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Woman suicide bomber kills 6 in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) — A woman, disguised in a man’s robes and headdress, slipped into a line of army recruits and detonated explosives strapped to her body Wednesday, killing at least six recruits and wounding 35 near the border with Syria — the first known suicide attack by a woman in …

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Lynndie England jail term ‘travesty’

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraqis expressed fury on Wednesday over the three-year jail sentence for Lynndie England, the US soldier notorious for holding a naked inmate by a leash in Abu Ghraib prison, saying it exposed American hypocrisy. They said the sentence would have been more harsh had she been convicted …

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Sinai town resents state, fears radicalism

EL ARISH — Farhan Adel Farhan says he was electrocuted, blindfolded and suspended by the wrists when Egyptian police questioned him over bombings in the Sinai Peninsula last October. “Under torture, you can say things that never happened,” said Farhan, 33, who was among hundreds rounded up in the north …

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New phase of conflict in Mideast

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — It is a moot point whether the Palestinian uprising is over. A new phase of conflict is already taking shape in the Middle East. Fighting still centres on the Gaza Strip following Israel’s withdrawal from the territory after 38 years of occupation, but both sides concur that …

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Gaza pounded despite truce pledge

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel shut down charities with ties to Hamas across the West Bank and fired artillery into the Gaza Strip for the first time, as it widened a five-day offensive against Palestinian fighters, despite their pledges to stop firing rockets at Israel. A senior army officer said …

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Shalom reiterates vote threat

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel reiterated threats Wednesday to hamper January’s Palestinian election if the Islamist movement Hamas stands despite being urged by Washington to cooperate in organising the polls. “We will not allow Hamas to take part in the elections” on January 25, said Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom in …

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Shaalan says allegations against him driven by Iran

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s former interim defence minister said corruption allegations levelled against him are driven by Iran, which he had in the past accused of meddling in Iraq’s affairs. But an Iraqi official, in seeking to strip the former minister of his parliamentary immunity, said Wednesday dossiers supporting the …

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Unity Cabinet faces tough task

KHARTOUM — Sudan’s first unity Cabinet was born of months of intense jockeying between former foes and now has six years to make a united Sudan appear an attractive option to a largely pro-secession south. The national unity government was announced late Tuesday, ending a bitter bout of wrangling over …

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Iran not breaking nonproliferation commitments

VIENNA (AP) — The United States on Wednesday urged its fellow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board members to do their “duty” and vote in coming days to haul Iran before the UN Security Council for violating its nuclear treaty commitments. Iranian Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who is in Vienna …

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