Shorts: Mideast

Israel offers earthquake aid

jerusalem (jta) | Israel offered aid to earthquake-struck Pakistan. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told the Cabinet last week that he had extended an offer to send emergency personnel and equipment to victims of the tremor that struck Pakistan and India, but that no response had been received.

Islamabad, which only recently broached normalization with Jerusalem, is seen as unlikely to take up the aid offer. Israeli media reports said some extremists in Pakistan had blamed the earthquake, which killed at least 20,000 people, on the government's willingness to seek a rapprochement with the Jewish state.




Abbas to speak at Rabin memorial

jerusalem (jta) | The Palestinian Authority president and prime minister will attend an Israeli conference in memory of Yitzhak Rabin.

Netanya Academic College, which is holding a conference marking the 10th anniversary of Rabin's assassination Nov. 15 and 16, said that Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia are expected to be among foreign dignitaries attending. Abbas will also deliver a speech — the first by a Palestinian Authority president to an Israeli forum. Palestinian officials conditioned the attendance on maintaining the relative calm that has held since last month's violence in Gaza ended.




Al-Qaida plans to destroy Israel last

jerusalem (jta) | An al-Qaida leader set destroying Israel as the group's final objective in the Middle East.

A letter by Ayman Al-Zawahiri, intercepted by the Pentagon and publicized last week, the al-Qaida deputy chief predicted victory against U.S.-led occupation forces in Iraq. He said this must lead to the establishment of an Islamic regime in neighboring Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.

Then the group can wage a battle to destroy the Jewish state, Zawahiri wrote to the al-Qaida leader in Iraq, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. Israel's recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip has stirred concern that al Qaida elements could penetrate the coastal area from Egypt's Sinai region.




Daylight savings over

jerusalem (jta) | Israeli clocks moved back one hour. Daylight-savings time ended Sunday morning, Oct. 9 in Israel. It will begin again on March 31.