DUBAI (Reuters) — Conflicting statements about the leadership of Al Qaeda in Iraq appeared on the Internet on Thursday following reports that its chief, Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, had been wounded. A statement in the name of Al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq was posted on an Islamist …

BEIRUT (AFP) — Money, vote-buying and vote-rigging, in parallel with links of clan and community structure, have always been the essential engines for success in Lebanese legislative elections. On the eve of Lebanon’s independence in 1943, “the partisans of presidential candidate Beshara al-Khoury, who was supported by Britain, were the …

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — International donors on Thursday pledged millions in further aid to an African Union (AU) peace mission in Sudan’s troubled western Darfur region as the pan-African body announced peace talks between Khartoum and rebels will resume next month. Amid calls for renewed urgency in dealing with the …