Middle Orient

A car bomb ripped through a bustling shopping district in a religiously mixed neighborhood of western Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding about 20 as the U.S.-Iraqi security operation entered its third week.

Israel has denied seeking permission from the United States to fly warplanes over Iraq as part of its preparations to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. In a statement to Israel Radio on Sunday, Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh denied such arrangements existed and accused “international authorities who prefer to avoid dealing …

Israeli troops disguised as Palestinians killed an Islamic Jihad commander and two activists in Jenin on Wednesday in a new crackdown in the north of the occupied West Bank.

By opening the door to a high-level dialogue with Iran and Syria, the US appears to be embracing a diplomatic strategy that its critics have long said was essential to stabilise Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki invited neighbouring countries and world powers on Wednesday to a March 10 meeting in Baghdad, saying he hoped it would help bring reconciliation and support for his government.

Leaders of two nations faced with strong international pressure — Iran for its nuclear programme and Sudan because of the conflict in Darfur — closed ranks on Wednesday as Sudan’s Omar Bashir and visiting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran gushed in support of one another.

 King Abdullah on Wednesday called on the international community to intensify efforts “at this stage” to revive the Middle East peace process.

ANKARA (AFP) — The president of Iraqi Kurdistan called on Turkey for face-to-face talks to end high-running tensions over Turkish Kurd rebels based in his autonomous region in northern Iraq, in a television interview broadcast here Monday. His appeal coincides with remarks by Turkish officials that they are ready to …

King visits Talabani at hospital, doctor says president suffers from extreme exhaustion, dehydration BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s Shiite vice president narrowly escaped assassination Monday as a blast ripped through a government meeting hall just hours after it was searched by US teams with bomb-sniffing dogs. At least 10 people were …

Mishaal in Moscow to enlist Russian help to end sanctions RAMALLAH — One Palestinian was killed yesterday in an ongoing Israeli military incursion into Nablus that started Sunday and which the Israeli army has described as “open-ended”. It is the largest Israeli incursion into the West Bank in months, with …