Southern Jerusalem comes under heavy
fire, 3 hurt overnight

JERUSALEM, Dec 5: Palestinians and Israelis exchanged fire for two consecutive hours last night after Palestinians again opened fire on Giloh, a residential quarter of Jerusalem.

Palestinian sources reported two injuries in Beth-Jallah, the Palestinian neighbourhood opposite Giloh, while no casualties were reported on the Israeli side.

Israeli citizens in Giloh spent their time disregarding the shots, instead watching a decisive football match on television that took place at the Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, just a few hundred meters north of the firing zone.

Israeli military sources reported several other shooting incidents in the Northern West Bank, and an Israeli civilian was slightly wounded Monday night, when his car came under gunfire in a roadside ambush in the Central West Bank. An Israeli Army spokesman denied categorically that Israel had entered the prayer house, and both sides accused each other Monday of having started the violence in the town.

Shooting, meanwhile, continued during the Monday with the Israelis once again using helicopter gunships.

But the most serious incident occurred Sunday night in Hussan where, according to conflicting reports, Palestinians said three armed settlers entered a mosque and fired at people praying, injuring 25.

They said Palestinians responded by opening fire, which led the Israeli Army to intervene.

The Palestinian authority compared the incident to the 1994 attack by Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein, who fired a submachine gun inside a mosque in Hebron, killing 29 Muslims.

The Israeli Army rejected the Palestinian version, saying villagers provoked the incident when they threw firebombs and stones at soldiers. It said no one had entered the village.

About 300 people have now been killed, more than 270 of them Palestinians, since the start of the bloody unrest at the end of September.

According to a survey released Monday, 73 per cent of all palestinians now support the new "Intifada". An institute in Bethlehem queried 400 Palestinians, 53 per cent of whom said negotiations with Israel should be ended.

Also on monday: The bullet-riddled body of Awad Selmi, 28, who belonged to the military wing of the Radical Islamic Hamas Movement, was found near the Karni border crossing point in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian doctors who performed an autopsy said the man had been shot by Israelis. He was among the prisoners released from Palestinian jails in early October. Israeli settlers blocked one of the the Gaza Strip’s main roads for several hours near the Gush Katif settlement, preventing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from passing through.

Arafat, who had just returned from the United Arab Emirates, was forced to wait for 90 minutes at the Gaza airport until the Israeli Army was able to secure his passage to Gaza City.

Upon arrival at his seat of office, the Palestinian leader brandished a submachine gun and accused the Israeli Army of having supported the settlers’ blockade.

"This was a shock for me, because we had just agreed (with the Israelis) to cool off the situation especially around the cities," Arafat told journalists.

Palestinian observers said they had never seen Arafat so furious. They noted that he had not publicly carried a weapon since the first Middle East conference in Madrid in 1991. (DPA)

Doctor says Cheney may face another heart ‘event’

WASHINGTON, Dec 5: Republican Vice Presidential nominee Dick Cheney, who suffered his fourth heart attack last month, is very likely to have another heart "event" at some point, the top cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic said in an interview broadcast yesterday by ABC news.

Cheney, 59, was given a clean bill of health last week by doctors at George Washington University Hospital, where he was treated on Nov 22 after suffering chest and shoulder pain. He underwent a cardiac catheterization to clear a blocked artery.

He is now overseeing transition plans for Republican George W Bush, whose Presidential bid won a boost Monday from a Florida Court. The court decided to let stand last month’s certification of the Texas Governor as the winner of the state’s 25 electoral college votes and thus the 270 needed to win the White House.

ABC interviewed Dr. Eric Topol, Head of Cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic, one of the nation’s top heart centers, after he discussed discussed Cheney’s case with his personal cardiologist and learned "some things" not generally known.

Given Cheney’s history of heart disease, Topol said, the former Defense Secretary would probably face more heart-related health problems in the future.

"It’s very likely that Mr. Cheney will have another heart event at some point," ABC quoted topol as saying.

He expressed concern that Cheney had gained about 40 pounds (18 kg) since having a quadruple bypass operation 12 years ago. He also said Cheney was not exercising enough.

"We like to have patients who have coronary disease to be at their ideal, what I call ‘fighting weight,’ and so clearly he isn’t there yet," Topol told the network.

Topol said he had learned that cheney took four drugs daily to lower his cholesterol, blood pressure, slow his heart rate and prevent inflammation of his arteries.

He also exercised at most twice a week, not nearly enough, according to Topol.

"It hasn’t been one of those religious-type things that it needs to be for a patient that has had heart disease," Topol said. (REUTERS)

Mori taps ex-Japan PM to bolster cabinet

TOKYO, Dec 5: In a move aimed at bolstering his shaky Government, unpopular Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori today tapped former Premier Ryutaro Hashimoto for a post in his new cabinet.

The surprise move is intended to boost the embattled Prime Minister’s chances of keeping his job at least until March, when the budget for the next fiscal year is expected to be enacted.

But analysts said it would be tough to erase deep doubts about Mori’s ability to lead at a critical time as the world’s second-largest economy struggles to stay on a recovery track.

"It is not clear whether the new cabinet can make the bold shift in direction towards fiscal and structural reforms needed to ease public doubts about the future," said University of Tokyo Professor Toshiro Ihori. "It depends on Mori’s leadership."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda announced the new ministers, who will be officially sworn in on Tuesday evening.

Hashimoto will become Minister in Charge of Administrative Reform, a post that puts him in charge of implementing a sweeping reform of Government ministries that takes effect from January.

The outspoken, Dapper Hashimoto stepped down as Prime Minister two years ago after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suffered a mauling in an Upper House election.

During his tenure, Hashimoto raised taxes and tightened spending only to see the economy slip back into recession. He is the head of the biggest faction in the multi-group ldp.

One of Japan’s most unpopular Prime Ministers ever, Mori hopes his new cabinet will boost both his image and his chances of staying in power until an Upper House election set for July.

A prolonged Mori Government would disappoint many Japanese voters, who see him as an embarrassment, and investors in Japan’s financial markets, who view him as incapable of implementing the sort of economic reforms needed to foster long-term growth and tackle a public debt already the worst among advanced nations. The grand old man of Japanese politics, Kiichi Miyazawa, 81, retained his Finance Ministry portfolio, meaning the new cabinet has two former Prime Ministers.

Veteran Foreign Minister Yohei Kono — sometimes tipped as a possible successor to Mori — also kept his post.

As expected, LDP coalition partners the new Komeito Party and the tiny new conservative party each got one seat.

But Mori suffered a blow earlier when economic planning agency chief Taichi Sakaiya told reporters he was sticking to his stated intention not to take a position in the new cabinet.

Sakaiya — an author and commentator first tapped for his post by late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi in 1998 — has been a powerful spokesman for the Government’s economic policies.

Mori, tapped by LDP barons in April for the top spot after his predecessor suffered a fatal stroke, has seen his popularity plummet after a string of verbal blunders and the resignation of two scandal-hit cabinet ministers.

Pressure from LDP lawmakers and coalition partners on mori to step down is expected to mount ahead of the Upper House poll.

The doubts about Mori’s ability to lead come as japan’s economy struggles to keep a fragile recovery from its worst-ever recession from slipping back into a slump.

Data released on Monday showed gross domestic product grew a real 0.2 percent in the July-September quarter from the previous quarter, an annualised rate of 1.0 percent.

But for how long

Former Defence Minister Fukushiro Nukaga, 56, — a member of Hashimoto’s faction — will fill the key post of economic and fiscal policy minister, a position that effectively replaces the economic planning minister.

Hakuo Yanagisawa, 65, a former finance bureaucrat who won top marks from foreign investors for his tough approach to cleaning up Japan’s banking system as the head of the financial reconstruction committee, becomes financial services minister.

How long Mori, who survived a rare and raucous challenge by LDP reformers to unseat him last month, will last is unclear.

The rebellion was quashed when reformist Koichi Kato backed down, but Mori’s shaky power base suffered another blow last week when key powerbroker, Hiromu Nonaka, resigned from the number two party post. Nonaka is an elder of Hashimoto’s LDP faction.

Hashimoto’s decision to join the cabinet may not be enough to send his popularity ratings — languishing below the critical 20 percent — much higher, analysts said.

"I don’t think this will change its unpopular image," said an analyst at a foreign brokerage in Tokyo. "There’s a small chance Mori will be pushed out in January, otherwise it’s even money on whether he lasts till July or not." (REUTERS)

US welcomes Pak’s announcement of truce along LoC

WASHINGTON, Dec 5: The US welcomed as a "positive development" Pakistan’s announcement of temporary truce along the Line of Control in response to India’s Ramzan cease-fire declaration.

"There have been positive developments... Pakistan has reiterated its intention to exercise maximum restraint along the Line of Control in Kashmir, and we certainly welcome that," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher yesterday said.

Stating that Washington had been calling for restraint and respect for the LoC, he said "Pakistan’s affirmation of that principle is an important complement to the suspension of military operations announced by India last week. So that is certainly a welcome development in that region."

Responding to India’s cease-fire offer, Pakistan on Saturday announced that it would exercise maximum restraint along the LoC. (PTI)

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