We are looking for sales & marketing representatives in different countries. Apply now!

Short Takes:
Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir headed a closed session today with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the framework of his three-day visit to Algeria. The Algerian president stated that El-Bashir's visit to Algeria is a chance for consultations regarding what concern the Arab states, saying that his country will do its best to help Sudan and to achieve reconciliation, adding, "We discussed the regional, Arab and international causes of joint concern." Go

Saudi Arabia's Supreme Judicial Council said that March 15 will be the Day of Standing at Arafat, to be followed the next day by the beginning of the Eid al-Adha. Go

Syrian foreign minister Farouk al-Shara on Tuesday in Damascus received the assistant secretary general of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Ogore Ziyal. The two sides reviewed topics listed on the agenda of talks between the Syrian and Turkish sides. They also discussed means of developing relations between the two neighboring countries in various areas. Go

A Moroccan executive delegation currently touring Arab Gulf states invited Qatar to send businessmen to the Arab Gulf investment forum slated in Morocco next May 2-4. The party, led by Hassan Bernoussi -- head of foreign investments at the finance and economy minister -- extended similar invitations to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. Go

King Abdallah II of Jordan will start Thursday a three-day official visit to Morocco at the invitation of King Mohammed VI. The Jordanian monarch will be accompanied by his spouse, Queen Rania. Go

The Sudanese court said it will issue its final verdict today on the charge pressed by members of the national council (parliament) which was recently dissolved against resolutions of president Omar El-Bashir that were issued on December 12, 1999, according to which the national council, under the chairmanship of Hassan Turabi, was dissolved and a state of emergency case was established as well as the suspension of some items of the constitution. Go

Moroccan teamsters answered the call of their union to go on an unlimited strike as of Tuesday to press for tax relief and oppose the bill requiring extra speed-monitoring equipment on trucks. Go

The Moroccan Oukaimeden ski resort, near Marrakesh, was chosen as the top unusual ski resorts worldwide. US based Resort Sports Network ) chose the Moroccan site ahead of Swat Valley of Pakistan, Tiffindell of South Africa, Pas de la Casa of Andorra and Dizin of Iran. Go

Qatar has welcomed the decision taken by Israel to withdraw its forces from south Lebanon by July and described this decision as an important step in the Middle East peace process. Go

The labor conference called in concluding its work in which the labor ministers in the Arab states and the Arab labor organizations for supporting the Palestinian people in confronting the Israeli aggressive procedures in their effect on Palestinian labor. Go

Lord Michael Levy, personal envoy of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, arrived in Rabat Tuesday with a message from Blair to King Mohammed VI, the British embassy in Rabat said in a release. No details were disclosed. Go

The Islamic Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) is a political platform by which all Islamic countries could plan their future development together. The time has come for Islamic countries to realize that the clock was ticking away, and a sense of urgency should prevail among all member countries, Pakistan's news agency, APP, said, quoting Prof. Atta-ur-Rehman, director of H.E.J. research institute of chemistry at the University of Karachi, MAP reported. Go

USAID is sending Hugh Parmer, its assistant administrator for the Bureau of Humanitarian Response, to the African Horn to assess conditions out of fears that a drought could affect the regional countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and possibly Somalia. Parmer said drought conditions could cause famine in the area. Go

The German government officially informed Egypt through the Egyptian embassy in Berlin that it has refused request for the right of asylum presented by Khalaf Fath Allah Omar hijacker of an Egyptian airplane during its return from Istanbul to Cairo and forced its captain to head to Germany before end of last year. Go

Executive director of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) Mrs Nafis Sadik is expected in Rabat Thursday on a four-day visit to Morocco to find out about progress achieved in population activities in the kingdom. Mrs. Sadik meets several ministers, ISESCO director, Moroccan NGOs and UN-system coordinator and heads of UN agencies in Rabat. Go

Overall trafic in Moroccan ports reached 4.3 million tons end of Jan. 2000, an increase of 1.8 percent compared to the same period last year, the equipment department said adding that imports, on the rise 4.2%, accounted for 52.4% of total trafic while exports slowed down 0.6%. Go

The Israeli police arrested yesterday a citizen from Tetsreem settlement in the Gaza Strip after the citizen was accused of transporting members of the Hamas movement in his car into Israel who were killed in the Teeba incident on Thursday. Go

The customs services of the northern town of Nador have seized recently in one single operation some 1,500 kgs of cannabis extract, locally known as chira. Go

Iran and Saudi Arabia today agreed that volatility in oil prices is not in the long-term interest of the oil-producing states in a joint statement after a meeting between Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, IRNA reported. Go