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Short Takes:
Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi convened yesterday in Tripoli with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The Libyan discussions with Afwerki focused on the situation in the African Horn and Sudan. Libyan sources said that Gaddafi discussed with Afwerki the developments in Sudan and the necessity of Eritrea's support to the legal authority and supporting the Sudanese President Omar Hassan El-Bashir. Go

Morocco has decided to send an urgent humanitarian assistance to Venezuela to alleviate the suffering incurred by the population following floods and landslides. Torrential rain and landslides that hit Venezuela in the middle of last week left between 15,000 and 20,000 dead persons. Go

Sources at the Israeli prime minister's office said that Prime Minister Ehud Barak reached an understanding during his talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa in Washington to ensure calm in south Lebanon at a time when peace negotiations are continuing between Israel and Syria Go

In its session held on Sunday, the Syrian People's Assembly (parliament) reelected members of its office, which includes besides the Speaker of the PA, Abdul Qader Qaddoura, his deputy and the two secretaries and observers. Go

The first integral plan for purifying Cairo's air of pollution is to be implemented in the coming week through US - Egyptian cooperation for the first time in this field. The plan includes modifying the engines of private and public cars to work with natural gas instead of benzine, in addition to establishing stations for environmental monitoring and periodic examinations of cars to enforce emission standards as well as training Egyptian personnel in the USA to prevent environmental pollution. Go

Yemeni Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdul Qader Bajmal stated that, "It is very proper time to call for convening an Arab summit that exceeds the Arab crisis through its disputes and to confront its challenges." In press statements yesterday Bajamal said that convening the coming Arab summit must be "well prepared and not depicted as being urgent or exceptional or any other description that makes us feel that our Arab status is unstable in order to reach what we aspire through a perfect study and examination of the different Arab causes." Go

Minister of Public Works and Water Resources Mahmoud Abu Zeid said that work in Toshka project is afoot even in the Holy Month of Ramadan especially after President Mubarak's remarks during his Gulf tour that the project will go on and he will pay a visit there soon. Go

The World Bank's vice-president for Africa, Jean Louis Sarbib, started on Sunday a visit to Mauritania to examine with the authorities the economic situation in the country, which has been applying the WB's Structural Adjustment Program since 1992. According to a WB statement, Sarbib will examine with Mauritanian authorities a schedule for reducing the Mauritanian debt for the three coming years. Go

The United Arab Emirates called yesterday in the United Nations General Assembly during a discussion on UN Security Council reform for the creation of a permanent seat for the Arab states, Khaleej Times reported. Go

Lebanon and Syria decided to form a joint committee in order to revitalize tourism in both states for the occasion of celebrating the third millennium. An official statement said the committee's assignment is applying recommendations that were ratified during a meeting lately held between the tourism ministries in the two states that include facilities, joint promotion, and tourism transportation to confront the strong competition from other countries in the area like Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and Palestine as every country has a specific program for celebrating the third millennium. Go

Egyptian business organizations decided in cooperation with different Egyptian governmental bodies to form Egyptian commercial missions to visit the USA and West African countries at the beginning of next year to grow exports. Go

The al-Haram mosque in Mecca and the prophet's mosque in al-Madina al-Mounawarra and all Saudi mosques on Monday witnessed rain prayers, a tradition observed according to the prophet's "Sunneh" in times of droughts and delays in rainfall. Go

Three archeological missions affiliated to the Arab studies department in the French Institute for Archeology started digging and repairing some of the Egyptian archeologies in the Dosh area in Kharaga oasis and the archeological cemeteries between Esna and Edfu in Upper Egypt, as well as repairing Hanhour and Esis temples. Go

Morocco's World field and track star, Hicham El-Guerrouj, was awarded the 1999 Prize of the French Sports Academy. The Moroccan champion, holder of three world records (1500 M, mile, 2000 M), was honored for his brilliant performance during the last athletics season. Go

Kuwait urged Iraq yesterday to resume coordination between the two sides concerning the issue of the Kuwaiti missing and captives from the Gulf War. Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Salem al-Sabah, head of the national committee for the affairs of captives and missing said that, "Iraq must resume cooperation with the trilateral committee and the sub-technical committee that were established to facilitate and hastening of the search process for the captives." Go

Tunisia has obtained a loan worth $34.8 million from the African Development Bank to finance the cost in hard currency of a phosphates project. The project is meant to increase the extraction capacity of the Gafsa Phosphates Company. Go

As of January 1, the Qatari Ministry of Finance, Trade and Economy will inspect stores selling video and audio cassettes to seize all pirated goods, Gulf Times reported. Go

The Moroccan Banks Union (SNB, close to the Socialist Union CDT) has called for a sit-in in Rabat to urge the government to open a dialogue on workers' grievances. The union calls for the cancellation of the decisions taken against union activists and the adoption of a sound training and recruitment policy. Go

The Spanish Guardia Civil arrested Sunday in Algesiras, southern Spain, eight Moroccan candidates to illegal emigration, The Spanish press reported. The undocumented travelers were hiding in a refrigerating lorry coming from Morocco. They were taken to hospital for treatment, before their repatriation. Go

The African Development Fund agreed to grant the Egyptian government represented in the Social Fund for Development 70 million L.E as a loan to be paid back over 40 years to support small and medium-sized projects in which Egyptian youths work. Go

The commander general of the US Central Command, Gen. Anthony Zinni, visited Doha on Sunday and left after a few hours. No mention was given to the reason behind the visit or the content of his talks. Well-informed sources in Doha expected that Zinni's talks dealt with backing Qatari-US cooperation in military areas. Go

Iraq denied yesterday any direct secret communications with Israel. Official Iraqi sources depicted reports published by the Israeli newspaper Maariv as having nothing to do with truth. The newspaper reported that the USA played a secret mediation role to discuss the possibility of joining Iraq to the peace process. These press statements come after the peace talks between Syria and Israel in Washington. Go

Bahrain is considering allowing a direct debit system which would allow commercial banks to facilitate the automatic debits, such as monthly bills, Gulf Daily News reported. Go

An Israeli delegation held talks on Monday with Indonesian officials to establish economic relations between the two sides. Israeli Army Radio on Monday quoted the chairman of the Israeli delegation, Yitzhak Karyati as saying that the expected results which will be concluded from the talks will be considered the first step towards establishing multilateral economic relations with Indonesia. Go

Moroccan Khalid Skah on Sunday won the first international cross-country of Pontet, southern France. Skah, a former olympic champion and World cross-country winner, covered the 10 km distance in 28:15 ahead of Kenyans Wilson Omowyo and John Kosgei. Go

The United Arab Emirates committee for Y2K preparation said contingency measures are ready to assure that important public services will continue through the new year, Gulf News reported. Go

An American University in Cairo (AUC) team finished a unique 3-month experiment to re-discover the pharaohs' mummification secrets. The students conducted their study on skeletons of rabbits and ducks under supervision of Egyptian professors, using simple substances like those used by the pharaohs such as aromatics, oils, incense and linen after drying animals in special salts. The mummies will be examined with x-ray to compare them to their matches in the Egyptian museum. Go

The principal of a school in Souk El Arba Gharb, near Kenitra, 50 km North of Rabat, is being tried by a local court for grievous body harm leading to the death of a pupil. Go

Mauritania appointed yesterday an ambassador to Israel as Mauritanian diplomatic sources said that Ahmed Ould Takai (45), supervisor of the Mauritanian communications bureau in Tel Aviv since 1996, was appointed as the first accredited Mauritanian ambassador to Israel. Go

A Saudi teen who was sentenced to death for murder was spared after a campaign by a newspaper to pay compensation to the family of the victim and a reduction in the amount the family was asking for, Bahrain Tribune reported. Go