BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Al Qaeda fighters kidnapped 15 Iraqi women and children after attacking two villages north of Baghdad on Thursday and killing a religious leader who had been trying to form an anti-Al Qaeda tribal alliance.

RAMALLAH (AP) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday denied recent Israeli news reports that secret peace talks have made progress on some of the most sensitive issues at the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

AMMAN  – Hamas supremo Khaled Mishaal said efforts to end the bitter feud with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were deadlocked because of Israeli and US meddling, and insisted his men would stay in control of Gaza.

LEBANESE AUTHORITIES HAVE arrested two Palestinians in connection with a roadside bombing that targeted UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon last month, a security official said Thursday.

ANKARA (AFP) – A Turkish court on Thursday charged an Egyptian with alleged ties to Al Qaeda and a Turkish accomplice with hijacking a plane carrying more than 140 people, the Anatolia news agency said. The court in the southern city of

Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar Thursday underlined full preparedness of his country’s armed forces, saying that Iranian troops are closely monitoring enemy moves in the region.

Iran’s first Vice-President Parviz Davoudi extended his congratulations to the Uzbek government and nation on the country’s national day.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini said the US has not yet announced the exact date for a meeting between the five Iranian diplomats kidnapped by the US troops in Iraq and their family members.

Iran’s first Vice-President Parviz Davoudi extended his felicitations to the Kyrgyz government and nation on the country’s national day.

SEOUL, South Korea – Two South Korean ex-hostages begged for the release of 19 of their fellow church volunteers still held captive in Afghanistan, saying in an interview broadcast Thursday that their anguish for the others overshadowed the relief of being freed.Kim Kyung-ja, 37, and Kim Jee-na, 32, were among …