Middle Orient News

AMMAN — Iraq’s resistance has replaced Abu Mussab Zarqawi as political head of the rebels, confining him to a military role, the son of Osama Ben Laden’s mentor told AFP Sunday in Jordan.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israel on Sunday took its first steps towards forming a new government expected to be led by interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who wants to set the country’s final borders with or without Palestinian agreement.

ERBIL (Reuters) — A Kurdish writer was sentenced to 1-1/2 years in prison on Sunday for defaming Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, in a case that has raised questions about the freedom of the press in postwar Iraq.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — One thing seems certain after Israel holds an election on Tuesday — no matter who wins, peacemaking with the Palestinians will remain on hold.

KHARTOUM — Arab foreign ministers on Sunday renewed a previous commitment to provide the Palestinian Authority with $50 a month to cover for a budget deficit when Hamas takes office.

RAMALLAH — Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said yesterday Israel would seek talks with the US and others before embarking on another round of unilateral withdrawals from occupied Palestinian territories.

WHEELING, West Virginia (AP) — No matter his audience, President George W. Bush is drawing on his plainspoken manner in freewheeling venues to defend his Iraq strategy.

MOGADISHU (AP) — Sporadic gunfire rang out in the Somali capital Thursday, witnesses said, a day after some of the heaviest recent fighting in Mogadishu killed at least 20 people when an Islamic militia battled forces that have challenged clerics’ growing power.

CAIRO — Jobless and broke, Hamada Ismail called off his wedding and broke up with his fiancee — all because of bird flu. Its outbreak last month in Egypt has forced the closing of hundreds of

BE’INEH — “Fifteen minutes of your time every four years is not too much to ask. You must vote,” one Arab Israeli lawmaker shouted through his megaphone. “Vote for us or for any other Arab party,” called Azmi Bishara to a small audience in the northern Israeli village of Be’ineh-Njeidat.