Middle Orient

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s parliament will insist on vetting any security pact the government agrees with the United States and will likely veto the document if American troops are immune from Iraqi law, a senior lawmaker said on Tuesday. Baghdad and Washington are negotiating the legal basis for U.S. troops …

DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates’ decision to forgive Baghdad’s debt and restore high-level ties reflects a Gulf Arab desire to counter Iran’s spreading influence, but not all will be so quick to warm to the new Iraq. Sunni Arab governments who once funded Iraq’s 1980-1988 war against Shi’ite …

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) – The Shi’ite Mehdi Army militia is finished as a fighting force in Iraq’s oil rich Basra province and upcoming provincial elections should pass without violence, the province’s governor said on Tuesday. Mohammed al-Waeli said an Iraqi security offensive against the Mehdi Army of anti-American cleric Moqtada …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A roadside bomb killed four contractors and wounded eight others in northern Iraq, the U.S. military said on Tuesday. The military said the bomb hit a coalition logistics convoy south of the city of Mosul on Monday. A U.S. military spokesman said nationalities of the victims had …

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese leaders are finalizing a deal on the formation of a national unity government as stipulated in an agreement that ended the country’s political crisis, political sources said on Saturday.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – A London-based Syrian human rights group said on Saturday that Syrian security forces had shot dead dozens of prisoners during a riot at a military jail near Damascus.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday sought the demolition of the houses of two Palestinians behind recent deadly attacks against Israelis after the attorney-general said the move was legally viable. Israel wants to raze the homes of a Palestinian who killed three Israelis in a bulldozer …

PARIS (Reuters) – Syria’s foreign minister said on Friday it was premature to talk of direct peace negotiations with Israel, a day after the Jewish state called for face-to-face discussions to start soon. A third round of indirect talks between the long-standing foes took place in Istanbul this week and …

GAZA (Reuters) – Israel responded to Thursday’s rocket attack by again closing its border crossing with Gaza on Friday, dampening hopes among Gazans that a ceasefire between Hamas and the Jewish state might ease an Israeli-led blockade. A truce brokered by Egypt on June 19 calls on militants in the …

GAZA (Reuters) – Islamist Hamas said on Friday it was suspending indirect talks with Israel over a prisoner swap deal, citing Israeli violations of a declared truce in Gaza. Gaza’s Islamist leaders have accused Israel of dragging its feet in implementing the truce deal that includes a gradual increase of …