Algerians began voting on Thursday in an election President Abdelaziz Bouteflika needs to win convincingly to show he can re-connect with disillusioned voters and snuff out a lingering Islamist insurgency. Bouteflika, a 72-year-old veteran of Algeria's war for independence from France, hopes that a score better than the 84.99 percent he achieved in the last presidential election in 2004 -- when turnout was a little under 60 percent -- will give him an enhanced authority in the North African nation.

"Voting or not will make no difference as Bouteflika will win anyway," political analyst Nacer Djabi told Reuters. "This is why a poor turnout is likely."

In Algeria's capital, a teeming city of white-washed French colonial buildings perched above the Mediterranean Sea, buses and lampposts are covered in posters urging voters to back Bouteflika. Rival candidates' posters are invisible.

Supporters say Bouteflika deserves the trust of the people for steering Algeria, an oil and gas producer across the water from the European Union, back to stability after a civil conflict in the 1990s that killed an estimated 150,000 people.

But a rump of rebels affiliated to al-Qaeda mount occasional attacks -- a low-level insurgency that security analysts say finds sympathy among some of Algeria's millions of unemployed young people who feel their government has let them down.

"I continue to regard the restoration of civil peace as a national priority, as long as hotbeds of tension and pockets of subversion survive," Bouteflika, running for a third term, said in his final campaign speech on Monday.

He has promised to spend $150 billion on development projects and create 3 million jobs, his remedy for an economy in which energy accounts for about 96 percent of exports but where other sectors have been choked by red tape and under-investment.

Bouteflika's ability to retain legitimacy in the eyes of Algeria's 34 million people matters to the outside world: his OPEC-member country has the world's 15th biggest oil reserves and accounts for 20 percent of the EU's gas imports.

European governments fear renewed conflict or economic collapse could unleash a flood of illegal migrants into the EU, while the United States needs the support of Bouteflika's government in its global fight against al-Qaeda.

Polling stations are scheduled to close at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT), but no results will be released until Friday when the Interior Ministry will announce the winner.

alarabiya.net

ALGIERS - Algerians vote Thursday in an election that is widely expected to see President Abdelaziz Bouteflika win a third five-year term in office, despite challenges from five rivals. Although the outcome is seen by many Algerians as foregone conclusion, Bouteflika is urging citizens to give him a solid mandate to keep leading the North African nation where rising prices are the main preoccupation. Five others are vying for the presidency, but none of them stand out against the 72-year-old head of state during an election campaign that has seen more organised rallies than open debate of the issues.

Bouteflika has ruled Algeria since 1999, when the whole opposition boycotted the polls. He was re-elected in 2004 with 84.99 percent of the vote, but again some of his rivals stayed out of the contest.

Louisa Hanoune, a Trotskyite, and Ali Fawzi Rebaine, a nationalist, are standing for a second time, but in 2004 -- when the abstention rate was high -- they respectively won only one percent and 0.63 of the votes. Less than 55 percent of the electorate then cast ballots.

The other candidates are Algerian National Front leader Moussa Touati, Belaid Mohand Oussaid, known as Mohamed Said, and Mohamed Djahid Younsi.

While his rivals were unable to mount big campaigns, Bouteflika has visited 32 of the 48 administrative departments in the largely desert nation that is four times the size of France. His followers organised 8,000 rallies.

The two main parties of the traditional opposition, the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) and the Socialist Forces Front (FFS) are boycotting Thursday's election.

They are joined this time by Abdellah Djaballah, an influential figure who took 5.02 percent of the votes in 2004, but who dismissed this year's vote as "won in advance".

Bouteflika's election platform has linked a "strong and serene Algeria" with his track record in a decade of ending the worst of violence in Algeria which claimed at least 150,000 lives in the 1990s.

He has also produced a new development plan worth 150 billion dollars, with the building of one million new homes and the creation of three million new jobs in a country where unemployment is very high and youths and highly skilled workers alike try to seek greener pastures abroad.

Officially, unemployment stood at 11 percent of the work force in a population of almost 35 million in 2005, but Bouteflika's rivals say that the real figure is higher.

Hanoune, Bouteflika' sole woman rival, renowned for frank talk and work for women's and civic rights, argues that privatisation "put hundreds of thousands of people out on the street".

"We have an economy that wastes resources instead of creating wealth," economist Abdelhak Lamiri said. "What is needed is to make companies and institutions more efficient to create wealth with fewer resources."

Political analysts agreed that the high point of Bouteflika's campaign was a visit to Tizi Ouzou, capital of the Kabylie region that is the main homeland of Algeria's indigenous Berber people.

Bouteflika himself described his rally there as a "historic" event where he would "turn a new page" in relations after riots were sparked across the two Kabylie provinces in 2001 when police shot a local youth. More than 120 people were killed in that wave of violence.

Days later, the president dangled the prospect of a "possible general amnesty if the people consent to it" for extremists who are still active if they agree to lay down their arms.

Such an amnesty would be the latest move in Bouteflika's policy of national reconciliation, which he pushed through from 2000 by holding referendums on a programme to bring fundamentalist fighters out of hiding.

Several thousand men decided to surrender, but one group, Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb, is still active and indeed operates beyond Algeria's borders in sub-Saharan Africa.

Before the campaign, Interior Minister Yahid Zerhouni said that "a few terrorist groups" were active "but currently in difficulty". Nevertheless, some 160,000 police will be deployed on polling day.

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A visiting United States congressional team met Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday to express their optimism that the two countries could work together to advance their common interests in the region. "We had a candid and constructive meeting," the delegation made up of Stephen Lynch, a Democrat, and Republican Bob Inglis said in a statement issued by the American embassy after the talks. They said the talks covered Lebanon, the security situation on the Syrian-Iraqi border, the Middle East peace process and humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza.

"We are optimistic that, although we have substantial differences, we nonetheless have shared interests in the region," they said. "With genuine effort on all sides, we are hopeful that we can work constructively towards our mutual goals."

Syria's state news agency SANA said Assad and the congressmen discussed ways "to advance Syrian-U.S. relations through a serious and constructive dialogue . . . to achieve just and peaceful solutions to the region's problems."

Ties long strained

Damascus-Washington ties, long strained over Syria's alliance with Iran and support for anti-Israel groups such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, have improved under U.S. President Barack Obama.

Relations sank to their lowest ebb under former president George W. Bush's administration.

It accused Syria of being a gateway for "foreign terrorists" into Iraq to fight alongside al-Qaeda, of meddling in Lebanon, and also imposed sanctions on Damascus in 2004.

But several high-profile U.S. envoys have visited Damascus this year as the Obama administration pursues a policy of engaging with all countries in the region, even long-time foes.

Last month, Assad said he was ready to act as a mediator with Iran over its controversial nuclear drive, provided Western countries came up with a clear plan to submit to Tehran.

The Syrian president also praised Obama as a man of his word for having honored promises over a pullout from Iraq and ordering the shutdown of the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

http://www.alarabiya.net

KHARTOUM - The humanitarian crisis in Darfur is "on the brink of deepening," US envoy Scott Gration said on Saturday of the war-ravaged Sudanese region, calling for renewed cooperation with the government and an end to hostilities. "I came away very concerned about what I saw and believe that we are on the brink of a deepening crisis in Darfur," he told journalists after a morning visit to the Zam Zam displaced persons camp in region's north.

"We have to come up with a solution on the ground within the next few weeks."

Gration was speaking a month to the day after the government expelled 13 international aid agencies in protest at an arrest warrant against President Omar al-Beshir for alleged war crimes in Dafur.

He said it was imperative to get assistance into the country "so that these people don't die and they don't incur any more suffering," but also expressed confidence that "this crisis can be avoided."

"What I see as immediate problems are water and health care," he said, arguing that the "crisis can be prevented and mitigated by coming up with a flexible, creative and workable plan to ensure these folks can have access to critical medical sanitation and nutrition assistance too."

Gration reached out to local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as an initial step with the hope of widening the scope for others eventually.

"We want to work with Sudanese NGOs. I believe they have the capability to fill some of the gaps in terms of food."

"We need an environment where we can use all sources, NGO help, maybe NGOs that come in from Arab nations, additional NGOs from traditional donor countries and maybe a workable solution for some of the people that have been working in the area historically."

The retired air force general said there also needed to be a political solution to the Darfur conflict.

"We all have to embark on a very aggressive short-term process to bring peace to this region," he said.

"I believe we can all work together and that means the rebels groups and the government and other folks that have an interest here to come up with a solution that works for everybody."

Gration began his visit on Thursday with an appeal for stronger relations with Khartoum, meeting with several Sudanese officials.

On Friday, he met opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, who told reporters the new US administration had "a much more positive attitude" toward the Islamic world.

US President Barack Obama had said his envoy would try to kickstart discussions between rebels and the government in order to end the conflict

Obama, speaking on Monday, said he hoped to find a way for humanitarian workers to resume their work in Darfur.

"We have to figure out a mechanism to get those NGOs back in place, to reverse that decision, or to find some mechanism whereby we avert an enormous humanitarian crisis," Obama said.

The Darfur question has garnered much attention in the United States, where groups such as "Save Darfur" are pushing for a solution to the war.

The Sudanese president has remained defiant about his government's decision to expel the aid agencies.

"In one year we will Sudanise all the aid on the ground and we can fill the gap in food distribution within one year because the Sudanese Red Crescent already distributes 45 percent of the food in Darfur," Beshir said during a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

Darfur conflict lasting 'too long': Mbeki

The conflict in Darfur has dragged on for too long, former South African president Thabo Mbeki said Saturday after talks with Sudanese leader Omar al-Beshir.

"This conflict has lasted too long," Mbeki told reporters in Khartoum, where he is leading a high-level African Union panel that is looking into the conflict and drawing up recommendations for the AU peace and security council.

"It has been very costly in all sort of ways," he said. "Something must be done in order to end it as soon as possible."

The AU panel has been meeting this week with Sudanese government officials, Darfur tribal leaders, representatives of displaced victims of the fighting, and the chiefs of the hybrid AU-UN mission in Darfur.

"We were very pleased indeed when the president said that an instruction had been given to all ministers and departments and so on to fully cooperate with the panel," Mbeki told reporters.

Critics say the ICC warrant singles out weak states like Sudan, while taking a hypocritical stance towards countries like the US and Israel by ignoring worse atrocities committed by them, and by not charging American and Israeli officials with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Other critics say the ICC warrant could lead to more, rather than less, bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region.

The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003, when rebels took up arms against the government in Khartoum and its allies.

Over the last six years, the rebels have fractured into multiple movements, fraying rebel groups, banditry, flip-flopping militias and the war has widened into overlapping tribal conflicts.

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease and more than 2.7 million fled their homes.

Islamic grouping plans Darfur aid project

The Organisation of the Islamic Conference on Friday announced a project to step up help to the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur following last month's expulsion of 13 international aid agencies.

The plan envisages "urgent and continued aid services," help for refugees to go home and rebuilding in the war-torn western region, according to documents presented to a conference in Libya of humanitarian agencies in OIC member states.

Atta al-Manan Bakhit, deputy general secretary of the Saudi-based IOC, said that his organisation was not seeking to replace the departed aid groups.

"Our aim is to coordinate the action of Muslim NGOs already active in Darfur in coordination with the United Nations. These NGOs have very few resources and cannot remain in the field for long," he said.

A new meeting within the next month will officially launch a programme of "media campaigns and donations in all member countries," Bakhit said.

The project "should be operational in two months at the latest," he told the conference, attended by around 30 agencies from 12 countries including Sudan.

The OIC said 25 organisations from its member countries operate in Darfur, around 20 percent of all NGOs and international agencies active in the region.

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The United Nations has appointed a former war crimes prosecutor to investigate offences allegedly committed by Israeli and Palestinian fighters during Israel's war on Gaza. Richard Goldstone, a Jewish judge from South Africa, will lead a fact-finding team on the mission, ordered by the Human Rights Council in January. "I am confident the mission will be in a position to assess, in an independent and impartial manner, all human rights and humanitarian law violations committed in the context of the Gaza conflict," Goldstone said in a statement issued on Friday.

Other members of the group are Christine Chinkin, a British professor of international law, Hina Jilani, a Pakistani lawyer and retired Irish army colonel Desmond Travers.

Palestinian focus

The investigation's mandate is to focus only on Palestinian victims of the 22-day war.

More than 1,100 Palestinians were killed when Israel launched a two-week ground offensive on Gaza in December and January after a week of aerial bombardment.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights put the final death toll at 1,417, including 926 civilians, and published a list of their names.

The Israeli military, however, says only 295 civilians were among 1,116 Palestinians killed between December 27 and January 18, without providing a list of the dead.

It insists it did everything it could to prevent casualties among Gaza civilians during the war, including dropping leaflets and sending phone messages to civilians to evacuate certain areas.

The military also claims Hamas fighters used civilians as human shields, booby-trapped homes and shot at troops from densely populated areas.

Israeli co-operation

Israeli officials on Friday did not say whether or not they would co-operate with the UN investigation.

It has rejected previous human rights council investigations, including one led by Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, calling them "biased".

The Israeli military earlier in the week closed its own investigation into claims that Israeli troops shot unarmed Palestinian women and children during the Gaza war.

Military investigators said on Monday that they "found crucial components of [the allegations] were based on hearsay and were not supported by specific personal knowledge".

http://english.aljazeera.net/

Oman’s plans for the future of tourism were declared in the 2020 vision call for an increase in tourism contribution to GDP to 3% in 2020. The declaration was backed by the government’s introduction of a Ministry of Tourism in 2004, headed by Dr. Rajha Bint Abdulamir Bin Ali; the change in visa regulations that now allows nationals of up to 60 countries to receive visa at the airport, as well as the development of the current airport in preparation to receive the planned increase in tourist intake from the current 2.8 million to 12 million.

Private sector contribution to the sector was quick to react to these moves with the initiation of several ambitious tourism projects that are set to change the country’s tourism horizon.

To compliment these changes and projects; the government has gone ahead with its’ infrastructure to support the hotels and provide the incoming tourists with the upscale entertainment through the development of the historic forts and castles; caves and adventure tourism that the Sultanate is particularly known for.

The Sultanate of Oman’s huge potential has been well acclaimed and many have proclaimed that Oman is more blessed than most of its neighbours in that aspect. The country offers a wide range of tourism attractions that is spread over a wide and diverse landscape ranging from coastal, desert, mountain as well as a lush subtropical climate of Salalah in the southern region of Dohar. Oman’s rich history has left a well founded heritage of traditions and culture that is reflected in its people as well as a trail of ancient forts, mosques, towns and villages.

In spite of these unique features known to attract tourists the world over, Oman has been determined from the onset to stay well away from the standard large-scale tourism. The Sultanate’s determination to protect its traditions, culture and natural sites was clearly stated in the early plans and has become the main pillar of the national tourism plan. The Ministry of Tourism underlines this message in its vision statement: “To develop tourism as an important and sustainable socio-economic sector….in a manner that reflects the Sultanate’s historic, cultural and environmental heritage and sense of traditional hospitality and values.

Despite its long history of paying attention to the development of tourism, it wasn’t until 2004 that the Ministry of Tourism was established by a Royal Decree and charged with the following four key objectives.

1. Increase the tourism sector contribution to the GDP.

2. To increase the level of employment of Omani nationals in the sector.

3. To increase average annual growth rate for the income of tourism.

4. To be responsible for the promotion and marketing for Oman as a tourism destination.

The Sultanate has paid special attention to the tourism sector within the 7th Five Year Plan (2006-2010) highlighting it as one of the main pillars of comprehensive development. The plan underlines the significance of developing this sector, recognizing it as an option to contribute much to diversify the nation’s sources of income and provide job opportunities besides attracting foreign investments.

Dr. Rajiha Bint Abdulamir Bin Ali, the Minister of Tourism, believes that under the Seventh Five Year Plan (2006-2010), the tourism sector has been set the following objectives:

• To increase the level of employment of Omani nationals in the sector from the current 37% to 80% by the year 2010.

• To achieve an average annual growth rate for the tourist income by 7% for the period 2005-2010.

• Bring substantial economic benefits to local communities and residents.

• Conserve and protect the natural environments as well as assuring respect of customs, traditions and cultural heritage.

• Create community awareness, understanding and support for tourism development.

• Promote close cooperation between the government and the private sector.

• Increase Omani share of visitors to the GCC and increase its recognition as a high quality tourism destination in its own right.

To help facilitate economic diversification, preservation of cultural integrity and environmental protection, along the course of developing and managing the tourism sector, ‘sustainable tourism’ has been used as a basic guiding principle. It has to be remembered that tourism is viewed concurrently as the stimulant of development for some and means to destruction to others. The minister says: ”While it is undeniably an industry, which has penetrated into countries that have found other industries hard to adapt, it has also managed to threaten some fragile societies, cultures and ecosystems”. And he adds: “ The challenge for the industry it is generally accepted is finding a workable balance between managing the development potential of travel and tourism and minimizing any harmful effects, hence the call for ‘sustainable tourism development”

Even as Oman strives to differentiate itself from the rest in the region, luxury resort developments are on the rise. Spearheaded by the widely acclaimed Shangri La Barr Aljissah resort that opened earlier in 2006, The Ministry has announced that within the current 7th Five Year Plan, several projects will bring in a new trend of large scale tourism resorts, while at the same time special attention will be directed to the development of existing historical, natural and cultural sites.

Tourism in Oman is given priority at the highest levels. Sultan Qaboos vision on this serves as a significant guideline: “…. I reaffirm the necessity to give tourism a priority in the future development programme. This sector has great potential for growth and for making an effective contribution to economic diversification, since our dear country possesses such splendid tourist assets such as its historical heritage, natural beauty, perfect environment, folklore and traditional industries. In addition, there is the security, stability and the spirit of tolerance of the Omani citizens, thanks to God. The tourism industry is well qualified to offer career opportunities to Omanis. It is well capable of serving the aims of regional development, since its benefits will cover all regions. On this basis we should prepare a new strategy to develop this sector so it can stand on its own feet in a severely competitive, flexible and diversified international market.”

By: Dr. Hussein Shehadeh - MUSCAT

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The absence of nine leaders including Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, from an Arab League summit in Qatar aimed at forging unity on challenges facing the Middle East has highlighted divisions within the group. Foreign ministers have been gathering in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to set the agenda for the talks, which begin on Monday. But the nine members of the 22-strong League have said they will not attend the two-day summit aimed at burying differences highlighted by Arab nations' responses to Israel's war on the Gaza Strip in December, in which more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed.

At a news conference late on Saturday, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani, the Qatari prime minister and foreign minister, said that Qatar "respected the Egyptian decision not to attend even though President Hosni Mubarak would have enriched and enlightened the summit with his ideas".

Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, conceded at the conference that Arab differences remained, but pledged to work on "managing the existing rifts to defuse or at least decrease the tensions".

It was confirmed at the conference that Hamas leaders and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, would not join the meeting.

'Closing ranks'

A Qatari official expressed hope that the Doha gathering will "serve to streamline Arab relations and relaunch a common Arab action that has a firm basis".

But Al Jazeera analyst Lamis Andoni said: "The decision [by Mubarak] proves that the outstanding issues between Egypt and Qatar have yet to be resolved.

"Moussa's statement reflected a recognition that a summit alone cannot resolve the persisting differences which had prompted several leaders to refrain from taking part in the meeting," she added.

Opening Saturday's meeting the Qatari prime minister said: "We have to live up to our responsibilities and work towards closing ranks.

"The challenges are numerous and threats are many, and the Arab people are looking to us to see if our words will be coupled with actions."

Egypt and Qatar have recently taken rival approaches to the Palestinian crisis as Cairo continues to mediate talks aimed at Palestinian reconciliation and forging a sustainable ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group ruling the Gaza Strip.

Cairo and Saudi Arabia are staunch supporters of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, while Damascus and Doha back Hamas, which forced Abbas's Fatah loyalists from Gaza amid factional fighting in June 2007.

Israel and Iran

Prospects for peace in the Middle East could also come under pressure from the pending return to power in Israel of Benyamin Netanyahu, whose Likud party rejects the creation of an independent Palestinian state and takes a hard line on security issues.

While acknowledging the urgency of Gaza's reconstruction, Arab governments led by Saudi Arabia are wary of growing Iranian influence in the region, especially Tehran's nuclear programme and its support for Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah group.
Some Arab states share Western powers' fears that Iran is trying to build an atomic bomb under a civilian cover.

"As much as we appreciate Iran's support for Arab causes, we would like to see it channelled through Arab legality and be in harmony with its objectives," Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, said earlier this month.

The Doha summit follows a recent meeting by Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Saudi king, with the presidents of Egypt and Syria which allowed Cairo and Riyadh to improve contacts with Damascus - a major ally of Iran - which had worsened during the war on Gaza.

Abdullah warned last week that "the Palestinian dispute ... is more serious in jeopardising our just cause than Israeli aggression".

Bashir warrant

Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, who is facing arrest for alleged war crimes committed in his country's western Darfur province after a warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), is expected to attend the conference.

Ziad Haidar, a Syrian journalist, told Al Jazeera that Syria and Egypt regard the warrant as a "political and not a legal issue".

He said that if the two countries can persuade Russia and China, their UN Security Council member allies, to prevail on the ICC to postpone al-Bashir's arrest "at least for a year", they could buy time for mediation to resolve the Darfur issue.

In his opening address Moussa expressed hope that Qatar would continue mediating talks on Darfur until a breakthrough is achieved.

http://english.aljazeera.net

Arab foreign ministers meet Saturday in Doha to prepare for the annual Arab League's annual summit to make a show of unity as hawkish right-wingers prepare to assume power in Israel in what is seen as a threat to Middle East peace. The ministers held on Friday night consultation talks to consolidate Arab reconciliation and to ignore their disputes over the last Israeli offensive on Gaza in the upcoming summit. Leaders of the 22-member Arab League will seek during their summit on Monday to close ranks split largely over how to respond to Israel's 22-day onslaught on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, and also amid the growing influence of Shiite Iran in the region.

A Qatari official voiced "hope that the Doha summit will serve to streamline Arab relations and prelaunch a common Arab action that has a firm basis."

"Inter-Arab reconciliation figures high on the summit's agenda," Arab League deputy chief Ahmed bin Helli told AFP ahead of the two-day gathering.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia met the presidents of Egypt and Syria on March 11 to promote such reconciliation, two months after another ice-breaking mini-summit in Kuwait.

The two meetings allowed Egypt and Saudi Arabia to improve contacts with Syria—a major Arab ally of Iran—which had worsened during the war on Gaza.

Cairo and Riyadh are staunch supporters of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, while Damascus and Doha back the Islamist Hamas, which routed Abbas's Fatah loyalists from Gaza in deadly factional fighting in June 2007.

Egypt mediated reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas, and they are due to resume discussions on April 1 after failing in a first round to agree on the composition and program of a unity government.

King Abdullah warned last week that "the Palestinian dispute... is more serious in jeopardizing our just cause than Israeli aggression."

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem meanwhile spoke of the "positive impact" of his country's reconciliation with Saudi Arabia.

Muallem also urged Israel to accept an Arab peace initiative on offer since 2002. It calls on the Jewish state to withdraw from all Arab land occupied since 1967 in return for full normalization of ties.

But the prospects for peace could be further complicated by the pending return to power in Israel of Benjamin Netanyahu, whose right-wing Likud party rejects the creation of a Palestinian state.

The chief Palestinian peace negotiator warned Saturday the Middle East peace process may not survive if the new Israeli government fails to accept a two-state solution for the crisis.

"The peace process lives on borrowed time," Saeb Erakat wrote in an article in The Washington Post. "With its credibility at stake, it will not survive another round of failed negotiations—and neither will the two-state solution."

Erakat said the conservative Israeli government led by Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu must unequivocally affirm its support for the two-state solution and the establishment of a viable and independent Palestinian state based on 1967 borders.

Sunni Arab governments are also wary of growing Iranian influence in the region, and especially Tehran's support for militant groups such as Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

"As much as we appreciate Iran's support for Arab causes, we would like to see it channeled through Arab legality and be in harmony with its objectives," Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said this month.

There is also concern about Tehran's nuclear program amid fears in the West that Iran is trying to construct an atomic bomb. The Islamic republic insists that its nuclear drive is entirely peaceful.

Summit host Qatar enjoys good relations with Iran and has been seeking to cement its role as mediator in many regional crises, including the deadly conflict in Darfur.

The Arab summit is also expected to discuss the arrest warrant for the Sudanese President Bashir issued by the International Criminal Court earlier this month for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Sudanese clerics warned him against travelling to the Qatar summit, amid calls by the ICC to Doha to cooperate with the arrest warrant even though Qatar is not a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the court.

http://www.alarabiya.net

KHARTOUM - Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, who is facing an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Darfur, arrived in Libya on Thursday, his third trip abroad in a week, his office said. "He is now in Libya," presidential spokesman Fadel Mahjoub said, without elaborating on the reasons for the visit. Earlier, Beshir's office had said the president would be travelling to Ethiopia. Libyan leader Moamer Gathafi has criticised the warrant, issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on March 4. He told UN chief Ban Ki-moon it constituted a "grave precedent against the independence of less powerful states, their sovereignty and their political choices."

Gathafi, the current African Union chief, said the ICC was "selective" and that the court, based in The Hague, was "employing a policy of double standards in targeting African and third-world states."

On Monday, defying the warrant, Beshir paid a visit to Eritrea and talks with Issaias Afeworki.

That was followed on Wednesday by a trip to Egypt and a meeting with President Hosni Mubarak. Afterwards, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said that Egypt "does not accept the court's manner in dealing with the Sudanese president."

But the office of ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo warned Beshir on Wednesday that there is no way for him to continue business as usual and avoid being held to account.

Libya, Eritrea and Egypt are not parties to the Rome treaty that created the ICC, the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal.

The ICC does not have a police force and calls on signatory states to implement warrants. The United States said on Tuesday it was under "no legal obligation" to arrest Beshir as it was not a signatory to the Rome statute.

On Wednesday, an Ocampo spokesman renewed the ICC prosecutor's call for "all political leaders who might meet Omar el-Beshir to explain to him there is no possible way out."

"There can be no question of 'business as usual' with someone who is the subject of an arrest warrant on charges of such crimes," the spokesman said.

Doubts have been raised over whether Beshir will attend an Arab summit in Doha at the end of the month.

Critics say the ICC warrant singles out weak states like Sudan, while taking a hypocritical stance towards countries like the US and Israel by ignoring worse atrocities committed by them, and by not charging American and Israeli officials with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Other critics say the ICC warrant could lead to more, rather than less, bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region.

The commander of the UN-led peacekeeping force in Darfur, General Martin Agwai, said in October that mistakes by the international community have prolonged the conflict and that there is no immediate prospect for peace.

The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003, when rebels took up arms against the government in Khartoum and its allies.

Over the last six years, the rebels have fractured into multiple movements, fraying rebel groups, banditry, flip-flopping militias and the war has widened into overlapping tribal conflicts.

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease and more than 2.7 million fled their homes.

Many of the rebels enjoy direct and indirect foreign support that helped fuel the conflict, with some critics pointing the finger at France, which has a military presence in neighbouring Chad – also accused of arming the Sudanese rebels. France had been accused of involvement in the genocide in Rwanda, but Paris denied responsibility, conceding only that ‘political’ errors were made.

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KUWAIT CITY - OPEC member Kuwait posted 20.2 billion dinars (69.6 billion dollars) in revenues during the first 11 months of the fiscal year ending on March 31, finance ministry figures showed on Wednesday. That marked an increase of 59.4 percent over the budget estimates of 43.7 billion dollars for the whole fiscal year. Actual spending was 44.3 billion dollars, just 67.7 percent of the projected expenditure of 65.4 billion dollars for the whole year.

That leaves a preliminary budget surplus of 25.3 billion dollars, which is likely to shrink when the finance ministry makes end-year accounting.

Oil revenues came in at 65.7 billion dollars, up 63.6 percent on estimates of 40.2 billion dollars for the whole year and constituting more than 94 percent of total income.

Income began declining in October when the price of oil fell sharply from record 147 dollars a barrel in July.

But the results still put OPEC's fourth largest producer well on track to post a budget surplus for the 10th straight year.

Kuwait plans to cut spending in 2009-2010 by a massive 36 percent and is projecting a huge deficit of 14.6 billion dollars.

Based on official figures, Kuwait has chalked up a total budget surplus of 113 billion dollars over the past nine fiscal years, starting with 1999-2000.

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