RAMALLAH (AP) — At a rally meant as a show of strength of his Fateh movement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday called on rival forces to halt their armed clashes and replace bloodshed with respect.

MADRID (AFP) — Arab League Secretary General Amr Musa on Thursday threw his weight behind Spanish and European calls for an international conference on the Middle East.

NAIROBI (Reuters) — A US air strike in Somalia missed its main target of three top Al Qaeda suspects but killed up to 10 of their allies, a senior American official said on Thursday.

ERBIL (AFP) — US troops raided an Iranian consulate in Iraq on Thursday and arrested five employees, officials said, as Washington vowed to act against Iranian meddling in the war-torn country.

CAIRO (Reuters) — President Hosni Mubarak said the Muslim Brotherhood poses a threat to Egypt’s security and the country would face isolation in the world if the Islamist movement became more powerful.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — President George W. Bush laid out the details Wednesday of a new US plan for Iraq in a major televised address.

WASHINGTON — Leaders of the new Democratic-controlled Congress are vowing to fight it. An elite panel on Iraq has shown little enthusiasm for it. And even some military commanders are deeply sceptical about it.

TEHRAN (AP) — Iran and Syria on Thursday denounced a new Iraq strategy announced by US President George W. Bush that blames them for fuelling violence in the war-torn country. Tehran and Damascus said the plan to send more US troops would only increase bloodshed in Iraq.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Two International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors arrived in Iran on Tuesday.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- An Iranian MP here on Wednesday warned Saudi Arabia against the adoption of provocative measures, stressing that any regional crisis will be detrimental to Riyadh’s interests as well.