All Blog Posts from World Watch

The sound you could hear this morning was of heads being scratched around the world.

Very quickly, the Nobel Committee found itself having not just to explain its choice of President Barack Obama for the Peace Prize, but to defend it.

There have been controversial selections before, but rarely one that caused this much puzzlement.

Read full post…

This story was filed by CBS News' George Baghdadi in Damascus.

---

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdullaziz vowed Thursday after two days of ground-breaking talks in Damascus to open a new chapter in bilateral relations after years of enmity.

The Saudi king's two-day visit to Damascus was the first of its kind since 2005, and the sweetening in the relationship could have significant repercussions for the region.

Washington is hoping to engage Syria in a new round of peace talks with Israel. The Obama administration and its Arab allies hope to diminish the influence of Iranian-backed groups Hezbollah and Hamas in regional affairs. Syria wields significant influence over these militant organizations, which are classified by Washington as terrorist groups.

The changing dynamic could also help to stabilize Iraq, which borders both countries, and to end a political stalemate in Lebanon — where both Riyadh and Damascus have great influence, but have for years been on opposite sides of the fence.

Read full post…

The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded in Oslo, Norway on Friday at 11 a.m. local time – that's 5 a.m. in New York – and while there is no clear frontrunner, a few names have emerged as the top contenders.

Among them are two Chinese dissidents, Hu Kia and Wei Jingsheng, whose victory would likely draw vocal protests from the Chinese government. Hu, as the Wall Street Journal reports, is a human rights and AIDS activist who went to prison for three-and-a-half years for "subversion," while Wei spent 17 years in prison and eventually moved to the United States.

Such an award would have particular resonance as 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, as well as 60 years since the the People's Republic of China was created. But there are reports that the Nobel committee is wary of challenging a major power such as China or Russia; some speculate that Hu and Wei, along with other activists like Gao Zhisheng, could thus lose out, as they did last year.

The leading candidate according to the oddsmakers at paddypower.com is an Afghan: Human rights activist Seema Samar, who is listed at 9/2. A medical doctor, Samar has seen her husband arrested, had to flee the country for her safety, and has been threatened with death for questioning sharia law. The U.N. special envoy to Darfur in Africa, Samar has been an outspoken advocate for women's rights.

Another top candidate is Colombian senator Piedad Cordoba, tapped by CNN as the frontrunner; Cordoba, the head of Colombians for Peace, has tried to end the conflict between her country's government and the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. She has secured the release of 16 hostages and was kidnapped herself in 1999; critics have complained, however, that she is too close to rebels.

Among the most familiar names on the list is Morgan Tsvangirai (pictured at top), the Zimbabwean opposition leader and prime minister who has faced arrest and intimidation at the hands of President Robert Mugabe; Tsvangirai worked out a tenuous power-sharing agreement with Mugabe following the disputed 2008 election.

Read full post…

George Mitchell, the Obama administration's Middle East envoy, hoped on Sunday his new round of talks in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad — their second in a month — would breathe new life into the faltering peace process, Washington's ultimate goal in the Middle East.

"I have just completed a very candid and positive conservation with President al-Assad," Mitchell said, reports CBS News' George Baghdadi in Damascus. "I discussed with him the prospects for moving forward on our goal of comprehensive peace in the region and improved bilateral relations between Syria and the United States."

Read full post…

Writing from Damascus, CBS News' George Baghdadi reports that George Mitchell, the Obama administration's Middle East envoy, arrived in the Syrian capital Saturday night to encourage Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to support America's new broad-based, comprehensive peace drive in the Middle East.

It will be Mitchell's second visit to Syria since mid-June, as President Obama seeks to re-engage Damascus — a key regional player — to try and breathe new life into the faltering peace process. Mitchell has made five previous visits to the region.

Read full post…

Amid strong U.S. pressure for a settlement freeze, there is growing skepticism among Israelis about America's stance in the Middle East peace process.

A poll published Friday in The Jerusalem Post shows that 64 percent of Israeli Jews believe Israel cannot trust international pledges for its security in return for dismantling settlements and withdrawing from the West Bank.

Furthermore, Israelis want a quid pro quo: 71 percent believe that Palestinians must freeze West Bank construction if Israel is forced to do the same.

The settlement issue has led to a deepening rift between Israel and Washington since hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assumed power three months ago. The Obama administration is demanding a complete freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and disputed East Jerusalem.

Read full post…

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that peace in the Middle East will only be achievable if Israel gives back the territories it has occupied.

The Turkish leader made it clear that Ankara was ready to act as an intermediary to bring Syria and Israel — long-time foes — to the negotiating table.

A joint statement from the Turkish and Syrian leaders stresses the need for "a genuine Israeli political will to make peace based on the implementation of international resolutions and Israel's withdrawal from occupied Arab lands."

Read full post…

A top adviser to U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell said on Thursday the Obama administration is seeking to play a "balanced" role in its drive for peace in the Middle East.

Fred Hoff made his remarks, in a bid to test Syria's support for Washington's efforts, after lengthy talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Damascus.

"Mr. Hoff underlined the United States' quest to work for achieving comprehensive peace in the region and its determination to play its effective and balanced role for resuming peace negotiations on all tracks," said an official statement.

Meanwhile, the Israelis said they were ready to resume direct talks with Damascus if it distances itself from Iran and armed Islamist groups in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories that are arrayed against the Jewish state.

Syria dismissed the Israeli demand, insisting that any new negotiations should include assurances that it will recover the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 war.

Read full post…

U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, the highest-ranking administration official to visit Damascus since 2005, said on Saturday that Washington was seeking Damascus' help in securing a lasting peace in the Middle East.

A week after U.S. President Barack Obama pledged in his Cairo speech to pursue a broad-based, comprehensive peace agreement in the region, Mitchell arrived in Syria from Lebanon to see if the time is right.

The two-day visit is the most concrete sign yet of rapprochement between Washington and Damascus — a radical departure from the Bush administration.

The Syrian leader, a Presidential statement said, "explained Syria's firm position in seeking to achieve a just and comprehensive peace on the basis of international resolutions and formulas."

Read full post…

Syria's foreign minister said on Monday his country would not go back to peace talks with Israel unless it spells out it would relinquish the Golan Heights and urged the United States to translate its words into actions on the ground.

“We will not return to unproductive talks. When we decide to do so, this means that we will be going in accordance with internationally-recognized bases and formulas, on the basis of the total liberation of the Golan to the 4th of June 1967 borderline,” Walid al-Mouallem told a news conference at the end of a three-day meeting of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference in the Syrian capital.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday after meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington that he was ready to resume the talks with Syria immediately, but indicated he would not make any commitments on land first.

Read full post…