Swift action’ needed for peace: Jordan

AMMAN: Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Wednesday urged “swift action” to help push forward the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, warning against wasting more time, a palace statement said.

“Efforts for having serious and effective peace talks should continue, based on a two-state solution, which is the only way to achieve regional stability and security,” the statement quoted the king as telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the telephone.

“The deadlocked peace process threatens the entire region.”

The king, whose country signed a 1994 peace treaty with Israel, said “practical steps are needed to remove obstacles facing the peace process,” the statement said.

Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the first for nearly two years, began in Washington on September 2 but quickly stalled when a 10-month Israeli settlements

Arab League calls off talks between Palestinians and Israelis

Arab states called off Middle East talks between Palestinians and Israelis on Wednesday, saying negotiations could not resume until the United States offers a serious proposal to advance the peace process.

The committee sees that the negotiation efforts are useless and decided not to resume any negotiations, and its resumption will be conditioned on receiving a serious offer that puts an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as part of the peace-process, the Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa said at a news conference in Cairo. US backed direct Middle East peace talks between both parties hit a snag when Palestinians pulled out after Israel refused to extend a 10-month freeze on settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The freeze ended on 26th September and the parties had held three rounds of talks. On Monday the US admitted it has failed to bring about an Israeli settlement freeze, indicating direct talks had ended and proximity talks, which began in May, had resumed.

Third round of Pak-US strategic talks opens today

Staff Report

WASHINGTON: The third round of strategic talks between Pakistan and the United States is set to begin in Washington today (Wednesday).

A high-level Pakistani delegation led by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is in Washington to attend the talks. The US team will be headed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The three-day talks will mull over various proposals aimed at enhancing bilateral cooperation in 13 different sectors, including agriculture, energy, education and health.

In addition, the two sides will also review the progress made during the last session of talks between Pakistan and the US.

Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani will also hold talks with top American military and civil officials. SAMAA

US support Afghan peace effort: Gates

US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates says the United States has a say in talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, even if US officials aren’t sitting at the peace table.
Gates says any reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban insurgents has to be led by Afghans. But he told a NATO press conference in Brussels Thursday that the US is offering advice and kept an ear on the initial talks. Gates says reconciliation efforts may not bear fruit anytime soon, but he says the effort is worth making. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton added that the US supports what the Afghans are doing, but is not ready to make any judgment about how far the talks should go.

Talks with India impossible sans Kashmir, Siachen: Qureshi

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that talks with India is impossible sans Kashmir, Siachen and water issues, while his Indian counterpart SM Krishna remarked that both the neighbouring countries are not left with any other option than dialogue.
Talking to media in New York, Qureshi said that talks between India and Pakistan should be ‘result-oriented, meaningful and substantive for the sake peace and stability’. Referring to Kashmir issue, the FM stated, ‘How can Pakistan talk to India without these subjects being on the table,’ Qureshi said pointing to disputes over Kashmir, Siachen and water. The need of the hour was for the Indian government to change ‘tactics’ in dealing with the Kashmiris, he said. ‘It is necessary because India and Pakistan are close neighbours. And there are number of outstanding issues. It’s in the interest of our people and our future to tackle these issues and to have an intelligent dialogue on these issues,’ she said. Qureshi told the reporters that a meeting with Krishna was possible before he left New York, if the Indian side agreed to fresh proposals submitted by Islamabad. If he got a positive response from the Indian side ‘we can meet anytime before I leave for Pakistan,’ he said. But talks between India and Pakistan should be ‘result-oriented, meaningful and substantive for the sake peace and stability’.

Talks with India impossible sans Kashmir, Siachen: Qureshi

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that talks with India is impossible sans Kashmir, Siachen and water issues, while his Indian counterpart SM Krishna remarked that both the neighbouring countries are not left with any other option than dialogue.
Talking to media in New York, Qureshi said that talks between India and Pakistan should be ‘result-oriented, meaningful and substantive for the sake peace and stability’. Referring to Kashmir issue, the FM stated, ‘How can Pakistan talk to India without these subjects being on the table,’ Qureshi said pointing to disputes over Kashmir, Siachen and water. The need of the hour was for the Indian government to change ‘tactics’ in dealing with the Kashmiris, he said. ‘It is necessary because India and Pakistan are close neighbours. And there are number of outstanding issues. It’s in the interest of our people and our future to tackle these issues and to have an intelligent dialogue on these issues,’ she said. Qureshi told the reporters that a meeting with Krishna was possible before he left New York, if the Indian side agreed to fresh proposals submitted by Islamabad. If he got a positive response from the Indian side ‘we can meet anytime before I leave for Pakistan,’ he said. But talks between India and Pakistan should be ‘result-oriented, meaningful and substantive for the sake peace and stability’.

Israel PM urges talks beyond settlement freeze

JERUSELUM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to pursue “expedited, honest talks” to achieve a peace deal within a year, in a statement issued on Monday minutes after the formal expiration of a settlement freeze.

“Israel is ready to pursue continuous contacts in the coming days to find a way to continue peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority,” the statement said.

It added that Netanyahu had been in touch with U.S., Egyptian and Jordanian leaders in search of a way to avoid a Palestinian walkout from nascent talks over the settlements issue. AGENCIES

Restrictions of Jewish settlements in Palestine come to an end

Israel’s 10-month settlement construction slowdown has expired, and Jewish settlers were preparing to resume their building, possibly endangering newly resumed peace talks.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to pursue expedited, honest talks to achieve a peace deal within a year, in a statement issued on Monday minutes after the formal expiration of a settlement freeze. Israel is ready to pursue continuous contacts in the coming days to find a way to continue peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the statement said. It added that Netanyahu had been in touch with US, Egyptian and Jordanian leaders in search of a way to avoid a Palestinian walkout from nascent talks over the settlements issue. Palestinians have threatened to quit the peace talks, restarted this month by President Barack Obama, if settlement construction resumes. Ahead of the expiration, dozens of Jewish settlers released balloons and broke ground on a kindergarten as the last hours of a 10-month construction slowdown ticked away Sunday.

Iran’s Ahmadinejad calls on Palestinians to fight on

TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Palestinians to keep up their armed struggle against Israel a day after Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to continue talks on a U.S.-backed peace deal.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who hosted in Washington the first session of talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, voiced confidence that this latest attempt to bring peace to the region could succeed where so many others have failed.

Ahmadinejad said that the talks, seeking to end a conflict that has boiled for six decades, would once again fail. He criticised some Muslim leaders for not providing all-out support to the Palestinians in their revolt against Israel.

“The Palestine’s issue cannot be resolved through talks with the enemies of the Palestinian nation. Resisting is the only

Apple and Google to clash in music space by Christmas

NEWYORK: Google Inc is in talks with music labels on plans for a download store and a digital song locker that would allow its mobile users to play songs wherever they are as it steps up its rivalry with Apple Inc, according to people familiar with the matter.

Google’s Andy Rubin, the brains behind Google’s Android mobile operating system, has been leading conversations with the labels about what a new Google music service would look like, according to these sources.

Rubin, Google’s vice president of engineering, hopes to have the service up and running by Christmas, two of these people said.

The music industry hopes to benefit from a battle for control of the mobile phone and computer desktop between Apple and Google as both technology giants go head-to-head in a wide range of media and consumer technology areas including online TV and movies, mobile phones,

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