Middle Orient

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi and US officials said Saturday they were working to free a female American journalist kidnapped off a Baghdad street one week ago but had not yet made contact with her captors. Jill Caroll, a 28-year-old freelance reporter, has not been heard from since she was kidnapped …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — The judge trying Saddam Hussein has tendered his resignation, a source said on Saturday, making a protest at political interference and casting new doubt on the US-backed Iraqi government’s ability to ensure a fair trial. High tribunal officials were trying to talk Kurdish judge Rizgar Amin out …

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran said it would resume nuclear fuel research on Monday, triggering fresh Western warnings that Tehran could face sanctions and wreck dialogue to end a dispute over its controversial nuclear programme. “The possibility of… sanctions continues to exist. But… this should be a last resort,” said Austrian …

KHARTOUM (AFP) — Sudan pledged to implement a historic north-south peace deal on its first anniversary, but aid agencies said there was little to celebrate as peace dividends were slow to come for many Sudanese. “Sudan and its national government renews its steadfast determination to implement all the articles of …

CAIRO (AP) — An Internet statement in the name of the Al Qaeda in Iraq terror group has rebuked Sunnis for taking part in last month’s Iraqi elections, saying that by voting the Sunnis had “thrown a rope” to save US policy in the country. The statement by the group’s …

MOSUL — Three sewing machines in a dingy apartment were all Munna Abdul Adeem Ahmed could scrape together when she set up a tailoring co-op for poor widows. She soon realised it was not enough. More than 1,000 women from the northern city of Mosul turned up looking for work …

MOUNT ARAFAT (AP) — More than 2 million Muslim pilgrims made the climactic ascent to Mount Arafat, Islam’s most sacred site, to pray Monday for salvation, and Saudi Arabia’s top cleric called for Islamic unity in the face of what he called the West’s war on Islam. After offering prayers …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — Ariel Sharon started breathing on his own and moved his right arm and leg in response to pain stimulation Monday, but his chief surgeon said that despite that “very important” sign, it’ll be days before doctors can assess whether the prime minister is lucid enough to …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel on Monday agreed to allow Arabs in East Jerusalem to vote in this month’s parliamentary election, as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said the polls would take place on January 25 as scheduled. Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz announced that Israel had agreed in principle to allow …

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi police were searching Monday for an American journalist who was kidnapped over the weekend when gunmen ambushed her car and killed her translator in one of Baghdad’s most dangerous neighbourhoods. Jill Carroll, a freelancer for The Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped Saturday in Baghdad’s predominantly Sunni …