Eurasia

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – An Islamist group that claimed responsibility for bombing the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad had not previously been heard of, but Pakistani intelligence eavesdroppers heard al Qaeda operatives celebrating the attack.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday denied a claim by Georgia it had shot down an unmanned Russian spy drone over its territory.

TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia said on Tuesday it had shot down a small Russian reconnaissance drone over Georgian territory just south of the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani security guard Shabnam Jamshed seemed distracted when she left her Islamabad home for work last Saturday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met Tuesday with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss recent developments in the region.

BRUSSELS, Sept. 17 (UPI) — Russian warships will stay on patrol in the Black Sea until all U.S. vessels leave the coastal area off the Republic of Abkhazia, a Russian official said.

BRUSSELS, Sept. 17 (UPI) — The Russian envoy to NATO suggested Wednesday the United States is planning to attack Iran through Georgia.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A U.S. missile strike killed five militants in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, a Pakistani official said.Another official said the attack on a container loaded with ammunition and explosives was the result of better U.S.-Pakistani intelligence sharing and both countries had worked together on the attack.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed treaties with Georgia’s South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Wednesday that commit Moscow to defend the breakaway regions from any Georgian attack.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – A visit to Georgia by senior NATO officials this week was anti-Russian and showed the alliance is driven by Cold War-style thinking, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.