JERUSALEM - Perundingan antara Israel dan para pegawai AS bertujuan untuk menghidupkan kembali perundingan perdamaian Timur Tengah yang dijanjikan oleh Washington untuk memujuk Israel untuk meneruskan membekukan pembangunan pemukiman Yahudi.
Perdana Menteri Israel Benjamin Netanyahu mengumumkan pujukan AS untuk kabinetnya akhir bulan lalu dan muncul berharap para menteri akan kembali rencana penghentian sementara bangunan di Tebing Barat yang diduduki untuk mengatasi rintangan ke pembicaraan damai.
Namun seorang pegawai Israel mengatakan pada hari Jumaat Amerika Syarikat belum memberikan jaminan bahawa Israel mahu, dengan Washington enggan komited untuk kertas semua janji Netanyahu mengatakan ia ditawari secara lisan pekan lalu.
The halangan terkini prihatin janji bahawa Israel mengatakan Menteri Luar Negeri AS Hillary Clinton dibuat untuk memberikan negeri percuma 20 pesawat pejuang F-35 stealth bernilai $ 3 bilion.
Politisi mengatakan Washington mundur dan sekarang ingin semacam bayaran untuk pesawat pejuang didambakan.
"Nampaknya para pejuang stealth bebas telah tergelincir," ujar Benny Begin, seorang menteri dari parti Likud Netanyahu yang menentang perjanjian yang dicadangkan AS, memberi amaran bahawa Washington memasang perangkap untuk mengekstrak konsesi besar nanti di telefon.
"Orang mungkin hairan jika anda tidak boleh bersetuju untuk pemahaman dari satu minggu ke depan, apa yang boleh terjadi selama tiga bulan," katanya kepada Radio Tentera Darat pada hari Jumaat.
Jabatan Luar Negeri AS mengatakan Jumaat akan bersedia untuk menempatkan jaminan secara bertulis tetapi menolak untuk membincangkan khusus tentang apa yang mereka mungkin.
"Kami meneruskan perbincangan kami dengan Israel Jika ada keperluan untuk menempatkan pemahaman tertentu dalam menulis,. Kita akan bersedia untuk melakukan itu," kata juru bicara Departemen Luar Negeri PJ Crowley pada sidang akhbar.
Netanyahu mengatakan "intensif" perbincangan lanjutan untuk mendapatkan yang diperlukan "pemahaman."
"Jika saya menerima usulan tersebut dari kerajaan Amerika, Aku akan mendatangkan sebelum kabinet keselamatan dan saya yakin bahawa rakan-rakan saya akan menerimanya," katanya Khamis malam.
FOKUS PADA sempadan
Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Barack Obama pelaburan modal politik substansial dalam memujuk Palestin untuk meneruskan perbualan secara langsung dengan Israel pada awal September, setelah berbulan-bulan pengantaraan.
Tapi, benar untuk peringatan mereka, Palestin dihentikan perundingan ketika Netanyahu menolak untuk melanjutkan moratorium penyelesaian 10 bulan separa ketika berakhir pada akhir September.
Washington berharap godaan diplomatik dan pertahanan akan memujuk Israel untuk memperbaharui freezeout selama 90 hari, membuka jalan selama tiga bulan rundingan intensif yang akan fokus pada sempadan masa depan negara Palestin.
Namun, sekutu koalisi Netanyahu meminta janji bertulis daripada Amerika Syarikat untuk membuat jelas membeku bangunan tidak termasuk tanah yang diduduki di Baitulmuqaddis Timur dan mengeja di luar sana akan ada tekanan AS untuk setiap moratoria seterusnya.
Palestin sendiri telah menyatakan kemarahan secara peribadi atas laporan yang ditawarkan AS, mengatakan itu rasuah untuk mendapatkan Israel untuk memenuhi kewajipan antarabangsa asas.
Para pegawai Israel mengatakan tampaknya ada keterputusan antara Rumah Putih dan Jabatan Luar Negeri dengan Obama bahagia bahawa Clinton telah menawarkan begitu banyak untuk suatu konsesi minimum.
Namun, ia menambah bahawa pejabat Netanyahu pikir kesepakatan dapat dicapai pada jam-jam datang dan bahawa perdana menteri akan mendapatkan sokongan yang diperlukan dari kabinetnya pada akhir pekan.
Politik sumber mengatakan tujuh menteri sedia untuk menyokong rancangan tersebut, sementara enam yang tegas menentang, meninggalkan dua menteri dari ultra-Ortodoks shas Parti memegang keseimbangan kuasa.
Surat khabar mengatakan mereka cenderung berpantang, tetapi mereka menghadapi tekanan dari lobi pro-penduduk untuk memberikan suara menentang dan mencegah menghentikan pembangunan pemukiman.
Sumber Dari: Reuters
Rolls-Royce scrambles for A380 engines
SINGAPORE/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Engine maker Rolls-Royce (RR.L) has asked Airbus (EAD.PA) to return some Airbus A380 engines from production lines so it can use them to replace faulty ones on airplanes already in service.
The Airbus A380 -- the world's largest passenger aircraft with an average list price of about $350 million -- has been hit by safety concerns after a Rolls-Royce engine partly disintegrated mid-flight, forcing a fully laden Qantas (QAN.AX) plane to make an emergency landing in Singapore on Nov 4.
Rolls-Royce's move could be another blow to a much-delayed A380 program as Airbus was scheduled to deliver over a dozen Rolls-Royce-powered A380s -- primarily to Singapore Airlines (SIAL.SI), Qantas and Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) by the end of next year.
"Until this problem is fully resolved I think the situation with the delivery of A380 to customers... will be in jeopardy," Standard & Poor's analyst Sukhor Yusof said.
But both Singapore Airlines and Qantas, with a combined 22 A380s still to be delivered, said on Tuesday they had not been informed of any delivery delays.
CHINA DELIVERY ON TRACK
Airbus's China chief Laurence Barron said the first delivery to China Southern Airlines Co Ltd (1055.HK) (600029.SS), China's first A380 customer, would also go ahead as planned for next summer.
Airlines using the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines have been ordered by European aviation authorities to undertake major tests, which analysts said were so strenuous they would likely disrupt schedules.
"I can confirm that Rolls-Royce is arranging to supply some new engines from the production line to replace some engines removed from the serviced aircraft," an Airbus spokesman in Singapore said, without saying which airlines would receive those engines.
Rolls-Royce shares have suffered during its probe and ended Monday 8.7 percent below their last trade before the Qantas incident. Airbus has fared better but still lost 5 percent and hit a one-month low on Monday, while Qantas is down 4.9 percent.
AIRBUS PREDICTED DELAYS
Airbus said last week that the problem with Rolls Royce engine could have an impact on its earnings and delivery target for 2011 but did not give detail and airlines contacted on Tuesday had no knowledge of delivery timetable changes.
Airbus can ill afford setbacks in sales for a plane which cost 12 billion euros ($16.3 billion) to develop but has struggled to attract airlines in some key markets including the United States and Japan.
Qantas -- set to take five A380s by the end of next year, including three within the next few months -- said it had not been notified of any delivery delays and expected deliveries to remain on schedule.
China Southern, which has already suffered a delay in receiving its A380s, has five of the aircraft on order, with most scheduled for delivery in 2011.
Airbus is in the process of arranging for engines to be taken off the A380 production line in Toulouse in France and shipped to Sydney to be fitted to the grounded Qantas aircraft, according to a report in the Aviation Business, which cited Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy in Sydney last week.
Qantas' fleet of six A380 aircraft have remained grounded since the incident earlier this month.
"The cost is roughly $1 million for Qantas for each day the A380 is grounded. But the biggest issue is reputational. It's down to the consumer and there's a price to pay there as well," an Australian analyst, who declined to be identified, said.
However, the problem would not lead to cancellation of orders as it was the problem with the engine instead of the airframe, he added.
Singapore Airlines spokesman Nicholas Ionides said the carrier had not been informed by Airbus of any delay on its A380 delivery schedule.
The world's second-biggest carrier by market capitalization currently operates 11 A380s and is scheduled to receive eight more before end-March 2012.
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