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Short Takes:
The deportees committee in the occupied Lebanese territories on Monday sent a message to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, to the human rights committee at the UN and international humanitarian organizations. The message highlighted the sufferings of Lebanese civilians at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces in the occupied areas of south Lebanon and the western Bekaa and deportations of civilians with their families on groundless accusations. The committee, in its message, called for pressuring the Israeli forces to abide by the Geneva Conventions, halt the deportation operations and secure the return of the deportees to their villages and homes. Go

Israel Radio said on Monday that US President Bill Clinton asked Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in a message sent last week to start the implementation of the Wye River agreement with the Palestinian government without any delay. Go

That Egypt sends two-air plane to Turkey loaded with medical supply, food Go

King Mohammed VI has sent President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan a message dealing with the brotherly relations existing between the two states, bilateral cooperation and issues of mutual concern. The message was handed over to Sheikh Zayed on Monday in Abu Dhabi by Moroccan envoy, Tayeb Fassi Fihri. Go

Lebanese President Emile Lahoud received Sheikh Khaled Bin Saqer al-Qasimi, ruler of Raas al-Kheima in the United Arab Emirates, on Monday in Beirut. Talks during the meeting dealt with fraternal relations between Lebanon and the UAE, the Middle East peace process and the situation in the Gulf region. Go

Israel Radio said on Monday, quoting sources in Nablus, that the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine has announced its readiness to negotiate with Israel on the permanent settlement. A member of the front's political bureau, Teiser Khaled, said dialogue between the front and the Fatah movement resulted in reaching an agreement on a new sort of negotiation with Israel when it is time to discuss final status matters. Go

Jordanian Prime Minister Abdul Raouf al-Rawabdeh on Sunday received in Amman Algerian Minister of Youths and Sports Aziz Derwaz, in the presence of the Jordanian deputy premier and acting minister of sports and youths. Go

Iraq on Sunday denied reports that spoke of a rebellion inside the Iraqi armed forces and the execution of Iraqi army officers. Iraqi Minister of Culture and Information Humam Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Ghafur said on Monday in press statements that these reports are "fabricated and baseless." Go

Hamas has accused the Palestinian government of carrying out the explosion which took place on Sunday. AFP quoted a statement by the Hamas movement released in Amman on Monday asserted by Hamas spokesman Ibrahim Ghousheh as saying that the Hebron explosion seemed fabricated adding this explosion is a justification for the Palestinian security to launch more acts of arrest on the youths of the Hamas movement as part of a prisoner exchange deal with Israel. Go

The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Henry Shelton left yesterday for a Middle East visit that will include Turkey, Bahrain and Israel the US Department of Defense said. Shelton will visit with US troops at Turkey's Incirlik air force base -- the base of Operation Northern Watch, which patrols the northern Iraqi "no-fly zone" -- as well as with US troops in Bahrain. Shelton will meet with officials in all three countries and return to the United States on August 20. Go

The US State Department last week issued a statement on US policy toward the PKK and the situation in northern Iraq. "Both of the main Kurdish parties in northern Iraq, the KDP and the PUK, have committed themselves to the territorial integrity of Iraq and to preventing the PKK from operating in northern Iraq. The U.S. likewise does not support the formation of a Kurdish state in northern Iraq," the statement said. Go

The US European Command said that US jets today were fired on by Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery and tracked by a surface-to-air missile targeting radar. The jets responded with attacks against "a surface-to-air missile support site west of Mosul and the SAM site, targeting ONW (Operation Northern Watch) aircraft, south of Mosul." Go