Oruç Reis (also called Barbarossa or Redbeard) (Turkish: Aruj or Oruç Reis, Arabic: عروج بربروس, Spanish: Arrudye; c. 1474 – 1518) was a Turkish privateer and Ottoman Bey (Governor) of Algiers and Beylerbey (Chief Governor) of the West Mediterranean. He was born on the island of Midilli (Lesbos) in today's Greece and was killed in a battle with the Spaniards in Algeria. He became known as Baba Aruj or Baba Oruç (Father Aruj) when he transported large numbers of Mudejar refugees from Spain to North Africa; he was known through folk etymology in Europe as Barbarossa (which meant "redbeard" in Italian).
He was the older brother of the famous Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa.

Background

Oruç was one of four brothers who were born in the 1470s on the island of Lesbos (Λέσβος) to their Muslim Turkish father, Yakup Ağa, and his Christian Greek wife, Katerina. According to Ottoman archives Yakup Ağa was a Tımarlı Sipahi, i.e. a Turkish feudal cavalry knight, whose family had its origins in Eceabat and Balıkesir, and later moved to the Ottoman city of Vardar Yenice, now Giannitsa, near Thessaloniki. Yakup Ağa was among those appointed by Sultan Mehmed II to capture Lesbos from the Genoese in 1462, and he was granted the fief of Bonova village as a reward for fighting for the cause. He married a local Greek girl from Mytilene named Katerina, and they had two daughters and four sons: Ishak, Oruç, Hızır and Ilyas. Yakup became an established potter and purchased a boat of his own to trade his products. The brothers helped their father with his business, but not much is known about the sisters.

Early career

All four brothers became seamen, engaged in marine affairs and international sea trade. Oruç was the first brother to be involved in seamanship, soon joined by the youngest brother Ilyas. Hızır initially helped their father in the pottery business, but later obtained a ship of his own and also began a career at sea. Ishak, the eldest, remained on Mytilene and was involved with the financial affairs of the family business. The other three brothers initially worked as sailors, but then turned privateers in the Mediterranean, counteracting the privateering of the Knights of St. John of the Island of Rhodes. Oruç and Ilyas operated in the Levant, between Anatolia, Syria and Egypt, while Hızır operated in the Aegean Sea and based his operations mostly in Thessaloniki.

Oruç was a very successful seaman. He also learned to speak Italian, Spanish, French, Greek and Arabic in the early years of his career. While returning from a trading expedition in Tripoli, Lebanon, he and Ilyas were attacked by a galley of the Knights of St. John. Ilyas was killed in the fight, and Oruç was wounded. Their father's boat was captured, and Oruç was taken prisoner and detained in the Knights' Bodrum Castle for nearly three years. Upon learning the location of his brother, Hızır went to Bodrum and managed to help Oruç escape.

Oruç Reis the corsair

Oruç later went to Antalya, where he was given 18 galleys by Shehzade Korkud, an Ottoman prince and governor of the city, and charged with fighting against the Knights of St. John who inflicted serious damage on Ottoman shipping and trade. In the following years, when Shehzade Korkud became governor of Manisa, he gave Oruç Reis a larger fleet of 24 galleys at the port of İzmir and ordered him to participate in the Ottoman naval expedition to Puglia in Italy, where Oruç bombarded several coastal forts and captured two ships. On his way back to Lesbos, he stopped at Euboea and captured three galleons and another ship. Reaching Mytilene with these captured vessels, Oruç learned that Shehzade Korkud, brother of the new Ottoman sultan, had fled to Egypt in order to avoid being killed because of succession disputes — a common practice at that time in the House of Osman. Fearing trouble due to his well-known association with the Ottoman prince in exile, Oruç sailed to Egypt where he met Shehzade Korkud in Cairo and managed to get an audience with the Mamluk Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri, who gave him another ship and charged him to raid the coasts of Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean that were controlled by Christian powers. After passing the winter in Cairo, he set sail from Alexandria and operated along the coasts of Liguria and Sicily.

In 1503 Oruç Reis managed to seize three more ships and made the island of Djerba his new base, thus moving his operations to the Western Mediterranean. Hızır joined Oruç Reis at Djerba. In 1504 the two brothers asked Abu Abdullah Mohammed Hamis, sultan of Tunisia from the Beni Hafs dynasty, for permission to use the strategically located port of La Goulette for their operations. They were granted this right, with the condition of leaving one third of their booty to the sultan. Oruç Reis, in command of small galliots, captured two much larger Papal galleys near the island of Elba. Later, near Lipari, the two brothers captured a Sicilian warship, the Cavalleria, with 380 Spanish soldiers and 60 Spanish knights from Aragon on board, who were on their way from Spain to Naples. In 1505 they raided the coasts of Calabria. These accomplishments increased their fame and they were joined by a number of other well-known Muslim corsairs, including Kurtoğlu (known in the West as Curtogoli). In 1508 they raided the coasts of Liguria, particularly Diano Marina.

In 1509 Ishak also left Mytilene and joined his brothers at La Goulette. The fame of Oruç Reis increased when between 1504 and 1510 he transported Muslim Mudejars from Christian Spain to North Africa. His efforts of helping the Muslims of Spain in need and transporting them to safer lands earned him the honorific name Baba Oruç (Father Aruj), which eventually— due to the similarity in sound— evolved in Spain, Italy and France into Barbarossa (Redbeard in Italian).

In 1510 the three brothers raided Cape Passero in Sicily and repulsed a Spanish attack on Bougie, Oran and Algiers. In August 1511 they raided the areas around Reggio Calabria in southern Italy. In August 1512 the exiled ruler of Bougie invited the brothers to drive out the Spaniards, and during the battle Oruç Reis lost his left arm. This incident earned him the nickname Gümüş Kol (Silver Arm in Turkish), in reference to the silver prosthetic device which he used in place of his missing limb. Later that year the three brothers raided the coasts of Andalusia in Spain, capturing a galliot of the Lomellini family of Genoa who owned the Tabarca island in that area. They subsequently landed on Minorca and captured a coastal castle, and then headed towards Liguria and captured four Genoese galleys near Genoa. The Genoese sent a fleet to liberate their ships, but the brothers captured their flagship as well. After capturing a total of 23 ships in less than a month, the brothers sailed back to La Goulette.

There they built three more galliots and a gunpowder production facility. In 1513 they captured four English ships on their way to France, raided Valencia where they captured four more ships, and then headed for Alicante and captured a Spanish galley near Málaga. In 1513 and 1514 the three brothers engaged Spanish squadrons on several other occasions and moved to their new base in Cherchell, east of Algiers. In 1514, with 12 galliots and 1,000 Turks, they destroyed two Spanish fortresses at Bougie, and when a Spanish fleet under the command of Miguel de Gurrea, viceroy of Majorca, arrived for assistance, they headed towards Ceuta and raided that city before capturing Jijel in Algeria, which was under Genoese control. They later captured Mahdiya in Tunisia. Afterwards they raided the coasts of Sicily, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands and the Spanish mainland, capturing three large ships there. In 1515 they captured several galleons, a galley and three barques at Majorca. Still in 1515 Oruç Reis sent precious gifts to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I who, in return, sent him two galleys and two swords embellished with diamonds. In 1516, joined by Kurtoğlu, the brothers besieged the Castle of Elba, before heading once more towards Liguria where they captured 12 ships and damaged 28 others.

Ruler of Algiers

In 1516 the three brothers succeeded in liberating Jijel and Algiers from the Spaniards, but eventually assumed control over the cities and surrounding region, forcing the previous ruler, Abu Hamo Musa III of the Beni Ziyad dynasty, to flee. The local Spaniards in Algiers sought refuge in the island of Peñón near Algiers and asked Emperor Charles V, King of Spain, to intervene, but the Spanish fleet failed to force the brothers out of Algiers.

After consolidating his power and declaring himself the new Sultan of Algiers, Oruç Reis sought to enhance his territory inlands and took Miliana, Medea and Ténès. He became known for attaching sails to cannons for transport through the deserts of North Africa. In 1517 the brothers raided Capo Limiti and later the Island of Capo Rizzuto in Calabria.

Algiers joins the Ottoman Empire

For Oruç Reis the best protection against Spain was to join the Ottoman Empire, his homeland and Spain's main rival. For this he had to relinquish his title of Sultan of Algiers to the Ottomans. He did this in 1517 and offered Algiers to the Ottoman Sultan. The Sultan accepted Algiers as an Ottoman Sanjak (province), appointed Oruç as the Bey (Governor) of Algiers and Beylerbey (Chief Governor) of West Mediterranean, and promised to support him with janissaries, galleys and cannons.

Final engagements and death of Oruç Reis and Ishak

The Spaniards ordered Abu Zayan, whom they had appointed as the new ruler of Tlemcen and Oran, to attack Oruç Reis by land, but Oruç learned of the plan and pre-emptively struck against Tlemcen, capturing the city and executing Abu Zayan. The only survivor of Abu Zayan's dynasty was Sheikh Buhammud, who escaped to Oran and called for Spain's assistance.

In May 1518 Emperor Charles V arrived at Oran and was received there by Sheikh Buhammud and the Spanish governor of the city, Diego de Cordoba, marquess of Comares, who commanded a force of 10,000 Spanish soldiers. Joined by thousands of Bedouins, the Spaniards marched overland on Tlemcen where Oruç Reis and Ishak awaited them with 1,500 Turkish and 5,000 Moorish soldiers. They defended Tlemcen for 20 days, but were eventually killed in combat by the forces of Garcia de Tineo.

The last remaining brother, Hızır Reis, inherited his brother's place, his name (Barbarossa) and his mission.

Legacy

Oruç Reis established the Turkish presence in North Africa which lasted 4 centuries, de facto until the loss of Libya to Italy in 1912 and de jure until the official loss of Egypt and Sudan to the United Kingdom in 1914, after the Ottoman Empire joined World War I on the side of the Central Powers. The Republic of Turkey officially renounced the remaining disputed Turkish rights in some territories of Egypt and Sudan with the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

Several submarines of the Turkish Navy have been named after Oruç Reis (see Oruç Reis class submarine).

Barbarossa was the influence behind the character, Captain Hector Barbossa from the movie [[The Pirates of the Carribean]]. It was revealed that costar Johnny Depp played a decisive part in providing the name. His last name is both a pun on the surname of Portuguese origin "Barbosa" and is based on Barbarossa, the Ottoman privateer. The word is a combination of the Italian words barba (beard) and ossa (bones) which is very consistent with his skeletal look shown in the first movie.

Algeria seeks a partnership with South Korea that provides for technology transfer, says the minister of industry and the promotion of investment hamid Temmar . He was speaking Tuesday before the 6th session of the joint task force between Algeria and South Korea.
He wished Algerian and Korean investors would go the creation of joint-ventures in the fields of mechanics and petrochemicals. Regarding the auto making sector, Temmar said Algeria wants to go beyond assembling to a real industry.
For his part the Korean minister of economy and knowledge Kim Young Hak, asserted that the two parties have agreed on the areas in which Korea is majoring such as computer systems, construction and equipments.

WASHINGTON (Agencies)

U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Saudi Arabia on June 3 for talks on Iran's nuclear program and Washington's renewed push for a Middle East peace plan, the White House said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, is a staunch U.S. ally in the region and has been a key player in the drive for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which Obama has declared a top foreign policy priority.

The visit will come at the start of a trip by Obama that will also take him to Europe and Egypt, where he is scheduled to give a major speech to the Muslim world.

President Obama will meet with Saudi King Abdullah "The president will meet with his majesty King Abdullah to discuss a range of important issues, including Middle East peace, Iran and terrorism," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "The president believes it's a chance to discuss a lot of important business and he thought it was a good opportunity to do that," he said.

" The president will meet with his majesty King Abdullah to discuss a range of important issues, including Middle East peace, Iran and terrorism " White House spokesman Robert Gibbs The visit comes at a time when Obama is seeking to build an alliance of Muslim nations to pressure Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, which Washington fears is a cover to build a nuclear bomb. After the meeting with King Abdullah, Obama will make a long-awaited address to Muslims in Egypt on June 4, accelerating his bid to mend the U.S. image in the Islamic world. White House officials said the speech, fulfilling an Obama campaign promise, would focus on how Americans and Muslims abroad can secure the "safety and security" of their children in a more hopeful future.

Source: Press TV

North Korea Tuesday fired two short-range missiles, one day after staging a nuclear test, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

The North launched one ground-to-air and one ground-to-ship missile into the sea off its east coast near the city of Hamhung, it quoted a South Korean government source as saying.

"Intelligence authorities are analyzing the motives for the firing," the source was quoted as saying, adding each missile had a range of 130 kilometers (81 miles).

The most volatile region in the world is going nuclear.

In the Arab world, at least thirteen nations, both oil-rich and oil-thirsty, are collaborating with world powers to build nuclear energy programmes with unprecedented determination.

As energy and water needs grow, they are confronting the inevitable depletion of oil and natural gas. The nuclear option has trumped renewables as a means to generate electricity while guaranteeing long term security.

While no Arab leader will readily admit that Iran's nuclear capabilities have spurred, at least in part, their nuclear ambitions, Richard Falk, chair of the board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, says the perceived threat from Iran must be a factor.

"Most of the rationale for these expanded nuclear energy programs is almost always related to domestic factors, increasing electricity demand and the expense of importing energy," Falk said.

"But now that Iran is at least a latent nuclear weapon state, it doesn't make any sense [for Arab states] to proceed in [the non-nuclear] direction anymore. It seems they think they need to have their own long-term security in mind," he said.

Energy experts and international government officials met in Dubai for the GCC's first Nuclear Summit, a meeting that addressed the justifications, conditions and logistics for developing nuclear power to the Gulf and broader Middle East.

"We are now witnessing a very rapid nuclear renaissance that is driven by energy security and climate change considerations," Adnan Shihab-Eldin, a nuclear physicist and Opec's former secretary general said yesterday in a keynote address at the summit. "It does appear at this point in time that the nuclear option is a must for GCC countries."

With electricity and desalination demands estimated to increase by about 10 per cent annually by 2015, the GCC is in dire need of diversifying their energy sources.

Economig growth and electricity demands have increased dramatically in the UAE, which estimates it would need 40,000MW of electricity to meet domestic demand by 2020.

The UAE plans to generate 15,000MW of electricity by 2020 from nuclear energy at a quarter of the cost of gas powered plants and already have several construction companies bidding to sign on.

Meanwhile, France, Russia, China and the US are ardently competing with other nuclear states to sign lucrative deals with the eager Arabs ,who are also competing with one another to attract the best investors and suppliers, despite previous plans of regional cooperation.

In 1999, the Arab League urged member states to enhance nuclear science and technology, but despite calls for regional cooperation, few countries made a sincere effort.

Last month at the Arab League Summit, the league's Secretary General, Amr Moussa announced plans to launch an inter-Arab dialogue for nuclear cooperation and said that the Arab world is "extremely concerned by Israel's nuclear programs…but that the Middle East should be an area that is free of weapons of mass destruction."

"The condition to join this program will be based upon joining the NPT and agreeing that all nuclear efforts will be for peaceful purposes."

But the rhetoric does not match reality in the region as the prospect for cooperation seems to be diminishing.

Those that had previously explored avenues of cooperating, such as the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, who logistically are set to benefit most due to their relative size and limitations, seem to be going it alone now.

"There is a lack of cooperation because each country want to be the first," Kamal Araj, vice-chairman of the Commission for Nuclear Energy in Jordan told Al Jazeera, "I think it is really childish."

The United Arab Emirates are working hard to be the first to develop a nuclear power program. But many question their approach, which Araj claims is too heavily invested in importing the facilities, training and expertise from abroad.

"It doesn't make sense to operate a programme using foreigners and get experts who you will pay $1 mn to each," he said. "For us, we are looking at the most economic choice."

If current plans are realized, within a decade there would be about a dozen nuclear reactors in the region, which makes the option of having a regional enrichment facility extremely viable.

"Regional cooperation makes economic sense rather than investing foolishly," Araj said.

The issue of waste disposal poses a key incentive for Arab states to work together. A nuclear repository would reduce stress on smaller countries like the UAE by excusing them from needing their own.

Araj supports the idea of a regional repository, stressing the importance of approaching it as a potential resource, not just a nuclear dump site.

"It doesn't make sense for each country to have a nuclear repository to store high-level waste for a long long time," he said.

"If one nation were to host the regional repository in exchange for financial incentives, they would need to safeguard the waste for 100-150 years until the radioactivity had decreased to the environmental - then it would no longer pose a threat to the environment."

Still two distinct nuclear approaches are evident as illustrated by Jordan and the UAE.

With virtually no oil or gas and suffering from severe water shortages, Jordan is in dire need of developing alternative energy sources.

Before the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Jordan relied on hydrocarbon imports from Iraq to support 95% of its energy consumption, receiving oil at an extremely cheap rate. But in 2003, Iraq began charging full market prices, forcing Jordan to end its generous domestic fuel subsidies.

"The volatility is a major factor," Araj said. "Spending 25 percent of your GDP on oil is a big factor. It was the impetus torevive this nuclear programme."

Jordan hopes to have its first nuclear reactor up and running by 2016. By 2030, the government hopes that nuclear energy will provide 30 per cent of Jordan's energy needs.

"We are in the preparatory stage," Araj said. "In four years from now we will invite the Brits and start construction and the first pouring of concrete."

Four years may seem long, but Jordan has already signed nuclear cooperation agreements with France, China, South Korea, Russia and Canada for assistance with construction, establishing research centres and nuclear training.

"We have a very active international program," Araj said. "The idea is to develop relationships with all potential supplier countries."

Jordan's governments estimates it holds 140,000 tonnes of conventional uranium reserves and an additional 59,000 tonnes in phosphate deposits, an impressive amount - enough to make the option to enrich uranium a potentially plausible one down the line.

In September 2007, Jordan and the US signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperating on the peaceful use of nuclear energy under the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), the US-led initiative to expand nuclear energy use worldwide while reducing the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation.

Since then the US has announced plans to design and construct a storage facility in Amman for Jordan's radioactive waste and nuclear materials.

But while the project, expected to be completed by the end of 2009, demonstrates US involvement in Jordan's nuclear plans, the US has been reluctant to sign an agreement with Jordan, even while it has signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with the UAE and Bahrain.

Unlike Jordan, both the UAE and Bahrain have committed to forgoing the option to enrich uranium, a move which ultimately persuaded the US to sign on the nuclear deals, which Barack Obama, the US president, sent to the Senate for ratification on Thursday.

"Until now the US has not completed their procedure so we cannot import US technology," Araj said. "The US has to do its homework."

Araj said that companies such as General Electric, which has expressed an interest in working in Jordan, have been deterred by the US's apparent stalling on the matter.

"I think it is important that the US complete their requirements for our signing the NCA for us to actually begin inviting American technology vendors. They have come to Jordan already, but we are still waiting."

Falk said one reason for the United States' reluctance may be because Jordan is framing its programs according to the legally binding nuclear proliferation treaty and not the geopolitical regime.

"You have two regimes, with one on top of the other," he said. "The former legal regime, and the new geopolitical regime that is more or less administered by the US and Jordan may be perceived as eroding the geopolitical regime."

The nuclear deal with the UAE would allow joint ventures with US firms to assist the UAE in building several civilian nuclear power plants and has been signed despite the UAE's record as a transshipment port for weapons-related materials to Iran.

The "123 agreement", as it is known, includes an "exchange of scientific and technical information and documentation…an exchange and training of personnel…technical assistance and the transfer of material, equipment and components."

Falk says the deal indicates that the UAE has now entered the "A club" of nuclear ambitious states by choosing to conform to the geopolitical reality rather than the legal one.

"If you exercise your legal right, as Iran has sought to do, and other countries have done without difficulty like Japan and Germany, that puts you in the B category where you are subject to this kind of geopolitical pressure," Falk said.

"I suppose the UAE is trying to make itself look like the optimal actor in terms of how you ensure energy security transition beyond the petroleum age. And they also have the resources to pull off the kind of program there."

Obama's decision to send the deal to Capitol Hill demonstrates the administration's commitment to providing an alternative for Arab nations to Iran's approach.

The UAE has agreed to give the IAEA complete access to its nuclear sites, including unannounced inspections under additional safeguard protocols. But the key to the UAE having entered the "A club" was their agreeing to return all spent nuclear fuel rather than acquiring the expertise to reprocess it.

Falk suggests that the US may be stalling with regards to Jordan in order to send a signal that it is not excited about its approach.

"The US may be in deference to Israel's concerns about having these nuclear programs move forward in the region," Falk said. "Jordan, which is dependant on the US in a variety of ways, is framing its program in relation to the legal international treaty rather than in relation to the geopolitical framework which is more limiting to the nonnuclear states than the actual treaty itself."

From Falk's perspective, the geopolitical framework is based on "a pervasive double standard that is embedded in the whole idea of nuclear nonproliferation," or what he called, "the mind game that has been successfully played by nuclear weapons states that makes us believe that the danger comes more from those who don't have the weapons, rather than those who have the weapons."

Araj also highlighted Israel's influence on American policy, especially on issues related to Israel's perceived security, as a probable reason.

"I think surely Israel has a hand to play," he said. "Israel is against the transfer of technology to the Middle East, whatever the type of technology. They really want to keep the Middle East underdeveloped."

Israel is the only country in the Middle East that currently has nuclear weapons, estimated at between 100-200 warheads. Unlike its Arab neighbours, Israel has yet to sign the NPT.

The US and Israelis efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is in the interest of many Arab states, particularly those with close ties to the US, specifically, Egypt and Jordan.

The Middle East is filled with various elements of unresolved conflict. Israel possesses formidable nuclear weapons capabilities and Iran has latent potential and appears to be set on advancing its enrichment capabilities.

The Arab world sits anxiously between the two foes, making plans for its own nuclear ambitions and energy programmes inextricably linked to the reality of being wedged between Iran and Israel.

"I would think it is in Israel's long term interest to get some sort of regional military denuclearization commitment settled," Falk said. "The unwillingness of the US to press Israel in the way it would press other countries is illustrative of another aspect of these double standards in nuclear weapons and nuclear energy."

Kai-Henrik Barth is a visiting assistant professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and is currently researching the nuclear power with an emphasis on Iran and the Gulf region.

For Barth, it is crucial that the international community come up with a system of assurances that would deter states pursuing nuclear energy programmes from producing the fuel cycle domestically, which could then be diverted for military purposes.

In his opinion enrichment and reprocessing too often leads to dangerous circumstances.

"The UAE and Bahrain did the right thing," Barth said. "If the IAEA would be a stronger organization, they would have - under international authority - fuel banks and leasing programs where no one would have to say I would like to have independence and my own enrichment programme."

Barth cites prestige, the perceived threat from Iran, and the opening of a multitude of options down the line as the reasons for the unprecedented push in the region for nuclear energy programmes.

"Somehow the west has failed to live a narrative that delegitimizes nuclear as an object of prestige," Kai said. "If I look into Saudi or Egyptian nuclear efforts I cannot help but see that there is certainly concern about the big neighbor to the north."

Fuel assurances

In his speech in Prague, Obama also stressed the importance of creating an international fuel bank so countries can get fuel without having to enrich uranium themselves–a road that could lead to the capacity to create nuclear weapons, Obama said.

"We should build a new framework for civil nuclear cooperation, including an international fuel bank, so that countries can access peaceful power without increasing the risks of proliferation," Obama said. "That must be the right of every nation that renounces nuclear weapons, especially developing countries embarking on peaceful programmes."

A $50 million donation from Warren Buffet initially launched the funding drive to establish the fuel bank, which would provide assurances to those pursuing nuclear power, and avoid the need for them to build nuclear fuel production capabilities.

Kuwait recently pledged $10 million, which pushed the amount of funding so far, gathered from the US, the EU, the UAE and Norway, over the $100 million mark to allow the IAEA to begin developing the framework for creating the bank.

If, like the UAE and Bahrain, all Arab countries were to commit to purchasing nuclear fuel from abroad, fears that proposed civilian programmes could evolve into weapons development would significantly diminish.

Dr. Hans-Holger Rogner, the IAEA Section Head for Planning and Economic Studies Section, said that there is little reason to worry about nuclear materials being diverted for military means with the UAE programme.

"A nuclear power plant is not a proliferation risk or weapons risk," Rogner said. "You need the enrichment or reprocessing technology, both of which, in a normal nuclear country, are not available."

The proposed fuel bank would ensure the safety and security of supplies and prevent nuclear technology from being diverted for military purposes. For countries planning a nuclear programme today, it is more economical to purchase uranium, provided there is a guaranteed source, as initial costs for enrichment are extremely high.

Iran faces potential sanctions because covertly developed fuel production capabilities for two decades, without disclosing their programme to the international community, as required by the NPT.

While Iran legally has the right to enrich uranium; it does not make sense economically for them to pursue the fuel cycle without a robust nuclear energy programme, so just as they remain adamant about exercising their right to enrich uranium, the international community remains skeptical about their motives.

Araj does not believe it is Iran intends to become a supplier of uranium for the region, but based on their technological aspirations he sees a regional benefit if Iran were to contain their program as a regional enrichment program, bringing in stakeholders and the IAEA.

"The Iranians are a proud people," he said. "It could be that they would like to develop the technology for the sake of having the technology - if they want to invest in it, it is their business."

Those critical of the UAE's unilateral decision to forgo enrichment argue that if nuclear fuel were not available on international markets due to sanctions or other reasons, then those that have forgone enrichment would find their nuclear power plants redundant and ultimately useless.

"That is a point which cannot be ignored," Holger said. "But I would say in a normally operating world, fuel has been available and there are actually initiatives at the IAEA to look at how the fuel assurances can be given to deter countries from entering the fuel cycle."

Jordan, like all members of the NPT, legally reserves the right to enrich uranium. But unlike the UAE, intends to keep the option open.

"I think Jordan will go along with the plan to purchase enriched uranium from abroad, rather than enrich uranium locally, as long as it will get a cost-effective uranium supply," Araj said. "If the program becomes sizable, we will then think about enrichment capability."

Competition is likely to continue to accelerate the inevitability of nuclear power plants spreading across the Middle East.

Whether states decide to forgo enrichment or not, the potential for collaboration will be a contentious topic of debate as Arab countries appear to have abandoned the collective approach in exchange for individual security and options down the line. Still, opportunities for collaboration remain.

Araj, who stresses the advantages of regional cooperation says that he looks forward to collaborating, including Iran, so long as they would make themselves open for international multilateral frameworks.

For Araj, a regional center for enrichment could one day be established in the region.

"There is nothing in the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership or Nuclear Proliferation Treaty that says a regional enrichment facility cannot be in the Middle East," Araj said. "Europe will have one soon, and then we will follow their example."

China Great Wall Computer Group Corporation and the Algerian broadband network operator EEPAD have reached an agreement to jointly invest USD4 million to set up a manufacturing joint venture in Algeria.

The new joint venture, in which Great Wall Computer will own about a 30% stake, is expected to produce 100,000 netbooks in the first year of its operation and its production capacity will be increased to 200,000 netbooks in the second year.

According to Huang Maoqing, general manager for the brand management center of Great Wall Computer, the joint venture has already received a contract of 150,000 netbooks in the African market. Huang said the ultimate goal of this joint venture is to reach annual production capacity of 500,000 netbooks. However, this is only the first step for Great Wall Computer's expansion in the African market and the company will build more manufacturing bases in Africa in the future.

At the same time, Great Wall Computer revealed that its acquisition of the 99% stake in China Great Wall Computer (H.K.) Holding has been approved by China's Ministry of Commerce. Upon the completion of this acquisition, Great Wall Computer will take over a 17.11% stake in the monitor manufacturer TPV Technology, owner of the AOC brand, from China Great Wall Computer (H.K.) Holding, increasing its total shareholdings in TPV Technology to 26.58%.

Great Wall Computer's annual financial report for 2008 shows that the company's revenue from the domestic Chinese market was CNY2.595 billion, accounting for 66% of its total revenue, while its revenue from the overseas markets was CNY1.14 billion, accounting for 34%.

Nokia has launched its mobile Ovi Store across the globe, bringing third-party apps to a number of Nokia devices. The store has had its share of launch-day criticisms, but they won't be dealbreakers in the long run if the store picks up steam.
Nokia's Ovi Store is officially open for business, bringing Nokia users an App Store-like interface to download third-party software. The available applications range from fun to practical, and while some cost money, many others are available for free. With Nokia's extensive reach across the globe, the company has the potential to grow the Ovi Store to Apple App Store proportions—as long as it fixes some UI quirks and appeals to the developer community.

Though the Ovi Store is technically available on a wide variety of Nokia devices, not every available app works on every device—the selection for less-capable devices will undoubtedly get better as more developers release software for the store. You can find out which apps work with which phones by selecting a specific Nokia device on the main Ovi Store page.

Like other mobile stores of its kind, the Ovi Store offers selections in a variety of categories, such as games, music, social networks, entertainment, utilities, and more, and users can search for content based on keywords as well. There's also a section for "Recommended" apps that will pull a selection of downloads made specifically for your device and tailored to your specific location—a handy feature when you're traveling.

As can be expected, the Ovi Store has had some hiccups upon its worldwide launch. The Ovi team has already acknowledged the store's slow performance on the Web after 2am ET this morning, though apparently the Ovi Store device client is performing "very well." Other hiccups include a number of apps showing up twice on the store's listings and in keyword searches, and general UI confusion. For example, clicking on a particular store category on the page after performing a search will not just go to that category—it will try to perform your search on that category, often resulting in zero results. You can only see everything in a category after clearing out your search terms manually or going back to the home page.
Despite these issues, however, the Ovi Store has been a long time coming for Nokia fans, even if it's a "me too" after the launch of Apple's App Store, Android Market, and BlackBerry App World. The current UI burps can be annoying, but they're not dealbreakers for anyone looking to add software to their Nokia devices. If more developers join the program—and we can't see why they wouldn't, with the potential to reach massive numbers of users—the Ovi Store will have a plethora of apps to cater to every need (whether that includes fart apps, however, remains to be seen).

Warning, I haven't personally transmogrified my Wii into a spindle-free digital data bucket (without holes, Dear Liza, Dear Liza) but it's one heck of a bold little hack if it works. Per this Gawker Media tipster, who got it from a guy who either owns or actually is Che Guevera reincarnated as a bulldog, if you're feeling equally intrepid, here's the do-it-yourself scoop.

Says hack-guru Mike Schultheisz, whose April how-to is finally splashing the info aggregators:

One of the cooler hacks that I've found for the Wii is how to store and load your games from a USB Hard Drive. The idea is that you plug a hard drive into one of the USB slots on the back of the Wii, and rip/store your games. When you want to play them, you have only to access the hard drive and select what you'd like to play

What'll you need?

Bit of tape, tube of super-glue, power drill, thumb tacks, magic 8-ball…err, wrong hack.

Actually, just the Homebrew Channel installed, a USB hard drive, some custom software, and probably a comfortable conscience fiddling down the Wii Menu version to make everything sing along in tune.

Getting it to work? Moderate to advanced-moderate Mad Skillz, probably. Watching your really super-geeky-if-they're-clued-in-enough-to-appreciate-what-you've-done friend's eyes grow to saucers when, in contravention of all that's sane and rational, you manage to boot DDI's Ninjabread Man disc-free? Priceless.

Palestine, May 25, (Pal Telegrapgh) - Breakfast with my mother then reading the news over the internet (Netanyahu aid says a focus on two states is silly, accusations against Hizballah to try and influence Lebanon elections, another child dies in besieged Gaza for lack of medical care, head of the Israeli Intelligence services tells Knesset the wall is not necessary to protect against Palestinian resistance etc).

Answering emails and doing some work at home (chromosomes and reading student reports). In the afternoon meet with a good friend I have not seen in years (now married and with two young kids).

Then we get dressed for a baptism of my sister's fourth grandson. Over 100 relatives and a few curious tourists attend the joyous baptism in the Church of Nativity (where tradition holds that Jesus was born).

Then we go to Oush Ghrab in Beit Sahour (an area threatened by settlers) for an outdoor performance by Garth Hewitt. Over 200 town people and nearly 50 Internationals are having a good time. We newtork, talk, drink, clap, and sway.

On the way back, we pass by a funeral tent so I ask my mother who it is for, and she tells me it is a school principal that I worked under briefly in 1978. I am saddened and I feel guilty that I don't remember the guy well. But then we get home we face even more sad news that my school teacher/pricipal, good friend, author, and mentor Yaqoub AlAtrash (74 year old) has just passed away.

In my elementary and middle school years I always loved "Ustaz Yaqoub" for his spirit and his educational style. He was a towering man with a gentle smile and a kind spirit (I never heard him raise his voice). Each morning we lined up to hear him speak a few words to us and he always had an anecdote to relay. I recall one morning when Ustaz Yaqoub began by telling us that in walking to school he stopped to observe an ant.

The ant was carrying food that must have been five times its weight and was trying to cross up a dirt mound. When half way it would tumble back and try again. It must have done it at least 20 times before it finally was able to cross with sheer determination (and the fact that each time it tumbled, some of the mound soil tumbled with it). He said that is what life is about, trials, tribulations, failures, success but most importantly "never giving up".

He leaves us with so many memories and a few books he authored (including a biography of my late grandfather). The last time I saw him was about a month ago when I visited him in his home. He was in severe pain but insisted to spend a lot of time with me to tell me about the 1987-1991 uprising and how students and teachers adapted and resisted the frequent curfews and school closings.

I interviewed him about his just released second part of his memoires. We talked about his teachers and he especially talked fondly about a devout Muslim teacher who taught them Arabic in Jaffa and made learning such an exciting thing. That chain of influence from teacher to student to a new generation of students makes one think.

To go from a baptism through a music of life to a knowledge of the inevitability of death with the continuity of good deeds over generations is humbling. I am renewed in a sense of purpose and thus glad to have just finished another semester teaching at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities.

I know what Ustaz Yaqoub and Ustaz Zaki (a Christian and a Muslim) and the generations before them and after them would want us to intensify our efforts for peace with justice and especially to take care of the new generations (future teachers).

I download and arrange a series of pictures I took yesterday along the way to Birzeit University. I arrange a depressing series of signs to the ever growing settlements (and clear absence of signs to the Palestinian villages and towns barely clinging to life especially around Jerusalem). But I am encouraged by the growing awareness and civil resistance and most of all by the energy of the young students. So I write to you as always in hope you continue to take action

The other day a young Dane called me. An eighth grade student, he was writing on the solution to the Middle East conflict, he told me, and could I please help him clear a few murky points. I am a great believer in students doing their own homework and not only parroting "experts," so I asked the young gentleman to present me with his analysis and only then pose his questions. The boy had both studied and understood that there were problems to be solved when it came to the West Bank, the ownership of water, Israeli settlements, the status of Jerusalem and the refugee situation. I complimented him.

We then spoke about the current problems of the new president of the United States, the new Israeli government, the uncertainties about the future Palestinian government and the fears each side has of the moves of the other. When I cited to him the Israeli claim that each centimeter of occupied land given up would be used for rocket attacks just as had happened in the Gaza Strip, the young student interrupted and asked rhetorically: But if Israel withdrew from the Occupied Territories there would be peace, wouldn't there?

The simple assumption that if there were no more occupation, a peace agreement would be imminent and peace would break out is very typical of the Scandinavian understanding of the conflict. A Danish politician a few years ago wrote a comment under the title: "How difficult can it be?" wondering aloud how come the parties to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict "just don't sit down and solve the problems."

Indeed, how is it going now as different political actors sit down and agree on the small print, be it Benjamin Netanyahu with his coalition partners in the Israeli government, Fatah with Hamas, Fatah's old guard with Fatah's young guard and the members of the Arab League among themselves, not to mention the Israeli and the Palestinian sides?

No matter what one otherwise might think of the Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, one cannot but compare him to the little boy in the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale "The Emperor's New Clothes." When Lieberman says, "For 16 years the so-called peace process has not brought any solution to the conflict," he is like that small boy shouting, "the emperor is naked."

Lieberman has offered his suggestions for alternative solutions but rumors have it that Netanyahu has told him to shut up until the official policy of the Israeli government has been presented - and possibly amended - after Netanyahu's recent visit to Washington.

The big question hovering over the situation is what path US President Barack Obama will choose to walk. No one should doubt that Obama has some of the Scandinavian impatience in his approach to the conflict. He wants things to move forward toward a two-state-solution. Now.

In the last weeks, several members of the Obama administration, including Vice President Joseph Biden, have outlined details of the president's vision. At a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Biden demanded a complete end to Israeli settlement building, the immediate dismantling of the so-called illegal settlement outposts that even the former prime minister, Ariel Sharon, promised US President George W. Bush to dismantle, but never did, and freedom of movement and economic opportunity for the Palestinians in the West Bank.

Just a few days before the Netanyahu visit, an Israeli newspaper ran a story about Obama having sent envoys to Jerusalem to explain clearly to the Israeli government that Washington expected Israel not to attack any target in Iran whatsoever and not to disrupt the American effort to hold a serious dialogue with the Islamic Republic.

In certain European Union circles there is a feeling that the Obama administration is prepared to put pressure behind its demands on Israel. Some believe that Washington is thinking of using economic pressure to make the Netanyahu government understand just how urgent Obama views these matters.

It will take some time until the bits and pieces leaked from the private meeting between Obama and Netanyahu make it out to the public. And even then it might take a while before a clear picture of just what Obama demanded and what Netanyahu answered will emerge.

In the longer term, the question is whether Barack Obama will be able to keep up the pressure he seems to want to apply both to Israel and the Palestinians, or whether he will end up feeling, as did a number of his predecessors in office, that he would have fared better by have staying far away from the beehive that is the Middle East.

Hanne Foighel is a correspondent for the Danish newspaper Politiken. This commentary first appeared at bitterlemons-international.org, an online newsletter that publishes views on Middle Eastern and Islamic issues.

Thousands of civilians trapped in Pakistan's Swat valley, where the military is battling Taliban forces, face a "humanitarian catastrophe" unless help reaches them soon, a rights group has said.

Human Rights Watch says the military must lift its curfew of the area, which has been in place for a full week, and airdrop essential food, water and medicine to the 200,000 residents trapped there.

Brad Adams, the Asia director of the US-based group, said on Tuesday: "People trapped in the Swat conflict zone face a humanitarian catastrophe unless the Pakistani military immediately lifts a curfew that has been in place continuously for the last week.

"The government cannot allow the local population to remain trapped without food, clean water, and medicine as a tactic to defeat the Taliban."

Human Rights Watch said it was getting persistent reports of civilian casualties from army shelling and aerial bombardments as well as reports that the Taliban is killing civilians.

Tens of thousands of people remain in the region where the army is carrying out its campaign against the Taliban. A peace deal fell apart earlier in the year.

'Human suffering'

More than two million people fled the military offensive, but those left behind are unable to leave because of the fighting and because the military has surrounded towns and blocked off valleys.
The massive displacement caused poses not only a major burden on the economy, being kept afloat by a $7.6bn International Monetary Fund loan, but could undercut public support for the offensive.

Adams said: "The Pakistani government should take all possible measures including air drops of food, water, and medicine to quickly alleviate large-scale human suffering in Swat.

"Both sides should allow a humanitarian corridor that would let civilians escape the fighting and for impartial humanitarian agencies to evacuate and aid civilians at risk."

There was no immediate comment from the military.

Battle for Mingora

Last week, Lieutenant-General Nadeem Ahmed, who heads the government's relief operation, said that up to 200,000 civilians are stranded and that the authorities might have to drop food to them.

Ahmed said most people still in the valley were in its northern reaches, which had been relatively calm, and the authorities wanted them to stay put, rather than risk travelling through the war zone in and around Mingora to the south.

In Swat's main city of Mingora, soldiers are moving from house to house battling fighters. Clashes are also taking place in other parts of the valley, according to military reports.

The military has said its operation in Mingora, where between 10,000 to 20,000 civilians are thought to still be trapped, will be a slow process "to avoid civilian casualties".

Further attacks

A Taliban commander reportedly ordered his fighters to leave the city on Monday, saying the move was necessary to prevent civilian casualties.

Major-General Athar Abbas, a military spokesman, dismissed the Taliban's call as a  "ploy" to allow their fighters to escape.

Elsewhere in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province on Tuesday, two blasts killed a man and wounded five people.

One roadside bomb targeted a police van patrolling in Tank district, near the tribal area of South Waziristan, injuring two policemen.

In a separate attack in the nearby region of Dera Ismail Khan, a hand grenade was lobbed into the home of a Shia family, killing one man and wounding three others, a police official in the region said.

ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan's supreme court Tuesday overturned a ban on former premier Nawaz Sharif from holding office, allowing the popular opposition leader to contest elections in the politically turbulent nation.

A February 25 court decision to disqualify Nawaz Sharif and his politician brother Shahbaz from holding office sparked massive protests in March, plunging the nuclear-armed country into turmoil and unnerving its Western allies.

Tuesday's decision clears the first hurdle for Nawaz Sharif to try to return to power in elections due in 2013, and the move will likely ease political tensions in Pakistan, which is also beset by a bloody Taliban uprising.

The supreme court order stated that the initial high court ruling in June 2008 banning the brothers because of previous criminal convictions and the February 25 ruling upholding that decision "are set aside".

"Nawaz Sharif can contest elections and Shahbaz Sharif will continue as chief minister of Punjab province," said Ashtar Ausaf, the brothers' lawyer.

The two-time prime minister can now stand in by-elections, with a handful of seats up for grabs in the coming months.

Noisy supporters clapping and dancing gathered outside the Islamabad courtroom, carrying posters of Nawaz Sharif, who has become Pakistan's most popular politician as President Asif Ali Zardari's approval rating plummets.

"The previous verdict was not accepted by people. Today's verdict has been accepted by the majority of the nation," Nawaz Sharif, who leads the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party, told a press conference.

"States and countries prosper on the basis of justice and fair play. We want the rule of law and I salute the Pakistani nation as they secured the independence of the judiciary through their own struggle."

On March 31 the supreme court suspended the ban on Shahbaz Sharif, but that decision had to clear a final legal hurdle Tuesday.

Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) won elections in February last year, months after the assassination of his wife, PPP leader and former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The PML-N gained the second-largest number of seats and joined a PPP-led coalition government.

But Zardari's popularity declined as he appeared to backtrack on promises to reinstate sacked popular chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, and in August 2008 Nawaz Sharif withdrew from the coalition.

Tensions reached a crescendo earlier this year when Nawaz Sharif called a "long march" on the capital Islamabad and fears grew that the protest would descend into violence.

Under Western pressure to defuse the crisis, the government appealed against the order banning the Sharif brothers from holding office and agreed on March 16 to reinstate the chief justice.

"The verdict (Tuesday) means Sharif can contest elections and can become prime minister again," said PML-N vice-president Javed Hashmi.

However, before he can become premier, the constitution would have to be amended to allow a person to stand for a third term.

Nawaz Sharif was first elected as prime minister in 1990 but was sacked three years later on corruption charges.

He was back in power again three years later but in 1999 he was ousted in a coup by ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who brought criminal charges against him for hijacking, terrorism and attempted murder.

Convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on charges he said were politically-motivated, Nawaz Sharif retreated into exile in December 2000, returning to Pakistan in November 2007 with Musharraf's agreement.

"The verdict will have a positive impact on the country's politics," analyst Shafqat Mahmood said of Tuesday's court ruling. "Both Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif are very popular leaders."

The office of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said he congratulated the brothers, adding he "hoped that this will go a long way in flourishing the democratic institutions in the country".

A FATHER has said he fears for the lives of his family as they face deportation from the UK.

Ismail Cherbal has been living in Blackburn for the past five years but is currently at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre in Bedfordshire after having asylum applications refused.

At the weekend the family were due to be flown back to Algeria but Ismail and his wife Safia Aouf made last minute protests while on the plane and were unloaded.

It is not known when another attempt to deport them will be made.

Campaigners, including supporters in Blackburn, fighting their cause claim they are being "forcibly removed" from the UK, and have raised fears about Safia's health. The 29-year-old is pregnant with their third child.

They have claimed the family should not be deported on humanitarian grounds because they have spent so long in Britain making new lives for themselves. The couple's two children, Sonia aged four and 15-month-old Aya, were both born in Blackburn.

The family, who had been living in Bunker's Hill Close, left Algeria after Ismail refused to re-enlist in the army when his brother was killed.

They have been held at Yarl's Wood for the past 44 days.

Speaking from the detention centre, Ismail, 33, said: "The day they took us away in handcuffs was the worst day of my life.

"After all these years away from Algeria I know they are looking for me.

"I will definitely be arrested and if I am arrested I will worry for my wife, who is suffering from depression, and my children.

"I have tried to provide my children with a good life, and they have been brought up speaking English. I don't feel safe over there - I know something will happen. I fear my family could be killed if we are sent back."

Ismail said the family were going to be deported on Saturday and had even boarded a flight at Heathrow before being reprieved.

John East, the asylum support co-ordinator for community help group Blackburn with Darwen Churches Together, claimed families such as the Cherbal's were "easy targets" for the Home Office when it came to deportation.

He said: "I am aware of this and if his lawyer wants help he can speak to us and we can see what we can do.

"The problem is that he has gone through the legal process but it begs the question 'why have they not been dealt with quicker?' "How can you treat people like this when there is such a time lapse between them coming here and this going ahead?

"I would argue that on humanitarian grounds they have a case not to be deported.

"Their children could be taken to a country they don't even recognise."

Ian Pollock, who works supporting asylum seekers said: "The family have been in Blackburn for over five years and the Government has the discretion to allow them to stay.

"The authorities should take a more sympathetic approach to people who have been in this country for such a long period of time."

A UK Border Agency Spokesperson said: "We consider every asylum application individually and with enormous care.

"Families with children are detained when they have no right to be here and have refused to leave so we need to enforce removal.

"Their cases will have been considered by the independent courts and they will have been given a number of opportunities to leave before that point. We would rather they leave voluntarily and removal action is always the last resort.

"We always aim to keep detention to the minimum period possible and do so with care and compassion and have dedicated facilities for children such as a crèche, independent social workers and play and educational facilities.

"Based on provisional data, last year the average length of stay was 15 days.

"The vast majority were there for under 15 days and, of those, nearly half left detention within a week."

SANA'A, May 26 (Saba)-A three-day meeting of the Yemeni-Algeria technical committee for technical education and vocational training was concluded in Sana'a on Tuesday.

The two sides signed a minute of meeting which includes fields of the cooperation between the two countries in domain of vocational training such as in designing websites, software programs, using of modern equipment to check up vehicles and other kinds of vocational training.

The two sides also agreed on dispatching Algerian expert to train directors of the vocational and technical institutes.

They also affirmed importance of activating plan of action suggested to carry out the twining agreement signed between technical agricultural and veterinary institute in Sana'a capital and vocational institute in al-Mansorah of Algeria and increase a number of scholarship presented by the Algerian for graduates of the Yemeni vocational institutes from 20 to 25 scholarships annually.

The Algeria side voiced readiness of the Algerian government to continue the support and boost the vocational cooperation between the two countries.

The meeting was co-chaired by co-chaired by the director of the training in the Yemeni ministry of vocational training and technical Education Mohammed al-Dhari and representative of the Algerian vocational education ministry Samsom Ayasha.

AH

The centre-back brandished an Algerian flag after his team won the Scottish Premier League title on Sunday.
Algerian international defender Madjid Bougherra won the first title of his career on Sunday after his side, Rangers, defeated Dundee United 3-0. The player spoke to Le Buteur following the encounter and expressed his immeasurable happiness.

The Gueugnon product also took the opportunity to thank all who stood by him during his appeal over an unjust red card he earned in Rangers' previous match against Aberdeen, which would have kept him out of the title clinching game had it not been overturned. He indicated that it made him realise just how important he is to the club.

"I was convinced we were going to win, I gave an Algerian flag to a friend sitting in the stands and he threw it to me as soon as the match ended. At the final whistle, I immediately thought of Algeria and all Algerians," he explained in the interview.

"I dedicate this title to my family in Hadjout, Annaba and Dijon. This championship we won is a source of pride for all of them."

The fact that Rabah Saadane uncharacteristically named four goalkeepers in his roster list for Algeria's June World Cup qualifiers versus Egypt and Zambia does not necessarily indicate more competition at the positio
Lounes Gaouaoui will be handed Algeria's gloves in the forthcoming international fixtures, despite being challenged by a greater number of names than expected.

When Algerian national team coach Rabah Saadane announced his squad for the Desert Foxes' upcoming World Cup qualifiers versus Egypt and Zambia it did not go unnoticed that he had named four goalkeepers instead of the customary three.

During his press conference, Saadane explained the choice by pointing to the fact that Gaouaoui is one yellow card away from an automatic suspension while inadvertently revealing that he still regards him as the country's first choice 'keeper.

"I consulted the internet this morning and I saw that teams such as Cameroon, Egypt and Zambia have also called up four goalkeepers so we're on the right track," he announced to the room full of reporters. "It's entirely possible that Gaouaoui gets another card against Egypt. If he's suspended, I'll still have three keepers."

The admission was made prior to Saadane's latest press conference, in which he broke down in tears before claiming that he feared reprisals from the Algerian public if his team were to be defeated on June 7 versus Egypt.

Stars of the "Fennecs" have stood behind their coach following his emotional press conference in which he expressed fear of reprisals if Algeria failed to beat Egypt in their upcoming qualifier.
Algerian players have quickly rallied behind their national team coach, Rabah Saadane, in the wake of a press conference during which he openly cried while admitting that the mounting pressure ahead of the Desert Foxes' June 7 qualifier versus Egypt had him fearing for both his safety and that of his family.

According to Le Buteur magazine, Fulham's Hameur Bouzza promised that the team would do everything in their capacity to turn Saadane's tears into those of joy while Borussia Monchengladbach's Karim Matmour has insisted that the trainer would not be the only one to blame if Algeria do in fact lose in Blida.

"When you see a man of this age, a father and a grandfather, cry, it hurts because its clear that he's under tremendous pressure. Honestly, even though I'm far away, I was touched by his words and they made me sad. This will only motivate us further on the day of the match," explained FC Lorient's Rafik Saifi.

"The team will have to win for Algeria but of course for our coach too since we'll dedicate victory to him. It's too bad I am suspended for the match but after Saadane's tears the determination of the players is going to increase tenfold."

Rwanda's Amavubi Stars and Cyprus based defender Hamad Ndikumana have linked up with their national team ahead of their game with Zambia on June 6, as more foreign based players are expected to join the camp.

According to the Rwandese daily The New Times, Ndikumana, popularly known as Katauti, jetted in on Friday and immediately joined Tucak Branko's provisional side for a light work out. Katauti is the second pro to link up with Amavubi after Belgium-based midfielder Jimmy Mulisa, who reported to camp on Wednesday.

Other foreign based players like Jules Cesar Oulai (Union Saint-Gilloise), Jean Paul Lutula (Brussels), Jean Paul Kielo Lezi (Brussels), Saddou Boubakary (Libya) and skipper Olivier Karekezi (Ham Kam) are expected to join the rest of the squad in the course of this week, before the team jets out to Malawi for the friendly encounter on May 31 before battling Zambia a week later in the 2010 campaign.

Meanwhile Algerian and Marseille striker Karim Ziani has been recalled to Algeria's squad for their two upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers next month after missing their last tie in Rwanda.

According to FIFA.com, Ziani who was suspended during the goalless draw with Rwanda in Kigali in March, joins the other three called in the 25-man Algerian squad that will face fellow North Africans, Egypt,  on June 7 at home and the away tie in Zambia a fortnight later.

Coach Rabah Saadane has also brought German-based centre back Yahia Anter back after injury saw him also miss the trip to Rwanda.

He has added a fourth goalkeeper to the squad with the introduction of JS Kabylie's Fawzi Chaouchi to the squad and added his team-mate Hocine Achiou to beef up the midfield.