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Short Takes:
Syrian Minister of Information Muhammad Salman said that Damascus is still waiting for new moves from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to commit to what Israel undertook before halting peace negotiations between the two sides in 1996 and working on achieving peace and withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights. Syria accused the Palestinians of delaying peace negotiations and any progress on the Lebanese and Syrian tracks . Go

The Israeli chief of general staff, Shaol Mofaz, asserted the importance of establishing peace with Damascus. The Israeli newspaper Maariv quoted Mofaz as saying yesterday that Syrian surface-to-surface missiles are considered the main threat to Israel, even in light of the threat that comes from Iran. Go

Iraqi official diplomatic sources said today that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is to address a speech tomorrow on the 11th anniversary of the end of the Iraqi - Iranian war. The sources also said that Hussein's speech will focus on the Iraqi captives in Iranian prisons, as the issue of prisoners forms the main obstacle before normalization between the two countries, which currently have diplomatic relations on the level of charge d' affairs. Go

Israel Radio said on Friday that Arab Israeli Knesset member Azmi Bishara met on Friday morning with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and briefed him on the results of his visit to Syria. Go

An Israeli source close to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that a meeting will be held in one week between Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. The source added in an exclusive statement to Israel Radio on Friday that this meeting aims at settling disputes arising between Israel and the Palestinian government on ways of implementing the Wye River agreement. The source said that the Arafat - Barak meeting will be held near the end of next week. Go

King Mohammed VI received Friday Abdellah Kadiri, assistant secretary-general of the National Democrat Party (PND/opposition). Go

The Saudi Ministry of Agriculture and Water banned imports of cows and beef from South Africa, after it received information that the bovine plague spread in different parts of African continent. Sources in the Saudi embassy in Cairo said today that the embargo will continue until the news confirms that there is no bovine plague South Africa. Go

Israel Radio on Friday interviewed the deputy chairman of the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Abu Ali Mustafa, currently in Damascus, in which he said he did not receive any notification from the Palestinian government to enter the West Bank, adding that his license to enter the West Bank has existed since 1996. Mustafa denied that he had submitted any new application to be licensed to visit the West Bank. Go

The executive committee of the conference in confrontation of normalization has decided to convene its second anti-normalization conference in Amman at the end of September. The committee took this decision during its meeting on Thursday in Amman, during which several issues were tackled. The committee will inform Jordanian official sides concerned of the date for convening the conference. Go

Eight persons have been arrested in the Moroccan northern city of Nador on the charge of involvement in a corruption case related to the issuing of driving licenses. The involved persons include the director and an employee of the registration center, two policemen and four driving schools' owners. Go

The Association of Moroccan Lawyers decided to assist all Moroccan Sahrawis who were not registered on the provisional lists for the referendum or those who wish to introduce appeals against contested registrations. Go

The founder of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, has asserted the importance of resisting the Israeli occupation forces now more than at any time before. In an interview with the French daily Liberation issued on Friday, Sheikh Yassin said that military operations against Israel will be resumed in the coming days. He added that the coming days will prove that the Ezzeddin al-Qassam groups, the military wing of Hamas, still exist, Monte Carlo radio reported. Go

The People's Army, the armed wing of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) on Friday announced its intention to drop its weapons and start withdrawing its forces from Turkey as of September 1. In a statement broadcast in Istanbul on Friday, the People's Army said, "We consider the call made by the leader of the PKK to our armed forces to halt the war as from the first of September as an imperative order." Go

Morocco will officially submit the file of its candidacy to host the 2006 World Cup on Monday to the International Football Federation FIFA, in Geneva. Go