Middle Orient

NEW YORK (Reuters) — A media watchdog criticised the US military on Wednesday for consistently failing to investigate the killing of journalists in Iraq by its forces, and said the Pentagon was losing credibility as a result. The report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, said …

NEW YORK (AP) — Arab nations should make a gesture towards Israel after its withdrawal from Gaza by talking with their Middle East neighbour to chart a future for the region, Qatar’s foreign minister said. Praising the Israeli pullout after 37 years of occupation in Gaza, Sheikh Hamad Ben Jassim …

TEHRAN (Reuters) — Iran is ready to share its nuclear technology, considered to be a front for bomb-making by Washington, with other Islamic countries, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying on Thursday. The comments were likely to heighten Western concerns about Tehran’s nuclear programme just ahead of a key …

VIENNA (AP) — A US-European drive to refer Iran to the UN Security Council is encountering fierce opposition and could be postponed despite deep international concerns about Tehran’s nuclear agenda, diplomats and government officials said Thursday. Just days before planned action on referral, the diplomats and officials — some in …

TAL AFAR (AP) — Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari toured the northern city of Tal Afar on Monday — ignoring an alleged Al Qaeda threat to strike with chemical weapons — to congratulate Iraqi soldiers and commandos for successfully rousting militants from the insurgent stronghold near the Syrian border, Iraqi television …

NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip (Reuters) — Jubilant Palestinians planted flags on the rubble of Jewish settlements and set synagogues ablaze on Monday as Israeli troops pulled out of the Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation. “This is a day of happiness and joy that the Palestinian people have not …

AKUEM — Eight months pregnant, Achan Lual headed off into the grassy bush, crisscrossing southern Sudan’s former battlefields, in search of a doctor. Swollen with twins, the 34-year-old arrived four days later at the only operational health centre for hundreds of miles — a collection of mud huts with thatch …

Israel ended its military presence in the Gaza Strip on Monday, having removed 8,500 Jewish settlers from 21 enclaves and demolished their homes after 38 years of occupation. Following is an outline of Israel’s first handover of an entire territory that it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and …

ISRAEL’S PULLOUT FROM the Gaza Strip on Monday stirred memories on both sides of the day Israel pushed into the Egyptian-administered territory 38 years ago. Mohammad Ahmad Ashour was a 23-year-old Palestinian soldier serving in the Egyptian army in Gaza City when war broke out on June 5, 1967. “A …

CAIRO (AFP) — Egypt’s first multi-candidate presidential election which propelled veteran leader Hosni Mubarak to another six years in office was marred by widespread violations and irregularities that caused confusion and chaos at polling stations, rights group charged Monday. “Indelible” ink that rubbed off, outdated voting lists, monitors being denied …