Middle Orient

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in an emergency government on Sunday in a move that could bolster him in his power struggle with Islamist rivals by unlocking foreign aid in the West Bank.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Saturday called for continuing efforts to activate the peace process in order to resume the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

After Cairo played host on Friday to talks between Arab League foreign ministers on the latest developments in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian papers lament what is going on across the border.

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) top commanders close to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are warning him over information leaking from the regime’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) under its current secretary, Brig. General Ali Larijani who is also the top mullahs’ negotiator with the West over the nuclear dispute.

NCRI – Danish News Agency (Ritzau) Reported on Thursday: EU is presenting outdated evidence from six years ago to keep the Iranian opposition group in the terrorist list but the attorneys and politicians denote that these are old facts and this group must be de-listed.

NCRI – In a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to food, expressed concern that the Iraqi government had suspended food, fuel and medicine rations to the residents of Ashraf City, Iraq, where 3800 Iranian dissidents are residing.

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran on Saturday urged Palestinians to stop infighting and respect election results after the Islamist Hamas-led government was dismissed following its bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — The decomposed bodies of at least 13 martial arts experts have been found more than a year after they were kidnapped in an Al Qaeda stronghold west of Baghdad, local officials and family members said on Saturday.

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Hamas has pledged in the wake of its bloody seizure of the Gaza Strip to work to free BBC reporter Alan Johnston, snatched by gunmen more than three months ago in the volatile territory.

BEIRUT (AFP) — The Lebanese government has set August 5 for by-elections to replace two assassinated MPs, despite opposition from the country’s pro-Syrian president, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said Saturday.