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أمد للإعلام | الخوف من فوز أنصار دحلان .. قيادة فتح تفشل في تحديد موعد مؤتمرها السابع | متابعة
▻http://www.amad.ps/ar/?Action=Details&ID=68576

Fearing a win of Dahlan supporter... Fateh leadership fails to set a date for holding the seventh Conference

الخوف من فوز أنصار دحلان .. قيادة فتح تفشل في تحديد موعد مؤتمرها السابع

أمد/ رام الله : مجددا أخفق أعضاء اللجنة المركزية لحركة فتح في تحديد موعد نهائي لعقد المؤتمر العام السابع، خلال اجتماعهم الأخير برئاسة الرئيس محمود عباس ، حين طرح الملف للنقاش خلال الاجتماع، وبرزت عدة مسببات أدت إلى هذا الإخفاق أبرزها عدم انتهاء الحركة من عقد كافة مؤتمراتها الداخلية خاصة في مفوضية التعبئة والتنظيم في قطاع غزة.

نبيل أبو ردينة الناطق الرسمي باسم حركة فتح قال في بيان صدر عقب الاجتماع الاخير بمقر المقاطعة برام الله بخصوص مؤتمر الحركة أن التحضيرات جارية لدراسة تحديد التوقيت المناسب لعقد المؤتمر على ضوء التطورات الجارية على الصعيد الداخلي والسياسي والاشتباك الحاصل مع الاحتلال الإسرائيلي، وعلى الصعيد الداخلي أخذت المركزية مجموعة من القرارات.

ولم يحدد أبو ردينة طبيعة هذه القرارات الداخلية التي اتخذتها حركة فتح إن كان لها علاقة بعقد المؤتمر السابع الذي تأخر كثيرا عن موعده، فهذا المؤتمر كان من المفترض أن يعقد الصيف الماضي، لكنه أجل إلى نهاية العام الماضي ثم إلى يناير من العام الجاري، حسب ما كان يسرب قادة من فتح، وفي نهاية المطاف وعقب تشكيل لجنة تحضيرية للمؤتمر، لم تعد هناك مواعيد تحدد لعقده.

وتبرز هنا وفق ما يقول مسؤولون في حركة فتح ان السبب يعود إلى وجود خلافات في داخل أطر التنظيم، وكذلك بين مسؤولين كبار في الحركة، إضافة الى عدم انتهاء الحركة من عقد مؤتمراتها الداخلية في فرع التنظيم هناك في قطاع غزة.

فلم تنه اللجنة المركزية في اجتماعها الأخير مشكلة وقف عقد المؤتمرات والانتخابات في أطر التنظيم في قطاع غزة، في ظل المشاكل التي وقعت عقب فصل الرئيس أبو مازن أكثر من 200 من أعضاء وقادة في التنظيم في غزة، على خلفية اتهامهم بالعمل والولاء للنائب محمد دحلان، خاصة في ظل المماطلة من الحركة في حل مشكلتهم وإعادتهم إلى أطر الحركة وإلى الوظيفة العمومية التي فضلوا منها وهو أمر ينظر إليه على أنه مخالف للقانون.

ولم تعقد حركة فتح في غزة سوى مؤتمرين فقط لأقاليمها في المدن الرئيسية، كما لم تنته من عقد مؤتمرات داخلية لباقي الهيئات الحركية في المؤسسات والنقابات، وإن كان هناك آراء داخل اللجنة المركزية طرحت فكرة التكليف بدل الانتخاب في المناطق التي يتعذر فيها عقد الانتخابات، وهو ما كان موجه بالتحديد لقطاع غزة، خاصة وأن أقاليم الضفة يمكن إجراء الانتخابات فيها بكل سهولة، وكذلك الغالبية العظمى من أقاليم الخارج.

وكذلك في ظل تخوفات قوية من اللجنة المركزية والرئيس أبو مازن من إخفاق الموالين لهم في انتخابات غزة، بسبب إهمال الوضع هناك، ونقص الموازنات المرسلة لأطر التنظيم، وهو ما يؤكد أن التيار الفتحاوي الموالي للنائب دحلان من الممكن أن يحقق انتصارات.

على العموم فإن هناك من يشير إلى أن اخفاق اللجنة المركزية الجديد في تحديد موعد للمؤتمر، راجع لعدم إكمال ملف العضوية ومعرفة الأعضاء المشاركين، مع عدم الانتهاء من عقد الانتخابات الداخلية للأقاليم والمؤسسات، وأنه لم يعد هناك أي سبب إجرائي آخر كالتحضيرات اللوجستية التي يتذرع بها البعض، وهناك يسعى قادة كثر من فتح إلى عدم تركه ليأخذ طابع التأجيل على غرار المؤتمر السادس الذي تأخر 20 عاما.

ويدير الإشراف على الأقاليم والمفوضيات التنظيمية كل من محمود العالول في الضفة الغربية، والدكتور زكريا الأغا في غزة، وجمال محيسن المشرف على الأقاليم في الخارج.

Kuwaiti politician to stand trial for insulting the UAE - Politics & Economics - ArabianBusiness.com
▻http://www.arabianbusiness.com/kuwaiti-politician-stand-trial-for-insulting-uae-584874.html

Bien lire le dernier paragraphe...c’est une déclaration bien lourde de conséquences

The UAE Attorney-General, Salim Saeed Kubaish, has referred a Kuwaiti national to the country’s Federal Supreme Court following investigations that found him allegedly abusing religion to incite sedition, harm national unity, disturb social peace, and intentionally spread false news, circulate rumours and disseminate provocative and malicious propaganda, the official state news agency WAM reported on Sunday.
’’The accused, Mubarak Fahad Ali Fahad Al Duwailah, has been referred to the Federal Supreme Court to stand trial in the state criminal security case No. (3) of 2014 for the said charges. The accused, during an offending interview with Al-Majlis television channel of Kuwait’s National Assembly, falsely alleged that the UAE was against the Suni Islam school and was imposing such an approach on its authorities,’’ the Attorney General said.
The accused, who is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is listed by the UAE as a terrorist organisation, is accused of openly insulted members of the UAE judiciary by falsely alleging that charges filed against those convicted in a 2012 state criminal security case were fabricated.
’’These crimes - in which the suspects were convicted - targeted the State’s neutrality towards members of community and towards its security authorities and, therefore, were aimed at breaking the country’s social fabric, undermining its social stability and peace, stirring up sedition among people, disrupting public security and harming public interest, thus providing extremists with an excuse to subject the safety of public employees and citizens within the State and abroad and its representative entities to attacks and risks in addition to compromising the integrity and neutrality of the judiciary,’’ he said.

Three Kuwaiti MPs bring Kalashnikovs to parliament - Politics & Economics - ArabianBusiness.com
▻http://www.arabianbusiness.com/three-kuwaiti-mps-bring-kalashnikovs-parliament-585045.html

There were dramatic scenes in Kuwait’s National Assembly on Monday when three MPs arrived wielding Kalashnikov submachine guns.
The weapons were brought to parliament to encourage the public to hand in their unlicensed firearms as part of the Gulf state’s gun amnesty.
Kuwait has offered a four-month amnesty in a bid to take unlicensed guns off the streets. It began two weeks ago.
Raids would be conducted on homes and properties immediately after the grace period, the Interior Ministry has warned.

MPs Nabeel Al Fadhl, Abdulhameed Dashti and Abdullah Al Tameemi held their guns above their heads as they entered the parliamentary building, Kuwait Times reported.
Tameemi reportedly said he publicly relinquished his Kalashnikov to emphasise that only the state should have weapons and not the people.

Kuwait appoints new electricity minister - Politics & Economics - ArabianBusiness.com
▻http://www.arabianbusiness.com/kuwait-appoints-new-electricity-minister-586415.html

Ahmad Khaled Ahmad Al Jassar has been appointed as Kuwait’s electricity minister days after the former minister stepped down over a black-out.
The former Kuwait Petroleum Corporation board member was sworn in at the Bayan Palace in front of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah and Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah.
Abdulaziz Al Ibrahim resigned from the post last week, a month after a widespread power cut hit the Gulf state, although that was not formally given as the reason for his stepping down.
Kuwait experienced a widespread power outage on February 11. At the time, Ibrahim had attributed the outage to a technical failure at a power station.

Bahrain’s Muharraq homes to be demolished and rebuilt - Construction - ArabianBusiness.com
▻http://www.arabianbusiness.com/bahrain-s-muharraq-homes-be-demolished-rebuilt-588027.html

Three neighbourhoods in the district – Bin Hindi, Hala and Amamra – have reportedly been earmarked for the scheme, although officials are understood to be considering additional locations.
The intention is to build the new homes to original designs but using modern construction materials that are more durable, according to a report in Gulf Daily News.
However, construction work is not expected to begin until compensation deals have been struck with current residents. It is understood that the homes would not be given back to their original owners and instead be distributed among ‘eligible’ families on the government’s social housing waiting lists. Families who were original inhabitants of the neighbourhood will be targeted, it was reported.

“Many families originally from these neighbourhoods do not want to move to new housing projects in Galali, Busaiteen or Hidd and would like to stay in old Muharraq.
“This project will help create more homes in other areas for people on the waiting list.”

KUNA : Kuwait commended for alleviating Palestinians’ suffering - Human - 05/04/2015
▻http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2434284&language=en

GAZA, April 5 (KUNA) — Palestinian Minister of Public Works and Housing Mufid Al-Hasaina commended here Sunday the Kuwaiti role, under the directions of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in alleviating the suffering of Palestinians harmed by the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip last year.
Al-Hasaina said at a press conference that the USD-200-million donation agreement offered by Kuwait for reconstruction in southern governorates in the Strip will contribute to building about 1,500 housing units and executing several vital projects.
He added that his ministry will coordinate with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to assess homes affected by the aggression for the reconstruction process, adding the units will be built through several stages.
According to latest statistics, about 100,000 homes and institutions were destroyed by the Israeli aggression.
On March 12, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) and the Palestinian government signed the agreement in Amman for the reconstruction of southern provinces in the Strip.
The donation, which is part of Kuwait’s pledge made during the Cairo International Conference on Palestine and Reconstructing Gaza held in the Egyptian capital in October, will finance also projects of infrastructure, education and health. (end) wab.hm

Kuwait’s rank in ‘Doing Business’ has dropped by 7 points in 2015 - Kuwait Times | Kuwait Times
▻http://news.kuwaittimes.net/kuwaits-rank-in-doing-business-has-dropped-by-7-points-in-2015

Kuwait’s DTF score has improved marginally during the last five years. Among the GCC peers, Kuwait is the lowest ranked in both Doing Business and Starting a Business. The country has the highest number of procedures (12), compared to Oman (5) and UAE (6), and the longest time duration to complete the procedures (31), compared to Oman (7) and UAE (8). In terms of costs required, Kuwait (1.9 percent) fares reasonably well compared to UAE (6.3 percent) and Qatar (5.2 percent), and is worse off in the paid-in-minimum-capital parameter compared to UAE and Saudi Arabia, which require no minimum paid-in capital requirement.

Comparing the ease of starting a business DTF, we see that Kuwait is the farthest among the GCC peers from the requisite benchmark. Using the rank simulator tool provided by the World Bank, it can be seen that Kuwait’s Ease of Starting a Business ranking drops to 84 (compared to 150), if the number of procedures is halved and if the time taken to complete all the procedures is similar to that of Oman’s. It further drops to 51 (placed higher than UAE), if the minimum paid-in-capital requirement from a regulatory perspective becomes 0 percent.

Bahrain said to need $400m to finish major stalled projects - Banking & Finance - ArabianBusiness.com
▻http://www.arabianbusiness.com/bahrain-said-need-400m-finish-major-stalled-projects-587910.html

A study carried out by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) found that it would cost between $350 and $400 million to complete work on six of the country’s biggest stalled projects.
Gulf Daily News reports that the study says the money would allow the large-scale projects at Marina West, Amwaj Gateway, Villamar, Marina Reef, Riffa Views and an unnamed Al Areen Holding Company residential and commercial development could be completed for under $400 million.
According to the report, the figure is four percent of the $10 billion GCC Development Fund that was set up in 2011 with funding from UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar with a view to financing development plans in Bahrain over the following 10 years.
Work on many of the projects came to a halt, with little activity reported at Villamar, Amwaj Gateway or Marina West in recent years.

In an effort to deal with the issue, Bahrain established the Ministerial Committee for Reconstruction and Infrastructure.

Bahrain: Decision Postponed in Closely Watched Rights Case - ABC News
▻http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/bahrain-decision-postponed-closely-watched-rights-case-30106730

A Bahraini appeals court has adjourned a case involving Twitter comments by prominent rights activist Nabeel Rajab for another month as prosecutors consider new charges against him over online comments.

Defense attorneys had expected an appeals decision Sunday, but lawyer Jalila al-Sayed says the court postponed the case until May 4 after prosecutors presented additional arguments. Rajab is appealing a six-month jail sentence issued in January for insulting government ministries on Twitter.

He was taken into custody Thursday as part of a separate investigation and could face new charges over recent online comments, including posting about Bahrain’s participation in Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen.

Bahrain has faced more than four years of unrest following widespread street protests led by the Shiite majority seeking greater political rights from the Sunni monarchy.

The hidden hand behind the Islamic State militants? Saddam Hussein’s. - The Washington Post
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/the-hidden-hand-behind-the-islamic-state-militants-saddam-husseins/2015/04/04/aa97676c-cc32-11e4-8730-4f473416e759_story.html?postshare=4541428252

His account, and those of others who have lived with or fought against the Islamic State over the past two years, underscore the pervasive role played by members of Iraq’s former Baathist army in an organization more typically associated with flamboyant foreign jihadists and the gruesome videos in which they star.

Even with the influx of thousands of foreign fighters, almost all of the leaders of the Islamic State are former Iraqi officers, including the members of its shadowy military and security committees, and the majority of its emirs and princes, according to Iraqis, Syrians and analysts who study the group.

They have brought to the organization the military expertise and some of the agendas of the former Baathists, as well as the smuggling networks developed to avoid sanctions in the 1990s and which now facilitate the Islamic State’s illicit oil trading.

...
The public profile of the foreign jihadists frequently obscures the Islamic State’s roots in the bloody recent history of Iraq, its brutal excesses as much a symptom as a cause of the country’s woes.

...
The de-Baathification law promulgated by L.­ Paul Bremer, Iraq’s American ruler in 2003, has long been identified as one of the contributors to the original insurgency. At a stroke, 400,000 members of the defeated Iraqi army were barred from government employment, denied pensions — and also allowed to keep their guns.
...
He cited the case of a close friend, a former intelligence officer in Baghdad who was fired in 2003 and struggled for many years to make a living. He now serves as the Islamic State’s wali, or leader, in the Anbar town of Hit, Dulaimi said.

“I last saw him in 2009. He complained that he was very poor. He is an old friend, so I gave him some money,” he recalled. “He was fixable. If someone had given him a job and a salary, he wouldn’t have joined the Islamic State.

“There are hundreds, thousands like him,” he added. “The people in charge of military operations in the Islamic State were the best officers in the former Iraqi army, and that is why the Islamic State beats us in intelligence and on the battlefield.”

Was the Middle East better off with its dictators? - CNN.com
▻http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/27/opinions/yemen-mideast-dictators/index.html

Saleh’s value was in engaging in the “war on terror” through allowing American drones to strike al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The fact that he used this engagement as an excuse to ask for military assistance for Yemen — which in reality was used to equip what would become a private army — was considered a small price to pay by the United States.

L’Arabie va raser 96 hameaux inhabités sur la frontière avec le Yémen
RYAD, 5 avr 2015 (AFP) - L’Arabie saoudite, qui mène une opération militaire au Yémen, va démolir 96 hameaux inhabités à sa frontière sud pour empêcher leur éventuelle utilisation par des intrus du pays voisin, a rapporté dimanche le quotidien panarabe Al-Hayat.
Les quelque 15.000 habitants de ces hameaux avaient été réinstallés ailleurs par les autorités dans la foulée d’un conflit frontalier en 2009/2010, déclenché par l’infiltration en territoire saoudien de rebelles chiites yéménites.
Ces mêmes rebelles sont la cible de raids aériens lancés le 26 mars au Yémen par une coalition menée par l’Arabie saoudite pour les empêcher de prendre le contrôle du Yémen.
Pour l’heure, 10 hameaux ont été rasés depuis le début de l’opération au Yémen. Ces démolitions ont été décidées car les maisons inhabitées « offrent un abri sûr aux trafiquants et autres infiltrés par la frontière », a déclaré un responsable des gardes-frontières, Hassan Aqili, cité par Al-Hayat.
Trois gardes-frontières saoudiens ont été tués ces derniers jours par des tirs en provenance du nord du Yémen, région contrôlée par les rebelles chiites, et l’armée saoudienne est en état d’alerte à la frontière alors que se poursuivent les raids de la coalition.

SECRETARY GENERAL OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION COUNCIL: MY VISIT TO JERUSLAEM IS NORMALIZAITON WITH AL QSA, JERUSALEM AND JERUSALEMITES

Director general of the Islamic Cooperation Council Iyad Madani urged Muslims to visit Jerusalem and its holy sites yesterday, confirming that his visit was ‘normalization’ with Al Aqsa, with East Jerusalem and with Jerusalemites. In a speech before the committee for Islamic, economic and cultural affairs of the Council in Jeddah, Madani said such a visit, was completion of the holy pilgrimage visits to the three most important mosques in Islam. He said the consensus by the Islamic “Fiqih” group for visiting Jerusalem should encourage “all Muslim peoples to visit Jerusalem.” In response to his criticizers, Madani said this was ‘normalization with Al Aqsa and Jerusalem” and that this visit was the right of every Muslim. (Al Quds)

DR. MOHAMMED MUSTAPHA CONFIRMS NEWS OF HIS RESIGNATION

Dr. Mohammed Mustapha confirmed yesterday reports of his resignation from his post as deputy Prime Minister of the national consensus government and as economy minister during a cabinet meeting yesterday morning. Mustapha thanked President Mahmoud Abbas for his confidence in him and for allowing him the opportunity to serve his people and also saluted PM Rami Hamdallah and his colleagues in the government. He clarified that sustainable economic growth was a ‘work in progress’ and needed concerted efforts. He also said he would always be willing to cooperate with the government from any post he may assume in the future.

“In Palestine, where there are changes and fluctuations and challenges, I have left my post or at least my official mission, but I will never abandon my moral and national responsibility towards our people and will serve our country where I may be.”

Mustapha went on to say that the Gaza reconstruction program was now in a ‘promising place’ after donor countries, namely Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, had taken practical steps to financially support the program and after the national team began to practically oversee it. 

So far, the reasons behind Mustapha’s resignation have not been made clear, neither is it known whether Hamdallah has accepted it. According to government spokesperson Ihab Bseiso, Hamdallah asked to postpone presenting the resignation to Abbas until he reviews it. (Al Quds)

The Economist explains: Why Saudis are ardent social media fans | The Economist
▻http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/03/economist-explains-21

ON MARCH 18th, at an Arab media get-together, Twitter announced that it will open an office in Dubai. Not before time. Smartphone growth has rocketed in the Gulf—by most counts the region has the highest penetration. WhatsApp and Facebook have become standard modes of communication. Nowhere is that more so than in Saudi Arabia. Several surveys in 2013 showed that the kingdom has the world’s highest percentage of people on Twitter relative to its number of internet users; and on YouTube too. Saudis also spend more hours online than their peers elsewhere.

Saudi ambassador: Conflict in Yemen is not a proxy war with Iran - The Washington Post
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/03/29/saudi-ambassador-conflict-in-yemen-is-not-a-proxy-war-with-iran

Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, on Sunday denied that the growing sectarian conflict in Yemen represents a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

“This is a war to protect the people of Yemen and defend its legitimate government from a group that is allied and supported by Hezbollah, but I wouldn’t call it a proxy war,” the ambassador said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” referring to the Lebanese Shiite militia.

Asked whether Saudi Arabia and Iran can coexist simultaneously as regional powers, Jubeir said the Iranian government has stood in the way of peace.

“It’s really up to the Iranians,” he said. “We have encountered many problems — aggression by Iran against the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. There has not been one incident of Saudi aggression against Iran. We have extended our hand in friendship to the Iranians, and it’s been rejected for the past 35 years.”

Everyone’s Trying Really Hard Not to Call the Germanwings Co-Pilot a Terrorist - Mic
▻http://mic.com/articles/113896/everyone-s-trying-really-hard-not-to-call-the-germanwings-co-pilot-a-terrorist

Meanwhile, one of the most widely circulated photos of Lubitz has him smiling peacefully in front of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge as the sun sets in the background.

This is not an argument for jumping to conclusions. Nor is it meant to accuse Lubitz of terrorism. On the contrary, it is an argument for holding people who commit mass murder to similar standards, regardless of their race or religion. If one gets to be portrayed as a complex human being, they all should be portrayed as such.

Because the fact is, every killer — terrorist or not — has complexities. Brown people aren’t the only people capable of terrorism. And white killers aren’t the only ones with stories.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia to lead ground operation against Yemen rebels, officials say - Middle East - Israel News | Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.648988

4:47 P.M. Hezbollah sees Yemen strikes causing more Mideast tension

Lebanon’s Hezbollah condemned as “unjust aggression” Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen on Thursday and said it takes the region towards increased tension.

The Shi’ite group, which is backed by Iran, also called on Saudi Arabia and its allies to immediately and unconditionally halt the strikes.

“This adventure, (which) lacks wisdom and legal and legitimate justification and which is led by Saudi Arabia, is taking the region towards increased tension and dangers for the future and the present of the region,” its statement said.

“We see that this aggression secures American interests and offers a great favor for the Zionist enemy,” it said, a reference to Israel. (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia, allies launch air strikes in Yemen against Houthi fighters: Saudi Arabia and Gulf region allies launched military operations including air strikes in Yemen on Thursday, officials said, to counter Iran-allied forces besieging the southern city of Aden where the U.S.-backed Yemeni president had taken refuge. Gulf broadcaster al-Arabiya TV reported that the kingdom was contributing as many as 150,000 troops and 100 warplanes to the operations. Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Pakistan were ready to take part in a ground offensive in Yemen, it said. There was no immediate confirmation of those figures from Riyadh. Al-Arabiya also said the United Arab Emirates was sending 30 warplanes to join the operation, along with 15 each from Bahrain and Kuwait, 10 from Qatar, six each from Jordan and Morocco and three from Sudan. Yemen’s slide towards civil war has made it a crucial front in mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia’s rivalry with Shi’ite Iran, which Riyadh accuses of stirring up sectarian strife throughout the region and in Yemen with its support for the Houthis. The crisis now risks spiralling into a proxy war with Iran backing the Houthis, and Saudi Arabia and the other regional Sunni Muslim monarchies supporting Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. (Reuters)

Al Barrak gets two years for insulting Kuwait emir | GulfNews.com
▻http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/kuwait/al-barrak-gets-two-years-for-insulting-kuwait-emir-1.1460746

Kuwait’s Court of Appeals on Sunday sentenced former lawmaker Musallam Al Barrak to two years in jail for insulting the country’s emir.
“I have great trust in God,” Al Barrak, a former union leader, said immediately after the sentencing. “This is the fate we have chosen and I will turn myself in once they show me the necessary papers,” he reportedly said as he was sitting in his own majlis.
Al Barrak’s lawyer said he would challenge the ruling on Monday at the court of cassation.
The trial of Kuwait’s top dissident had galvanised the country’s attention.

Could Egypt and the UAE be about to part ways with Salman’s Saudi Arabia? | Middle East Eye
▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/could-egypt-and-uae-part-ways-salmans-saudi-arabia-729379076

“Unlike Egypt and the UAE, Saudi’s [current] leadership understands you can’t just cut off the Brotherhood,” an unnamed Qatari source told Reuters. “An ideology can’t be removed by force. That’s why communication is essential.”

While Isa was scornful of Saudi Arabia, he reserved special praise for the UAE, another close ally of and lucrative donor to the Sisi government.

He described the UAE as an “important, respected and great country with a wonderful people.”

The UAE too has been linked with criticism of the new Saudi government under King Salman, again in an indirect way, this time through an Emirati news site considered close to the country’s rulers.

The Erem News Agency recently criticised King Salman’s appointment of Saudi Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef as deputy crown prince, which makes him second in line to the throne.

According to Erem, the decision to appoint bin Nayef was taken “against the advice of the Allegiance Council,” the body set up by the late King Abdullah to determine succession in the kingdom.

“The person who fills the role [of deputy crown prince] should be chosen based on a decision by the council,” the article says.

However, it goes on to note that “it is very unlikely that Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef was chosen with the agreement of the Council of Allegiance.”

Rumours of emerging discord between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have been fuelled by the fact that neither the UAE’s Vice President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan nor Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum attended King Abdullah’s funeral in Saudi Arabia last month.

Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that Mohammed bin Zayed had ordered only the rulers of three emirates – Sharjah, Ajman and Ras al-Khaimah – to go to Abdullah’s memorial.

According to Al-Akhbar, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed was angered by “the developments that took place […] on the morning of King Abdullah’s burial.”

“The first batch of royal orders were contrary to bin Zayed’s wishes, who received a painful blow with the appointment of Mohammed bin Nayef as deputy crown prince, the expulsion of Khalid al-Tuwaijiri from the Royal Court, and the exclusion of Mut’ab bin Abdullah (the late king’s son) from the first three positions,” wrote Duaa Sweidan.

The Emirati crown prince is said to have had a long-term spat with Mohammed bin Nayef, due at least in part to comments bin Zayed made about the late father of Saudi Arabia’s new deputy crown prince.

In a meeting with US officials prior to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, bin Zayed suggested Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud had ape-like qualities.

“MBZ took a dim view of some of the senior Al-Saud – sardonically noting that Interior Minister Nayef’s bumbling manner suggested that ‘Darwin was right’,” read the diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks.

In the midst of speculation that Egypt and the UAE now have strained ties with Saudi Arabia, it is unclear whether financial support from the wealthy Gulf monarchies will continue to shore up Egypt’s finances.

Kuwaiti and Emirati officials denied on Friday that they will deposit $10 billion in Egyptian accounts. It had been reported locally in Egypt this week that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait would make the deposits prior to a March investment conference in Sharm el-Sheikh that it is hoped will bolster Cairo’s struggling economy.

Emir’s Washington Visit Highlights the Independence of Qatari Foreign Policy
▻http://english.dohainstitute.org/release/d5b990a9-aea2-4d6e-ab78-68f1739ebdd7#Four

However, Qatar’s leading role in Middle East diplomacy, and its reception in the United States, may be going some way to change American opinion. The Department of State has, for example, publically recognized Qatar’s crucial role in securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas following the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip during the summer of 2014,[6] and in securing the release of US Sgt. Bergdahl in June 2014.[7] The unique position of Qatar, with its strong ties with a wide array of actors in the region, is beginning to be recognized as something that allows it to play a role that a few countries are able to. This has led to a growing number of proponents in America pursuing a strong relationship with Qatar, in both the Pentagon and the US Department of State. This has been particularly the case as officials look to create a strategy in the fight against ISIL.[8]

Saudi Award Goes to Muslim Televangelist Who Harshly Criticizes U.S. - NYTimes.com
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/world/middleeast/saudi-award-goes-to-dr-zakir-naik-a-muslim-televangelist-who-harshly-critic

BEIRUT, Lebanon — He has publicly declared that “the Jews” control America, that apostates can be killed, that the United States is the world’s “biggest terrorist” and that the Sept. 11 attacks were an “inside job” by President George W. Bush.

But last weekend, Dr. Zakir Naik, a prominent Muslim televangelist from India, appeared at an elaborate ceremony at a luxury hotel in Saudi Arabia, where the new monarch, King Salman, gave him one of the country’s highest honors.

The award for “service to Islam” highlighted the conflicted position of Saudi Arabia as an American ally that continues to back Islamists who espouse hatred of the West.

Scrutiny of Saudi Arabia’s role in shaping thought in the Muslim world has grown with the rise of the Islamic State extremist group in Iraq and Syria, which shares some aspects of the fundamentalist Islam propagated by the Saudi state.

Saudi officials reject any comparison to the Islamic State, noting that they are on its hit list and that they have joined the American-led coalition that is bombing the group.

Notez la justification du tonnerre “Saudi officials reject any comparison to the Islamic State, noting that they are on its hit list and that they have joined the American-led coalition that is bombing the group.”...

et les propos du lauréat
"“I am absolutely against Muslims who kill, but what is the U.S. doing?” Dr. Naik asked, saying that the United States had killed Afghan, Iraqi and Palestinian Muslims. “Is the U.S. really bothered about human rights? No!”

Dr. Naik often deflects when talking about Muslim violence. Asked by phone about the Islamic State, he said he was against its actions if the media had reported them correctly, although he said he had no way of knowing.

Years ago, he gave a similar answer about Osama bin Laden, saying he could not judge since he did not know the man. But Dr. Naik also said he supported him if he was fighting the United States.

“If he is terrorizing America the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, I am with him,” he said. “Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”

Ca devient compliqué

In Saudi Arabia on Sunday, Dr. Naik was given the King Faisal International Prize for service to Islam by the King Faisal Foundation, a research institute in Riyadh. The award citation called Dr. Naik “one of the most renowned non-Arabic speaking promulgators of Islam.”

King Salman gave Dr. Naik his certificate. He also received a gold medal and a cash award of nearly $200,000.

Saudi watchers were unsurprised that the kingdom would honor a harsh critic of its American allies, noting that many members of the Saudi religious establishment hold similar views.

“If you ask them their opinions about America, they would share lots of Zakir Naik’s opinions,” said Stéphane Lacroix, an associate professor at Sciences Po in Paris who studies Saudi Arabia. “But usually they don’t talk about it.”

مصطفى: سنتمرد اقتصاديا كما تمردنا سياسيا بالذهاب إلى الأمم المتحدة
▻http://www.pnn.ps/index.php/policy/117984-%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B7%D9%81%D9%89-%D8%B3%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AF-%D8%A

Deputy Prime Minister, national economy Minister Muhammad Mustafa, said yesterday that the Government is drafting a new economic strategy gathering Palestinians everywhere: West Bank and Gaza, inside Israel and the diaspora, to build an independent economy, and recast the relationship with Israel. Mustafa was speaking at a gathering in Ramallah of dozens of Palestinian businessmen from the West Bank and inside Israel, in a new episode of fostering the economic relationship between the two sides.

Mustafa said: “we must reformulate the economic relationship with Israel, the Paris Protocol governing economic relationship with Israel was cancelled by Israel’s practice like bringing Gaza outside of this system, the construction of the separation wall and other practices, and a new agreement with Israel must be in place.” Mustafa continued: “as we rebelled politically by going to the United Nations, we will rebel economically by recasting the relationship with Israel.”

- قال نائب رئيس الوزراء، وزير الاقتصاد الوطني محمد مصطفى، اليوم الأحد، إن الحكومة تعمل على صياغة استراتيجية اقتصادية جديدة تجمع الفلسطينيين في كل مكان: الضفة وغزة وأراضي 48 والشتات، لبناء اقتصاد مستقل، وإعادة صياغة العلاقة في هذا المجال مع إسرائيل.

وكان مصطفى يتحدث في لقاء جمع في رام الله عشرات رجال الأعمال الفلسطينيين من الضفة وأراضي 48، في حلقة جديدة من مساعي تعزيز العلاقة الاقتصادية بين الجانبين.

وقال مصطفى ’نحن مقبلون على رؤية جديدة نحو اقتصاد قائم على السيادة والاستقلال، من أهم عناصرها ربط اقتصاد الدولة مع فلسطينيي 48 والشتات’.

وأضاف: لا بد من إعادة صياغة العلاقة الاقتصادية مع إسرائيل، بروتوكول باريس الناظم للعلاقة الاقتصادية مع إسرائيل ألغته هي بممارساتها كإخراج غزة من هذه المنظومة وبناء الجدار الفاصل وغيرها من الممارسات ولا بد من اتفاقية جديدة مع إسرائيل’.

وتابع: كما تمردنا سياسيا بالذهاب إلى الأمم المتحدة فإننا سنتمرد اقتصاديا بإعادة صياغة العلاقة مع إسرائيل.

وقال مصطفى، إن أمام شعبنا فرصة بعد قبول دولة فلسطين في الأمم المتحدة، حتى وان كانت بصفة مراقب غير عضو، لبدء صفحة جديدة واستراتيجية جديدة يشارك فيها كل الفلسطينيين في الضفة وغزة وأراضي 48 والشتات.

وأوضح ان هذه الاستراتيجية ترتكز إلى ثلاثة عناصر أسياسية، الأول إعادة صياغة العلاقة الاقتصادية مع إسرائيل باتفاقية مختلفة تقوم على حرية التجارة، وتضمن التوازن معها والانفتاح على العالم، والثاني تنفيذ برنامج إصلاح اقتصادي يدعم الإنتاج، والثالث برنامج استثماري فاعل.

Recordings Suggest Emirates and Egyptian Military Pushed Ousting of Morsi - NYTimes.com
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/world/middleeast/recordings-suggest-emirates-and-egyptian-military-pushed-ousting-of-morsi.h

Audio recordings of senior Egyptian officials that were leaked Sunday suggest that when Mohamed Morsi was president, the United Arab Emirates gave the Egyptian Defense Ministry money for a protest campaign against him.

The recordings, which could not be authenticated, appear to indicate that both the Egyptian military and its backers in the Emirates played a much more active role in fomenting the protests against Mr. Morsi in June 2013 than either party has acknowledged.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who was then the defense minister, said when he led the ouster of Mr. Morsi that he was acting in response to the protests.

The audio recordings are the latest in a long series that appear to capture the private meetings and phone calls of senior defense officials. All have been released through Islamist news outlets that oppose President Sisi.

Egyptian officials have said that the recordings are fabrications, but many Egyptian commentators treat them as credible, giving them weight in public opinion.

“Everything, absolutely everything is under surveillance,” Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, a historian and journalist who is close to senior defense officials, said in a television interview when asked about previous leaked recordings. Mr. Heikal said that amid all the turmoil in Egypt, it would not be surprising that such recordings would have been made.

“Who records during the time of chaos?” he said. “Everyone records during the time of chaos.”