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Short Takes:
Djiboutis' president's political advisor, Fahmi Ahmed El-Haj, assured that Djibouti will not establish diplomatic or commercial relations with Israel. He told ArabicNews.com today that, "There are no US pressures on Djibouti to establish relations with Israel," stating that establishing relations with Israel will not take place except after Israel gives back all the occupied Arab lands to Syria, Palestine and Lebanon. El-Haj added, "Mauritania established diplomatic relations with Israel at an inadequate time, and this will affect Mauritania's relations with the Arab countries." Go

President Husni Mubarak of Egypt had phone talks with King Mohammed VI on Thursday evening. The two heads of state exchanged viewpoints on a set of issues of mutual concern, reported the Egyptian media. Go

King Abdullah II of Jordan will hold an official visit to Japan on November 30, said Jordanian official sources in Amman on Friday evening. Go

The Egyptian Ministry of Public Enterprise, which is responsible for implementing the privation program for Egypt's public companies, said that it is commencing the sale of 15 companies to a main investor during the coming two months. The companies' value is 3 billion Egyptian pounds, and it includes the companies working in fields of foreign and internal trade, fertilizing and cement. A press statement issued by the ministry said that the investors could present purchase offers directly to the ministry to negotiate concerning 48 companies raised for sale until the end of current year. Go

The Palestinian leadership issued at the conclusion of its meetings tonight in Ramallah under the chairmanship of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat a statement in which it was said that the Oslo summit which took place lately that included Arafat, US President Bill Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, gave a new strong push for peace and for the Palestinian - Israeli negotiations. The final status negotiations are to start between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government on November 8 in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Go

Lebanese Minister of Communications Issam Naaman emphasized today the unity of the Lebanese and Syrian tracks in the Middle East peace process, saying in press statements that the repeated Israeli attacks on south Lebanon are due to Israel's desire to seperate the two tracks. Go

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin called on Friday for a "positive" settlement to the Sahara issue. "instead of imposing solutions, it would be better to ensure a positive way out to this extremely complex problem," Jospin said at a press conference held in Marrakesh. Go

Egyptian Minister of Agriculture Yousef Wali said the government decided to cultivate 2.5 million feddans of wheat this season, among which are 500 feddans in new areas, clarifying that an expansion will be made this year in using new seeds which will cover 80% of cultivated areas with wheat that has higher yield. He added that the Egyptian government will work to encourage Egyptian farmers to export corn and wheat crops at international prices. Go

Turkey has decided to hold a new round of joint military maneuvers with the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus on November 25 - 26. Ankara will refrain from landing war aircraft in the Turkish Cyprus. Turkish military sources depicted this as a positive reaction from Turkey to Greece refraining from landing its war aircraft in the Greek Cyprus during the maneuvers that took place during the last month. Go