THE MEDIA LINE FRIDAY NEWS HEADLINES
1. EU ENVOY: ISRAELI HOUSING PLAN VIOLATES ROAD MAP… The European Union’s foreign policy chief says Israel’s plan to build 3,500 housing units in the post-1967 Jerusalem suburb of Maaleh Adumim violates the Road Map peace plan. Javier Solana said in a statement that, “This decision contravenes the commitment of the parties to abstain from any unilateral measure that could affect the final settlement…” The Palestinians complained to visiting American envoys Eliot Abrams and David Welch about the plan to link Maaleh Adumim with east Jerusalem with new housing. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer said that Israel is claiming American support for the retention of “settlement blocs” that the U.S. has never given. Ariel Sharon agreed to a total freeze in construction in post-1967 areas when he accepted the Road Map peace plan. However, he has added conditions that have been recognized by no party other than himself.
2. THIRD HANDOVER NOW DELAYED… The handover of Qalqilya, the third Palestinian town slated to have its security control transferred from Israeli to Palestinian forces, has been delayed. Scheduled for Sunday, Israel is refusing to go through with the turnover because it charges the Palestinian Authority has failed to live up to its commitments in the first two towns turned over: Jericho and Tul Karem. Specifically, Israel charges that the P.A. has taken no action against wanted terrorists living in those towns. It had promised to confiscate the weapons of the wanted men and monitor their movement.
3. U.N. REPORT: SYRIA’S ASSAD CONTRIBUTED TO ANTI-HARIRI MOOD… A report by United Nations investigators says that President Bashar Al-Asad’s threat to harm former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri if he challenged Al-Asad’s control in Lebanon contributed to the climate of violence that culminated in Al-Hariri’s assassination on February 14th. The report said the threat came during an August meeting in which Al-Asad was ordering support for a change in the Lebanese constitution to allow his loyalist, Emil Lahoud, to remain as president beyond the statutory time allowed. According to the report, Al-Asad told Al-Hariri that failure to support Lahoud – whom Al-Asad called his “personal representative in Lebanon”—was tantamount to opposing Al-Asad himself. The report stopped short of blaming Syria for the assassination.