Middle Orient

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.

A suicide truck bomber ripped through a busy commercial district in Kirkuk on Monday afternoon, leaving a large crater surrounded by dozens of mutilated bodies, police and military officials said.

An Egyptian official has cast doubt on the authenticity of a recently-released Fatah video showing Hamas members planning the assassination of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas via a tunnel bomb, Israel Radio reported on Monday morning.

Egypt’s powerful chief of intelligence, who acts as a key diplomatic link with the United States and Israel, flew to Washington on Sunday for talks with administration officials on bilateral ties and Mideast issues, officials said.

The families of 438 children infected with HIV have reached an agreement with the Libyan government on compensation, potentially opening the way for the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who has been granted Bulgarian citizenship.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said Saturday that the Iraqi army and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops leave “any time they want”, though he acknowledged the forces need further weapons and training.