Si ce n’est toi, c’est donc ta femme

La seconde épouse de Baitullah Mehsud, le chef des talibans, tuée par un missile américain.

Pour les autorités pakista naises, il est l’ennemi public numéro un. « Un homme épouvantable », de l’avis de Richard Holbrooke, l’envoyé spécial américain dans la région. Chef du Mouvement des talibans du Pakistan (TTP) depuis décembre 2007, Baitullah Mehsud (35 ans) est à la tête d’au moins dix mille djihadistes et a commandité d’innombrables attentats. Le département d’État offre 5 millions de dollars pour tout renseignement permettant de le localiser ; et le gouvernement pakistanais 615 000 dollars.

Apparemment, le coup n’est pas passé loin dans la nuit du 5 août. Des missiles tirés par un drone américain ont en effet détruit la maison de son beau-père, dans un village du Sud-Waziristan, au cœur des zones tribales du Nord-Ouest pakistanais, tuant cinq personnes, dont – semble-t-il – deux combattants islamistes, et en blessant plusieurs autres. Selon des témoignages concordants, la seconde épouse du chef islamiste figure parmi les victimes. On ignore si Mehsud se trouvait sur les lieux.

Fief d’Al-Qaïda et des talibans pakistanais mais aussi afghans, dont c’est la base arrière, le Sud-Waziristan est actuellement la cible d’une offensive de grande ampleur de l’armée pakistanaise, discrètement soutenue par l’aviation américaine. Depuis un an, les drones y ont fait environ cinq cents morts.

source:  Jeune Afrique

Plan anti-türban en Turquie

Depuis l’élection d’Abdullah Gül à la présidence de la République, en août 2007, l’establish ment militaire boycotte toutes les cérémonies auxquelles participe son épouse. Motif ? Hayrünnisa Gül ne quitte jamais son türban, le foulard islamique. Elle laisse donc à son président de mari les honneurs du tapis rouge et s’éclipse comme une écolière prise en faute dès qu’un képi s’approche.

Le quotidien indépendant Taraf vient de révéler que ce boycott avait été codifié dans un document daté du 14 octobre 2007, où l’état-major fixe des règles très strictes à l’usage des militaires susceptibles de se trouver en contact avec la « pestiférée ». Si le couple présidentiel souhaite visiter un hôpital militaire ou faire halte dans un bâtiment appartenant à l’armée, un officier est chargé de les en dissuader ou de leur rappeler que le port du voile y est interdit. Autre casse-tête : la fête de la République, le 29 octobre, au palais présidentiel. Les membres de l’état-major sont priés de s’y rendre sans leur épouse et de n’y faire qu’une brève apparition. Pour désamorcer la crise, le chef de l’État a, dès 2007, institué deux réceptions : l’une pour les responsables de l’establishment, où les épouses ne sont pas conviées, et une autre pour les membres de la société civile, où elles le sont.

source:  Jeune Afrique

Quelles tactiques d’interrogation dans les prisons secrètes de la CIA ?

Des interrogateurs de la CIA ont pratiqué des simulacres d’exécution et menacé un chef d’Al-Qaida avec un pistolet et une perceuse, selon un  rapport interne relayé par le Washington Post et le New York Times de samedi. Ce document, un rapport de l’inspecteur général de la CIA, sera rendu public lundi, précisent des repsonsables interrogés par les deux quotidiens. Il fournit de nouveaux détails sur les mauvais traitements infligés dans les prisons secrètes de l’agence américaine de renseignement.

Ces méthodes ont été pratiquées à l’encontre d’Abdel Rahim Al-Nashiri par des geôliers de la CIA qui ont brandi une arme et une perceuse près de leur détenu pour l’effrayer afin qu’il fournisse des informations. Nashiri, capturé en novembre 2002 et détenu pendant quatre ans dans une des prisons secrètes de la CIA, est l’un des trois commandants d’Al-Qaida qui a été soumis par la suite à la simulation de noyade (“waterboarding”).

Le rapport de 2004 de l’inspecteur général John L. Helgerson précise aussi qu’un simulacre d’exécution a été pratiqué dans une pièce voisine de celle d’un suspect. Des agents de la CIA ont tiré un coup de feu, conduisant le suspect à penser qu’un autre détenu avait été exécuté, écrit le NYT. Des détails du rapport ont été pour la première fois publiés par le magazineNewsweek sur son site vendredi soir.

La diffusion publique de ce rapport confidentiel a été ordonnée par un juge fédéral de New Yorken réponse à une plainte déposée par l’American Civil Liberties Union. Les avocats du département de la Justice et de la CIA examinent minutieusement le document depuis le mois de juin pour déterminer quels extraits peuvent en être rendus publics. L’agence de renseignement a refusé de faire des commentaires spécifiques sur le rapport, ajoute le NYT.

Nashiri, qui a été impliqué dans l’attentat contre le navire de guerre américain USS Cole en 2000, était un des deux détenus de la CIA dont les interrogatoires ont été enregistrés sur vidéo, mais les bandes ont été détruites par des agents en 2005, précise le New York Times. Cette destruction fait l’objet d’une enquête ouverte par un procureur fédéral mais le département de la justice a jusqu’à présent refusé d’ouvrir une enquête formelle globale sur les mauvais traitements infligés dans les prisons de la CIA.

source:  Le Monde

Israël : la colonisation malmenée mais loin d’être gelée

Un plan visant à créer un nouveau quartier de colonisation juive dans la partie orientale de Jérusalem annexée a récemment été soumis pour approbation à la municipalité, selon une information publiée, dimanche 23 août, par le quotidien Haaretz. Ce projet dont l’initiative revient à l’association d’extrême droite Elad, vouée à la judaïsation de Jérusalem, prévoit la construction de cent quatre logements ainsi que d’une synagogue, d’une piscine et d’un bain rituel au cœur du quartier de Ras el-Amud, où vivent quatorze mille Palestiniens.

Le quartier planifié a été appelé Maalé David et devrait être relié à celui de Maalé Zeitim dans le même secteur, où vivent actuellement cinquante et une familles juives. “Ce plan de construction massive dans un secteur à forte densité de population palestinienne est extrêmement dangereux pour l’équilibre urbain”, s’offusque Yariv Oppenheimer, responsable du mouvement anti-colonisation LaPaix Maintenant. Interrogé par la radio militaire à propos de ce projet, le ministre des affaires étrangères, Avigdor Lieberman, a de son côté déclaré qu’“il n’y a pas d’entente avec les Etats-Unis interdisant aux juifs de construire dans la partie orientale de Jérusalem”.

PRÈS DE 600 NOUVEAUX LOGEMENTS DANS LES COLONIES DEPUIS JANVIER

Dans le même temps, La Paix Maintenant a publié un rapport intitulé “Contourner le gel de la colonisation” selon lequel 596 nouveaux logements ont été construits dans les implantations israéliennes de Cisjordanie depuis le début de l’année, dont 96 dans les implantations sauvages créées sans le feu vert des autorités israéliennes. “La construction continue avec le soutien du gouvernement dans les grands blocs de colonies, et de façon détournée dans les colonies isolées”, affirme le rapport. Plus de 300 000 colons juifs sont installés en Cisjordanie, et quelque 200 000 Israéliens vivent dans une douzaine de quartiers de colonisation érigés dans la partie orientale de Jérusalem conquise et annexée en 1967.

C’est dans ce contexte que le premier ministre israélien, Benyamin Nétanyahou doit rencontrer, à partir de mardi, des dirigeants européens et américains, précisément pour s’entretenir du problème de la colonisation. Outre Gordon Brown et Angela Merkel, M. Nétanyahou doit rencontrer mercredi l’émissaire américain George Mitchell, avec lequel il tente depuis des semaines de trouver un compromis sur un moratoire pour la construction de logements dans les colonies israéliennes.

L’envoyé spécial américain mène depuis plusieurs mois des pourparlers intensifs avec les dirigeants israéliens, alors que les deux pays, bien qu’alliés, sont en désaccord sur le dossier de la colonisation. L’administration américaine exige un gel total de la colonisation pour favoriser une relance des négociations avec les Palestiniens. Les grands pays européens ont adopté la même position. “Des progrès importants ont été réalisés ces dernières semaines, s’est félicité le porte parole du premier ministre israélien, et nous voulons poursuivre dans cette direction. Nous nous réjouissons des prochaines discussions avec le sénateur Mitchell”.

source:  Le Monde

Netanyahu to tell Mitchell: Israel won’t accept limits on Jerusalem

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to tell the special U.S. Mideast envoy on Monday that Israel will not accept any limitations on its sovereignty over Jerusalem, and will allow settlers to continue to live in the West Bank.

Netanyahu traveled to London on Monday, where he will meet with the U.S. envoy, George Mitchell, in order to continue the discussion on the Obama administration’s demands for confidence-building measures between Israel and the Arab world.

The U.S. is demanding that Israel freeze temporarily construction in the settlements, and is asking the Arab world to begin normalizing ties with Israel immediately.

Israeli government officials say a compromise being discussed could see Israel freeze building except for 2,500 units currently under construction. They spoke on condition of anonymity because details of
the talks between Israel and the U.S. are secret.

The number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank – home to some 2.5 million Palestinians – has more than doubled since the mid-1990s and now stands at around 300,000.

Netanyahu has compromised some since taking office in March, after winning an election on a hard-line platform.

But the settlement watchdog group Peace Now said Sunday that there had been no real slowdown in construction and that settlers could keep building indefinitely, using plans that have already been approved.

Netanyahu has meanwhile taken steps to improve life for Palestinians in the West Bank. With the territory enjoying a period of calm, some Israeli military checkpoints have been lifted, permits for importing raw materials are being granted, and there are other signs that life there is assuming a semblance of normalcy.

Netanyahu would like to resume direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority following the United Nations General Assembly meeting in late September.

The Palestinians, however, have refused to renew talks until the Israelis
freeze settlement construction.

Veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who has headed the Palestinian delegations at most negotiations with Israel since 1991, will be a guest of Haaretz Q&A on Tuesday, August 25, at 11 A.M. Israel time. Click here to send questions.

U.S. seeks role of ‘active mediator’ in Mideast talks

Meanwhile, a senior political source in Jerusalem told Haaretz Sunday that the U.S. has informed Israel that it is interested in assuming the role of “active mediator” during the talks, and “have a place at the negotiating table.”

However, Netanyahu’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told reporters Sunday that he sees no chance of peace.

“In the 16 years since the Oslo Accords, we haven’t managed to bring peace to the region, and I’m willing to bet that there won’t be peace in another 16 years, either. Certainly not on the basis of the two-state solution,” Lieberman said.

Sources close to the prime minister said they hope that if an understanding is reached regarding settlement construction, a tripartite meeting could be held with President Barack Obama and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the United Nations.

PM to meet Mitchell

Netanyahu told the cabinet during its weekly session Sunday that his meeting with Mitchell in London is not expected to be the final one, and stressed that more meetings will be necessary before peace talks can begin. “The discussions with Mitchell are just the beginning of a series of talks and exchanges that have been going on intensively recently, and in good spirits,” the prime minister said.

“There has been some progress, even though there is no absolute agreement. There is an attempt to minimize the degree of disagreement and discuss matters in a much more positive atmosphere. There is a wish to hold direct talks between us and the Palestinians, even though this depends on the understandings with the Americans and the Palestinians,” Netanyahu told his cabinet colleagues.

The U.S. would like to be given guarantees by Israel that it will freeze settlement construction for at least a year, while Israel is offering a six-month hiatus. A political source in Jerusalem estimated that a compromise of 9-12 months will be reached for construction in the West Bank, but will not include East Jerusalem or most of the 2,500 housing units whose construction has already commenced.

Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is due to visit Israel next week to meet with political leaders.

Netanyahu spoke with Jordan’s King Abdullah Sunday afternoon, and greeted him for the Holy Month of Ramadan, which commenced on August 22. The King reiterated the significance of the Arab Peace Initiative and said that “the negotiations must be resumed as soon as possible in order to resolve the dispute.”

The prime minister is traveling to London at a time when domestically the political scene is relatively calm and his coalition appears to be stable. In the Forum of Six, the group of senior ministers in which sensitive political-security issues are discussed, there is unusually vocal opposition, and some of the participants are even urging Netanyahu onward toward progress on the diplomatic front.

The “doves” in the forum comprise Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Dan Meridor. Barak is keen to see progress on a regional settlement in line with U.S. plans. Barak supports a temporary freeze of settlement construction, in return for steps toward normalization of ties with the Arab world. Meridor is also keen to see the tension in Israel-U.S. ties pass by, and for the resumption of negotiations on a peace plan for the Middle East.

The most “hawkish” member of the forum, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, is for the time being giving Netanyahu plenty of leeway. Speaking to reporters, Lieberman said that he does not believe it will be possible to reach a comprehensive peace with the Palestinians in the foreseeable future, but also said that he does not intend to undermine the prime minister’s political efforts.

‘Unrealistic goal’

“The establishment of a Palestinian state within two years is an unrealistic goal,” Lieberman noted, refering to the vision of U.S. President Obama. “There are some who believe this is possible, and I do not want to interfere. I am ready to grant time so that there will be another effort to reach a Palestinian state, but I will not take on tasks that I do not believe in,” he said.

However, in an address at Ariel before students there, Lieberman objected to the possibility that any sort of restriction be placed on Jews building or living in East Jerusalem. “I have said that there are 7,000 Arabs living in West Jerusalem. Can you imagine that the state would prevent the Arab citizens from finding apartments on Ben Yehuda Street, but to do so to Jews is permissible?” Lieberman asked.

“This double standard must not be accepted; we are not looking for confrontations or conflicts, but we will defend our national honor,” he promised.

The other two hawks, Moshe Ya’alon and Benny Begin, are opposed to the resumption of negotiations, but both are keeping a relatively low profile as far as their public criticism of the prime minister is concerned.

source:  Haaretz

Lieberman: IDF evaders needn’t apply as foreign ministry cadets

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday proposed a new regulation that would allow only those Israelis who served in the Israel Defense Forces or completed national service eligible for the foreign ministry’s cadet program.

Lieberman offered the proposal during a meeting of the Foreign Ministry administrative committee on Monday, saying “anyone who wants to represent the country [Israel] in the outside world must take part in our obligations.”

Lieberman vowed to bring the issue before the Knesset where “we will work to change the legislation in a way that will enable us to enact this new procedure.”

If the new procedure is put into effect, it would restrict Israeli Arabs and members of the Haredi community from becoming Foreign Ministry cadets. Currently, more than five Israeli Arabs work as diplomats in the ministry, including both Muslims and Christians.

A few months ago, the Foreign Ministry announced plans to open a cadet course geared towards members of minority communities in Israel. It is unclear how Lieberman’s proposal would affect this plan.

source:  Harretz

West Bank tourists can get visas if they visit Israel, too

The Interior Ministry promised the Tourism Ministry last week that tourists who declare that they intend to enter only the Palestinian Authority will have their passports stamped “Palestinian Authority only,” while tourists who declare they intend to visit both Israel and the Palestinian Authority will have their passports stamped with a regular B2 tourist visa, according to an internal memo from a senior Tourism Ministry official.

The memo, written in English, was circulated on August 20 by Tourism Ministry senior deputy director general Raphael Ben-Hur to senior ministry officials.

The memo comes after the Interior Ministry started restricting the movement of foreign nationals with connections in the West Bank. Ben-Hur wrote that in light of the Interior Ministry’s assurances, there was no cause for concern that tourism might be damaged. He also wrote that the limitations do not apply to tourists entering the country via Ben-Gurion International Airport.

The limitations imposed – which the United States has protested as discriminatory against its citizens – harm not only “ordinary” tourists, but also citizens of Western countries who have connections to the West Bank. These individuals are classified as “tourists” because Israel refuses to issue work visas or long-term visas to most of them. Israel also prevents such visitors from entering the country via Ben-Gurion Airport.

For example, when Canadian businessman Mohammed Sabawi returned Saturday from a short trip, he received a visa valid only for the “territory of the Palestinian Authority.” Haaretz reported Sabawi’s story last week.

In the case of S.A., a foreign national who teaches at one of the Palestinian universities, last year she received a tourist visa for a year. Sunday, when she returned from a vacation abroad, she was refused entry to Israel.

source:  Haaretz

One-third of outstanding Israeli schools are from Arab sector

Fifty-two percent of students graduating from the Israel Arts and Science Academy in Jerusalem received an “outstanding” grade on their matriculation exams – the highest percentage among all high schools in the country.

According to data for the 2007-08 school year, published by the Education Ministry Sunday, the academy was rated far above the second-best school: the Albion Academy in Sajur, with 40.6 percent. Third was Horev, a private religious school for girls in Jerusalem (36.0 percent), fourth was the Baptist High School in Nazareth (31.2 percent), and fifth was the state religious school for girls in Ramat Gan (31.0 percent).

The lion’s share of the 15 top-performing schools were semi-private, or “recognized but unofficial,” institutions that receive some state funding, but also charge high tuition and accept only excellent students.

About 40 percent of the best performers were national religious schools, and 33 percent were Arab schools. Only 26 percent were ordinary secular schools.

About half of last year’s 15 top schools also made the list two years ago; another five were ranked between 15 and 30 on the list of top schools in 2006-07.

To get an outstanding score, a student must have a weighted average of 90 or above if he took exams in a total of 30 or more study units, and 95 or above if he took 25 to 30 units. Only a few thousand students every year meet this standard.

The Israel Arts and Science Academy, run by an organization called the Society for Excellence Through Education, only accepts applicants who do well on its entry exam and it charges NIS 2,500 in tuition per month. But Hizki Arieli, director of the society, insisted that the real key to its success is “a high-quality, professional staff and the personal attention given to each student.”

Ali Assadi, Albion’s principal, said his school draws its students, most of whom are Muslim, from all over northern Israel. To be accepted, applicants must have had an average of 85 or higher in junior high.

The school is private, Assadi added, and none of the teachers have tenure: “If I see a burned-out or conservative teacher, I immediately get rid of him. The ability to choose the teachers affects the students’ achievements.”

Rabbi Oded Meislisch, Horev’s principal, declined to say how much tuition the school charges, but acknowledged that there is an entry exam. He said the school places “a very strong emphasis on Torah combined with secular studies,” and “the connection to values and excellence produces the results.”

“I don’t want to accuse the public education system, but the lack of schools from this framework on the outstanding list raises questions,” he added.

But Prof. Chaim Adler of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an Israel Prize laureate in education, rejected the schools’ explanations for their success.

“It’s not hard to produce high scores if you have entry exams and demand high tuition from the parents,” he said. “The public education system is left with the average or below-average students, because the best are drawn to the semi-private schools. But these ‘private’ schools are paid for by the state, which builds their buildings and contributes to their teachers’ salaries. We mustn’t delude ourselves: Without massive investment in the public school system, which still educates most students, our results will not improve.”

Just last week, Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar termed the proliferation of “recognized but unofficial” schools “intolerable and warped.”

“The ease with which private schools are established with public funds weakens the official education system,” he said.

source: Haaretz

Germany calls for Israel to take urgent action on settlements

The German government said ahead of a visit next week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that urgent action was needed on Israeli settlements in the West Bank in order to move towards peace in the Middle East.

“We and our partners the Americans have made very clear that we see the settlements issue as one of the biggest impediments to a two-state solution,” German foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke told reporters on Friday.

“There must be urgent progress on the settlements to make progress on Middle East peace,” he added.

Netanyahu is due to hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Thursday, during the second leg of a trip that will start in London.

Germany regularly cites its special obligation to Israel because of the Nazi Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews died, and German politicians traditionally avoid public criticism of Israeli policies.

But Merkel said last month that there “must be a stop” to Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank and a senior ally has said it would be “political suicide” for Israel to continue to build.

Netanyahu has rejected U.S. President Barack Obama’s push for a complete freeze to settlement building and the impasse has created the most serious rift in U.S.-Israeli relations in a decade.

Asked about comments from an Israeli minister, who said earlier this week that no tenders had been issued for new housing projects in settlements since Netanyahu took power, Peschke said there were signs Israel was “thinking seriously” about its policy.

But he added: “We don’t have any definitive movement on the
settlements question yet.

Israel Says Russia May Reconsider Plans to Sell Missiles to Iran

MOSCOW — The Israeli president, Shimon Peres, said Wednesday that his Russian counterpart, Dmitri A. Medvedev, had promised to reconsider Russia’s plans to provide advanced surface-to-air missiles to Iran, a deal that Washington has also sought to halt.

The missiles would offer Iran considerable confidence that it could prevent airstrikes on its nuclear sites.

But a Russian official close to the talks, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of their delicacy, said the contract between Russia and Iran was not discussed. Mr. Peres did raise the issue of the missiles, known as S-300s, the official said, but Mr. Peres emphasized that Israel did not plan any military strikes on Iranian territory.

“Accordingly, there was no discussion on the presidential level of any contractual obligations of Russian organizations regarding the provision of military equipment to Iran,” the official said.

Russia signed a contract with Iran to deliver S-300 missiles, which have a much longer range and higher accuracy than Iran’s present air defense systems. But amid the objections of Israel and the United States, Moscow has never delivered the missiles.

Mr. Peres spoke about the missiles at a morning news conference in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, after talks with Mr. Medvedev there on Tuesday. He said Mr. Medvedev “gave a promise he will reconsider the sales of the S-300 because this affects the delicate balance which exists already in the Middle East, and will enforce, in my judgment, the aggressive intentions of Iran.”

Israel and many Western nations suspect that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, while Iran says its nuclear program is solely for generating electricity. Israel has repeatedly raised the possibility of airstrikes to halt Iran’s nuclear progress.

Blocking the missile deal has been one of the United States’ goals in its pursuit of improved relations with Moscow.

At the news conference, Mr. Peres suggested that Russian concessions on the missile contract could affect American plans for missile defense in Eastern Europe, which Russia objects to.

“If it wouldn’t be for the Iranian missiles, maybe one of the thorny issues between Russia and the United States would disappear, namely the antimissile bases that the United States is building in Poland” and the Czech Republic, Mr. Peres said.

When asked about the missile contract in March, at a news conference in Geneva with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said that Russia would seriously consider American and Israeli concerns.

He said Russia supplied only “nondestabilizing defensive types of weapons” and, alluding to the United States’ military assistance to Georgia, added that “we want our partners to behave with equal restraint in their military supplies to the countries who quite recently used those weapons close to our borders.”

MOSCOW — The Israeli president, Shimon Peres, said Wednesday that his Russian counterpart, Dmitri A. Medvedev, had promised to reconsider Russia’s plans to provide advanced surface-to-air missiles to Iran, a deal that Washington has also sought to halt.

The missiles would offer Iran considerable confidence that it could prevent airstrikes on its nuclear sites.

But a Russian official close to the talks, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of their delicacy, said the contract between Russia and Iran was not discussed. Mr. Peres did raise the issue of the missiles, known as S-300s, the official said, but Mr. Peres emphasized that Israel did not plan any military strikes on Iranian territory.

“Accordingly, there was no discussion on the presidential level of any contractual obligations of Russian organizations regarding the provision of military equipment to Iran,” the official said.

Russia signed a contract with Iran to deliver S-300 missiles, which have a much longer range and higher accuracy than Iran’s present air defense systems. But amid the objections of Israel and the United States, Moscow has never delivered the missiles.

Mr. Peres spoke about the missiles at a morning news conference in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, after talks with Mr. Medvedev there on Tuesday. He said Mr. Medvedev “gave a promise he will reconsider the sales of the S-300 because this affects the delicate balance which exists already in the Middle East, and will enforce, in my judgment, the aggressive intentions of Iran.”

Israel and many Western nations suspect that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, while Iran says its nuclear program is solely for generating electricity. Israel has repeatedly raised the possibility of airstrikes to halt Iran’s nuclear progress.

Blocking the missile deal has been one of the United States’ goals in its pursuit of improved relations with Moscow.

At the news conference, Mr. Peres suggested that Russian concessions on the missile contract could affect American plans for missile defense in Eastern Europe, which Russia objects to.

“If it wouldn’t be for the Iranian missiles, maybe one of the thorny issues between Russia and the United States would disappear, namely the antimissile bases that the United States is building in Poland” and the Czech Republic, Mr. Peres said.

When asked about the missile contract in March, at a news conference in Geneva with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said that Russia would seriously consider American and Israeli concerns.

He said Russia supplied only “nondestabilizing defensive types of weapons” and, alluding to the United States’ military assistance to Georgia, added that “we want our partners to behave with equal restraint in their military supplies to the countries who quite recently used those weapons close to our borders.”

source:  The New York Times