Middle Orient

BEIRUT (AP) — The Red Cross pledged Tuesday to continue assistance in a battle-scarred Palestinian refugee camp despite the death of two volunteers as Lebanese troops, backed by heavy artillery barrages, chipped away at Islamists barricaded in dense neighbourhoods still housing thousands of civilians.

AMMAN (JT) — Jordan and Egypt on Tuesday urged Palestinian factions to end infighting and work on enhancing their unity.

Fatah says it is suspending participation in the three-month old unity government until street battles in Gaza end. The announcement on Tuesday night came at the end of one of the bloodiest days of factional fighting in the Gaza Strip. The toll in the past 24 hours reached 27, with …

Up to 11,000 British soldiers have deserted the Army fearing they could be deployed in violence-racked Iraq amid a steady rise in the number of soldiers going Absent Without Leave (AWOL) in the occupied country, British Ministry of Defense figures show.

Heavy fighting has continued throughout the day in Gaza after militants of the Palestinian group Hamas attacked posts held by their Fatah faction rivals.

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday proposed stationing international forces along the Gaza Strip’s volatile border with Egypt to prevent arms from reaching Palestinian militants.

NCRI – Coalition forces in Iraq announced they had arrested 16 terrorists tied to Iranian regime’s Intelligence Ministry who smuggled bombs and Explosively Formed Penetrators (E.F.P) from Iran to Iraq. These terrorists were arrested on Thursday in Sadr city near Baghdad.

SOFIA (Reuters) — President George W. Bush said on Monday it was a high priority for the United States to win the release of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya for infecting children with HIV.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The White House Sunday backed an eventual withdrawal of most US troops from Iraq after a report said detailed plans are afoot to retain a smaller military presence in the war-torn country for years.

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Renewed Palestinian factional fighting killed 11 people on Monday in Gaza, where gunmen fired on government offices forcing ministers to interrupt a Cabinet meeting.