BAGHDAD (Reuters) -When Iraqis last voted in 2005, some in Washington feared the mainly Muslim nation would veer in the direction of Iran, an Islamic theocracy, instead of becoming the moderate democracy they envisioned for post-Saddam Iraq. The question when Iraqis elect new provincial leaders on January 31 will be …

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian political leaders said on Wednesday any resumption of peace talks with Israel would require the Jewish state to commit to withdraw from land occupied in 1967 and freeze all settlement activity. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) issued a statement in the West Bank city …

DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal urged the West Wednesday to lift its boycott of the Palestinian Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip. “I tell European nations … three years of trying to eliminate Hamas is enough. It is time for you to deal with Hamas, which has …