Palestina

The families of 438 children infected with HIV have reached an agreement with the Libyan government on compensation, potentially opening the way for the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who has been granted Bulgarian citizenship.

 Western backing for the legally disputed emergency government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has demolished any lingering Arab belief that US President George W. Bush’s “freedom agenda” is going anywhere.

A Palestinian woman who fled her north Lebanon refugee camp two days ago says there was so little food there that she was prepared to eat cats to survive.

Hamas yesterday rejected as “unconstitutional” the government sworn in by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Friday. The Islamist movement wants to convene parliament to vote on the government, but Abbas’ Fateh faction has already said it will not attend any such session.

Rival Lebanese politicians met at a state-owned chateau near Paris on Saturday in a French-sponsored attempt to discuss ways of ending the eight-month-old political crisis gripping their country.

Lebanon’s army resumed its bombardment of Al Qaeda-inspired gunmen entrenched in a Palestinian refugee camp on Saturday, pounding them with artillery and tank fire, a senior military official said.

King Abdullah has said regional peace can only be sustained if people in the Middle East have the opportunity to “lead a productive and satisfying life”.

The Lebanese army has continued its bombardment of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp with artillery and tank fire, a senior military official has said.

Israel is to allow a key Palestinian leader to travel to the West Bank, in a measure seen as another attempt to bolster President Mahmoud Abbas.

The head of Al Qaeda in Egypt has fled the country for the Gaza Strip, arrested members of the network revealed during interrogation, a security official said Sunday.