Dear Ray,

I just discovered your traces in the sand (Ray Hanania, "Changing Palestinian-Israeli paradigm", Yediot Ahronot, March 15 2006), waded through your biography, and thought it "proper and effective in the circumstances" to relay to you the invitation by H.E. Sami Shoresh, the Minister of Culture of the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG for the commemorative festivities for Sheik Mahmoud Al Hafeed, to be held in Arbil (Irak) on March 11 to 13, 2006 (www.solami.com/arbilapril.htm).

If you're interested to attend this event, please advise H.E. by return email (sameshoresh@yahoo.com), with copies to Sheik Salar al Hafeed (shieksalar@yahoo.com) and to myself at your earliest convenience. His Excellency advised me that I may invite, on his behalf, several suitable colleagues from among my network, that all costs will be carried by the KRG, that for their current lack of experience and know-how, those accepting this official invitation should make on their own their traval arrangements to and from Arbil, and that they will be fully reimbursed in Arbil.

I have tentatively made reservations (irak-reisen@arcor.de, +49307-9748491) for five persons on the Kurdistan Airline flight of April 10 which leaves Frankfurt on 22.55 and arrives at Arbil 05.30 - just in time for the opening of the festivities on the morning of April 11.

With best regards

Anton Keller, Secretary
Good Offices Group of European Lawmakers
t+f: +4122-7400362
swissbit@solami.com

PS:  Referring to our past humanitarian efforts, notably with regard to the 1992 invitation I arranged for the 400 Palestinans which in December 1992 were expelled to Southern Lebanon (.../mvcindex.htm#Hamas), I'm also looking for related prompt contacts with some interested Hamas representatives. For, in a wider and longer-term perspective, some wounds in the Middle East are festering not only since the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, but appear to have much deeper roots which - in the evolving context and given visionary, principled and courageous minds capable of thinking out of the box and recognizing the world not to be flat - may now have a chance of being effectively addressed in a comprehensive way (.../214.htm).