Headlines Across The Middle East On Friday

EGYPT
-- AL-AHRAM
"Mubarak Discusses Iraqi and Palestinian Developments with Allawi, Shara"
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held talks with Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara on developments in the region, focusing on the situation in Iraq and the occupied Palestiain territories.

-- AL-AKHBAR:
"Egyptian-Iraqi Cooperation in Security, Economic Development: Allawi"
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met yesterday with Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who said afterwards they discussed many important issues and thanked Mubarak for his support and that of Egypt for Iraq.

ISRAEL
-- HAARETZ
"Solana: EU Has Role in Mideast Peace Talks, Like It or Not"
The European Union will be involved in any Israeli-Palestinian peace process, whether Israeli likes it or not, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said during a vist to Israel yesterday.

-- JERUSALEM POST
"Al-Qaeda Planned Eilat Plane Attack"
In the summer of 2001, shortly before the September 11 attacks, Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, mastermind of the terrorist plot against the US, suggested to Osama bin Laden that Al-Qaeda recruit a Saudi pilot "to commandeer a Saudi fighter jet and attack the Israeli city of Eilat," the final report of the national commission investigating the attacks said.

JORDAN
-- JORDAN TIMES
"Frosty Reception for Solana"
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told visiting EU envoy Javier Solana Thursday that Europe could be frozen out of the Middle East peace process after universally condemning Israel's West Bank barrier.

-- AL-DUSTOUR
"Arafat Calls on Palestinian PM to Make Wide-Ranging Cabinet Changes"
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat urged his estranged prime minister, Ahmed Qorei, to make wide-ranging changes to his cabinet.

LEBANON
-- L'ORIENT LE JOUR
"Israel Says EU Has Disqualified Itself from Role in Mideast Peace Process"
Israel said yesterday during a visit by EU foreign policy envoy Javier Solana that Europe, by voting in favor of the UN resolution condemning the West Bank barrier, had disqualified itself from playing an active diplomatic role in the peace process.

-- DAILY STAR
"Arafat Grants Estranged Premier Control over Security Forces"
Under growing pressure from his own people, Yasser Arafat agreed to grant his prime minister full authority over the security forces, a lawmaker said Thursday after meeting the Palestinian president.

-- AS-SAFIR
"Egypt Proposes Summit, Washington Reserved, Israel Opposed"
Israel quickly turned aside a proposal by Egypt on holding a seven-way summit on Israel's separation plan and reactivating the roadmap. Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority would attend along with the so-called quartet of the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union.

SAUDI ARABIA
-- ARAB NEWS
"Two More Terrorists Surrender as Amnesty Expires"
Two terrorists wanted in connection with a series of bombings and shooting incidents that have rocked Saudi Arabia over the past two years surrendered to the authorities yesterday just hours before the expiry of a royal pardon.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
-- KHALEEJ TIMES
"UAE One of the Safest Tourist Destinations"
September 11 events have proved to be a major catastrophe for the US as well as world tourism and travel industries, but tourism in the UAE is still doing well and even better due primarily to the fact that the country is one of the safest destinations in the world.

-- AL-KHALEEJ
"Mediator Says Al-Qaeda Chief in Saudi Arabia Ready to Surrender"
As the royal pardon granted to terror suspects in Saudi Arabia expired Thursday night, mediator Sheikh Safar al-Hawali announced that three of the top wanted suspects, including Saleh al-Oufi, head of the so-called Al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula organization, were ready to negotiate their surrender to authorities.

OTHER
-- AL-HAYAT:
"Saudi Arabia: Amnesty Period Ends with Surrender of Six Wanted Men"
Several individuals wanted in Saudi Arabia in connection with terrorist activities rushed to surrender or contact authorities expressing their desire to do so as an amnesty announced by the Saudi government was about to expire at midnight.