 1,000 pages of documents. The Treasury is considering more sanctions on Saderat.
The Financial Times, London, January 5, 2008
memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?news=609
FROM MEMRI’S ISLAMIST WEBSITES MONITOR PROJECT www.memriiwmp.org/
*American Al-Qaeda Operative Adam Gadahn Calls on Mujahideen to Receive Bush in the Middle East with Bombs and Tears Up His U.S. Passport
MEMRI TV Clip 1649- " American Al-Qaeda Operative Adam Gadahn Calls on Mujahideen to Receive Bush in the Middle East with Bombs and Tears Up His U.S. Passport"
Following are excerpts from a video clip of an address by American Al-Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn, which was posted on several Islamist websites, including the Al-Aekhlaas forum, on January 6, 2008.
To view this clip visit: www.memritv.org/clip/en/1649.htm
*Jihadi Sources: President Bush Must Understand That The Region Is Not Safe For Him
On January 6, 2008, on the eve of U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to the Middle East, Islamist websites posted a document announcing a global media campaign called "The [Middle East] Region is Not Safe from January 6 through January 16, 2008."
The document calls on jihad supporters in general, and particularly on jihadist media centers, to set up a team operating around the clock during President Bush's visit that will post, on the Islamist websites www.alhesbah.net/v and www.ek-ls.org, the numbers of martyrs in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Palestine and will incite Muslims to rise up against President Bush.
The document expresses astonishment that Bush dares to visit the region when hosts of jihad fighters are everywhere, and that he dares to come close to the area of danger and to think that he will be protected.
The document concludes with a call to jihad fighters in Palestine, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt – where Bush is yet to visit – to carry out suicide operations and to place bombs during his visit.
It should be recalled that on November 15, 2007, www.alhesbah.net/v posted a message by a contributor calling himself Abu Osama Al-Hazin, titled "This Saturday, Bush Will Be in Riyadh; Lions of the Peninsula, [Get Ready] to Cut Off His Head" (see www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/3698.htm).
Source: www.ek-ls.org, January 6, 2008
memriiwmp.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=341