BEIRUT: Indifference and skepticism prevail among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, feelings also present among most Arab nations, where little or nothing is expected from the future Israeli government.Leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) Osama Hamdan, residing in Lebanon, and Fawzi Barhoum, in Gaza, said the expect "more of the same" from the Israeli policy.Hamdan affirmed he expects little from the administration that will emerge from the already complex negotiations between the Kadima and Likud parties, as their electoral program is pretty similar.According to preliminary results of the Israeli elections on Tuesday, current Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the Kadima leader, has won 28 of the 120 parliamentary seats.Conservative Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud leader, goes next with 27 seats, followed by ultranationalist Avigdor Lieberman (15), from Yisrael Beiteinu faction, thus making believe the future executive will comprise the most radical sectors, chiefly anti-Palestinians.In principle, it seems Netanyahu could obtain 65 seats from alliances with ultra-rightists and ultra-religious, while Livni would only win 55.Meanwhile, Barhoum rated Gaza as "the first victim of electoral demagogy by the Israeli runners," and sustained he sees no difference among the Zionist parties."We have known them for many years, and they have all massacred the Palestinian people," the Islamic leader affirmed when noting that all those factions have tried to "demonstrate which is the most extremist with Palestinians to win the elections."
BAGHDAD: Nearly 500 U.S. Army combat engineers who specialize in clearing roads of explosives started shifting to southern Afghanistan."We are probably going to be the beginning of the influx you are going to see to Afghanistan," Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Engineer Battalion, said as crews packed crates and cleaned vehicles for the flight to Kandahar.Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American troops already battling the resurgent Taliban."We are going to take this footprint out of Iraq," said Landers, whose battalion received word of its reassignment last month just after taking command of clearing roads in Baghdad of bombs and debris.
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