July, 2006

• 23 July

  Iraq holds reconciliation talks, but some pessimistic

  BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Iraqi leaders met in a show of sectarian and ethnic solidarity on Saturday before a White House visit by the prime minister

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• 23 July

  Gloom as civil war looms

  BAGHDAD — Iraqi leaders have all but given up on holding the country together and, just two months after forming a national unity government, talk in private of “black days” of civil war ahead.

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• 23 July

  Rice has narrow room for Mideast manoeuvre

  WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has only narrow room for diplomatic manoeuvre on her Middle East crisis tour if she wants to avoid destabilising the moderate Arab states

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• 23 July

  Lebanese brace for 1982 all over again

  TYRE — “They’re coming — again,” said Yussuf Ismael, a teacher who grabbed his family and fled his Lebanese border village, fearing an imminent full-scale invasion like that of 1982 when Israeli troops marched on Beirut.

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• 23 July

  Miss Lebanon, Miss Israel ‘best of friends’

  LOS ANGELES — Peace reigns at least at the Miss Universe 2006 contest, where beauties Miss Lebanon and Miss Israel are the “best of friends” despite the bloody fighting between the two countries back home, their companions said.

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• 23 July

  Ethiopian soldiers enter second Somali town, witnesses say

  BAIDOA (AP) — Hundreds of Ethiopian troops moved into a second Somali town on Saturday to protect the country’s weak, UN-backed government, as talks aimed at easing tensions fell apart when the government did not turn up and Islamist delegates walked out.

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• 23 July

  For few dollars, anyone can be Iraqi policeman

  BAGHDAD — A disreputable crew of unshaven men wearing police uniforms pounces on a businessman before the horrified eyes of his wife as he leaves his home in an upscale Baghdad neighbourhood.

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• 22 July

  Gaza groups agree to stop firing at Israel

  GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Senior Palestinian officials said militant groups in the Israel at midnight Saturday, if Israel launches no new raids into Gaza. But two main guerrilla groups denied that any agreement had been reached.

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• 22 July

  Israel lets aid in as Lebanese flee north

  BEIRUT, Lebanon – With fears of a humanitarian crisis growing, Israel opened up its blockade of Lebanon’s ports to allow the first shiploads of aid to arrive, and tens of thousands of Lebanese fled north to escape Israeli army incursions.

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• 22 July

  Israeli army continue Lebanon offensive

  ON THE ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER – Israeli tanks and hundreds of troops moved in and out of Lebanon on Saturday, taking over a village and battling Hezbollah militants by land, sea and air as part of a limited ground campaign.

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