Middle Orient

The new US military commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Ray Odierno, has said that recent security gains there are “fragile and reversible”.

Representatives of Lebanon’s many political factions are meeting to begin dialogue on the country’s future.

Officials in the Gaza Strip say at least 11 people have been killed in a gun battle between Hamas security forces and a powerful local clan.

Outgoing General David Petraeus has handed over control of US military operations in Iraq at a ceremony in Baghdad. Petraeus is widely credited for security gains in Iraq after implementing a surge strategy backed by 30,000 extra US troops.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Ehud Olmert appealed on Monday for a partial peace deal with the Palestinians before he steps down as Israeli prime minister, but President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the idea on the eve of talks between the leaders.

GENEVA (Reuters) – Israel’s deadly shelling in the Gaza Strip in November 2006 may constitute a war crime, South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu said in a report to the United Nations released on Monday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A dramatic fall in violence has breathed life into Baghdad’s once moribund property market, although the hunt for homes in Sunni and Shi’ite enclaves bodes ill for sectarian reconciliation in the Iraqi capital.

US defence secretary Robert Gates is in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on a previously unannounced visit.

Teams of divers and helicopters with night vision cameras are continuing to search for survivors after a ferry carrying around 150 people sank off the Black Sea coast of Turkey. The roll-on, roll-off vessel, which also had 75 vehicles on board, had left the port of Bandirma and was heading …

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iraq is prepared to restart talks with the United States and Iran, and is checking with both sides to see if a fresh round can be scheduled, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Sunday.