Zionist regime to build 346 settler units in WB

Source : Islamic Invitation Turkey

The Zionist regime has approved the construction of 346 new settler units in two settlements in the southern occupied West Bank.

According to AFP quoting a statement released by the Zionist regime war ministry on Sunday, 200 of the units will be built in Tekoa settlements and 146 in Nokdim. The latest Zionist regime plans for settlement expansion on occupied lands came as a recent United Nations report called on Tel Aviv to immediately start withdrawing settlers from the Palestinian territories, saying the settlements displace Palestinians, destroy their crops and property, and subject them to violence consistently and on a daily basis. It also said that the settlements violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prevents an occupying power from transferring its own population into occupied territory, which could be equal to war crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Bahrain's national dialogue kicks off

Source :  Xinhua | English.news.cn

MANAMA, Feb. 10(Xinhua) -- Bahrain's much-awaited National Consensus Dialogue started on Sunday with the participation of major political societies including the opposition groups.

Sunday's session aimed to achieve a final agenda that will give shape to the crucial talks aimed to end the political stalemate in the Arab country.

Bahraini Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa welcomed all participants of the dialogue, which include representatives of political societies and legislative authorities as well as some independents.

The minister also expressed his confidence in a successful outcome, a further political consensus that will reinforce Bahrain 's national achievements.

Major opposition groups present at the session were Shiite Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, Al Ekha National Society and National Democratic Action Society, as well as Sunni National Unity Assembly, National Action Charter Society and Al Menbar National Islamic Society.

In the meantime, some opposition groups staged a rally in Sitra when the second round of talks was opened.

Scores of protesters marched carrying the Bahraini flag demanding democracy and freedom.

Netanyahu Says Obama Visit to Focus on Iran, Syria, Peace Talks

Via : http://www.almanar.com.lb/

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named on Sunday main topics of US President Barack Obama’s visit to the occupied territories, which is scheduled for the next month.

"The president and I discussed this visit and agreed we would talk about three central issues," Netanyahu said ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, calling it "a very important visit" at a time of great instability in the region.

He said the focus would be on: "Iran's attempt to arm itself with nuclear weapons, the instability in Syria and the ramifications for the security of the region and of course Israel and the US, and the attempts to advance the peace process between us and the Palestinians."

Last week, the White House said Obama would make his first visit to the Palestinian occupied territories as president on a trip likely to take place next month. It would also include stops in the West Bank and Jordan.

The White House has kept expectations deliberately low about the possible outcome of the visit, with spokesman Jay Carney saying Obama had no plans to use the trip to advance new proposals to break the deadlocked talks which has persisted for more than two years.

Source: AFP 

Israeli soldiers raid West Bank villages, arrest five

Source :   Al Akhbar English

Israeli forces arrested five Palestinian youths, including a 14-year-old, during overnight raids in the West Bank Sunday, local media reported.

The latests arrests come as Palestinian factions wrapped up two days of reconciliation talks in Cairo.

In the West Bank village of Burqaa, near Nablus, soldiers arrested Shadi Abu Omar, Fadi Abu Omar, and Munjed Daughlas at dawn, according to Ma’an news agency.

Israeli forces arrested another man, 24-year-old Moussa Issa Abu Sabha, during a raid on Yatta, south of Hebron.

An Israeli military spokesperson said two others were arrested in Arura, near Ramalla, and another in Beit Kahil, in the Hebron area.

Israeli forces raided the town of Burqeen, west of Jenin, and arrested 14-year-old Mohammed Ghanem. Other residents suffered from asphyxiation after soldiers fired tear gas at them.

WAFA news agency reported that soldiers also summoned two Palestinians, Sami Yousef Shariah, 23, and Mohammed Ali Al-Orouj, 22, for questioning near the illegal Jewish settlement of Ghosh Itsion, south of Bethlehem.

In Cairo, Palestinian rival factions Hamas and Fatah made little progress following two days of talks in Cairo. They remain divided over how exactly to apply a deal the two parties had agreed to more than a year earlier, an official said.

PLO Executive Committee member Wassel Abu Youssef had earlier on Saturday said that the main points of dispute were over the way elections were held for the PNC, as well as other issues relating to legislative and presidential elections in the Palestinian territories.

He also said there was disagreement over the timing of the establishment of a caretaker cabinet, which is supposed to prepare for new elections, and the announcement of a date for such a poll.

Another point of dispute was the type of voting system to be used, officials said.

The Cairo talks were convened by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction signed a reconciliation deal with Hamas in April 2011 aimed at ending years of rivalry, but which has never been properly implemented.

(Al-Akhbar, Ma’an, AFP)

126 injured across Egypt in clashes

Source : Shanghai Daily

At least 126 were injured yesterday in clashes between security forces and anti- government protesters in different parts of Egypt as protesters took to main streets and public squares nationwide.

"A total of 126 people were injured nationwide. Some 67 were injured in Gharbiya governorate, 80 km north of Cairo, with seven others in Alexandria, seven in Kafr el-Sheikh governorate, four in Sharqiya governorate and four outside the presidential palace in Cairo," health ministry spokesman Ahmed Omar told Xinhua.

Omar added that the injuries varied between cuts, burns, suffocations and fractures, noting some presidential security men were reportedly injured by birdshots but it had not yet been confirmed.

At el-Mahalla city in Gharbiya, violent clashes took place between security men and protesters who tried to break down the gate of the city council. The security men dispersed them with tear gas bombs but skirmishes were still going on, which paralyzed traffic and forced stores to shut down in the area.

On the other hand, a number of protesters attempted to attack the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and also the police directorate at Gharbiya governorate, around 80 km north of Cairo, but security forces managed to disperse them.

In Cairo, protesters attempted to remove barbed wires around the presidential palace in Cairo and climb the palace gate, while others hurled stones at the palace.

The presidential guards retreated and gathered inside the palace to avoid clashes with protesters, while protesters, mostly minors, attempted to hurl stones and fireworks inside the palace but fellow protesters prevented them to avoid clashes with security forces, Xinhua cameraman reported from the scene.

The situation escalated as some protesters set fire to one of the palace gates which led to burning a nearby tree inside the palace, according to official news agency MENA.

The demonstrations, dubbed "Friday of Dignity" or "Friday of Departure," condemned the recent police aggression against a protester who was beaten up and stripped before being dragged to a police vehicle.

(Xinhua)

Russia to try and move forward Middle East peace talks

Source : Maan News Agency

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Russia will try to break through the stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, the Russian foreign ministry said Friday.

A cabinet meeting on Feb. 20 will be dedicated to discuss possible means break through the stalemate and resume negotiations, ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevic said in a statement.

The Arab League and Arab countries will be consulted on every detail, the statement added.

The foreign ministry also warned of a possible deterioration in light of the unilateral procedure Israel is carrying out, namely settlement activities.

"The situation in the Palestinian territory is still high-strung as Israel continues with settlemen activities. A few days ago, an Israeli court decided to evacuate a Palestinian family from its hous in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and on Feb. 5 Israeli bulldozers demolished two-story house in Beit Hanina neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

"Furthermore, Israeli forces detained Palestinians in the West Bank including members of th Palestinian Legislative Council."

The statement added that Russia has been trying over the past few months to activate th international Middle East Quartet at a ministerial level because the ongoing meetings a representatives level are insufficient. "However, our partners are haggling and would not give specific date for ministerial meetings."

Egypt protects liberals’ homes after death threat

Source : http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/02/07/265027.html

Egyptian police deployed security at the homes of prominent liberal opponents of the government on Thursday after a hardline cleric called for their deaths and a secular politician was gunned down in Tunisia.

The killing on Wednesday of Chokri Belaid, an outspoken critic of Tunisia’s Islamist-led government, sent tremors through Egypt.

In both countries where “Arab Spring” uprisings swept away veteran authoritarian rulers, two years of political turmoil have exposed divisions between Islamists and their secular opponents.

On the same day, Egyptian liberal politician Mohamed el Baradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, sounded the alarm over a hardline cleric’s call for his death.

The cleric, Mahmoud Shaaban, appeared on a religious television channel and said leaders of Egypt’s main opposition coalition would get a death sentence under sharia (Islamic law).

He specifically mentioned el Baradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy.

President Mohamed Mursi, a member of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood which has dominated democratic elections since mass protests ousted President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, condemned such comments as tantamount to “terrorism.”

But he renewed accusations that the liberal opposition was inciting unrest.

“It is strange that some (in Egypt) advocate political violence and incite it while others, who claim to speak in the name of religion, allow ‘killing’ on the basis of political differences, which is terrorism itself,” a statement from Mursi’s office said.

“The presidency affirms its complete rejection of hate speech that falsely uses religion, and of which religion is innocent, and calls on national forces, religious institutions and leading thinkers to stand in a united front to confront this unacceptable language of incitement.”

Other Islamists and leftists across the political spectrum condemned Shaaban’s statement, as did the Muslim Brotherhood.

“The Muslim Brotherhood condemns calls allowing bloodshed and inciting killing, whatever their source,” it said in a statement on its website, quoting spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan.

Prime Minister Hisham Qandil said on his Facebook page the cabinet was looking into legal steps it could take against “all those who issue or spread edicts or fatwas inciting violence.”

News Analysis: Turkey, Egypt bolster ties to address regional challenges

Source : Xinhua | English.news.cn

ANKARA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) --Turkish president's recent visit to Egypt was seen as part of growing efforts on both sides to shore up their alliances against regional challenges.

President Abdullah Gul has paid a visit to Egypt at the invitation of his counterpart Mohamed Morsi earlier this week while attending the 12th summit of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

"Egypt has been facing economic and social problems as well as political polarization at home while Turkey is concerned with the spillover effect of Syrian crisis and governance issues in Iraq," Mehmet Seyfettin Erol, a professor of international relations at Ankara-based Gazi University, told Xinhua by phone, stressing that these problems force both countries to join their strengths.

Turkey has thrown a loan worth 2 billion U.S. dollars last year to Egypt to support country's ailing economy amid rampant unemployment and sharp reduction in government revenues, and Cairo is exploring ways to learn from Turkey's successful experience in economy growth and trying to lure Turkey in trade and investment.

Battered by the political crisis and mass protests at home, Morsi also banks on Turkish support to relieve domestic tension as well, observers said.

On the other hand, Turkey, fears the uncertainty in 22-month- long Syrian crisis, needs Egypt's help to facilitate the transition in its southern neighbor led by embattled President Bashar al-Assad as Ankara believes that Morsi, the former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the most organized religious group across the Middle East, could have significant impact on Syria, where the Brotherhood is also strong.

"An Egypt that steps forward into democracy and development would benefit Turkey," Sedat Laciner, the president of 18 Mart University and professor of international relations, said, underlining that both countries could benefit from stability in the region.

Attending the OIC summit, both Gul and Morsi called for a quick solution to Syrian crisis. Morsi urged all OIC members to support the Syrian opposition's efforts to unite and bring about change. Gul echoed similar remarks.

Meanwhile, Turkish-Egyptian relations have also improved in the military field. The Turkish Navy and Egyptian Navy completed a joint naval military exercise, the "2012 Sea of Friendship," in the eastern Mediterranean last year. Turkey's trade volume with Egypt stood at 5 billion U.S. dollars last year and both governments want to double that figure in near term. Hundreds of Turkish companies in construction, manufacturing, textile and health care fields have invested in Egypt.

Egypt has also come to Turkey's rescue when a transit route to the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf market through Syria was cut off for Turkey. Ankara had to turn to Egypt to replace the route, starting from Turkish Port Iskenderun to Egyptian port at Alexandria and both countries wish to turn this route to an important trade hub between Europe to Africa.

"Stronger relations between Turkey and Egypt will make the region stronger," Ibrahim Kalin, the chief foreign policy advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, adding that " While improving bilateral relations, Turkey and Egypt are set to develop a common strategic vision for regional and global issues

Israel releases former Palestinian hunger striker

Source : Al Akhbar English

Palestinian prisoner who last year staged a 120-day hunger strike to protest his detention was freed from an Israeli prison on Thursday and returned to his home in the Gaza Strip.

Akram al-Rikhawi was shown on Palestinian television being welcomed by a large crowd of well wishers as he crossed into Gaza after close to nine years in jail.

Israel convicted Rikhawi in 2004 for being a member of Hamas.

He was due to be freed in June this year, but the West Bank-based Palestinian Prisoners' Club said in July that the Israel Prisons Service agreed to bring forward his release in exchange for his ending the hunger strike.

Amnesty International on Thursday warned that two Palestinians imprisoned without charge since November were suffering deteriorating health after launching hunger strikes shortly after their arrest.

The London-based rights group said that Jaafar Ezzedine and Tareq Qaadan were visited by their lawyer last week in the medical wing of Israel’s notorious Ramleh prison.

"Jaafar and Tariq are taking only water," an Amnesty statement quoted the unnamed lawyer as saying.

"Last week both were taken to a hospital for eight hours and underwent medical checks. I was with them in the hospital and spoke to the doctors who told me their health is in a very critical state."

He added that both men accepted injections of vitamins and other supplements.

Palestinian prisoner support group Adameer says six prisoners held by Israel are currently on hunger strike.

The longest serving are Ayman Sharawneh and Samer Issawi who have been fasting for months to demand their release from imprisonment without trial.

Issawi, who has been without food for 198 days, began refusing water on Tuesday. Sharawneh launched a hunger strike in July 2011, suspended it in December, but resumed it in January over Israeli delays over his release.

Amnesty demanded that Israel either charge or release immediately those interned and end the practice of "administrative detention," under which political prisoners can be imprisoned without trial by order of a military court.

The order can be renewed indefinitely for six months at a time.

Man faces year in jail after Abbas Facebook joke

Source : Maan News Agency

NABLUS (Ma’an) -- A Palestinian court has sentenced a man from the Nablu area to a year in prison for insulting President Mahmoud Abbas on Facebook officials said Thursday.

The Nablus magistrates court sentenced Anas Saad Awwad, 26, of Awart village, in absentia to a year in prison after convicting him on charges o criticizing the government, an official said.

Khalil Assaf, the director of the public freedoms committee within a unimplemented unity deal, called the sentence itself an insult to the presiden not the supposed crime of criticizing him.

Assaf called on the court to reverse the ruling.

The defendant had been detained previously on similar charges, but wa released after paying a fine, according to his father.

"My son only commented on Facebook. You know how young peop comment," he said. "He didn't mean to insult the president. I ask the presiden to intervene personally to cancel the court's decision."

Awwad's lawyer, Rima al-Sayyed, said her client has been accused of photo shopping of Abbas wearing a Real Madrid shirt with the caption: "A ne attacker."

She declined to comment on the sentence, saying it was not final.

Last year Palestinian security forces jailed at least three people accused separate incidents of criticizing the government on social networking websites

US has secret drone base in Saudi Arabia

Source : Al Akhbar English

The Comments high-profile US drone strike that killed American-born radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen was partly conducted from a secret air base in Saudi Arabia, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The base was established two years ago as part of US efforts to intensify the pursuit of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a grouping of the Yemeni and Saudi offshoots of the global terror network, the newspaper said.

The September 2011 killing of Awlaki stoked concern because he and Samir Khan, a Pakistani-American who also died in the strike, were US citizens who had never been charged with a crime.

The White House on Tuesday defended drone strikes against Al- Qaeda suspects as legal, ethical and wise and insisted that they complied with US law and the constitution, even if they targeted Americans.

The continued focus on drones comes as White House counter- terrorism chief John Brennan goes before the Senate on Thursday for hearings on his nomination to be head of the CIA.

Brennan has been a central player in the US drone campaign, which has expanded sharply under President Barack Obama despite qualms about its legality and public outrage in Pakistan over civilian deaths.

Brennan, who once served as the CIA's station chief in Saudi Arabia, played a key role in negotiations that led to the drone base being established in the kingdom, according to the Post report.

The newspaper said it decided to reveal the location of the drone base after learning on Tuesday that another US media outlet was about to do so, ending an informal arrangement with news organizations not to publish such details.

A Justice Department memo published by NBC News on Tuesday argued that Americans high up in Al-Qaeda could be lawfully killed, even without evidence they are actively plotting an attack.

"We conduct those strikes because they are necessary to mitigate ongoing actual threats, to stop plots, to prevent future attacks and, again, save American lives," White House spokesman Jay Carney said of the memo.

(AFP)

RedditTweet9 Send by emailPrinter-friendly version Tags Category: Top News Tags: US, Saudi Related Articles US drone war may expand to northwest Africa: report The US military plans to expand its drone program to northwest Africa to bolster surveillance of Islamic militant groups, the New York Times reported Monday. A US official who spoke on condition of...

“Supporting Palestinian Nation Rights Iran’s Strategy”

Source : http://www.almanar.com.lb

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that supporting the rights of the Palestinian nation is a major strategy of Iran.

He made the remarks in Cairo in a meeting with the Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas which took place at the sideline of the 12th Summit of Organization of the Islamic Cooperation.

Praising the United Nations recognition of Palestine as a non-membe state, Ahmadinejad said the Zionist regime was already objecting to such recognition.

He said he was confident that nations are to meet a better destiny i they continue with resistance to the bullying powers, calling fo supporting Palestinian nation.

The Iranian President said enemies have been benefiting from disagreements within the Palestinian nation but there is high hope tha efforts underway to create unity among them will be fruitful.

Abbas, for his part, appreciated Iran’s supports for the Palestinian nation stating that Iranian brothers have always stood by the oppressed nation of Palestine.

Pointing to west’s pressures and the negative attitudes of a number o western and Arab governments towards membership of Palestine in the United Nations, he said Palestinians will safeguard their achievemen which he said is a big one.

Referring to his efforts to establish unity and reconciliation amon Palestinian groups, Abbas noted that the Palestinian youth are as befor seeking new ways to continue with resistance movement.

Iran to scrap visas for Egyptians

Source : Vesti Kavkaza

Iran will lift visa requirements for Egyptian tourists and businessmen, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told Ashark Alawsat.

A declaration will be made today during the final session of the OIC summit in Cairo.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the first high-ranking Iranian official to visit Egypt in the past 33 years. He invited Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to visit Tehran.

Ahmadinejad wishes to visit Gaza

Source :   Tehran Times

TEHRAN – Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is due to take part in an Islamic summit in Egypt which begins today, expressed his desire to visit the neighboring Gaza Strip in an interview with the Al Mayadeen news channel on Monday, Reuters reported.

The Iranian president arrived in Cairo on Tuesday and was officially welcomed by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

Asked in the interview whether he would visit Gaza while in Cairo or before his term as president expires in mid-summer, he replied, “My wish is bigger than this. I wish to pray in (Beit-ul-Moqaddas) after complete liberation.”

“If they allow it, I would go to Gaza to visit the people,” he said, without saying whose authority he would seek.

The Persian service of the Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday that Hamas had welcomed Ahmadinejad’s wish to visit the Gaza Strip.

Egypt controls the crossing with Gaza and leaders of Qatar and Malaysia have both visited the enclave from Egyptian territory in the last six months.

Ahmadinejad’s visit to Cairo is the first for an Iranian president since the 1979 Iranian revolution ruptured diplomatic ties between the two most populous countries in the Middle East.

He is heading Iran’s delegation to a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Cairo.

UN Chief Blasts Israeli Settlement Activity

Source : RIA Novosti

UNITED NATIONS, February 6 (RIA Novosti) - Israel’s settlement activity on Palestinian territories remains the key obstacle to the resolution of the Middle East conflict, the UN secretary general said.

“Settlement activity is a major obstacle to the two-State solution and must cease immediately,” Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday at the opening of the 2013 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

“I repeat that all settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are illegal under international law and cannot prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations,” he said.

“Negotiations must result in an agreement ending the conflict and the occupation that began in 1967 and leading to two States - Israel and Palestine - living side-by-side in peace, security and mutual recognition of each other’s legitimate rights, including self- determination,” Ban said.

In November 2012, the General Assembly recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state.

The Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of West Bank, East Jerusalem, partially occupied by Israel, and the Hamas- controlled Gaza Strip and want Israel to pull from the Palestinian territories occupied after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

Israel, however, has refused to return to the 1967 borders and is unwilling to raise the issue of Jerusalem, which it says is the indivisible capital of the Jewish state.

Syrian opposition chief willing to talk to VP Sharaa, 5 February 2013

Source : http://www.turkishweekly

Exiled Syrian opposition leader Mouaz al-Khatib has expanded on an offer to hold peace talks with the Syrian government, saying he is willing to sit down with the deputy of President Bashar al-Assad.

In interviews with Arab television networks on Monday, al-Khatib said he is extending a hand to Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa to negotiate what he called a "peaceful departure of the (Assad) regime."

The Syrian National Coalition leader first made the offer last week, saying it was conditional on the government freeing tens of thousands of prisoners and providing passports to Syrians exiled by a nearly two-year-long rebellion against Assad's authoritarian rule. The proposal angered some members of the opposition coalition, which previously had demanded that Assad leave power before negotiations could begin.

In his latest interviews, al-Khatib said he wants a dialogue with the Assad government because he has concluded that only Syrians can find a solution to the country's civil war. The international community has been divided on how to respond to the conflict, with Western powers and their Arab allies demanding Assad quit, while allies of the Syrian president such as Iran and Russia insist that no foreign power should dictate Syria's future.

Al-Khatib said his offer of talks puts the ball in the government's court. There was no immediate response from Assad, who has proposed his own national reconciliation process that offers elections and a new constitution but keeps himself in power.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said that if the Assad government has any interest in peace, it should "sit down and talk now" with the opposition coalition.

In the latest fighting on Monday, rights activists said government forces bombarded rebel-held areas around Damascus including Douma with air strikes and artillery.

U.N. humanitarian agency UNICEF said it has started an operation to deliver water-treatment chemicals to Syria to provide safe water supplies to 10 million people, almost half the country's population. It said the first four trucks carrying 80 tons of chlorine crossed from Jordan into Syria on Sunday, bound for the regions of Homs, Aleppo, Hama and Idli

China Renews Stance on Peaceful Solution to Crisis in Syria

Source : SANA, Syria

BEIJING, (SANA) – Syria and China on Tuesday exchanged viewpoints and visions about the crisis in Syria and means for solving it.

Deputy Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Faisal Mikdad, held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Zhai Jun, at Chinese Foreign Ministry HQ in Beijing in which he reviewed the political program to solve the crisis in Syria and the executive steps taken by the Syrian government in this regard.

The Chinese diplomat renewed his country's adherence to the necessity of finding peaceful solutions to the crisis in Syria according to UN Charter, the international law and Geneva Statement, without allowing any foreign intervention in Syria's domestic affairs.

Mikdad expressed his gratitude to the Chinese side for the stances adopted by Beijing regarding Syria.

Later in the meeting, the two sides reviewed issues of mutual concerns regarding the bilateral relations and means of upgrading them in different domains.

The talks were attended by Assistant Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Ahmad Arnous, Syria's Ambassador in Beijing, Imad Moustafa and Director General of the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Chen Xiaodong.