October, 2005

• 28 October

  New pressure to end corruption as World Bank cuts support

  SANAA — Taxi driver Mohamed Abdul Karim swears under his breath as he swings past the giant, multimillion dollar mosque being built to honour Yemen’s president. “I don’t make enough money to feed my family every month, and we go and spend millions of dollars on another mosque,” said Abdul …

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• 28 October

  Ahbash group at centre of Hariri probe

  BEIRUT — The Lebanese Sunni Muslim group Ahbash, which describes itself a charitable organisation promoting Islamic culture, is at the centre of the UN probe into the murder of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. The UN inquiry probing the assassination has named Ahmad Abdel-Al, believed to have been a top …

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• 28 October

  2,000 companies made illicit payments to Iraq — report

  UNITED NATIONS (AP) — More than 2,000 companies paid about $1.8 billion in illicit kickbacks and surcharges to Saddam Hussein’s government through extensive manipulation of the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq, according to key findings of a UN-backed investigation obtained by the Associated Press. The report — to be released …

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• 28 October

  Troops block smuggling routes with Syria

  SULTAN YACOUB (AP) — Commandos manned positions near Palestinian bases in this rugged region Thursday and soldiers blocked smuggling routes along the Syrian border as Lebanon beefed up efforts to control its territory amid heightened tensions with Syria. The tense standoff with the pro-Syrian Palestinian groups, which started Wednesday, demonstrated …

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• 28 October

  Arms still flowing to Lebanon from Syria — UN

  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — Arms are still flowing across the Syrian border to Palestinians in Lebanon, a UN report said on Wednesday, adding further pressure on Damascus after threats of sanctions by France and the United States. Secretary General Kofi Annan, in a report to the UN Security Council, said …

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• 28 October

  World dismay over Iranian remarks

  LONDON (AP) — Governments around the world expressed shock and scorn Thursday at the Iranian president’s call for Israel to be “wiped off the map,” and several summoned Tehran’s envoys in their capitals for a reprimand. However, Israeli calls for Iran to be suspended from the United Nations over the …

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• 28 October

  Shiite and Sunni lines drawn for Iraq vote

  BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraq’s ruling Shiite Islamist parties struck a last-minute deal to patch up differences on Thursday and agreed to register as a united bloc for December 15 polls where they face a new Sunni Arab alliance. But in a flare-up likely to fuel mistrust between Iraq’s two main …

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• 26 October

  Israel mounts new strikes in Gaza

  Israel launched missile strikes in Gaza on Tuesday, targeting buildings it said were used by fighters in response to renewed Palestinian rocket attacks on the Jewish state. The flare-up of violence — one of the worst since Israel quit the Gaza Strip last month — followed Israel’s killing of a …

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• 26 October

  West seeks Russian backing over Iran programme

  VIENNA (AFP) — The United States and the European Union will hold off taking Iran before the UN Security Council over its nuclear programme until they get Russia to back them and may even allow Tehran to do some nuclear fuel work, diplomats told AFP. “If the Russians don’t come …

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• 26 October

  Saddam’s strategy for martyrdom

  BAGHDAD — Saddam Hussein sat in the dock last Wednesday in the building which once housed the national and international headquarters of his Baath Party in Baghdad, looked up at the senior judge on the bench, and paused for a beat or two before answering his question. “I’ve said what …

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