December, 2006

• 23 December

  Baghdad cooperated with Ankara during Kurd genocide, Saddam trial told

  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 …

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• 23 December

  200 Darfur rebels killed in fresh attack — Sudan army

  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 …

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• 22 December

  Abbas calls for further restraint as shaky Gaza truce holds

  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 …

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• 22 December

  Musa says Lahoud should serve out term

  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.

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• 22 December

  Blair draws line in sand over Iran

  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.

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• 22 December

  Zawahri says US talking to wrong people in Iraq

  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.

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• 22 December

  Top Somali Islamist downplays war fears

  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.

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• 22 December

  Attacks force 71 aid staff to evacuate Darfur town

  KHARTOUM (Reuters) — Attacks on Darfur aid workers’ compounds in Gereida town have forced the evacuation of 71 staff and severely restricted humanitarian aid reaching the region’s largest population of war victims, officials said on Wednesday.

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• 22 December

  US senators Kerry, Dodd hold talks with Syrian president on Iraq

  DAMASCUS  (AP) — US senators John Kerry and Christopher Dodd met with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Wednesday to discuss how Damascus could help bring about stability and security to war-ravaged Iraq.

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• 21 December

  Iran’s Movement not Blocked by US Opposition

  TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed on Wednesday that his country is just one step away from becoming an

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