Middle Orient

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates urged US partners in the Middle East on Thursday to put pressure on Iran to end its nuclear programme, warning there’s “not really room for bystanders here”.

Mujahideen eliminated a so-called deputy head of the “Buinaksk department of interior affairs” Lieut. Col. Abdulmashid Rasulov.

Barack Obama, the US presidential candidate, has said he would be prepared to attack al-Qaeda targets inside Pakistan without Islamabad’s approval.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has signed an agreement giving the Palestinian Authority $80m (£39m) to reform their security services.

It was described as a “powder keg” moment. In late May, just across the Tigris river from Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, a heavily armed convoy of American forces was driving down a street near the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

Iraq’s parliament went into summer recess for a month on Monday after political leaders failed to agree on a series of laws that Washington sees as crucial to stabilizing the country.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned that Iran poses the biggest threat to US Middle East interests, as she begins a major regional tour.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki faces a revolt within his party by factions that want him out as Iraqi leader, according to officials in his office and the political party he leads.

WITH America determined to thwart Iran’s possibly nuclear-tipped ambitions, and the Islamic Republic set on blocking the superpower’s regional sway, some are calling the contest between Iran and the United States a new cold war.

Egypt has increased security at its international airport in response to threats of an Al Qaida strike.