Middle Orient

WASHINGTON (AFP) — President George W. Bush urged Iraqi leaders Monday to speed the formation of a new government and maintain political momentum, which he needs to reignite US support for the unpopular war. At a White House news conference, Bush pressed the appeal he made in a televised address …

BAGHDAD (AP) — About 24 top former officials in Saddam Hussein’s government — including a biological weapons expert known as “Dr Germ” — have been released from jail, a legal official in Baghdad said on Monday. Partial results from last week’s parliamentary elections showed Shiite and Kurdish parties dominating in …

DAMASCUS (Reuters) — Syria on Tuesday rebuffed UN accusations that it was hampering an inquiry into the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri and complained of violations in the questioning of five officials. “We disagree with the inaccurate remarks in the [UN] report that indicate slowness on the …

BEIRUT (AFP) — Lebanon buried Wednesday slain anti-Syrian MP and press magnate Gibran Tueni, amid angry calls for a regime change in Damascus and efforts by the Arab League to defuse tension between the two neighbours. The international community also stepped up pressure on Damascus to comply unconditionally with a …

BAGHDAD — There is an Arabic phrase that aptly describes Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani’s role in this week’s elections: “Absent yet present.” Sistani, who wields vast influence among Iraq’s majority Shiites, has not publicly endorsed any candidates. But there’s little doubt of his choices — and why.

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh attack against Israel on Wednesday, dismissing the Holocaust as a “myth” and saying the Jewish state should be moved as far away as Alaska. And with just a week to go before scheduled talks with the European Union — which …

BEIRUT — It has become all too familiar in Lebanon. An anti-Syrian politician or journalist is killed, condemnations pour in from friends and foes alike, the funeral attracts thousands, while officials urge unity. Yet the longer a UN inquiry into the murder of ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri drags on, the …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Quiet fell across most of Iraq on Wednesday on the eve of its parliamentary elections, with a stringent security lockdown preventing all but sporadic violence. A traffic ban was in force for three days, borders were sealed and shops and businesses closed. Most Iraqis stayed at home …

TEHRAN (AP) — Iran opened the door Sunday for US help in building a nuclear power plant — a move designed to ease American suspicions that Tehran is using its nuclear programme as a cover to build atomic weapons. The offer, which did not seem likely to win acceptance in …

BAGHDAD (AP) — Voting begins today in hospitals, military camps and even prisons across Iraq, launching the process to choose a new parliament that the United States hopes can help quell the insurgency so US forces can begin heading home.