Recent Posts

Iraq offensive targets Al Qaeda

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — US forces mounted their biggest offensive in a year against Sunni Arab insurgents in western Iraq on Saturday, saying they would make the lawless area on the Syrian border safe for voters in next month’s elections. An assassination attempt in Baghdad on a Sunni leader whose group …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »

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 …

Read More »