MOGADISHU (AFP) — Somalia’s Ethiopia-backed forces and Islamic fighters clashed Thursday near the seat of government in Baidoa for a second day with both sides claiming inflicting massive casualties, officials and witnesses said. A day after European Commission humanitarian chief Louis Michel said he had secured both sides’ commitment to …

TEHRAN (Reuters) — A planned UN sanctions resolution will force Iran to review cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog but will not make Tehran abandon its atomic programme, a senior Iranian official said on Thursday. After weeks of haggling between major world powers, diplomats expect a resolution imposing limited …

STOCKHOLM — The increasingly volatile situation in Iraq is prompting a growing number of Iraqis to seek a safe haven in Europe, where Sweden is one of the most common destinations for refugees. Of some 40 nationalities seeking asylum in Europe, Iraqis top the list with more than 8,100 applications …

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraqi forces were told to cooperate with their Turkish counterparts during a 1980s campaign against Kurdish civilians, according to evidence presented Thursday to a court trying Saddam Hussein. Prosecutors seeking to prove that the ousted Iraqi leader ordered the slaughter of 182,000 Kurdish civilians in the 1988 …

KHARTOUM (AFP) — The Sudanese army said it killed 200 rebels while repelling an attack in Darfur, the deadliest single military operation reported in the war-torn region since fighting started there four years ago. The bloodshed came amid intensified efforts to reach an agreement on the deployment of UN peacekeepers …

GAZA CITY (AFP) — President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday called on rival Palestinian factions to show further restraint to firm up a shaky Gaza truce aimed at halting a surge of fighting and avoiding a slide into civil war. “I call on Palestinians from all political factions to show responsibility and …

BEIRUT (AFP) — Arab League chief Amr Musa, mediating a crisis between pro- and anti-Damascus forces in Lebanon, said Wednesday that Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud should serve out his term despite calls for him to go.

DUBAI (AFP) — Britain’s Tony Blair on Wednesday accused Iran of being an obstacle to peace in the Middle East and urged moderate countries in the region to form an alliance to oppose its support for extremism.

CAIRO (AP) — The deputy leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman Zawahri, told the United States on Wednesday that it was negotiating with the wrong people in Iraq, strongly implying in a video broadcast on Jazeera that Washington should be talking to his group.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) — Somali Islamists and troops defending the government’s only stronghold battled with rockets and heavy weapons on Wednesday at two frontline areas, but a top Islamist leader denied it was the start of war.