Middle Orient

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) — Kuwait’s ailing emir decided Sunday to take oath in parliament this week despite the government’s determination to remove him on health grounds, plunging the oil-rich Gulf state deeper into crisis. “A special session of parliament will be convened on Tuesday to enable the emir [Sheikh Saad …

DUBAI (AFP) — A Jordanian held hostage in Iraq said in a videotape aired on Al Arabiya television on Sunday that his captors had wrapped him in an explosive belt and set a four-day deadline to execute him unless their demands are met. “I appeal to the Jordanian government not …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraq’s biggest Sunni political bloc committed itself on Sunday to talks with Shiites and Kurds to form a government of national unity, but said its key demands, including changes to the constitution, must be met. The United States, keen to drive the political process towards a stable …

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful “So when you have performed your devotions, then laud Allah as you lauded your fathers, rather a greater lauding” (2: 200) Dear Muslim brothers and sisters: The Hajj season is an occasion for hope and good tidings. On the one hand, …

LONDON (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said he opposed any attempt by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, but alleged the West was partly to blame for Tehran’s nuclear programme. In an interview broadcast Monday by the British Broadcasting Corp.,

HEBRON (AFP) — Israel drafted hundreds of police reinforcements to the West Bank town of Hebron in a bid to quell what the press on Monday dubbed the Jewish intifada, sparked by plans to evacuate settlers.

VIENNA (AFP) — Two Syrian intelligence officers began giving evidence in Vienna again Monday to the UN commission investigating the murder 11 months ago of Lebanese former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, a Syrian diplomat said.

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwaitis watched for signals Monday of who would be named the next crown prince, heir to their ailing new emir, Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah, while most of the country shut down to mourn the death of the country’s ruler for the past 27 years.

LONDON (AP) — Key members of the UN Security Council agreed Monday that Iran must fully suspend its nuclear programme, but came to no agreement on whether to refer the dispute for action by the council. Russian President Vladimir Putin held out hope for a compromise

KHAN YOUNIS — Dirt-poor but proud, the people of this southern Gaza town are caught up in a fierce battle for their votes between the Palestinian ruling party Fateh and the Islamist movement Hamas.