July, 2005

• 16 July

  Gaza rocket kills Israeli after soldiers shoot dead Jihad man

  OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — A rocket fired from Gaza killed a young Israeli woman Thursday, hours after Israeli forces raided the home of a 67-year-old British citizen in West Bank and killed a fighter — incidents that further shook a five-month truce already threatened this week by a suicide bombing.

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• 16 July

  President urges Security Council to ease arms embargo

  NAIROBI (AFP) — Transitional Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed has appealed to the UN Security Council to modify a 13-year-old arms embargo on his country to allow a proposed regional peacekeeping force to be deployed to the lawless Horn of Africa nation. On the eve of the council’s planned debate …

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• 16 July

  Sunni leaders urge community to cast ballots

  BAGHDAD — In mosques, conferences and on the street, some Sunni Arab leaders are rallying members of their once dominant community to join forces and strongly contest upcoming balloting in a bid to find their place in the new Iraq. Despite recent efforts to unite ranks, however, the Sunni community …

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• 16 July

  US warns Iran on nuke programme, Iraq

  WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States told Iran Wednesday not to resume enriching uranium, which could feed a nuclear weapon, and also cautioned Tehran to keep its hands out of Iraq’s internal affairs. The latest US warnings followed an almost daily barrage of charge and countercharge between the two rivals, …

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• 16 July

  National poet lashes out at factions trying to restrict arts

  RAMALLAH — It’s been a hot summer on the Palestinian arts scene: Gunmen broke up the concert of a popular West Bank singer after he refused to limit his repertoire to political songs, and a Hamas-run town banned a music festival to prevent mingling of the sexes. Now, Palestinian national …

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• 16 July

  Twin suicide onslaught on government compound

  BAGHDAD (AP) — Suicide bombers struck twice near the entrance to the fortified Green Zone on Thursday, a day after a devastating attack on Iraqi children that provoked outrage and even brought a denial of responsibility from Al Qaeda in Iraq. Iraqi and US forces announced some rare successes in …

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• 16 July

  US presses Abbas to stem violence

  WASHINGTON (AFP) — US officials are stepping up pressure on the Palestinian leadership to crack down on violence that threatens a truce barely a month ahead of Israel’s planned withdrawal from Gaza. Officials said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas heard a stern message Wednesday in a phone call from US Secretary …

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• 14 July

  Jordan says Netanya suicide bombing does not serve peace

  Israeli troops on Wednesday sealed off a cluster of Gaza Strip settlements marked for evacuation to stop the influx of hardline pullout opponents, in the government’s most sweeping measure yet to prepare for next month’s pullout from 25 settlements. Settlers responded defiantly, threatening to block roads throughout Israel and to …

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• 14 July

  Lifting UN arms embargo could spark new anarchy — ICG

  NAIROBI (AFP) — A leading international policy group on Tuesday warned of fresh anarchy in Somalia if the United Nations Security Council lifts a 13-year-old arms embargo on the shattered country in order to enable the deployment of a regional peacekeeping force.

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• 14 July

  Islamic Jihad biggest threat to fragile truce

  JENIN — A few hundred fighters, a violent ideology and alleged funding from Iran — this lethal mix has turned Islamic Jihad into one of the biggest threats to the fragile Mideast truce. Unlike its big brother Hamas, which is eyeing the Palestinian mainstream by seeking political office, Islamic Jihad …

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