Waivers

Via Dragon :

The Secretary of State has placed Moldova on the Special Watch List because the determination that the Government of Moldova is making significant efforts is based, in part, on commitments by the country to take additional future steps over the next year.

Translation : they sold arms to Georgia, how could we punish them ?

The partial waiver will allow the provision of funding for educational and cultural programs that involve the participation of individuals who in some cases may be affiliated with the government.

Translation : let's support Iran opposition, you never know .

A full waiver has been granted in the national interest in order to advance goals of the Global War on Terror and U.S. commercial interests.

Translation : Qatar&Saudia have lot of money&oil .

The granting of a full waiver of sanctions against Kuwait is in the national interest because it will allow us to continue democracy programs in Kuwait in support of the President's Freedom Agenda through the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and will permit continued security cooperation to effectively prosecute the Global War on Terror.

Translation : for some reason, Kuwait is always in our hearts .

Piracy, like terrorism, is a disease which strikes blows to the whole world," Afp

When you touch Saudis wallet, they cry like babies .

Immaterial Balls

"Whatever the truth, it is immaterial. Nothing justifies the depths of sadism that the US government and its lackeys routinely descend to," remarked Najma Sadeque, a Pakistan-based rights activist and senior journalist, referring to the treatment meted out to Dr Aafia Siddiqui by the authorities in the United States. newsblaze

This statement reminds me of that of the US Ambassador to Oman, saying that to him was the same whether Obama or McCain would be the next president .
Pakistanis and Americans are alike : they are made for each other .

I wouldn't label the truth as immaterial : if Dr. Siddiqui was really involved in act of terrorism and tried to kill an American investigator as claimed by the FBI, then she deserves to be tortured and more .
If she was caught in, just because she is related to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, that is another unbearable act of arrogance from American side .
In either cases, one more time this is an evidence of the failure of US foreign policies [hope the guys who scan through our Omani blogs from the U.S. Dept. won't take it personally] : they paid billions to their dictator for years and they replaced him with another, but the result is always the same .

According to the website dedicated to her story , Pakistani residents have planned a rally in Muscat to be held in front of American Embassy on the 19th of November .
I don't think this will upset Gary Grappo, since for him, whatever happens in life is fine .
I had just made fun some posts ago of the Foreign Office announcement about demonstrations, wondering why on earth an expat here should fancy a protest, and now this .
Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you gonna get .

"I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls," Mr Putin replied.
Mr Sarkozy responded: "Hang him?"
"Why not? The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein," said Mr Putin.
Mr Sarkozy replied, using the familiar "tu": "Yes but do you want to end up like (President) Bush?"
Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then replied: "Ah, you have scored a point there." Timesonline

The P.M. spokesman denied the episode but it sounds veracious .
What I find amusing is Sarko' passing from vous to tu, to convince the Tsar .

New websites

The one dedicated to H.M., Oman Qaboos net , is very simple and essential, really representative of our Sultan .
There are basic informations on his private and public life, quite good for an international user who knows little or nothing about the Sultanate and his ruler .
Since they translated into Korean and Portuguese, they might have included Italian as well, but it will be probably done in the future .
The topics index is placed on a horizontal bar which is too low and close to the explorer border : they should have been placed higher or upright laterally .
Some pictures seem to be taken from books and newspapers printed copies so the digital quality is not good, and am not talking about old events, rather recent . Am not an expert but maybe it can be fixed .
The idea is good and am sure H.M. will appreciate it .
In the future, the government itself might plan a wider project to put online more material about Oman and its history to interact with nationals and foreigners abroad .
There's already something on many ministries websites, but is not much and the contact emails don't work .

Blue Chi opened a new website on IT Law .
It's very useful and most important, is written in a way that also dumbs like me can understand it .
This guy will become Minister of Justice one day, mind my words .

My IT Lawyer

Out of tier shock

Deputy US Secretary of State John Negroponte has received a written message from HE Sayyid Badr Bin Hamad Bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Secretary-General at the Foreign Ministry, that included the Sultanate’s welcoming of the US president’s decision to cancel the statement about the Sultanate cited in the US Department of State’s report on human trafficking and removing its name from the third category in that report. Tribune
Article 1 establishes the National Commission for Human Rights to be affiliated to the State Council, has its legal autonomy and would be independent in practising its duties with its headquarters in Muscat city.Tribune

The Royal Decree is another great step toward that humanism always recommended by H.M. for the development of his country . Legal autonomy and independency are basic factors .
Of course news of the day is the tier 3 cancellation .
Not clear which tier we are now .
I find the Tribune commentaries on the shock raised by the human trafficking ranking, extremely pathetic .
Is fair to say that the majority of the local population respects human rights, but there's a good part that doesn't, which is why there's a draft law on the way .
I can't find any news around the web about Bush relieving us from this burden [not on the US Dept. or on the White House site either ] and not even about Qatar which had strongly protested on the issue, but in a more constructive way, by setting up a committee to study the problem and providing evidence to the Americans that the report was incorrect .
Willing to play the devil's advocate as always, I'd say that since Bush, before going out of office wanted to leave a positive mark in history, after having failed with the Israeli-Palestinian peace and OBL capture, will have to be content with Oman and Colombia trade agreements which is why he had to cut the tier 3 black spot but probably didn't announce it out loud because not many in Washington would approve the move .
As an American official recently said at a meeting here in Muscat with Omani businessmen, the FTA risks to be further delayed to next presidency .
And I suspect that H.M. as always had a great role in repairing damages done by others of his entourage : he must have discussed the issue with Negroponte, here last month replacing Condi Rice officially remained in Washington to solve the financial crisis, and he did it using strong arguments .

The Omani Journalists Association issued a statement condemning the content of the US Department of State and the false allegation that the Sultanate is not taking enough measures to combat human trafficking.

This must have made the difference .