Middle Orient

RAMALLAH —  Both Israeli and Syrian officials yesterday denied reports in the Israeli media that the two countries had reached the outlines of a peace agreement in secret talks over the past two years.

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and eight Arab counterparts called on Iran Tuesday not to meddle in Iraq’s affairs after discussing Washington’s plan to quell sectarian violence in the country, Kuwait’s foreign minister said.

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Hundreds of Sunni Arabs paid their respects Tuesday to former aides of Saddam Hussein convicted of crimes against humanity and buried near the former Iraqi leader’s own grave after a gruesome hanging.

DUBAI (AP) — The deployment of the USS John C. Stennis to the Middle East will put two US aircraft carriers in the volatile Gulf region for the first time since the 2003 Iraq invasion. Military officials say a second carrier group is meant as a plain warning to Iran.

RAMALLAH — A three-way meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set to take place in the coming weeks.

A convoy of US vehicles from Kuwait arrives Monday in Basra, 550km south of Baghdad. The first additional US troops, who will take part in a major new security plan in Baghdad, arrived in Baghdad, General George Casey, the US commander in Iraq, said (Reuters photo by Atef Hassan)

BAGHDAD (AP) — The US ambassador and top American commander in Iraq are set to leave their jobs with the country’s security arguably no better than when they arrived, and they cautioned Monday against expecting significant success in quelling the violence soon.

BAGHDAD — For Abu Mina, a ceramic artist and professor, Baghdad is one big jail — too dangerous for him to live with his wife and daughters, too dangerous for him to meet his students openly, too dangerous to work in his studio.

AMMAN (JT) — King Abdullah on Sunday urged the US to “actively” push for reviving Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, a Royal Court statement said.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. Bush’s top diplomat tried to assure Palestinians on Sunday she has heard their demands for a stronger US hand to guide peace efforts with Israel. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, however, offered no new plans and gave few clues to how she views recent initiatives proposed by …