Mideast peace talks could begin as early as Sunday ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff, Jonathan Lis, Barak Ravid - March 4, 2010 - 1:00am Indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority may begin as early as Sunday, Haaretz had learned. U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell will land in Israel on Saturday night, and the American administration is hoping the sides will declare the beginning of indirect talks the following morning, ahead of the arrival of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Monday. » Read more

Peres: Netanyahu's peace moves restricted by the right wing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jonathan Lis, Mazal Mualem, Yossi Verter - March 4, 2010 - 1:00am In private conversations Peres has had over the past few weeks with senior political figures and party leaders, he has been making statements to the effect that Prime Minister Netanyahu cannot advance the peace process with the present coalition government controlled by the right wing. To move forward, the president has been saying, Netanyahu will have to bring Kadima into his coalition and broaden the base of his government with moderates. » Read more

Jewish residents of East Jerusalem home offer trade-off ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Nir Hasson - March 4, 2010 - 1:00am The Israeli activists who settled recently in a disputed building in East Jerusalem on Thursday offered a compromise to the State Prosecution, according to which they would seal off the top levels of the building they claim is theirs in exchange for the right to live there. In a letter to State Prosecutor Moshe Lador, the residents of Beit Yonatan said that would forfeit the top three floors of their building, thus keeping their own residence to four stories. » Read more

PLO defends AL's nod for indirect Palestinian-Israeli negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 4, 2010 - 1:00am Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Thursday defended an Arab League (AL)'s decision authorizing Washington to lead indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians for four months. "This decision moves the ball in Israel's court," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the PLO's executive committee, in response to Islamic Hamas movement and other Palestinian factions that rejected any resumption of peace negotiations. » Read more

Israel allows less than quarter of needs into Gaza: official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua March 4, 2010 - 1:00am Israel allows in only less than quarter of goods the Gaza Strip needs, a Palestinian official said Thursday following a call by a senior UN official to relax sanctions on the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave. "Only 15 percent of Gaza's basic needs are allowed in through one crossing that operates on partial capacity," said Jamal El- Khodary, chief of a public anti-siege committee in Gaza. » Read more

Hamas bans men from women's hair salons ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Rizek Abdel Jawad - March 4, 2010 - 1:00am Gaza's Islamic Hamas government on Thursday banned men from working in women's hair salons, the latest step in its campaign to impose strict Islamic customs on Gaza's 1.5 million people. Since seizing Gaza in 2007, Hamas has taken steps in that direction while avoiding a frontal assault on secularism. The majority of Gaza residents are conservative Muslims, but Hamas is under growing pressure from more radical groups to prove its fundamentalist credentials by imposing ever harsher edicts. The latest measure irked one of the victims of the ban. » Read more

Dubai assassination: Dubai wants Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu behind bars ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Carol Huang - March 3, 2010 - 1:00am The Dubai police chief plans to seek the arrest of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the murder of Hamas leader here Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday. The warning adds to the series of threats that Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim has lodged in recent days against Israel, whom he said “insulted” the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by allegedly carrying out the Jan. 19 assassination here. Dubai, a trade, tourism and banking center is the second largest of the Emirates. » Read more

Palestinians are expected to join Israel in indirect peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - March 4, 2010 - 1:00am A year after peace talks collapsed, Israelis and Palestinians appear headed back to the negotiating table -- just not the same table. A U.S.-backed proposal to launch so-called proximity talks moved forward Wednesday when the Arab League gave its blessing for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to join the effort. » Read more

ATFP President Emphasizes Convergence Between Diplomacy, State-Building at Senate Hearing Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - March 4, 2010 - 1:00am   var s1 = new SWFObject('http://www.senate.gov/fplayers/CommPlayer/mediaplayer.swf','mediaplayer','500','380','9'); s1.addParam('allowfullscreen','true'); s1.addParam('allowscriptaccess','always'); s1.addParam('flashvars','file=/vCommFiles/foreign030410&streamer=rtmp://fms.senate.gov/Committee/&autostart=true&type=video&start=435&bufferlength=5'); s1.write('senView'); Read more

A Skeptical Arab League Backs Indirect Peace Talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Ethan Bronner, Michael Slackman - March 3, 2010 - 1:00am Arab League foreign ministers on Wednesday approved an American proposal that Palestinians hold indirect talks with Israelis, a move that could help restart direct discussions between the two sides that broke down more than a year ago. » Read more