Middle Orient

Jaafari rejects US sectarian warning

Car bomb kills at least 21BAGHDAD (Reuters) — A car bomb killed at least 21 people in Baghdad on Tuesday hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari angrily dismissed US warnings to shun sectarianism in the country’s new government. The blast in the southern Dora district, the bloodiest in …

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Roadside bombs kill US soldier, at least 11 Iraqis

BAGHDAD (AP) — A spate of roadside bombings in Baghdad and north of the capital killed a US soldier and at least 11 Iraqis Saturday, officials said. Two Macedonians were kidnapped in southern Iraq, while a search is on for a private German plane missing in the north. An Iraqi …

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Sudan refutes Rice’s claim of ongoing Darfur genocide

KHARTOUM (Reuters) — Sudan’s government on Saturday rejected US accusations that genocide was ongoing in its Darfur region and said it was discussing allowing a robust UN force to take over from African peace monitors there.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday said genocide was continuing in Darfur through …

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Interview of Khadam, the 2nd important character in Syria

One of the pieces of news that has influenced Middle East these days is the recent interview of Abdolhalim Khadam who was the second important person in Syria for three decades. This interview and its immediate effect which was announcing that Asad

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IRIB and Ahmadinejad

Last night TV had a report on the visit of Mr Ahmadinejad to Hormozgan province. Although such coordination and wide coverage of the news of the president’s trips by IRIB is unprecedented, it is a good act to keep people informed of the performance of their government. This is what …

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Report on the Sitting at Institute for Interreligious Dialogue in Tehran

Since January 19th to 21th, simultaneous with Eid-e-Ghadir, the second tripartite sitting of Institute for Interreligious Dialogue, Anglican Church of England and Lutheran Church of Germany was held in Tehran. We (my wife, my good friends at the institute and me) were the host and therefore we were busy from …

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Shiites tap Jaafari for PM

BAGHDAD (AP) — Shiite lawmakers Sunday tapped incumbent Ibrahim Jaafari to be Iraq’s new prime minister, endorsing the physician and longtime exile for a second term by a single vote — thanks in large part to support by a radical anti-US faction.

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Washington quietly backs Iran reformers

WASHINGTON — Akbar Ganji has a term for the dangers of challenging Iran’s Islamic government: “Playing with death.” Ganji is perhaps Iran’s best known political prisoner. A veteran of hunger strikes and long bouts of solitary confinement, Ganji has been imprisoned since 2001 after writing that regime allies were responsible …

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