Middle Orient

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — So far Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza is as significant for what did not happen as for what did. No major attacks from Palestinians. No use of weapons by settlers. No significant disruption of life inside Israel. No mass refusal of soldiers to carry out orders. The army …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The Israeli Cabinet yesterday formally approved the evacuation of the remaining settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank, as bulldozers tore down 30 houses in the Nissanit settlement, the first large-scale demolition of settler homes in the evacuated Gaza settlements. An Israeli court …

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) — President George W. Bush said on Saturday US troops in Iraq were fighting to protect Americans at home from more attacks like those of Sept. 11, 2001, starting a five-day focus on his case for the war amid growing public discontent. “Our troops know that they’re …

GAZA CITY (AP) — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree Saturday appropriating Jewish settlement land for public use once Israel’s evacuation of Gaza is complete, and announced that overdue Palestinian legislative elections will be held January 25. Both measures are meant to ease suspicions among Abbas’ political rivals over …

VIENNA (AFP) — The UN nuclear watchdog is to meet here next week with Pakistani officials as part of its efforts to determine if Iran was using smuggled Pakistani equipment to make enriched uranium that could be used for atom bombs, diplomats said Saturday. Pakistan had in May sent centrifuge …

CAIRO (AP) — As millions of Muslims prepare to make the annual Hajj to Mecca this January, Saudi Arabia is adopting stricter measures to stop a new and startling spread of polio across the region, Saudi and United Nations officials said Saturday. The country that hosts the annual Islamic pilgrimage …

RABAT — The release of the last Moroccan prisoners of war held by separatist rebels in southwestern Algeria reignited efforts Friday to resolve the 30-year-old conflict in the Western Sahara. The conflict began in 1975 with the annexation of the Western Sahara by Morocco. The Algerian-backed separatist Polisario Front rebels, …

BAGHDAD — Disenchanted Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted Iraq’s first post-Saddam elections in January, are gearing up in force to participate in the upcoming referendum on the constitution, despite deadly threats from Al Qaeda. “The participation in this process [referendum] is a duty and a responsibility. We all should take …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — US diplomats have conceded ground to Islamists on the role of religion in Iraq, negotiators said on Saturday as they raced to meet a 48-hour deadline to draft a constitution under intense US pressure. US diplomats, who have insisted the constitution must enshrine ideals of equal rights …

KFAR DAROM, Gaza Strip (Reuters) — Israeli troops using cranes and water cannon battled protesters on the rooftop of a Gaza settlement synagogue on Thursday as they assaulted the last bastions of resistance to evacuation of the occupied Strip. In the most violent, frenzied scenes since the start of forced …