January 26, 2008
The Latest From Gaza
-- By CNN's Aneesh Raman
Let there be no doubt. Egypt is far from securing its border with gaza. As we rode to the border we saw egyptian troops throwing rocks on the road as makeshift barriers. But its doing little to stop the flow not just of Gazans but also, for the first time, Palestinian cars, taxis, flatbed trucks - a little of everything. And to see how difficult this situation is to bring under control you only have to go to where it began. Just moments ago, I stood on part of the main wall that came tumbling down Wednesday. There were less than a dozen Egyptian security forces, even fewer Hamas forces on the Gaza side and thousands of Gazans still walking into Egypt. Kids are even using the wall as a slide, so unthreatened are the Palestinians that the wall is going up anytime soon. It is a pandora's box of sorts that is now open and it's up to the Egyptian president to secure the border to appease his international allies; but to not do so with a heavy hand to keep Egyptians happy as well. We will see if he can pull that off. 33 Comments
Add a commentMideast Snapshot - The Camel Crane Edition
 A camel is swung into Gaza across the border with Egypt. (Photo Eyad Baba/AP)Watch CNN's latest story on the border chaos here. January 25, 2008
Mideast Snapshot - Begging On The Streets Of Baghdad
 CNN Badghad Producer Mohammed Tawfeeq snapped this picture from the backseat of a car in Baghdad on January 18th, 2008.
January 24, 2008
Shimon Peres On Gaza: It's Mubarak's Problem
Israeli President Shimon Peres spoke to CNN in Davos. I asked him if the Israeli governement had spoken with Hosni Mubarak, asking the Egyptians to seal the border back up.
Update: CNN's Aneesh Raman just gave me an update on the situation close to the Gaza-Egypt border. He tells me that the scene in the nearby village of El-Arish is what can be best described as a "chaos of buying" and that some Gazans are on their third trip into Egypt to stock up on supplies. Watch Ben Wedeman's story on the Gaza border crisis here. January 22, 2008
Sins Of The Father - OBL's Son Speaks Out
--By CNN's Aneesh Raman When I first met Omar Bin Laden, it was as he strolled into the living room of his apartment an hour outside Cairo. My camerawoman and I were talking with his wife, Zaina, and as he entered, the physical resemblance to his father, especially in his face, stood out.  Omar is very laid back, soft-spoken and communicated through broken English he picked up on his own from talking with his wife, a British national, over the past year or so. We spoke for over an hour and throughout you could tell this was someone struggling with his identity.  Omar grew up in Al-Qaeda, started training as a fighter at 14, until ultimately splitting, he says, with his father in 2000. Now he is trying to speak out for peace. But it's far from a given that anybody will listen. He is of course the son of the worlds most wanted man. Omar wouldn't call his father a terrorist - saying Osama believes he is doing God's work and that religious clerics around the Al Qaeda leader continue to give him justification in Islam for his actions. But Omar did call on his father to stop killing innocent civilians. For some this will be too small a step for a son whose father is responsible for the deaths of so many. For some that he is making any step at all will be welcome. At the core, the next few months will test Omar's resolve for the message of peace. He and his wife have planned a horse race later this year, and are planning to speak out more openly about encouraging dialogue between all sides. Whether he'll be able to pull it off rests largely in whether the world can accept Omar Bin Laden talking about peace while Osama Bin Laden continues to encourage terrorist attacks.
January 21, 2008
Gaza Plunged Into Darkness
CNN- Israel agreed Monday to relax a blockade of Gaza after fuel shortages left residents struggling with severe power cuts amid concerns from aid agencies of a humanitarian crisis.  A Palestinian man uses a lantern at his shop after the power was cut in Gaza City on Sunday. The block on the entrance of fuel, food, and medicine has led to long lines at bakeries, left hospitals without heat and gas stations closed. The Israeli government said any Palestinians who need medical treatment would be allowed to cross. Much of Gaza was in the dark Sunday night and Monday. Long lines stretched around bakeries, some of which had to shut because their power supply was cut; use of generators was limited for fear the fuel used to operate them would run out. At Shiffa Hospital in Gaza City, patients lay next to blank monitors and other equipment that was turned off. CNN's Ben Wedeman said from Gaza one hospital had lights only in the intensive care unit, and that doctors on the wards were using candles and flashlights. An Israel-based human rights group which advocates easing of movement for Palestinians said the closing of the borders was "paralyzing" vital systems in Gaza like hospitals, water and sewage pumps, and schools. The group, Gisha, said that without fuel, Gaza's power plant would have to shut down. Gaza receives about 70 percent of its electricity from Israel, and the bulk of the remaining power comes from a generation plant in Gaza. That plant relies on fuel supplied by an Israeli company. "While the fuel supply from Israel into Gaza has indeed been reduced, due to the Hamas rocket attacks, the diversion of this fuel from domestic power generators to other uses is wholly a Hamas decision -- apparently taken due to media and propaganda considerations," a Foreign Ministry statement read. "Noteworthy is the fact that while the Gaza population remains in the dark, the fuel generating power to the Hamas rocket manufacturing industry continues to flow unabated." The Foreign Ministry said there was no shortage of basic foodstuffs in Gaza. Gisha said Gaza's residents were already suffering an electricity deficit of 35 percent and that the number would increase to 48 percent if the Gaza power plant were to shut down. "We condemn the illegal rocket attacks on civilians in southern Israel," Gisha said in a statement. "But punishing Gaza's 1.5 million civilians does not stop the rocket fire; it only creates an impossible 'balance' of human suffering on both sides of the border." "Girl Of Qatif" Lawyer Gets His Licence Back
 CNN has confirmed that Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, the man who defended the so-called "Girl of Qatif", has been given his licence to practice law back by Saudi officials. What is still unclear is whether charges brought against him last November in connection with his defense of a female rape victim have been dropped.
The case of the "Girl of Qatif" created worldwide consternation a few months ago when the victim was also sentenced to punishment for being in a car with an unrelated man at the time of her attack. Saudi Arabia's King eventually pardonned the young woman, but authorities in the Kingdom were quick to say that didn't mean the monarch felt the punishment was wrong. January 20, 2008
Mideast Snapshot
Shiite Muslims participating in Ashura commemorations on the streets of Baghdad's Kadhimaya neighborhood, January 19th 2008. (Photo by CNN cameraman Ahmed Mnati)
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