Middle Orient News

Ahmadinejad Stresses Iran’s Support for Iraq

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that it was Iran’s duty to be by the side of Iraq. Ahmadinejad met here with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Saturday evening. “Our Islamic and humanitarian duty requires us to be incessantly by the side of Iraqi people,” he said. …

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Egypt police hold Islamists ahead of Gaza protests

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian police detained 20 members of the Muslim Brotherhood and deployed in force in the capital on Friday, ahead of demonstrations the Islamist group called to protest Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Hundreds of riot police and agents were deployed around key mosques in Cairo before the protest, …

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Britain hands control of Basra airport to Iraqis

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has formally handed over responsibility for the running of Basra airport to Iraqi authorities, the Ministry of Defence said on Friday, a move that paves the way for Britain to withdraw from Iraq. The airport, on the outskirts of Iraq’s second largest city in the south …

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Iraq suicide bomber kills 23 at tribal lunch

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A suicide bomber struck a lunch gathering of Sunni Arab tribal leaders on Friday in a town south of Baghdad, killing at least 23 people and wounding 42 others, security spokesman Major-General Qassim Moussawi said. The U.S. military said its initial reports said 21 were killed and …

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Lucky few leave as Gaza struggles on

GAZA (Reuters) – They boarded buses in the pre-dawn murk on Friday, lucky foreign passport holders allowed by Israel to escape from seven days of Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip. “The situation is very bad. We are afraid for our children,” said Ilona Hamdiya, a woman from Moldova married …

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Volunteers Seek to Defend Gaza

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian student groups have appealed to the government to authorize martyrdom-seeking volunteers to leave Iran and fight against Israel in response to the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. The government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had not responded to the call by Wednesday. Five student groups and a …

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Iraqi PM Due in Tehran on Saturday

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is due to arrive here in Tehran on Saturday heading a high-ranking economic delegation. The two-day trip is aimed at a discussion of bilateral ties of the two neighbors and their supreme council of economic cooperation. During his stay in Tehran, the Iraqi …

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Israel Rejects Truce Call, Attacks Gaza

TEHRAN (FNA)- Israel rejected international pressure for a two-day cease-fire with Hamas and sent warplanes Wednesday to demolish tunnels that are the lifeline of Gaza’s population. The diplomatic efforts to forge a truce were set in motion by the scale of destruction in Gaza since Israel unleashed an offensive Saturday …

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Rabbi Calls on World Jews to Help Gazans

TEHRAN (FNA)- The religious leader of the Iranian Jews, Rabbi Golestaninejad, has issued a decree calling on Jews to help Palestinians, specially those under the Israeli blitzkriegs in the Gaza Strip. It is the duty of every “monotheistic Jew” to help these people, Golestaninejad said. He called on his coreligionists …

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Hamas offers to study fresh Gaza truce with Israel

GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas would consider renewing a lapsed truce with Israel in the Gaza Strip, but wants guarantees the Jewish state will halt incursions and keep border crossings open for supplies of aid and fuel, a spokesman said on Tuesday. Gaza’s Islamist leaders had initially ruled out extending the …

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