WikiLeaks: Israel's secret hotline to the man tipped to replace Mubarak

The new vice-president of Egypt, Omar Suleiman, is a long-standing favourite of Israel's who spoke daily to the Tel Aviv government via a secret "hotline" to Cairo, leaked documents disclose.

By Tim Ross, Christopher Hope, Steven Swinford and Adrian Blomfield

Mr Suleiman, who is widely tipped to take over from Hosni Mubarak as president, was named as Israel's preferred candidate for the job after discussions with American officials in 2008.

As a key figure working for Middle East peace, he once suggested that Israeli troops would be "welcome" to invade Egypt to stop weapons being smuggled to Hamas terrorists in neighbouring Gaza.

The details, which emerged in secret files obtained by WikiLeaks and passed to The Daily Telegraph, come after Mr Suleiman began talks with opposition groups on the future for Egypt's government.

On Saturday, Mr Suleiman won the backing of Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, to lead the "transition" to democracy after two weeks of demonstrations calling for President Mubarak to resign.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, spoke to Mr Suleiman yesterday and urged him to take "bold and credible steps" to show the world that Egypt is embarking on an "irreversible, urgent and real" transition.

Leaked cables from American embassies in Cairo and Tel Aviv disclose the close co-operation between Mr Suleiman and the US and Israeli governments as well as diplomats' intense interest in likely successors to the ageing President Mubarak, 83.

The documents highlight the delicate position which the Egyptian government seeks to maintain in Middle East politics, as a leading Arab nation with a strong relationship with the US and Israel. By 2008, Mr Suleiman, who was head of the foreign intelligence service, had become Israel's main point of contact in the Egyptian government.

David Hacham, a senior adviser from the Israeli Ministry of Defence, told the American embassy in Tel Aviv that a delegation led by Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak had been impressed by Mr Suleiman, whose name is spelled "Soliman" in some cables.

But Mr Hacham was "shocked" by President Mubarak's "aged appearance and slurred speech".

The cable, from August 2008, said: "Hacham was full of praise for Soliman, however, and noted that a 'hot line' set up between the MOD and Egyptian General Intelligence Service is now in daily use.

"Hacham noted that the Israelis believe Soliman is likely to serve as at least an interim President if Mubarak dies or is incapacitated." The Tel Aviv diplomats added: "We defer to Embassy Cairo for analysis of Egyptian succession scenarios, but there is no question that Israel is most comfortable with the prospect of Omar Soliman."

Elsewhere the documents disclose that Mr Suleiman was stung by Israeli criticism of Egypt's inability to stop arms smugglers transporting weapons to Palestinian militants in Gaza. At one point he suggested that Israel send troops into the Egyptian border region of Philadelphi to "stop the smuggling".

"In their moments of greatest frustration, [Egyptian Defence Minister] Tantawi and Soliman each have claimed that the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] would be 'welcome' to re-invade Philadelphia, if the IDF thought that would stop the smuggling," the cable said.

The files suggest that Mr Suleiman wanted Hamas "isolated", and thought Gaza should "go hungry but not starve".

"We have a short time to reach peace," he told US diplomats. "We need to wake up in the morning with no news of terrorism, no explosions, and no news of more deaths."

The Telegraph

More:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8309792/WikiLeaks-Israels-secret-hotline-to-the-man-tipped-to-replace-Mubarak.html

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Irish eyes not smiling on Mayor Bloomberg after stereotype joke about drinking

Mayor Bloomberg sure got their Irish up.

Hizzoner drew jeers when he tried to joke about the Irish's fondness for booze in an impromptu speech to the American Irish Historical Society.

He noted he lived near the Irish society's Fifth Ave. home, and, on St. Patrick's Day, was used to seeing "a bunch of people that are totally inebriated hanging out the window waving," a transcript of the event shows.

His latest foot-in-mouth gaffe came while speaking at the society's St. Patrick's Day Parade book launch.

Dozens of society members - and the parade grand marshal, author Mary Higgins Clark - gathered to celebrate the debut of a book called "Celebrating 250 Years of the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade."

Bloomberg was not on the program but was invited to make a few remarks, said society Executive Director Christopher Cahill.

After making his "inebriated" comment, Hizzoner seemed to realize he overstepped the bounds of decency.

"I know, that's a stereotype of the Irish," Bloomberg said to jeers. "Nevertheless, we Jews from around the corner think this."

The remark triggered a handful of boos from the crowd, and several Irish society members' eyes were not smiling that Bloomberg was trading in cultural stereotypes.

"It was ill-advised to make a statement like that," said John Dunleavy, chairman of the St. Patrick's Day Parade committee. "The remarks are highly, highly offensive to any Irish person.

"I don't think he would say a joke like that to any other ethnic group. It was totally uncalled for and unbecoming of the mayor," Dunleavy added.

Bloomberg did some bobbing and weaving Thursday when asked about the comments, which were first reported by IrishCentral.com.

"I certainly didn't mean anything that anybody should take offense to," Bloomberg said.

"I was talking about a party they have every year on St. Patrick's Day, where it's traditional to hang out the window and yell and scream, and it's all in good fun."

Later, he issued a mea culpa in a statement sent to reporters: "I apologize. I certainly did not mean to offend anybody."

The act of contrition was enough for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the city's highest-ranking Irish-American politician.

"Given the mayor's long history of support for the Irish community, his remarks last night were both surprising and inappropriate," Quinn said. "I am pleased to hear he has since apologized."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/02/10/2011-02-10_irish_eyes_not_smiling_on_mayor_bloomberg_after_stereotype_joke_about_drinking.html#ixzz1Deucnk4R









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Obama, Soros create 'Palestine'

JERUSALEM – Inpartnershipwith agovernmentfund initiated by Barack Obama,philanthropist and billionaire activist George Soros is investing in a private equity company that just launched in the Palestinian territories.


The company, Siraj Fund Management Company, says it was created "for the sole purpose of managing investment funds in Palestine."


The new company's website repeatedly refers to what it calls the "country" of "Palestine." There is, however, no such country as Palestine. Siraj is apparently referring to territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

"Siraj has plans to launch future funds focused on the Palestinian market thereby contributing to the sustainable developmentof the country," states the website.


This marks the latest involvement of Soros in Middle Eastern affairs.
WND reportedlast week Soros has been funding groups pushing for democracy in Egypt and is associated with an opposition leader there who has been fueling protests toppling the regime of President Hosni Mubarak, a key U.S. ally in the region.


WND also reportedan international "crisis management" group led by Soros long has petitioned for the Egyptiangovernmentto normalize ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, the main opposition in Egypt.


This week, Siraj Fund Management Company, the first private equity fund in the Palestinian territories, officially launched in the West Bank city of Ramallah.


Soros' Economic Development Fund investedin the new group alongside the U.S.government-owned Overseas Private Investment Corporation, or OPIC.
OPIC is an independent agency of the USgovernmentthat mobilizes private sector investment in new and emerging markets overseas.

Read more:Obama, Soros create 'Palestine'http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=262077#ixzz1Df4j2XvA

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US Home Foreclosures Rise in January, More Seen

U.S. home foreclosures jumped 12 percent last month, but the sharp divide between states  suggests the industry remains backlogged by investigations into the foreclosure process.

According to a report from real estate data firm RealtyTrac, lenders foreclosed on 78,133 properties in January, up 12 percent from the month before, but down 11 percent from January a year ago.

Bank seizures at states with non-judicial foreclosure processes jumped 23 percent, while states with a judicial process saw a decrease of 7 percent.

"It suggests the system is still frozen up. We should have seen a much larger increase in both overall activity and bank repossession," said Rick Sharga, senior vice president at RealtyTrac.

"The numbers will inevitably go up, it's just a question of will it be sooner or will it be later."

The number of foreclosure filings, which includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, rose 1 percent to 261,333 in January. Compared to January last year, filings are down 17 percent.

The report also showed 1 in every 497 houses received a foreclosure filing during the month. Five states -- California, Florida, Michigan, Arizona and Illinois -- continued to account for more than half of all foreclosure filings.

California alone accounted for more than one quarter.

Nevada, Arizona and California also had the highest foreclosure rates. Nevada had the country's highest foreclosure rate for the forty-ninth month in a row. One in every 93 Nevada homes received a foreclosure filing in January, more than five times the national average, RealtyTrac said.

CNBC

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Postal Service warns of default as losses mount

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The U.S. Postal Service warned Wednesday that it may default on some of its financial obligations later this year after reporting yet another quarterly loss.

The USPS, a self-supporting government agency that receives no tax dollars, said it suffered a loss of $329 million in the first quarter of federal fiscal year 2011. That compared with a loss of $297 million a year earlier.

The agency has been suffering from an ongoing decline in mail volume, which has undercut revenues, while retiree health care costs have been straining its reserves.

Excluding costs related to retiree benefits and adjustments to workers' compensation liability, the Postal Service said it had net income was $226 million in the first quarter, which ended Dec. 31.

Despite ongoing cost-cutting efforts, the USPS said it expects to have a cash shortfall this year and to hit its federally mandated borrowing limit by September, when the government's fiscal year ends.

All first-class stamps to be 'Forever' stamps

The agency said it will be forced to default on some of its financial obligations this year unless Congress changes a 2006 law requiring it to pay between $5.4 and $5.8 billion into its prepaid retiree health benefits each year.

"The Postal Service continues to seek changes in the law to enable a more flexible and sustainable business model," Patrick Donahoe, the Postmaster General, said in a statement. "We are eager to work with Congress and the administration to resolve these issues prior to the end of the fiscal year."

The Postal Service has taken a number of steps to increase revenue, including marketing initiatives and price increases. The agency raised rates an average of 3.6% in January.

More:

http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/09/news/economy/postal_service/index.htm?section=money_news_economy&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/money_news_economy+(Economy+News)&utm_content=Google+Reader

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These Are The Currencies That Will Surge Or Tank If Oil Goes Past $100

From the latest Morgan Stanley FX Pulse, this nice little infographic shows which currencies rise with oil (the ones at the top) and which ones dive with oil.

Not surprisingly, heavy oil importers like the Swiss Frank, the yen, and the dollar would slide if oil goes up

Meanwhile, this chart shows how you can synthetically match oil's movement going long a basket of currencies, while shorting the dollar
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European debt crisis threatens Portugal

The European Central Bank (ECB) has stepped in to the financial markets to buy Portuguese bonds on Thursday amid growing fears that the eurozone's rolling crisis is about to claim its third victim.

Policymakers in Frankfurt intervened for the first time in three weeks as borrowing costs on Portugal's debt remained at a level that proved to be unsustainable for both Greece and Ireland.

Left Bloc, one of the smaller parties in Portugal's parliament, said on Thursday it would table a motion of no confidence in the minority socialist government of the prime minister, José Sócrates, over its painful austerity measures to cut the budget deficit. The political uncertainty further unnerved investors, who dumped Portuguese bonds this week, sending yields soaring.

The ECB's attempt to reduce the tension was prompted by a rise in the yield on 10-year Portuguese bonds to 7.63% – the highest level since the country became a founder member of the single currency at the end of the 1990s.

Although Lisbon insisted it would be able to continue financing itself in debt markets, pressure on Portugal has been mounting in recent days as dealers questioned the eurozone's ability to put together a package of financial support and economic measures to protect member states from further speculative attacks.

Traders are concerned about Portugal's ability to refinance almost €10bn (£8.5bn) of debt that matures this spring, with the lack of confidence underlined by the poor performance of a syndicated bond launched by the government this week.

Cabinet minister Pedro Silva Pereira said: "There are no reasons to think Portugal does not have conditions to keep tapping the markets. It's quite the opposite." He blamed speculative attacks for rising yields. "This has to do with sovereign debt markets and not only in relation to Portugal but rates at the European level – all subject to speculative moves attacking the euro," he said.

Silva Pereira said Portugal was getting to grips with its financial problems, saying there were "extremely positive" signs from tax revenues as the country sought to slash the budget deficit this year from about 7% of gross domestic product to 4.6% of GDP.

Dealers said, however, that Portugal appeared to be following the same pattern as Ireland late last year, when sky-high borrowing costs forced Dublin to seek help from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund despite repeated government claims that the country could cope.

Guardian

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/10/european-debt-crisis-threatens-portugal

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