To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Oct 5, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 08:45:45 +0000

From: research-bpr@philologos.org (Moza)

8:00 PM

 PBS - SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN FRONTIERS - "Voyage to the
   Galapagos" - Alan Alda travels to the Galapagos
   Islands.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

 PBS - NOVA - "Fall of the Leaning Tower" - Engineers
   and architects work to save the Leaning Tower of Pisa from
   collapsing.(CC)(TVG)

10:00

 HIST - THE NYC SUBWAY - With its riders, workers and street
   performers, it is a microcosm of urban life.(CC)(TVG)

--- BPR

BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Middle East Newsline items (10/5/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 09:22:21 +0000

From: research-bpr@philologos.org (Moza)

SADDAM URGES CLINTON TO BEGIN DIALOGUE
CAIRO [MENL] -- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein wants to launch a
dialogue with the United States in the wake of the Clinton
administration's failed efforts with Iran, an Arabic daily said on
Tuesday.
    The London-based Al Zaman said Saddam relayed a message to
    President
Bill Clinton via Jordan's King Abdullah that called for reconciliation
and dialogue. The Iraqi message was delivered by Iraqi Deputy Prime
Minister Tariq Aziz, who made a surprise visit to Amman on Sunday.
    In Saddam's message, the newspaper said, Saddam pledged to review
    oil
accords with France and Russia and instead grant the concessions to
U.S. companies.
    Abdullah is scheduled to meet with Clinton on Oct. 12.
    "Iraq has offered guarantees that it will not mar the peace
    process in
the Middle East, has expressed readiness to take part in the
multilateral talks," Al Zaman said, "and promised to accept
Palestinians in Iraq to solve the refugee problem."
    Quoting diplomats in Amman, the newspaper said Saddam's offer was
    based
on the assessment that Clinton has failed in efforts to normalize
relations with Iran. The failure, the diplomats said, might lead to a
review of U.S. interests in the Gulf and renewal of cooperation with
Iraq.
    Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted on Monday
    as
having told Austrian President Thomas Klestil last month that Teheran
prefers ties with the European Union rather than the United States
because American politics are rife with domestic pressure. Iranian
officials and newspapers said efforts to improve relations with
Washington failed because of Teheran's opposition to Israel and its
negotiations with the Arabs.
    U.S. officials have denied previous reports of an Iraqi attempt to
reconcile with the United States. They said some of the reports
reflect the deteriorating state of Saddam's regime, battered by daily
British and U.S. air attacks and growing domestic opposition.
    At the United Nations, the Security Council has approved an
    increase of
$3.04 billion in Iraq's oil-for-food exports for the six months ending
on November 20. The panel, however, failed to raise the $5.256 billion
ceiling on Iraqi crude exports for the current 180-day period.
    The council did not consider allowing Iraq to spend some of its
    revenue
on spare parts and equipment for its damaged oil industry.

GENERAL: ISRAEL CAN'T IGNORE PUBLIC OPINION AFTER KOSOVO
TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Israel must invest more in defense and take into
greater account international opinion in the wake of the NATO
offensive against Yugoslavia, a leading military strategist says.
    Maj. Gen. Yaacov Amidror, in an article in the military monthly,
Maarachot, said the war over Kosovo has strengthened the intervention
of the Western powers in the affairs of small states. "Israel must
taken into account international public opinion more than in the past
and understand that even though it is important what Israel does it
cannot ignore what the nations of the world do and say," Amidror
writes.
    The general, who served for most of the 1990s as head of research
    in
military intelligence, said the war in Kosovo also points to the need
for better intelligence and precision weapons. He said Israel must
prepare for the entry of more advanced weapons in the Middle East.
    "Israel, as a small state, must invest more in protection because
    it is
difficult to hide sensitive means," he said. He did not elaborate.
    The general warned against copying NATO's penchant for the use of
stand-off weapons and said these often don't work under poor weather
conditions or in the dark. He said Israel will be under greater
pressure and time constraints than NATO and must quickly defeat its
enemies.
    Amidror said strategic targets in the Middle East are better
    protected
than they were in Yugoslavia. He said the Arab states have better air
defenses than Belgrade and Israel does not have the size air force
that NATO deployed.
    "It is not certain that Israel can copy what NATO forces did in
    Kosovo,"
the general said. "But we must learn the lessons in great depth."
    The article was the first public signal that the military was
    studying
the political and military lessons of the NATO campaign. Israeli
officials and analysts have generally been disturbed by the NATO
attack against Belgrade and warned that the Palestinians might call
for international military intervention in any future conflict with
Israel.

EARTHQUAKES SHAKE EILAT
TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Israel's southern port shook from two earthquakes
on Tuesday.
    The quakes that struck Eilat were registered at 4.1 and 4.8 on the
Richter scale early Tuesday. Authorities said the center of the
earthquake was detected in the Red Sea 55 kilometers south of the
city.
    No damage was reported, authorities said.

EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY INJURES NEARLY 100
ANKARA [MENL] -- An earthquake again rocked western Turkey on Tuesday
and scores of people were reported injured.
    Authorities said the earthquake that struck the Marmari tourist
    region
registered 5.2 on the Richter scale. They said nearly 100 people have
been reported injured.
    There were no reports of deaths in the earthquake that was
    reported at
about 4 a.m. local time. "I woke up from a powerful shock," Avi
Hayoun, an Israeli tourist, said. "The ground shook underneath us.
Windows shattered and cracks appeared in the walls. We just ran
outside."
    The earthquake came as the country struggles to recover from the
    Aug. 17
earthquake, which killed more than 15,000 people.
    In an unrelated development, President Bill Clinton has decided to
include Turkey as a partner in the Joint Strike Fighter project,
Turkish sources said. Turkey will join Britain as a partner in the
development of the aircraft and will be asked to purchase the
fighter-jet. The JSF is meant to replace the F-16 in the U.S. military
starting in 2008.
    On Monday, the Milliyet newspaper said Clinton is expected to
    announce
Turkey's participation in the JSF project when he arrives in Turkey in
November.
    Turkey will end the assembly of the F-16 after 12 years. Officials
    said
the F-16 plant will be retooled to manufacture attack helicopters.
    Meanwhile, Turkey has told the five main competitors for a $5
    billion
tank project to submit bids by Nov. 30. The contractors are the
Italian Iveco, the French Giat, the Ukranian company, Ukrpetseksport,
the German Krauss-Maffei company and the U.S. General Dynamics
company.
    The project is for coproduction of 1,000 tanks.

via: "menl" <menl@actcom.co.il>

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items (10/5/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 18:13:18 +0000

From: research-bpr@philologos.org (Moza)

ISRAEL SIGNS ON FREE PASSAGE DEAL
Israel and the Palestinian Authority this afternoon signed an
agreement governing the operation of the "free passage" route between
the PA autonomous areas in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. Internal
Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said last night that the agreement
will ensure that Israel's sovereignty along the route is not
undermined. The Likud is demanding that Prime Minister Barak make
public the entire text of the agreement so that its details can be
freely examined by all interested persons. Even some government
ministers appear to be in the dark as to the specifics of the deal;
Interior Minister Natan Sharansky told Arutz-7 today that he is unsure
of what was agreed upon, and that he hopes that the passage will be
"as safe for Jews as it is for Palestinians."

Israeli newspapers reported this morning that the deal consists of an
oral agreement according to which Israel promises that it will not
hinder the movement of wanted Palestinian terrorists along the
corridor. The mayors of two cities bordering the route have
different approaches to its opening. Kiryat Malachi Mayor Lior Katzav
said today that senior members of the police department have told him
that they are concerned that terrorists will take advantage of the
free passage to carry out terror attacks within "Little Israel."
Kiryat Gat Mayor Albert Erez, on the other hand, welcomed the opening
of the route.

HISTORIAN: BEN GURION VETOED REQUEST
Historian Aryeh Yitzchaki today reminded Arutz-7 listeners that this
is not the first time in the history of the State of Israel that a
route for Arabs between Hevron and Gaza has been discussed. "Most
people are unaware of the fact that less than two years after the War
of Independence, in 1949-50, Jordan's King Abdullah [grandfather of
the present King] asked David Ben Gurion for a "free passage from
Hevron to Gaza, and he wanted it to be classified as Jordanian
sovereign territory as well. Ben Gurion summarily dismissed the
request, arguing that the Jordanian goal was to create a corridor, and
then chop the state in half." Yitzchaki added, "Recent Israeli
governments don't seem to grasp Ben Gurion's point. Next to come is a
northern corridor, through the Latrun interchange to Ramallah. It's
not hard to envision yet another route connecting the Palestinian
autonomy in the Shomron to an additional autonomous region that the
Palestinians are targeting in the Galilee..."

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Tuesday, October 5, 1999 / Tishrei 25, 5760

--- BPR

BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Israel Line items (10/5/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 18:14:34 +0000

From: research-bpr@philologos.org (Moza)

BARAK ADDRESSES PLENUM
 In his address to the Knesset plenum on Monday, Prime Minister Ehud
 Barak
expressed sympathy for the suffering of the Palestinian people, but
stated that Israel bears neither guilt nor responsibility for the
conflict and its results, HA'ARETZ reported.
   "We regret the heavy suffering that the conflict has caused," he
   said,
"not only to us but to all the Arab nations that have fought against
us, including the Palestinian people." He added that when peace is
achieved, Israel will be ready to take part in an effort to heal the
wounds of war "based on good will, friendship and neighborliness--but
not, under any circumstances, based on a feeling of guilt or
responsibility for the emergence of the conflict and its results, a
conflict we did not want and which we did much to prevent."
  On the subject of strategic deterrence, Barak stated that Israel
  will
continue "to maintain strategic deterrent capability even in
peacetime, for whatever geographical or time range is required."
   Barak said the strategic threat to Israel from states outside the
   circle
of its immediate neighbors would persist even after "neutralization of
the detonators," that is, final settlements with the Palestinians and
Syria. Israel would therefore continue to maintain its own deterrent
capability.

ARAB COUNTRIES SIGNAL READINESS FOR DIALOGUE
   Israel has recently received positive signs from several Arab
   countries
regarding the establishment of diplomatic relations, MA'ARIV reported.
Some of these countries have never had diplomatic relations with
Israel, while others have cut off ties within the last few years.
   The most positive response came from Tunisia. Director for the
   Interest
Section of Tunisia Tarik Azouz arrived in Israel on Sunday, following
two years in which no permanent Tunisian representative was stationed
there. Israel's Office of Interests in Tunisia recently relocated from
a local hotel to a permanent address, and the Israeli representative
moved into a neighborhood which includes other ambassadors'
residences.
   Israel has also approached Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates and Yemen. It is believed that these countries would commence
talks with Israel parallel to any progress in the Syrian track. Yemen
has recently signaled to Israel that it is ready for a dialogue
between the two countries which would build toward the establishment
of formal relations.

BARAK, LEVY CONCERNED OVER AUSTRIAN ELECTIONS
   Prime Minister Ehud Barak called on Monday for an international
   effort to
stop "the spread of the fascist and neo-Nazi evil" following the
extreme right's increase in power in Austria's general elections,
MA'ARIV reported. Barak said that the events in Austria "turn on a red
light among all citizens of the free world who still remember the
horrors of the second World War".
   Foreign Minister David Levy called the election results "revolting"
   and
expressed hope that other parties there would unite to isolate the
extremists. Several other Knesset Members expressed their concern over
the election results, and called upon the Jewish Agency to take
immediate action among the Austrian Jewish community in ascertaining
whether this has sparked an increased desire to immigrate to Israel.

via: ISRAELINE@PANKOW.INTER.NET.IL