Middle Orient

WHEN Iraqi soldiers and police smashed their way into Mohammed al-Jabouri’s home on the first day of Baghdad’s latest security crackdown last week, he did not imagine they would steal the family’s life savings.

MIDDLE EASTERN countries secretly armed and supported suspected Al-Qaeda recruits in the failed state of Somalia in a direct challenge to western interests in east Africa, according to a United Nations report.

Two car bombs exploded in an outdoor market in Baghdad today, killing at least 56 people and injuring scores in the deadliest attack since US and Iraqi forces began a major security push around the capital last week.

A suicide car bomber rammed into a crowded market in northern Iraq moments after a booby-trapped vehicle exploded Saturday, killing at least nine people and injuring 60, police said.

Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Palestinian interim Hamas-led government, called on U.S. Saturday to change its stance towards the forthcoming national unity government.

Iranian artists, painters show works at Madrid’s respected ARCO arts fair, attract international interest.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Iran on Saturday to discuss instability in Iraq and the crisis in Lebanon, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Iran media reported clashes overnight between armed militants and security forces in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan after a percussion bomb caused a scare but injured no one. Police have sealed off the area around the blast and Zahedan Governor Hassanali Nouri said police were pursuing those behind the …

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in Iran today, his country’s closest regional ally.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Friday he hopes to form a new coalition government with Fatah in less than three weeks. On Thursday, Haniyeh and his government resigned and President Mahmoud Abbas appointed him to form the new cabinet, based on last week’s understandings in the Saudi city of Mecca.