December, 2006

• 24 December

  Abbas calls for early vote

  RAMALLAH (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday announced new presidential and parliament elections to end an increasingly violent standoff with Hamas — a huge gamble that could strengthen the Islamists, drive his people into civil war and further put off peace talks with Israel.

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• 24 December

  Year of Palestinian crisis

  January 25: In its first electoral outing, Hamas sweeps legislative elections in the Palestinian territories, ending 10 years of Fateh domination

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• 24 December

  Maliki reaches out to Saddam officers

  BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister reached out to Sunni Arabs at a national reconciliation conference on Saturday, urging Saddam Hussein-era officers to join the new army and urging a review of the ban against members of the former dictator’s ruling party.

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• 24 December

  UAE voters go to polls in 1st day of historic elections

  DUBAI (AP) — Hand-selected voters went to the polls on Saturday to pick members of an government advisory panel in this oil-rich Gulf country’s first-ever elections. About 60 per cent of the 1,677 citizens chosen to vote in the capital

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• 24 December

  Early signs mixed in Iran vote, turnout up

  TEHRAN (Reuters) — Iran said on Saturday turnout was high in elections for local councils and a powerful clerical body, with some initial reports suggesting allies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might not have won resounding backing.

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• 24 December

  Brisk market for burial shrouds in Najaf

  NAJAF — Najaf, home to the golden domed shrine of the Imam Ali, is Iraq’s holiest Shiite city and has long lived off a constant flow of pilgrims. Now, with Iraq engulfed in a vicious sectarian war

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• 24 December

  Lebanon protesters dig in for winter

  BEIRUT — Lebanese opposition protesters led by Shiite group Hizbollah are digging in for the winter and vowing not to quit their central Beirut encampment until the Western-backed government falls.

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• 24 December

  Bahrain’s main Shiite party boycotts parliament

  MANAMA (AP) — Bahrain’s main Shiite opposition party boycotted the king’s inauguration of parliament Friday, protesting what it called the “marginalisation” of the country’s Shiite majority.

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• 24 December

  Somali MP, Islamists sign deal

  MOGADISHU (AP) — A Somali lawmaker bypassed the government and signed an agreement Saturday to end hostilities with the country’s powerful Islamic Courts, a symbolic gesture that is unlikely to have any real effect.

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• 24 December

  Rice plans to boost funding for Abbas forces

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday she would ask the US Congress for tens of millions of dollars to strengthen the security forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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