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Short Takes:
Lawyers of the chairman of the Tunisian human rights league, Kahmis Kaseila, said that Kaseila was released on Wednesday morning after he spent 22 months in prison, following the release of a presidential pardon in this respect. Kaseila was arrested on September 29, 1997 and was sentenced in February 1998 to three years imprisonment under charges of "defaming the general rule and publishing false information that creates confusion and provokes citizens to violate the laws." Go

Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Iraq will not cooperate with the United Nations Security Council to ease the sanctions, but it will be ready to work with the UN after the lifting of the sanctions. Go

The secretary general of the Libyan people's committee, Muhammad al-Manqoush, met on Tuesday night in Syrte with Sudan's first vice president, Ali Othman Taha, currently visiting Libya. During the meeting, the two sides discussed means of strengthening and backing cooperation relations for achieving integration and the interests of the two states' peoples. Go

The founder of the Islamic Movement Hamas in Israel, Abdullah Nimr Darwich, has described the attempts made by the Hamas movement to get Arab citizens in Israel involved in operations against Israel as terrorism and damaging of their interests. In a statement to Israel Radio, Abdullah accused the Hamas movement of damaging the interest of Arab circles in Israel and described what it has been done by Hamas as immoral and non-humanitarian, as well as a destruction of all the achievements of the Palestinians of 1948. Go

Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa met at United Nations headquarters with Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi to discuss bilateral relations, particularly in light of the joint committees whose establishment was agreed to in May, as well as other issues of mutual concern, Gulf News Agency reported. Go

Meetings of the executive bureau of the Arab ministers of labor and social affairs' council concluded in Amman on Wednesday. Jordanian Minister of Social Development Muhammad Jum'a al-Wahsh said the bureau discussed the issue of rendering financial and technical assistance to the states which submitted applications for membership in accordance with the council's rules. The participants in the meeting discussed in the course of three-day deliberations issues pertaining to childhood, women and family planning in the Arab states. Go

Djibouti's President Ismael Omar Guelleh called yesterday at the United Nations General Assembly for decisive action, as was taken in Kosovo, to establish peace in Somalia. He suggested that the process begin with a general reconciliation meeting that would include the major actors in Somali society, leading to free and democratic elections and the dismantling of personal armies. Go

Two members of the municipal guards were killed in Algeria, and a young man was wounded following a bomb explosion in the Algerian city of al-Qadereyah. The Algerian daily al-Khabar said that several traders were exposed to provocation and blackmailed by an armed group in Ziraa al-Mizaan city in Tizi Ouzou province. Go

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika yesterday before the United Nations General Assembly that questioned the dividing line between humanitarian intervention and strategic deployment of troops, the Algerian News Agency reported. "Algeria counts among the countries which still believe in the independence of states and the sovereignty of peoples," he said. He questioned whether the right to interference is a universal right, where humanitarian interference starts and ends and where strategic interference starts and ends. He said that although the world is becoming more interdependent, sovereignty is still important. Go