http://Mesi.org.ukThe latest headlines - MESI Daily Update.(c) 2008, Mesi.org.uk. All rights reserved.5Al-Rai TV, which began broadcasting several months ago from Syria, provides coverage of events in the Middle East, focusing on terrorist attacks carried out by Sunni insurgents against U.S. forces and Iraqi security forces. According to Arab media reports, Al-Rai TV is owned by former Iraqi MP Mish'an Al-Jabouri, former owner of Al-Zawraa TV - a channel that for several months in 2006 aired around-the-clock footage of terrorist attacks in Iraq. Following U.S. pressure, the Arab satellite companies Arabsat and Nilesat removed Al-Zawraa TV from their satellites, and the channel ceased to exist. Al-Jabouri fled to Syria after being implicated in several corruption scandals, for which he was sentenced in absentia to 30 years in prison.http://Mesi.org.uk/ViewNews.aspx?ArticleId=1419Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMTSomali pirates have seized three more ships since the weekend's spectacular capture of a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million of oil that was the largest hijack in history. The latest ships to be seized are one from Hong Kong, another one from Greece and a Thai fishing ship registered in Kiribati. http://Mesi.org.uk/ViewNews.aspx?ArticleId=1420Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMTIsraeli tanks entered the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, drawing mortar fire from Palestinian militants and undermining a tenuous truce. The tanks, backed by a bulldozer, drove 500 metres into the strip and levelled earth near Rafah, Gaza’s southeastern border crossing with Egypt. Israel said that the operation was mounted to uncover explosives, while the Palestinians accused Israel of trying to increase violence. The latest fighting began two weeks ago and there is now a near-daily cycle of mortar attacks on southern Israeli towns and Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. At least 17 Palestinians have died, and several Israelis have been wounded.http://Mesi.org.uk/ViewNews.aspx?ArticleId=1421Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMTThe Internal Security Force (ISF) issued an explanation on Tuesday after it emerged that the force's commander, General Ashraf Rifi, spoke on the telephone with a member of the Fatah al-Islam militant group shortly before their showdown with the Lebanese military at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in 2007. A Lebanese television station broadcast recordings of two telephone calls between Rifi and a Fatah al-Islam negotiator called Ahmed Merhi made during a stand-off between the ISF and the militant group in Tripoli in May 2007.http://Mesi.org.uk/ViewNews.aspx?ArticleId=1422Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMTPakistan and Turkey stand at a crossroads in their political evolutions. The democratically elected Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Pakistan control both the presidencies and parliaments of their countries, ostensibly making them among the strongest elected governments in each of their respective histories. Both the PPP and the AKP have promised to bring about much needed political and economic reform, but their sincerity and ability to undertake such initiatives is very much disputed.http://Mesi.org.uk/ViewNews.aspx?ArticleId=1423Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMTA Cairo court yesterday ruled against an Egyptian government resolution to sell natural gas to Israel, and issued an injunction halting the supply. Legal sources in Egypt say however that the court did not put a timeline on its ruling, and meanwhile the gas continues to flow. Opposition members argue that the contract to sell gas to the Israel Electric Corporation is not legal, because it never underwent approval by the Egyptian parliament. Yesterday's court ruling follows a motion by private lawyers, asking that the contract with the Israeli utility be revisited.http://Mesi.org.uk/ViewNews.aspx?ArticleId=1424Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMTThree Islamist MPs yesterday filed a request to question the prime minister over an Iranian cleric’s visit, plunging Kuwait into a new crisis that could lead to parliament being dissolved. The three MPs have accused Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed Al Ahmad Al Sabah, a nephew of the Emir, of allowing a prominent Iranian Shia cleric to enter Kuwait despite a legal ban.http://Mesi.org.uk/ViewNews.aspx?ArticleId=1425Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMTMost Western and Russian experts agree that "the moment of truth" in Iran's nuclear stand-off with the UN is likely to come during Obama's presidency. The dates cited are 2010 and 2011. Unless, Obama manages to stop the process before that, he could end up facing a nuclear-armed Iran. At that point, the choice would be between acknowledging a fait accompli and using force to change it. Obama could avoid that Hobson's choice situation by devising a practical policy to deal with what is likely to be his major foreign policy headache for sometime.http://Mesi.org.uk/ViewNews.aspx?ArticleId=1426Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMTBritish Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived in Damascus on Tuesday for talks with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and Foreign Minister Walid Mua'alem. The visit is the first one by a senior British official since 2001, signalling a new start in Syria-Britain relations, which have been strained since the occupation of Iraq in 2003.http://Mesi.org.uk/ViewNews.aspx?ArticleId=1427Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMTIran was forced to admit the existence of the sites, but continued to deny that they were being used for nuclear activity. As it was confronted with ever more facts, it continued weaving its web of lies, until the IAEA finally labeled it a non-compliant country that had violated its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on it. Syria is still far from that point, but the discovery of uranium at the bombed site could be a turning point. It could be the first step toward finding the smoking gun that incriminates Damascus in the international community, and strengthens Israel's claim that its own operation was necessary and justified to prevent Syria from developing a nuclear weapon.http://Mesi.org.uk/ViewNews.aspx?ArticleId=1409Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT