The White House has announced that the US president will host three-way talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday.

Barack Obama is due to meet Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, separately before the three go into a joint session, the White House said.

The meeting is expected to take place in New York before a session of the United Nations General Assembly, the White House said, ”to lay the groundwork for the relaunch of negotiations, and to create a positive context for those negotiations so that they can succeed”.

Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian chief negotiator, welcomed Obama’s personal involvment in the peace process, but indicated low Palestinian expectations for a positive outcome.

“At this point, I think President Obama must convey to the world that one side is undermining efforts to resolve the peace process,” he told Al Jazeera on Sunday.

“This meeting is not about resuming negotiations. I don’t think we will come out of this meeting with Netanyahu agreeing to resume negotiations or stop settlement expansion.”

‘Comprehensive peace’

Talks have been stalled since Israel launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip last December and Abbas has repeatedly said that they will not restart until Israel commits to a complete freeze of settlement building in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.

George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the Middle East, wrapped up a mission to the Middle East on Friday having failed to secure the concessions necessary for the peace process to resume.

He said that the three-way meeting planned for Tuesday showed Obama’s “deep commitment to comprehensive peace”.Al Jazeera’s John Terrett, reporting from Washington DC, said: “The general assumption was that George Mitchell was flying back to Washington a failure.

“After half a dozen trips to the Middle East he had failed to secure a trilateral meeting at the UN General Assembly next week.

“I suspect the Americans would have preferred to keep the drama going right the way through the opening stages of the General Assembly and out late as Wednesday or Thursday.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly refused to commit to either a permanent stop to settlement expansion, as demanded by the Palestinians, or the year-long halt that Washington was believed to be calling for.

Instead he has suggested that Israel could be prepared to stop building new settlements for six months while negotiations resume.

‘Commitments and agreements’

Maen Areikat, head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) mission to the US, said that no conditions had been attached to Tuesday’s planned talks.

“We haven’t laid down any conditions. We have been asking all along for all parties to meet their obligations,” he told Al Jazeera from Washington DC.

“We Palestinians feel that we have met a lot of our obligations under previous commitments and agreements and phase one of the road map [for peace].”Israel so far has failed to meet any of their obligations.”

Areikat said that the efforts of the Obama administration were encouraging but “we will have to see what kind of discussions we will have on Tuesday”.

But Akiva Eldar, the chief political columnist for Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, said that it was Abbas that would be under pressure going into the meeting.

“He can’t afford to go home empty handed again, and what I mean by empty handed is without a full commitment from the Israelis to stop all the operations in the settlements,” he said.

“[Netanyahu] can come out of the meeting with President Obama and can say something such as ‘we have agreed on some formula that will alllow the settlers, especially those in Jerusalem, to maintain a normal life’.”

More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements on land occupied by Israel following the 1967 war, land that the Palestinians see as vital to any future independent state.

‘Unrealistic demand’

Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli national security adviser currently with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, told Al Jazeera that the Palestinians’ demand for a total end to all settlement building was ultimately impossible.

“The demand that there be a total and complete Israeli freeze not only in the West Bank as a whole, but including Jerusalem, was an unrealistic demand,” he said.

“No Israeli prime minister could have agreed to that.”

Meanwhile, Ismail Haniya, the deposed Palestinian prime minister and Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, condemned Abbas’s decision to meet Netanyahu.

Speaking at prayers in Gaza for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, Haniya said “it does not obligate the Palestinian people to anything”.

“No one is authorised, not the PLO nor anyone else, to sign any agreement that violates the rights of the nation and the rights of the Palestinian people.”

Source: Aljazeera and agencies

George Mitchell, the US envoy to the Middle East, has returned to Washington after failing to secure a compromise deal for renewed peace talks bewteen Israel and the Palestinians.

Mitchell had hoped to reach a deal on a settlement freeze that would allow the two sides to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next week.

 But Jacky Rowland, Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem correspondent, said: “The hopes for that big symbolic meeting are looking slim to non-existent … things are certainly looking distinctly unhopeful.

“Really, Friday was the last day for Senator Mitchell to make any headway in trying to close this yawning diplomatic gap.”

 Mitchell’s efforts were effectively brought to an end, at least temporarily, by the onset of Israeli and Palestinian public holidays – the Jewish New Year and Muslim Eid al-Fitr.

‘No agreement’

US and Israeli officials remained tight-lipped over the talks, but Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said that no deal had been reached.

“Mitchell’s shuttle visit has ended without agreement. There is no agreement yet with the Israeli side and no middle-ground solution,” he said. 

Abbas has demanded a full halt to settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a condition for resuming negotiations on a final peace settlement – talks that were broken off in
December.

Barack Obama, the US president, has endorsed that call, urging both sides to meet the terms of a 2003 US-backed “road map” for peace.

But Netanyahu has ruled out stopping construction in East Jerusalem and wants settlements in the West Bank to be able to grow to accommodate the expanding families of current settlers.

The Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed Israeli government official as saying that Israel was prepared to go further than the six-month freeze previously suggested by Netanyahu.  

“Israel will agree to extend the freeze beyond six months – possibly nine months, but less than a year,” the official was reported as saying.

The US has pushed for a year-long freeze in settlement building.

The Palestinians say that the spread of the settlements could deny them a viable state as they divide areas of the West Bank.

About 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and in Arab East Jerusalem, territory captured in a 1967 war, alongside about three million Palestinians.

Meeting ‘still possible’

The meeting at the United Nations in New York could still take place, Erekat said, but added that it would be “meaningless” unless Netanyahu changed his position on settlement expansion.

Rowland said: “The Palestinians will obviously be in New York at the United Nations General Assembly, and the Israelis will be there as well.

“So theoretically the two sides would have up until the eleventh hour to actually decide whether they were going to meet, even for a symbolic handshake, with President Obama.”

A further key issue stalling the talks is Israeli reluctance to commit to a target schedule for reaching a final settlement, possibly in no more than two years, that would create a Palestinian state.

Abbas, facing a strong challenge from Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has rejected suggestions that he negotiate possible temporary arrangements with Israel.

Philip Wilcox, a former US Consul in Jerusalem and current president of the think tank the Foundation for Middle East Peace, told Al Jazeera there is still hope for talks.

“I would say that it is the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end.

“The settlement freeze was designed as a confidence building measure, as a preliminary to real negotiations on the issues that really count.

“Freezing settlements would still leave 500,000 settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“The real issues are borders, refugees, Jerusalem, the settlements and security.”

Sources: Aljazeera and agencies

And if theteddy bear Muhammed fiasco in Sudan is anything to go by, it should come as no true surprise to find people with Islamic names wherever one may be in the world. This article is devoted to Islamic baby names.

Giving a name to your child is one of the most important duties of parents so that he/she can be proud of his/her name in the later stages of life. In Islam, names are always chosen with good and beautiful meaning. Azra, Dalal, Asif, and Isam are all just a few examples of Islamic baby names. And it doesn’t take a great deal of research to acknowledge that these names are based on Arabic names for all that is good, pure, virtuous, what you have.

But it is true that some of these names are given only to boys and some only to girls.
There is something of likeliness that people of non-Islam origin may have Islamic baby names or, more simply, just an Islamic name. At least, it is believable, when the name George is taken from the Greek word for farmer. And like Islamic baby names, it would seem that people who make up non-Islamic names are given to kindness; the description continues, He is reserved, friendly, kind and reliable and won’t take you for granted. He is a loyal, steady man.

Source: Parenting Area

Ahmad Akam, a Yemeni coast guard official, said the people smuggling season had just started. “It usually begins in September every year as the weather becomes milder, helping smugglers traffic Africans to Yemen by boat.”

He said each passenger paid smugglers about US$50 to get from the Somali port city of Bossaso to Yemen.

On 13 September a boat carrying 142 Somali and non-Somali citizens had engine failure and capsized near the Yemeni coastal town of Radfan, 150km east of the UNHCR-run Mayfaa Reception Centre for Somali refugees, according to Leen al-Mugahed, a public information assistant at UNHCR’s Sanaa office.

“Ninety-eight passengers managed to swim ashore while 43 others are still missing and presumed dead,” she said. Survivors said one person had died of suffocation in the boat’s engine room.

In another incident, a boat carrying 122 Africans capsized near Yemen’s shores and 13 passengers lost their lives because of severe mistreatment at the hands of smugglers, said a 15 September statement by UNHCR. It quoted survivors as saying the dead passengers had been accommodated in the boat’s engine room since departing from the Somali village of Marera.

A third incident was reported by a European Union warship, the Louise of Belgium, which detected a sinking boat. The warship proceeded immediately to the scene and rescued 38 people.

UNHCR quoted survivors as saying there were originally 48 people on board. Two dead bodies were spotted by navy helicopters engaged in the rescue but were not recovered as priority was given to survivors. Agency officials said another six passengers were missing and presumed dead.

3,000 new arrivals in September

Rocco Nuri, external relations officer at UNHCR’s Aden office, told IRIN on 16 September there were a total of five boats trafficking refugees and economic migrants from the Horn of Africa to Yemen when the incidents occurred.

About 3,000 Africans have fled to Yemen since 1 September, he said.

“The influx of new arrivals from the Horn of Africa is likely to continue due to a number of push factors which are forcing people to flee Somalia and neighbouring countries, such as ongoing conflict, political instability, famine and extreme poverty,” Nuri told IRIN.

Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, with scarce resources and limited employment opportunities, yet it hosts over 140,000 refugees and grants refugee status to all Somalis entering its territory, according to UNHCR.

Since the beginning of 2009, 860 boats carrying 43,586 people have made the perilous journey to Yemen across the Gulf of Aden; 273 people have died or are missing and presumed dead, according to UNHCR.

Source: Irin

At least 11 people including six African Union (AU) peacekeepers have been killed after two large car bombs exploded in the AU’s headquarters in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

Seven more people were also killed and 18 wounded in gun battles that broke out after the blasts on Thursday, witnesses said.

 Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, an spokesman for rebel group al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attacks saying they were to avenge the death of Salah Ali Saleh Nabhan, a Kenyan-born al Qaeda suspect, who was killed in southern Somalia on Monday during a raid by US special forces.

“We have got our revenge for our brother Nabhan. Two suicide car bombs targeting the AU base, praise Allah,” Rage said.

 “It took place at noon on the 27th of Ramadan, the best blessing. We knew the infidel government and AU troops planned to attack us after the holy month. This is a message to them.”

‘Deafening thunder’

Nabhan, 28, had been allied with al-Shabab, which the US accuses of being al-Qaeda’s proxy in Somalia.

In depth

Profile: Sharif Ahmed  Inside Story: What next for Somalia  Riz Khan: Somalia – From bad to worse  Al-Shabab: Somali fighters undeterred  Somalia at a crossroads

Witnesses said two vehicles with UN markings entered the coastal airport base of the 5,000-strong African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) mission – comprised of troops from Burundi and Uganda – unchallenged before blowing up. 

One witness said: “We thought they were real UN cars carrying white people, but moments later deafening thunder shook the ground,”

“The area was covered with flames and clouds of smoke.”

Nicolas Bwakira, the AU’s special representative for Somalia, said in a statement: “At least two bombs exploded at the force headquarters at about midday … causing injuries and damage to Amisom peacekeepers, facilities and equipment.

“Despite this barbaric attack, the African Union remains resolute in its commitment to support the Somali people and the … government in their peace and reconciliation efforts.”

Hostage demands

The bombings came just hours after al-Shabab issued demands in return for the release of a French security consultant the group is holding hostage, including an immediate end to French support for Somalia’s fragile government.

The French hostage is one of two security consultants kidnapped by gunmen in Mogadishu in July.

Al Shabab said the attacks were revenge for the killing of Nabhan [AFP]

His colleague managed to escape on August 26. 

In return for his release, al-Shabab demanded the “immediate cessation of any political or military support to the apostate government of Somalia and the withdrawal of all its security advisers in Somalia”, the rebels said in a statement.

They demanded the withdrawal of AU troops supporting President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed’s administration and the departure of French warships trying to stamp out piracy in Somali waters.

The group’s statement also called for the release of prisoners in other countries to be named later.

Fighting in Somalia has killed more than 18,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and left another 1.5 million homeless.

Thursday’s attack was the worst on AU peacekeepers since 11 Burundians were killed and 28 wounded in February by two suicide bombers who infiltrated their base.

Source: Aljazeera and agencies

MEAD GRUVER, Associated Press Writer

As for the other half, no one knows.

District-by-district and school-by-school results from this year’s Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students, or PAWS test, have been out for nearly a month. But state and local officials have yet to compile a complete set of scores for the Wyoming Virtual School.

Wyoming Virtual School students essentially are home-schooled with some guidance from public school teachers. The partly online curriculum is provided by a private company, Herndon, Va.-based K12 Inc.

Campbell County School District 1 in Gillette launched the K-6 school in 2006 and enrolled 76 students last year.

This was the first year more than a handful of students in the virtual school took the assessment test, an annual, statewide exam for students in grades 3-8 and 11. The virtual school students took the test in classrooms, not at home.

The available results — the combined scores of about 30 students in Campbell County — show less-than-stellar performance:

— Fifty percent of Wyoming Virtual School students in grades 3-6 scored in either the “proficient” range or “advanced” range in math. The statewide average for grades 3-6 was 76 percent.

— In reading, 41 percent of Wyoming Virtual School students tested in the proficient range or above. The statewide average was 64 percent.

— In writing, 22 percent of Wyoming Virtual School students scored in the proficient range or higher. The statewide average in writing was 53 percent.

“We’re not where we want to be. We’ll continue to work to improve and to raise those numbers in the future,” said Alex Ayers, the district’s assistant superintendent of curriculum and assessment.

K12 Inc. said it didn’t have enough information about the test scores to comment.

While the Campbell County School District compiled test scores for virtual school students who live in Campbell County, the district has yet to obtain scores from students elsewhere in the state.

About half of the virtual school’s students last school year lived in 10 other counties. The reason the Campbell County district doesn’t have those scores is the state Department of Education combined them with scores at brick-and-mortar elementary schools — the schools those students would be attending if they weren’t enrolled at the virtual school.

The principal of the virtual school, Roger Larsen, said he’s been trying to collect the rest of his students’ scores from other districts. He called the situation frustrating.

“The scores get scattered around the state, and just trying to gather them up we’ve found much more difficult than anticipated,” Larsen said.

The department eventually should be able to compile a complete set of scores for the Wyoming Virtual School, said Mary Kay Hill, the department’s director of administration.

“As we move along, you bet. We will be building a system that will allow us to pull up that data and be able to report, statewide, how those kids are doing,” she said.

(© 2009 The Associated Press.

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The Israeli authorities have charged Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister, with corruption.

The indictments include illegal acceptance of funds from an American supporter and double-billing for foreign trips, the attorney-general’s office said on Sunday.

“The attorney-general … has decided to press charges against former prime minister Ehud Olmert,” a statement from the office of Menahem Mazuz said.

“The charge sheet was presented today in Jerusalem district court.”

Olmert is the first former Israeli prime minister to be indicted. Shula Zaken, Olmert’s personal secretary, was also charged.

Allegations denied

The allegations, which Olmert denies, initially occurred during his premiership, and forced him to step down as leader of the Kadima party and prime minister.

Sherine Tadros, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Jerusalem, said: “Olmert’s media advisor has been lashing out against both the state prosecutor and the attorney general saying that, however weak the evidence was against Olmert, there was no other choice but to indict him because they had forced him to quit the prime ministership earlier on this year.

“On the other hand they say when they go to court they will be free from this bias considerations and that’s why they are sure that Olmert will be cleared.”

He is said to have charged the government and charities for expenses previously paid for by different organisations, in turn building up credit at a travel agency which he then used for personal trips.

Morris Talansky, a US businessman, is also said to have given Olmert different amounts of cash adding up to as much as $150,000.

Olmert, 63, has said he did take the money, but said they were donations for his re-election campaigns for the post of mayor of Jerusalem and the party leadership.

Prosecutors also allege Olmert, while industry minister, established investment opportunities for a friend, Uri Messner.

The allegations relate to when Olmert was serving as the mayor of Jerusalem and afterwards when working as a cabinet minister before he became prime minister in 2006.

Legacy

Gil Hoffman, the chief political correspondent for The Jerusalem Post newspaper, told Al Jazeera: “On the one hand, it is embarrassing that our politicians do such things, but on the other hand, it shows that this is a country where you can’t get away with such things any more and I think that’s something Israelis can be proud of.”

Hoffman added that the charges would overshadow any other legacy Olmert might have had.

Olmert was forced to resign his post as prime minister because of the allegations [AFP]

“[Olmert] made an effort to push the peace process [with the Palestinians] forward … but … his legacy will be this corruption.”

It is the first time that Olmert has been officially charged despite several corruption investigations conducted into his affairs.

Mazuz is leaving office in four months’ time and analysts have said that he wanted to begin proceedings before he vacates his post.

Olmert could spend up to 10 years in jail if found guilty.

He was replaced by Binyamin Netanyahu, the Likud leader, as prime minister after elections were held following Olmert’s resignation.

Source: Aljazeera and agencies