Middle Orient

DUBAI (AFP) — Iraq’s most wanted man Abu Musab Al Zarqawi has thumbed his nose at the Americans, in a message attributed to him on the Internet, and played up the threat of his alliance with Osama Ben Laden. Zarqawi said he was “lightly” wounded but still battling alongside his …

TRIPOLI (AFP) — Libya’s high court on Tuesday delayed a ruling on an appeal by six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of children with the AIDS virus in a case that has raised international concern. Judge Ali Al Allush said the case involving five Bulgarian nurses and …

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran announced Tuesday it had successfully tested a new solid fuel missile motor for its arsenal of medium-range ballistic missiles, a technological breakthrough that sparked fresh alarm in Israel. “It was a test of a motor and not a test of a missile,” a defence ministry official …

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari vowed Tuesday to beef up security in the war-weary country, as US President George W. Bush said Washington and its Iraqi allies were making progress against the insurgency. Meanwhile, four US troops, four Italians and one Iraqi soldier were killed in air …

PARIS (Reuters) — French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin became the first victim of a crisis over the European Union’s constitution on Tuesday as EU leaders braced for Dutch voters to follow France by rejecting the new charter. President Jacques Chirac accepted Raffarin’s resignation and appointed loyal ally Dominique de Villepin …

GAZA (Reuters) — Hamas said on Tuesday it would boycott a rerun of some Palestinian town elections in Gaza, stoking tension with President Mahmoud Abbas Fateh movement that could complicate his agenda for peace-making with Israel. A potential solution surfaced later, when a Fateh leader said it had agreed to …

TWO SISTERS AND one man were wounded early Monday morning when Israel launched a second air strike in as many weeks in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian hospital sources, the three bystanders were wounded by shrapnel from three missile strikes in what the Israeli army said was an operation …

BAGHDAD (AFP) — A double suicide attack killed at least 27 people in Iraq on Monday, while in an embarrassing turnaround US forces released a moderate Sunni political leader they admitted had been detained “by mistake.” In the eastern province of Diyala, an Iraqi air force aircraft crashed with four …

FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES Chirac tried on Monday to limit the damage from his people’s rejection of the European Union constitution while the leaders of the 25-nation bloc battled to keep the new charter alive. Chirac spoke to several EU partners to reassure them that France, for decades one of the …

BEIRUT (AP) — A decisive victory in Beirut legislative elections for the son of slain former Premier Rafiq Hariri marked a turning point in Lebanese politics — a solid rejection of pro-Syrian politicians that began with the February assassination. Hariri’s ticket won all 19 seats up for grabs in Beirut …