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Three Palestinians killed in Rafah; Palestinians blast one Israeli settlement
Palestine-Israel, Military, 12/15/2004
Three Palestinians were killed and three other injured one of them in a critical condition by the Israeli occupation forces in al-Salam quarters to the south of Rafah near the border with Egypt.
News reports in Gaza said that the killed Palestinians including one member of the Palestinian security forces, Samir Khafaja ( 29 year old), were killed after the area was exposed to intensive fire by the occupation forces stationed on the border on Tuesday evening.
In other developments, news reports said quoting Israeli press sources that one Thai worker in Nefe Dekalim settlement was killed as five mortars fell on the settlement.
In the meantime, an Israeli military source admitted that one Israeli soldier was hit by a Qassam missile fired from Gaza into an area near the separation barrier with Israel. The attack was claimed by Ezz Eddine al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas.
These developments came after the Israeli forces broke into al-Shuja'eya area to the east of Gaza amid intensive fire and Israeli helicopter fire on the eastern and northern parts of Beit Hanoun, situated in northern of Gaza.
Israeli bulldozers also destroyed the coastal road in Gaza which links the northern and southern parts of the strip. This was after the withdrawal of their forces from the western parts of Khan Younis and the destruction of some 15 Palestinian homes under the pretext that nearby Israeli settlements have been recently exposed to Palestinian attacks.
Since the beginning of the Palestinian Intifada in September 2000, the occupation forces demolished more than 4100 homes and this resulted in depriving some 28,000 Palestinians from housing, according to human rights groups reports.
The invasion which is the largest since more than one month, came 24 hours after the Rafah operation which resulted in killing 6 Israeli soldiers to the south of Gaza.
Israeli plan to avoid 'right of return' of the Palestinian refugees
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 12/15/2004
Israel has proposed a plan for containing the Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and the Arab states and achieving that via an international fund for aid.
The Israeli foreign ministry secretary general Ron Brosour told the Israeli army radio that "the plan to contain the refugees serves the interests of Israel, the Palestinians and the international community," noting that it is necessary for Israel to seek finding a solution for the refugee question so as it will avoid having to deal with their demand to return back to Israel.
Recent figures of UNRWA say that some 4.2 million Palestinians are scattered in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The Palestinians have been continuously asking, with Arab support, Israel to admit the "right of return" to refugees into its own borders in implementation of UN Security Council resolution no. 194. But Tel Aviv continuously rejects their return back as it finds in them a threat for its own national existence as a Jewish country because the 5.2 million Jews in Israel will find themselves in this case a minority.
Moroccan among four suspected Islamic militants arrested in Spain
Morocco-Spain, Local, 12/15/2004
Amer Azizi, a Spaniard of Moroccan origin, wanted for his role in the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and in the Madrid train bombings, is among the four men arrested by Spanish police on suspicion of links to Islamic militant cells that planned to blow up the High Court and Real Madrid's Bernabeu soccer stadium, the Interior Ministry announced.
"These men were part of a group of people who were forming a cell of radical activists, potentially dangerous to the security of the state," Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso told reporters on Tuesday. "One of them has links with the March 11 attacks," Alonso said, referring to the Madrid train bombs that killed 191 people and wounded 1,900.
Three of the men, all Algerians, were connected to a Salafist cell dismantled last year in Spain. These are: Sai Abdelkader Lebik, alias Hamou Lebik, Abdallah Ibn Moutalib Kaddouri, and Brahim Amman.
The arrests were made as part of Operation Nova, launched October 18 and which has so far enabled to put in prison 33 people
Calls for 'adequate measures' to protect children from sexual exploitation
Morocco, Culture, 12/14/2004
Prevention, awareness campaigns and parental education are crucial to encourage children that are victims of sexual exploitation and their families to talk "so that we can be able to protect them," said Moroccan Secretary of State in charge of Family, Children and Handicapped persons, Yasmina Baddou.
"The national action plan for children protection, that is being finalized, contains a section dedicated to provisions aimed at protecting children from sexual exploitation," said Baddou in an interview published Monday by "L'Opinion" in the wake of the Arab-African conference on fighting sexual exploitation of children (December 14-16), to be held in Rabat.
Baddou deplored the lack of studies on the sexual exploitation of children, noting however that "Morocco is not a privileged destination for sexual tourism."
She explained that Morocco was chosen to host the Arab-African conference because "it is among rare countries in the region that broke the taboo on this phenomenon."
Maroc Telecom listing postponed due to high demand
Morocco, Business, 12/14/2004
The first listing of Maroc Telecom was postponed in Casablanca because of high demand on shares, said a source in the stock market.
Over 1.5 million shares of the Moroccan national telecom operator were requested, but prices have not been determined due to the insufficiency of offer, said the same source.
Abdeslam Ahizoune, chairman of Maroc Telecom, said on Sunday the "unprecedented" demand from investors for shares in its initial public offering was a clear sign that the best years were still to come for Morocco's best-known company.
There were 21 times more offers from investors than shares available for the IPO, the banker said in an interview with the Financial Times, noting that demand was even higher in Europe and the US, where the 30 per cent of the offering allocated for investors was 50 times subscribed.
Maroc Telecom is controlled by Vivendi Universal, the French media and telecoms group, which last month agreed to acquire a 16 per cent stake from the government for ?1.1bn, giving it 51 per cent.
Meantime, Abdeslam Ahizoune, chairman of Maroc Telecom, said on Sunday the "unprecedented" demand from investors for shares in its initial public offering today was a clear sign that the best years were still to come for Morocco's best-known company.
"I am delighted and very proud of the interest from investors," said Mr Ahizoune in an interview with the Financial Times. "There was unprecedented interest in Morocco, but what I am most pleased about is the level of interest from US, European and Middle East investors."
Bankers working on the government's sale of a 15 per cent stake in the Islamic kingdom's incumbent telecoms operator were flooded with offers from "the great and the good of world finance," according to a senior French banker.
'Sideways' gets best movie award at Marrakesh festival
Morocco-Regional, Local, 12/14/2004
"Sideways" movie of US director Alexander Payne has scooped the "Etoile d'Or" (Golden Star) top award at the fourth international film festival of Marrakech (IFFM) that wound up Sunday in the Southern Moroccan city.
The special jury award went to Menying Tong Nian by Chinese director Xiao Jiang and Moolaade by Senegal's Ousmane Sembene. Russian actor Bogdan Supka was named best actor for his role in the film Svoi by Dmitry Meskhiyev, while Vera Farmiga won the best actress award for her role in the American film "Down to the bone" by Debra Granik.
The festival jury was headed by British director Alan Parker.
14 full-length films were selected for the official competition "on a purely artistic base looking only for new talents and rewarding the best," according to organisers. Among the films in competition were: "Buenos Aires 100 Km" of Pablo Josˇ Meza (Argentina), "Bown to Bone" of Debra Granik (United States), "El Crimen Perfecto" d'Alex of la Iglesia (Spain), "Hom Rong" of Itthi- Sunthorn Wichailak (Tha•land) and "Tenja" of Hassan Legzouli (Morocco).
The one-week festival was opened by IFFM chairman, Prince Moulay Rachid who said this event has "come to maturity."
This festival has also become the "window of Morocco, a country asserted in its values and resolute in its options while open to the outside world," wrote the younger brother of King Mohammed VI, in the "Guide of the festival."
At the closing ceremony, Sunday, Prince Moulay Rachid received the Fellini prize awarded by UNESCO to the Marrakesh Film Festival.
"This award is putting wind in our sails, making us more determined than ever to pursue our endeavors, so that this festival may always be a forum for dialogue, aimed at promoting exchange and cultural diversity," he said in a speech.
A selection of films was also shown out of competition namely "Le grand voyage" of Ismael Ferroukhi (Morocco) and "Le plus beau jour de ma vie" of Julie Lipinski (France).
The IFFM paid tribute to Claudia Cardinale (Italy), Sean Connery (Scotland) and Youssef Chahine (Egypt).
Sixty five films were screened during the fourth edition of this Festival which premiered the movie Alexander of US director Oliver Stone.
Jordan airliner suspends flights to Casablanca
Jordan-Morocco, Business, 12/14/2004
Jordanian airlines will suspend its two weekly flights to Casablanca starting from February, Samir Al Majali the company's General Manager announced here Sunday.
Al Majali told the press the decision was taken following an exhaustive study of the profitability of Amman-Casablanca route.
The Jordanian airliner also decided to suspend flights to Kuala Lampur and Djakarta and start other flights to Moscow, Barcelona and Khartoum.
The Jordanian newspaper "addustour" commented on this decision Sunday, saying "it would have negative repercussions on Moroccan-Jordanian relations and economic exchanges."
The paper said in case the decision is carried out it would be "really catastrophic" and will greatly damage the efforts made by the government (of Amman) to promote relations with Morocco."
For "Addustour," the decision is even more stunning as it comes in the wake of the high Morocco-Jordanian commission meeting that will probe means to bolster bilateral relations.
The decision, it pointed out, also coincides with the entry into force of the free trade agreement signed between Morocco, Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia, recalling that the accord would allow access to the European market thanks to cooperation between the two states' industrialists and businessmen.
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