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Short Takes:
The Lebanese Parliamentary al-Wafaa bloc of the Lebanese resistance on Tuesday boycotted the general session of the Lebanese parliament during which the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khaleifa al-Thani, made a speech dealing with relations between the two states and the situation in the region. The chairman of the bloc, parliament member Amin Saeed, announced in a press conference that the boycott by his bloc came in denunciation of the normalization steps taken by Qatar with Israel at a time when Israeli aggressions continue against south Lebanon. Go

Prime Minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, who chairs the governing board of the Moroccan news agency MAP, sent a condolence message to King Hassan II following the demise of the Late King Hassan II, recognized for his attachment to individual and collective freedoms and to human rights, especially the right to information and to the freedom of speech. He expressed firm conviction that the king will continue his Late father's work in support of the press family and for the renovation and modernization of the information sector and enable it enter the third millennium with resolve. Go

Israeli Minister of Agriculture Haim Oron said the most important problem that he can begin to solve is the water crisis, adding that he has a plan to solve it. The Israeli minister said in statements to Israel Radio today that he is going to work to achieve comprehensive equality between Arab and Jewish farmers in Israel, adding that the subjects of water and agriculture could form a bridge for peace and cooperation between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Go

The leader of the Kurdistani Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, said that members of his party will drop their arms if Turkey takes steps to settle the Kurdish problem in the country. Ocalan, who is imprisoned in Turkey, said in a statement announced by his lawyers, "If Turkey wants us to drop our weapons it has to create proper conditions for that." Go

Pakistan on Tuesday denied press reports that said US planes manned by groups of soldiers landed in Islamabad in preparation for launching an attack against what the reports described as the "center" of Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. Go

Egypt signed a contract yesterday with Danish and Dutch companies to run a containers dock in Port Said on the BOT (build - operate - transfer) system. The $480 million dock will be financed by the Egyptian Navigation Organization, businessmen and the two foreign companies. Go

Physically disabled persons in Morocco have been authorized to get their driving license after undergoing a special training. The move is meant to enhance the integration of disabled persons in Moroccan society and protect their social rights. Go

Morocco's agribusiness produced in 1998 around $ 5.2 bln representing a 6.4 % increase compared with the performance made by the sector in 1997. A report released by Moroccan Entrepreneurs Union ( CGEM- Confederation Generale Des Entreprises du Maroc) says the sector, counting 1,641 units, posted about $ 700 Mln turnover, yielding $ 1.8 Mln in value added. Go

King Mohammed VI received in Rabat Tuesday the crown prince of Jordan Hamza Bin Hussein who extended the king, the royal family and the Moroccan people condolences following the demise of late king Hassan II. Go

The Iraqi daily Babel said on Tuesday that a new Jewish political party was established in Kurdistan district of northern Iraq. The paper added that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, led by Jalal Talibani, has recently agreed to form an official Jewish party called Yahud Kurdistan (Kurdistan's Jews) in the province of al-Suleimaneh, northern Iraq, Xinhua reported. Go

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismael has asserted that the Egyptian - Sudanese committees are intensively working to restore bilateral relations between the two states to their normal condition. In a statement to Sawt al-Arab radio on Tuesday, the Sudanese minister said, "Egypt is careful to maintain the unity of the Sudanese territories and to achieve the Sudanese national reconciliation." Go

The minutes of meeting of the Joint cooperation program between Libya and Pakistan were signed on Monday night in Tripoli. On the Libyan side the minutes of meeting were signed by the secretary of the people's general committee for justice, Muhammad al-Zawi, and the Pakistani side was represented by Minister of the Interior Chaudhry Hussain. Go

The armed groups in Algeria on Monday slaughtered four citizens, including one 10 year-old child in Ein Sultan town in Ein al-Defli province, 146 km from the capital, Algiers. The Algerian daily al-Khabar published on Tuesday said that three persons were killed and two others were wounded in a car explosion. The persons had lived in Wels town in the Algerian province of Bumerdas. The Algerian security forces, on the other hand, killed two members of the armed groups in al-Dawdeyah suburb in the Algerian province of Chlef. Go