President Ahmadinejad said that his country and other regional nations will never allow the United States to dominate the Middle East. During a speech in the city of the southern city of Shiraz, Ahmadinejad rejected the deadline set by the US for Iran to accept a deal over its nuclear program. He assured once again that Iran is by no means after a nuclear bomb.

Presenter, Man # 1
Tehran said that its forces’ take over of the Iraqi oil field of Fekeh was a mistake based on a misunderstanding. Tehran called on experts from the two countries to study the ways to demarcate the border.

Presenter, Woman # 1
Iraqi Vice President Treq Al Hashimi called on Iran to immediately withdraw it forces from the Faka oil field. Meanwhile, former security advisor Mwafaq Al; Rubaei demanded the crisis to be resolved diplomatically.

Reporter, Woman # 2
The Iraqi flag is once again flying over oil field # 4 in Faka, in Nisan, and the Iranian forces have left the area. However, removing the Iranian flag from the oil field and acknowledging that taking it over was a mistake based on misunderstanding were not enough to end the differences between the two countries.

Guest, Man # 2
A plan was put in place to solve the crisis by forming a committee to demarcate the border, based on the 1975 agreement.

Reporter, Woman # 2
Iran’s officials confirm that its solders withdrew back to the Iranian territories, but according to local Iraqi sources, Iranian forces are still near the oil field inside Iraq.

Guest, Man # 4
Withdrawing the Iranian forces from the oil field and deploying them behind dirt barriers around the oil field is not enough. Also, taking down the Iranian flag is not enough. Iranian forces must immediately withdraw to the Iranian territories.

Reporter, Woman # 2
Contrary to Hashimi’s statements, some Iraqi officials demanded the media campaigns to stop fueling the crisis and escalating the situation.

Guest, Man # 5
I do not support the media which escalated the situation. I am also against political escalation. I support resolving the crisis calmly, through diplomatic means.

Reporter, Woman # 2
The Iranian intrusion into Iraqi territory brought back the memory of the long history of border-dispute between the two countries, which was one of the reasons behind the 8 years destructive war in the 1980s between Iraq and Iran. The Iranian decision to take over the oil field comes at a time when Iraq is making oil deals with western oil companies. These companies can develop Iraq’s resources to make it a first rate oil-producing country. Perhaps, Iran was sending a message, especially since the US has increased its threats to impose more sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program by stopping its oil exports.

Discord over the proposed exchange deal for abducted IDF soldier Ghilad Shalit centers on an undisclosed number of terrorists convicted on a range of infamous crimes. This report takes a look at 3 of those terrorists.

Israel said that it is not prepared to agree to all of Hamas’ demands to exchange a captive Israeli soldier for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, said that return of the soldier was Israel’s priority but is no willing to pay “any price”.

Presenter, Male # 1
UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, one of the oldest UN agencies, celebrates its 60th anniversary. It was founded to help the Palestinians who left their land, and today, it supports more than 4 million refugees in 5 countries. However, Israel accuses the agency of taking political positions. A claim that UNRWA denies.

Reporter, Female # 1
The only hope for this generation of Palestinian refugees is right here: at school. The funding is mostly provided by UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. For the past 60 years, many generations have completed their education in UNRWA schools. An achievement honored by a celebration at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. However, a festive mood was far removed from the celebration. UNRWA was established in 1949 to help thousands of Palestinian refugees who left their homes, or rather were made to leave by what has become known as Israel, during the Arab-Israeli war. The mission of the organization was to provide temporary housing while the Palestinians wait to go back home. This right of return has been recognized by UN resolutions. But 60 years have already passed and the refugees’ situation remains unchanged. Hussein Mansour is one of the refugees who grew up in an overcrowded refugee camp built by UNRWA. He studied in its schools and received aid from the UN agency after the death of his father. Today, he is the director of a special school for deaf children.

Guest, Male # 2
“I think for every Palestinian refugee here”, seeing the UNRWA flag or the headquarters of the agency is a reminder that he or she has been living without a state for over 60 years.

Reporter, Female # 1
However, UNRWA is simply an organization that provides aid. Israel refuses to accept this fact and thinks that Arab states take advantage of the organization by using the issue of Palestinian refugees as a weapon in the political war waged against Israel, and that they use the UN as their center stage.

Guest, Male # 3
UNRWA receives annual support from the international community and from the general assembly. The resolutions that put UNRWA at work were passed with the approval of Israel. By definition, it’s a relief organization.

Reporter, Female # 1
UNRWA denies having a political agenda. But it does take, occasionally, positions to counter Israeli policies. For example, in Gaza, the Israeli siege has cut off the city from aid.

Guest, Male # 4
We have a million refugees in Gaza, 80% of them rely on UNRWA, and we have to take a position on the collective punishment that has made life unstable. Let’s be perfectly clear, this is not a humanitarian crisis caused by a natural catastrophe. This is “a humanitarian crisis by choice”, this is a political decision.

Reporter, Female # 1
As long as the political crisis continues, UNRWA’s work remains a necessity no one wishes to terminate, including the Israelis. But, after 60 years of living away from their land, Palestinian refugees deem the creation of a state for them the only solution worthy of their approval.

Presenter, Female #1
The Iraqi High Criminal Court held today its first session in the case of the obliteration of secular parties by the former Iraqi regime. Secular leaders were pursued and killed by members of the former Iraqi regime.

Presenter, Male #1
Among the defendants standing trail in the case are: Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saba’awi Ibrahim al-Hassan, and Abed-Hamid Mahmud.

Reporter, Male #2
The crimes committed against the Iraqi people by former members of the Iraqi regime took place across the country. During the campaign, members of the Iraqi secular parties were targeted by the former Iraqi authorities.

Guest, Male #3
The crime scene: The entire Iraqi state, from its north to its south. The time: The years from 1980 to 1999. The crime: An elaborate scheme of assassinations, arrests, and seizures of assets of Iraqi communist party members and other seculars, excluding the Ba’ath Party.

Reporter, Male #2
During today’s session, key defendants in the case tried to disrupt the court proceedings by introducing irrelevant arguments, with one objective in mind; to buy time.

Guest, Male #4
You said that I could present my own argument.

Guest, Male # 3
Yes, but the court will decide when and how.

Guest, Male #4
I listened to you until the end. Now it’s your turn to hear me. You have to let me speak. We are living in a democratic era.

Guest, Male # 3
Yes, proceed.

Reporter, Male #2
One of the victims, who gave testimony, said that she was tortured by the tyrant regime.

Guest, Female #2
I was tortured at the office of the security chief. I was tortured on the same day I was brought in. I was tortured by Security Chief, Fawzi Takriti, and his first lieutenant Sami, who was from Ramadi. I was tortured on a daily basis. I was subjected to several methods of torture, including the half-hanging and the “Falakah” which is striking the feet with a painful stick. They also stripped me of my clothes. I was subjected to interrogations for two weeks. After questioning, I was transferred to the Hila police headquarters, where I spent 4 months in detention. I was released in lieu of bail. I was sentenced to two years in prison. I served my sentence at the Rashid Prison.

Reporter, Male #2
The court session took place in a democratic environment…….an environment the defendants failed to provide their victims during the tyrants’ rule of Iraq. Mohammad al-Khafaji, Iraqiya, Baghdad.

Presenter, Female #1
At the security level, a sticky car bomb, exploded on the Muthai Airport highway in Baghdad, martyring an Iraqi second lieutenant from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Ministry of Interior. In addition, another army officer was wounded in the blast. In Ninawi, a suicide bomber strapped with an explosive belt blew himself up, killing the Head of the Telfair Village Council, Mohammad Ali Ekrish and his companion.

Presenter, Male #1
Also at the security level, the Ministry of Interior’s quick response team has seized 200 missiles with various ranges, in the province of Wasit. The missiles, which were seized in an area north of the province of Wasit, were being prepared to be used in terrorist attacks on the 10th of the Islamic month of Muhram. The Commander of the Quick Response Team, Major Aziz al-Amir, said that his forces have carried out raids in the county of Sweira. Al-Amir further said that his division has received intelligence information that a terrorist group has acquired missiles to be used in attacks on the eve of the 10th of Muhram.

Presenter, Male # 1
The Sudanese government is set to work on a law that would clear the way for a referendum on the status of Abiye. The law would allow the residents of the region, including Arab and Southern tribes, the right to chose between belonging administratively to Northern or Southern Sudan. The South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) rejected the law in its current form, whereas the government called on looking at the region beyond its oil-reserves.

Reporter, Male # 2
The Sudanese Parliament paved the way for unity between North and South Sudan by agreeing on holding a poll on the status of the region of Abiye. A region that has been a focus of Western attention for its oil reserves and its strategic location in the middle of the important nation of Sudan for regional, Arab and African issues. Representatives from the South were agreeable in their position towards Abiye. They saw the right to poll residents about the region’s unification, either to the North or to the South, as a fundamental right of the Southern Dinka tribe that is racially and religiously different from the North. Abiye’s unification is a positive step that could facilitate dialogue and positive positions when the time comes to unite the entire South. This is how Abiye’s representatives see things.

Guest, Male # 3
We say to our families in Southern Sudan, stay with us in one dear country, as dear citizens. All of us would enjoy the same rights and obligations. If you see things differently, then you are entitled to your opinion. We saw, in the national conference, that the voter is anyone who cares about this region, and all of its residents. From the Miseria to the Dinka and all the other citizens.

Reporter, Male # 2
The People’s Liberation Movement sees in holding a national referendum for the Abiya law a first step, but that the true test will be in the details.

Guest, Male # 4
The law that was proposed by us, the ministers, is a proposition for amending the law. We know that we have to hold a national referendum. And since it’s national, the law will affect all of Sudan and represents the most dangerous stage in Sudan’s history. In 2010, it will be the year of Sudan in excellence regardless of whether or not the law passes.

Reporter, Male # 2
The government, from its side, invited local and national parties not to look at the region on the basis of its oil.

Reporter, Male # 2
The session was over and a national referendum outline was set to determine the law to unify Abiye. It would also pave the way for a law to unify Southern Sudan. According to the referendum, the law would poll all the citizens of Abiye, from the Miseria, tribe who represent the Arabs to the Dinka tribe. Amir el-Amine, el-Alam, Khartoum.