IRAQ: A January election is now impossible, but talks on a new law make progress

Election officials said today that it is already too late to hold crucial national elections in January even if a tentative deal on a new interpretation of Iraq's long-stalled election law pans out.

U.S. commanders have pegged the timetable for the withdrawal of American combat troops to a January election, and any delay in the elections could jeopardize the pullout.

The country's squabbling politicians said they are close to an agreement that would avert a second vice presidential veto, head off a major political crisis and allow planning for the election to resume. 

Under the agreement, the election commission would be asked to find a way to distribute the next parliament's 323 seats in such a way that no seats would be lost either by Sunni provinces or by Kurdish ones.

Efforts to hold the poll were plunged into crisis after Sunni Vice President Tariq Hashimi vetoed the original version of the law.

SAUDI ARABIA: Kingdom steps up hunt for 'witches' and 'black magicians'

When the popular 46-year-old Lebanese psychic Ali Sibat went on-air and made his predictions about the future, the phone lines of the satellite television station Sheherazade used to be flooded with calls.

But what the star psychic probably did not predict was that his claims to supernatural prowess would land him a death sentence.

"He was the most popular psychic on the channel," the Lebanese news agency Naharnet quoted Sibat’s lawyer May Khansa as saying. "The number of callers, including from all over the gulf, spiked in number when he appeared."

But while on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia last year, Sibat was spotted by religious police in the holy city of Medina. Their job it is to battle vice and uphold virtue in the ultraconservative kingdom. So they arrested Sibat in his room at the Medina Hotel on charges of sorcery.

On Nov. 9, Sibat was given a death sentence by a Mecca court for allegedly practicing witchcraft.

IRAN: Authorities confiscate lawyer Shirin Ebadi's Nobel Peace Prize

Less than a year after authorities stormed the offices of Iranian human-rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, taking  sensitive documents and her computer, unidentified authorities have now allegedly taken the Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma from Ebadi's bank safety deposit box, said officials in Norway, which administers the prize.

Outraged officials in Oslo say the incident is unprecedented and has sent shock waves through the Norwegian foreign ministry.

“This is the first time a Nobel Peace Prize has been confiscated by national authorities," Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement posted to his agency's website. "The medal and the diploma have been removed from Dr. Ebadi’s bank box, together with other personal items. Such an act leaves us feeling shock and disbelief.” 

IRAN: World powers ponder draft nuclear resolution as ElBaradei pleads with Tehran

Late-breaking developments today in the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program:

The Times has obtained a draft United Nations Security Council resolution  scolding Iran for its nuclear research program.

Also, at a press appearance, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who ends a 12-year tenure next week, practically with pleaded Iran to accept an international proposal to trade in its potentially dual-use enriched uranium for fuel rods for a Tehran medical reactor.

"There is a golden opportunity for Iran right now ...  to shift gears from confrontation to cooperation," he told reporters in Vienna, headquarters of the atomic energy watchdog.

"That agreement is fair, is balanced; has a lot of built-in guarantees and I continue to call on Iran to seize that opportunity, which is, as I mentioned before, a unique opportunity," he said. "But also ... it is not going to last forever."

IRAN, ISRAEL: Flexing muscles, turning up rhetoric in preparation for possible war

Things are not looking good for the possibility of a peaceful resolution between Israel and Iran over the latter's nuclear ambitions. Oil prices rose and hearts sank across the region this week as Iran began its biggest air defense drill ever and Israel readied a new missile defense system in preparation for a possible three-front war.

Since President Obama was swept into office promising a change toward strong diplomacy to resolve Middle East problems, his policies have faltered and his options narrowed.

The Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington-based think tank that favors a hard line on Iran, issued a report last week recommending that the Obama administration begin preparing for possible military strikes on Iran next year. If the U.S. does not strike Iranian nuclear and military facilities, the report said, Israel may decide to take riskier unilateral action.

The year is almost over, and so far Iran is unmoved. Neither the threat of stricter sanctions nor a U.S.-backed fuel-swap proposal has persuaded Iran to abandon its nuclear program, and the war of words with Israel is escalating.

EGYPT: Soccer rift makes Mubarak's oldest son a hero

If one Egyptian has benefited from the conflict between Egypt and Algeria following the two countries' soccer games in the World Cup qualifications, it would be President Hosni Mubarak's son Alaa, whose popularity among his countrymen has been on the rise following his dramatic statements against Algerian fans and officials.

Alongside his younger brother, Gamal, a leading member of the ruling National Democratic Party, Alaa ( a businessman with no interest in politics) was in Khartoum, Sudan, cheering for his country during Egypt's 1-0 loss to Algeria in the qualifications' playoff on Nov. 18.

Unlike Gamal, Alaa immediately made his anger public by voicing his frustrations over what he described as assaults he and other Egyptian fans endured at the hands of Algerians following the game.

In a live phone call to a television show for privately owned Dream TV one day after the match, Alaa said the Algerians he saw in Khartoum were mercenaries who practiced terror against Egyptian supporters, adding that whoever assaulted an Egyptian should be "beaten on his head."

DUBAI: Now, she can look pious in hijab and cool in her shades

Want to observe Islamic dress code while staying trendy in Dubai and Saudi Arabia’s scorching desert heat? 

Put on a pair of gold encrusted BQ shades --  the world’s first sunglasses especially tailored for piously dressed women in the Persian Gulf.

The brand's name BQ comes  from the word burqa --  a face-covering harness worn by women in the Persian Gulf region in nomadic times. BQ's debut collection features modern replicas of the traditional accessory in the form of large, dark aviator-style sunglasses.

Behind the line is London-based design firm Fitch branch in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It hopes BQ will become a hit among young fashionable women in the region by mixing trends with tradition.

IRAQ: TV commentator who criticized government is shot

Baghdad is buzzing about the shooting Monday night of a prominent TV commentator who regularly criticized the government on his show "Without Fences" on the privately owned Al-Diyar TV station.

Imad Abadi was shot in the head and neck by gunmen using a pistol equipped with a silencer at about 8 p.m. as he rode in his car in the Salhiya neighborhood not far from Baghdad's Green Zone. He managed to keep driving to an Iraqi checkpoint, and doctors today said his chances of recovery are good.

"For sure it is the politicians who are responsible," said Ziad Ajili, the head of the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory, an independent press freedom group. "He was very brave in exposing corruption and he is one of the most prominent journalists who are criticizing the political parties."

Al Sharqiya TV repeatedly played throughout the day a recent clip of an interview with Abadi, speaking of receiving threats to his life, the dangers facing journalists in Iraq and the scale of corruption in Iraq.

EGYPT: A national catharsis over soccer violence

With bruised pride and marred dignity, Egypt is going through a catharsis that has left much of the country sleepless, devastated and angry over the violence that erupted around the national team's recent soccer matches against bitter rival Algeria.  

The chaotic scenes have only come to add to Egyptians' disappointment of failing to secure a place in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. After a 2-0 late win in the two teams' first game in Cairo forced a playoff in Sudan three days later, Algeria won the Khartoum decider 1-0 on Wednesday.

The Egyptian squad, nicknamed The Pharaohs, has qualified only twice for the World Cup, the last of those came in 1990. Over the years, Egyptian fanatics have somehow grown used to seeing their team miss out on the prestigious competition, so why the unprecedented rage among millions this time around?

SAUDI ARABIA: Security forces issue stern warnings ahead of hajj pilgrimage

Handling an influx of 2.5 million pilgrims is a challenge during a good year, but at a time of increased tensions with Iran and rampant fears of swine flu, Saudi authorities are on high alert for any threat that could disrupt hajj, the annual holy Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

On Sunday, security forces sent a clear message to would-be saboteurs by staging a huge military demonstration involving thousands of troops, armored vehicles, helicopters, and first response teams. The Saudi government has announced it will deploy more than 100,000 security and emergency personnel for hajj, which will last from Wednesday to Sunday.

Sunday's show of force comes after months of deteriorating relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran over the Houthi rebellion in northern Yemen, with both sides accusing the other of military intervention. Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad warned against Saudi restrictions on Iranian pilgrims, eliciting a sharp rebuke from Riyadh with the top Saudi cleric warning against the politicizing of hajj.

"We hope we will not be obliged to resort to force," Saudi interior minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz told reporters after the demonstration Sunday, referring to calls by some Iranian figures for their pilgrims to use hajj as an opportunity to protest against the United States and Israel, Agence France Press reported.

QATAR: Awash in oil and gas cash, Doha announces $25-billion rail system

Just two months after Dubai unveiled its plush metro system, Qatar announced it will build its own multibillion-dollar railway that will include a local metro in Doha, its capital, as well as freight and passenger trains to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia via the world's longest causeway.

The railway is expected to cost $25 billion and be completed by 2026, but officials are eager to have sections up and running by 2022, when Qatar hopes to host the World Cup, Reuters reported.

The deal between Qatari Diar, a real estate investment company owned by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, and the German transport company Deutsche Bahn was announced today. 

The contract comes against a background of increased spending on rail projects by the oil-rich Arab gulf states that is expected to exceed $100 billion.

-- Meris Lutz in Beirut

Photo: The west bay of Doha, Qatar. Credit: wikimedia commons

EGYPT: Mubarak steps into Algerian football spat

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has sought to calm an angry and defeated Egypt following the nation's dramatic soccer loss to Algeria, which has led to riots in the streets and a nasty international political row between the two North African nations.   

Delivering a previously scheduled speech to Parliament today, the 81-year-old president spoke publicly for the first time about the violence that erupted over the last week during two World Cup qualifying matches. Algeria's players were attacked by Egyptian fans, and Egyptian fans were threatened and assaulted by Algerian mobs. Tensions between the nations further intensified when Egypt recalled its ambassador to Algiers.

"I want to say in clear words that the dignity of Egyptians is part of the dignity of Egypt," Mubarak said without directly naming Algeria, which on Wednesday defeated Egypt 1-0 to advance to the World Cup championship in 2010. "Egypt does not tolerate those who hurt the dignity of its sons." 

While many fuming Egyptians are calling for cutting political and economic ties with Algeria, Mubarak was keen not to give any conclusive statements during his speech: "We don't want to be drawn into impulsive reactions," he said. "I am agitated too, but I restrain myself."

Anger

The president's words came less than 48 hours after the Ministry of Interior announced that 35 people, including 11 police officers, were injured in clashes when hundreds of Egyptian demonstrators attempted to break into the Algerian Embassy in Cairo on Thursday evening and early Friday.

MIDDLE EAST: Saudi beauty queen attacked for weight

Beauty contests are notoriously catty, and the Miss Arab World pageant in Cairo last week proved no exception.

Muwadda Nour of Saudi Arabia had barely lain hands on her faux-jewel encrusted crown when critics began sniping that at approximately 200 pounds, she "did not meet the required standards" of a beauty queen, according to the popular Arab entertainment site Wikeez.

Delphine Edde, the publisher of Wikeez, confirmed to The Times that the site spoke with organizers and contestants at the event.

Despite the controversy, Nour kept her crown, beating out 15 other young women between the ages of 18-24 from around the region. 

Jessy Zaher of Lebanon took second place.

The Miss Arab World pageant aims to be more inclusive by allowing veiled and non-veiled women to compete alongside without having to compromise their values for events like swimwear competitions. Instead, the contestants strut down the catwalk in their national costumes.

 For more pictures, visit Wikeez's slideshow of the event.

-- Meris Lutz in Beirut

Photo: Miss Arab World 2009-2010 was attacked for being too heavy. Credit: Reuters

EGYPT: Cairo recalls its ambassador to Algeria after soccer violence

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki confirmed today that Egypt recalled its ambassador to Algeria after Egyptian fans were attacked by their Algerian counterparts following the two countries' playoff match in the 2010 World Cup qualifications held in Khartoum, Sudan, on Wednesday.

The incident comes days after Algeria's ambassador to Cairo, Abdel Qader Hadjar, was summoned by the Egyptian government to explain violence against Egyptians living in Algeria in the days leading up to the crucial match, which Algeria won 1-0. Hadjar was summoned once again today, hours before a decision was issued to recall Egypt's ambassador in Algiers for "consultations."

The Foreign Ministry announced that it informed Hadjar of "Egypt's extreme displeasure with the assaults on Egyptian citizens who went to Khartoum to support the Egyptian team."

"Egypt also expressed its outrage and its denunciation after continuing reports and many appeals from Egyptian citizens residing in Algeria over the assaults and intimidation they face," the statement to Hadjar concluded.

IRAN: Campaign launched to annoint Neda Agha-Soltan Time magazine's Person of the Year 2009

The flickering images of Neda Agha-Soltan’s last moments in a Tehran street on June 20 before she died from gunshot wounds gripped the world, galvanized the nation and made the 26-year-old music student the face of Iran’s recent protest movement.

Five months after an unknown assailant took her life at a demonstration in the Iranian capital staged by pro-reform activists, supporters across the world have spearheaded a grassroots initiative in a move to immortalize her.

Through the use of various social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, they are pushing to make Agha-Soltan Time magazine’s Person of the Year 2009.

Each year, the U.S.-based magazine grants the title to one or several persons who "most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year."

Administrators of the more than 1,000-member strong Facebook group "Nominate Neda Agha-Soltan as the Time Woman of the Year" say she deserves the title because she has become “the symbol of the recent Iranian movement towards democracy and freedom" through her tragic death that shocked the world.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Authorities target book piracy in raids across the country

Fearing that the United Arab Emirates might turn into a haven for intellectual property scofflaws, authorities are implementing tough new measures to keep pirated book traders at bay. 

Over the last months, the UAE's Ministry of Economy along with police forces in Dubai and Sharjah and the Arabian Anti-Piracy Alliance have carried out a series of raids suspected of book piracy across the country.

The task force is said to have so far busted three major traders and locked them up on charges of violating copyright law. Several book shops were shut down in the raids, while others were let off with fines, read a news release published by local media.

The raids turned out to be fruitful. A wide variety of pirated books were apparently retrieved in the operation.

“They were a combination of fiction, non-fiction as well as textbooks. Pirates target everything,” Scott Butler, head of the AAA told Abu Dhabi's The National. 

IRAN: Nuclear past, present and future under a microscope

Iranian officials have curtly dismissed a recent quarterly report  about Iran's nuclear program as much ado about nothing.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, called on the U.N. body to put an end to its "boring and perpetual" approach to Iran's nuclear program.

But others see in the report significant changes in tone and content that could spell more sanctions for Iran.

Mahjoob Zweiri (right) is a specialist on Iran and the Middle East at the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, in Amman.

Though he says he couldn't find anything of substance in the report itself, its language and tone come at a critical time when talk of upping pressure on Iran is increasing.

"The report has a great link to the proposal for the uranium swap," he said, referring to the atomic energy agency's proposal for Iran to trade in its potentially dual-use enriched uranium for fuel rods fitted for a Tehran medical research facility.

EGYPT: Algerian ambassador summoned to clarify post-football match incidents

Egypt's Foreign Ministry announced that Algeria's ambassador in Cairo Abdel Qader Hadjar has been called on to explain the violence against Egyptians living in Algeria following the two countries' football World Cup qualifier, the ministry's official spokesman Hossam Zaki confirmed.

Relations between the two countries have been recently marred by football fanaticism, which reached its peak right before and after the crucial match that ended when Egypt defeated Algeria 2-0 at Cairo International Stadium on Saturday.

In addition to the loss, Algerians' emotions were further provoked when Al Chourouk newspaper wrote that six of their fans died in clashes after the game. The allegation was denied by Hadjar, who said that no less than eleven of his fellow countrymen were injured but no deaths happened.

Since then, a number of attacks on members of the Egyptian community in Algeria have been reported.

On Monday, Egypt Air regional manager Nasser Mohamed Aladdin announced that the airline's bureau in Algiers was seriously damaged by Algerians who broke into its premises on Sunday evening. Aladdin added that Egypt Air decided to temporarily close the office in fear for its staff's safety.

Officials at the Egyptian-owned Orascom Telecom said that their subsidiaries' buildings in Algiers were similarly battered by stones and Molotov cocktails, and the head of Egypt's Arab Contractors said his company's branch was also assaulted but none of its workers was harmed.

After opening the score line in the third minute Saturday, Egypt hit a second in the game's dying seconds to be level on both points and goal difference with Algeria. The two teams, which share a history of animosity, will now meet in a one-match playoff in Khartoum, Sudan, on Wednesday, with the winner qualifying directly to summer's World Cup in South Africa.

--Amro Hassan in Cairo

Photo: A bus carrying Algerian players was damaged in Cairo. Credit: Mohamed Messara / EPA
 

ISRAEL: Specter of Meir Kahane continues to haunt politics

Two decades after his party was banned from running for seats in the parliament, Rabbi Meir Kahane and his ideas are once more on its agenda.

Recently, right-wing legislator Michael Ben-Ari asked to hold a discussion in parliament in memory of Kahane, an American-born rabbi who had founded the Jewish Defense League before moving to Israel and founding the militantly nationalist Kach movement that advocated removal of Arabs from biblical Israel. In 1988, Israeli law was amended to bar candidates who incited racism from running for parliament. Kahane, who had held a seat for four years at the time, was banned, and the party was outlawed altogether in 1994.
 
Kahane was assassinated in New York in 1990; some still subscribe to his views.

Ben-Ari filed a motion for a memorial discussion in parliament to mark the assassination anniversary. A reporter spotted it on the list and queried parliament speaker Rubi (Reuven) Rivlin, who removed it, calling it a provocation. Ben-Ari has challenged Rivlin's decision and has brought it up before a parliamentary committee that will vote on it coming few days.

It turns out that other parties expressed keen interest in the issue -- but not Israeli political parties.

LEBANON: Alien robot invades Beirut for groundbreaking Arab animation fest

A new invader has descended on Beirut: He is Grendizer. 

The iconic Grendizer of 1970s anime fame is the official poster boy (bot?) of the Beirut Animated film festival, which opens today as a collaboration between  Beirut-based Samandal Comics and the Metropolis art cinema.

Grendizer is a unifying figure for an entire generation of Lebanese who grew up during the country's bitter 15-year civil war. When Beirut was being torn to pieces by local warlords and their foreign-funded militias, the Grendizer cartoons were a welcome distraction for children who were more likely to miss school because of shelling than chicken pox.

Although Grendizer has been a great marketing tool, Metropolis' Rabih Khoury said he and the other organizers tried to emphasize the artistic range of animation, which is often dismissed as kid's stuff. To this end, Beirut Animated will feature 40 animated films and shorts, with a special emphasis on Arab productions.

The festival already has generated buzz with a number of clever mixed-media Internet shorts reimagining Beirut under siege by aliens, monsters and robots, both benign and menacing. The clip below features a somewhat awkward encounter between the cameraman and the robot guarding the entrance to the Candlelight Bar, an infamous prostitution den known locally as a "super nightclub," in West Beirut.