Middle Orient

A bloody eight-week-old battle between the Lebanese army and Islamists claimed the life of its 100th soldier on Monday, as a blast hit a UN post in the south of the country.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki sought to soften earlier comments that American troops can leave “any time they want”, saying Monday that Iraq’s security force was on the road to taking over from US troops — but it’s not there yet.

Iraq is on the verge of deeper disaster, and the violence that kills hundreds of people every week will only get worse in the months ahead, the country’s first post-Saddam prime minister said on Monday.

Israel plans to release 250 Palestinian prisoners by the end of the week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the two leaders met in Jerusalem on Monday.

A triple bombing, including a massive suicide truck blast, killed more than 80 people Monday in Kirkuk, the deadliest attack yet in the oil-rich northern city. The bloodshed reinforced concern that extremists are heading north as US-led forces step up pressure around Baghdad.

King Abdullah on Monday welcomed US President George W. Bush’s call for an international conference to revive Middle East peace talks, describing it as “a step in the right direction”, a Royal Court statement said.

Since July 3, when Pakistani troops laid siege and eventually stormed the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad, more than 100 people, mostly from the security forces, have been killed in attacks in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), primarily in the Swat region over the past few days.

As news that a huge bomb explosion rocked Mogadishu’s Bakara market on Monday while a large number of Somalia military and police forces were in the area, the Youth Islamic Movement reported a strike against Joint Ethiopian-Somalian Forces that destroyed a vehicle.

President Bush is making a new push for Middle East peace. VOA White House correspondent Paula Wolfson reports he is calling for an international conference this year to move the peace process forward, and is pledging to increase aid to the Palestinian government of Mahmoud Abbas.

President George W. Bush on Monday called for a Middle East peace conference later this year and pledged $190 million in new aid to the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.