OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — A Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip would deal a blow to a US peace push founded on the premise Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would be capable of reining in fighters and Israel would embrace him as a partner.
Read More »Shrine bombing offers Sadr chance to show political pedigree
BAGHDAD — The second bombing at the Samarra shrine will test Moqtada Sadr’s political skills and clarify what control he has over his feared Mehdi Army militia.
Read More »UN Mideast line swayed by US, Israel — ex-envoy
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — A former UN Middle East envoy quit his job last month making bitter allegations that UN policy in the region had failed because it was subservient to US and Israeli interests, according to a leaked document.
Read More »Sunni mosques, Green Zone attacked
BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Three Sunni mosques were torched and mortar bombs hit Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Thursday, police said, despite curfews imposed after suspected Al Qaeda gunmen hit a revered Shiite shrine.
Read More »Mourners vent anger as Beirut holds funeral for slain legislator
BEIRUT (AP) — Angry mourners blamed Syria and vented anger at its ally Hizbollah Thursday as the crowd laid to rest Lebanese legislator Walid Eido, the latest victim of a wave of assassinations of anti-Syrian figures.
Read More »King urges dialogue to end bloodshed, state of chaos
AMMAN (Petra) — His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday called for taking all possible measures to stop inter-Palestinian fighting and bring to an end bloodshed and the state of chaos prevailing in the Gaza Strip.
Read More »Hamas Consolidates Hold on Gaza Strip
Hamas militants overran the main security headquarters of the Fatah organization in the Gaza Strip on Thursday and targeted remaining key facilities under Fatah control.
Read More »NATO chief voices solidarity with Turkey, urges ‘maximum restraint’
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer expressed solidarity Tuesday (June 12th) with Turkey’s fight against terrorism, while also urging Ankara to show “maximum restraint” in dealing with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases in northern Iraq.
Read More »Peres elected Israel president
TEL AVIV (AFP) — Veteran statesman Shimon Peres was elected president of Israel on Wednesday, finally winning his first vote for top office and crowning a record-breaking career spanning more than half a century.
Read More »On Nile patrol with UN in southern Sudan
MALAKAL, Sudan — The pair of white river launches marked with United Nations insignia leapt forward as the sailors opened the throttles, cutting deep trenches into the dark waters of southern Sudan’s Blue Nile.
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