Middle Orient

RAMALLAH, West Bank  – U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell called on Thursday for an opening of trade crossings into the Gaza Strip with the involvement of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Following talks in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is at odds with Gaza’s ruling Islamist movement Hamas, …

GAZA  – Whole streets lie in ruins, many thousands of Palestinians are homeless after weeks of Israeli bombing and foreign aid cash is piling up. As a builder in the Gaza Strip, this should be Anwar al-Sahabani’s big moment. Instead, though, he sits at home, angry and sad, not just …

TEHRAN (FNA)- The European Union is responsible for its negative and pernicious decision to remove the name of the anti-Iran terrorist group, the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), from its blacklist, Iran announced. The European Union decided Monday to remove the MKO from its blacklist, a move which angered Iranian people …

GAZA  – Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli air strikes threatened on Thursday to undermine efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama’s Middle East envoy to reinforce a fragile Gaza ceasefire. Palestinian militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip launched one rocket into Israel late on Wednesday — the first since the January …

MOSUL, Iraq  – In Iraq’s most violent province, where al Qaeda and a medley of insurgent groups are making a last stand, an election in two days could help bring peace or stoke fresh conflict between Arabs and Kurds. Iraqis vote on Saturday for the first time since 2005 in …

BAGHDAD  – Iraq will send Syria its first ambassador since around the time Saddam Hussein became president in 1979, a government official said Wednesday. Alaa al-Jawadi would leave Wednesday to become Iraq’s new envoy in Damascus, Mohammed al-Haj Hamoud, Iraq’s deputy foreign minister, told Reuters. Last October Damascus posted its …

JERUSALEM  – The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had reprimanded an officer behind the distribution of a booklet during the Gaza war that advised soldiers against showing any mercy to enemies. An Israeli rights group, Yesh Din, called Monday for the dismissal of the chief military rabbi, Brigadier-General Avichai …

RAFAH, Gaza Strip  – Smugglers were back at work in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip Wednesday repairing tunnels running under the border with Egypt only hours after Israeli aircraft bombed the underground network. “They dropped two or three bombs. But look, everybody is still working,” said a 30-year-old digger who gave …

CAIRO  – The U.S. Middle East envoy, dispatched by President Barack Obama with orders to “start by listening,” said on Wednesday it was critical to consolidate a Gaza ceasefire after Israel’s offensive. Former Senator George Mitchell met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during the first leg of his week-long tour as …

BASRA, Iraq  – Iraq’s elections this week will be a crucial test of whether the oil-rich but dilapidated city of Basra is ready for the international investment it desperately needs, British officials said. Once overrun by gangs and militias vying for control of Iraq’s second biggest city, Basra is now …