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Thursday August 2, 2007

Shorts: mideast

Ex-NBA player seeks Israeli citizenship

Cory Carr, one of the greatest basketball players in Texas Tech University history, has petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to grant him citizenship.

The U.S.-born Carr, 32, is married to an Israeli and the couple has a young daughter. After a brief stint with the Chicago Bulls, Carr plied his trade overseas and has played the last six seasons in Israel. The 6-foot-4 guard made his case late last month. The court’s decision is pending. — jta

Hezbollah head tops Olmert in credibility

Israelis regard Ehud Olmert as less credible than the leader of Hezbollah, a poll found.

The survey, published in Yediot Acharonot last week, found that 49 percent of Israelis rate Sheik Hassan Nasrallah as “very” or “quite” credible, as opposed to 24 percent who say the same about their prime minister.

Forty-two percent described the Hezbollah chief as not credible. Seventy-four percent said that about Olmert, whom many Israelis blame for the setbacks — including the failure to kill Nasrallah — of the 34-day conflict, and whose government has been dogged by graft and sleaze scandals. The survey had 500 respondents. A margin of error was not given. — jta

Mossad helped free medics from Libya

The Mossad helped free the medical team sentenced to death in Libya, Bulgaria’s intelligence chief said Monday, July 30.

Gen. Kirtcho Kirov told the 24-Tchassa daily that Israel’s intelligence agency was one of 20 countries whose security services were active in trying to release a Palestinian doctor and five Bulgarian nurses convicted in Libya for infecting children with AIDS. The six were allowed to return to their countries last week.

Kirov said the fate of the medics was nothing more than “a grain of sand in the eye of an enormous hurricane bringing together major interests” in Libya, including arms sales and oil concessions, according to the AFP news agency. Besides the Mossad and Western intelligence agencies, some Arab countries, including Egypt, Algeria and Morocco, provided helpful information, Kirov said. — jta

Olmert, Abbas in secret talks

Israel’s prime minister and the Palestinian Authority president opened secret talks on a final-status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, Arab media reported. The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported Tuesday, July 31 that in a meeting two weeks ago, Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas agreed to start negotiating such issues as the future of Jerusalem, final borders and the right of return for Palestinian refugees. — jta

U.S. visa exemption for Israelis

Israelis may soon be able to visit the United States without applying for a visa. Congress approved a bill last week allowing the citizens of several countries, including Israel, to enter the United States for up to 90 days without applying for a visa.

If approved by President Bush, the legislation will replace current regulations that require a nation’s U.S. entry-refusal rate to be less than 3 percent before that country’s citizens can enjoy visa-waiver status. Under the new measure, the limit for 12 countries, including Israel, would be raised to 10 percent. — jta

Hoops star wants Israeli citizenship

Cory Carr, one of the greatest basketball players in Texas Tech University history, has petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to grant him citizenship.

The U.S.-born Carr, 32, is married to an Israeli woman and the couple has a young daughter. After a brief stint with the Chicago Bulls, Carr plied his trade overseas and has played the last six seasons in Israel. The 6-foot-4 guard made his case late last month. The court’s decision is pending. — jta

Nasrallah tops Olmert

Israelis regard Ehud Olmert as less credible than the leader of Hezbollah, a poll found.

The survey, published in Yediot Acharonot last week, found that 49 percent of Israelis rate Sheik Hassan Nasrallah as “very” or “quite” credible, as opposed to 24 percent who say the same about their prime minister.

Forty-two percent described the Hezbollah chief as not credible. Seventy-four percent said that about Olmert, whom many Israelis blame for the setbacks — including the failure to kill Nasrallah — of the 34-day conflict, and whose government has been dogged by graft and sleaze scandals. The survey had 500 respondents. A margin of error was not given. — jta

Mossad helped free medics from Libya

The Mossad helped free the medical team sentenced to death in Libya, Bulgaria’s intelligence chief said Monday, July 30.

Gen. Kirtcho Kirov said Israel’s intelligence agency was one of 20 countries whose security services were active in trying to release a Palestinian doctor and five Bulgarian nurses convicted in Libya for infecting children with AIDS. The six were allowed to return to their countries last week.

Kirov said the fate of the medics was nothing more than “a grain of sand in the eye of an enormous hurricane bringing together major interests” in Libya, including arms sales and oil concessions. Besides the Mossad and Western intelligence agencies, some Arab countries, including Egypt, Algeria and Morocco, provided helpful information, Kirov said. — jta

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