Bombs killed two worshippers at mosques in Iraq during Friday prayers and the authorities extended a daytime curfew on Baghdad after one of the bloodiest weeks this year. On the eve of a high-profile meeting intended to demonstrate reconciliation among sectarian and ethnic factions ahead of a White House visit by the prime minister, senior leaders admitted to despair about the chances of averting all-out civil war."Iraq as a political project is finished," a top government official told Reuters -- anonymously because the coalition of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki remains committed in public to a U.S.-sponsored constitution preserving Iraq's unity."The parties have moved to Plan B," the official said, saying Sunni, ethnic Kurdish and majority Shi'ite blocs were looking at ways to divide power and resources and to solve the conundrum of Baghdad's mixed population of seven million....
http://news.yahoo.com
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Editor - 09:02:00 07-21-06
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 Rice to leave on Mideast trip Sunday: diplomats |
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will leave for the Middle East on Sunday and begin a round of visits there on Monday to seek to reduce fighting between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, diplomats said. The United States has said it hopes the trip will lay the foundation for a long-lasting solution to the conflict.Resisting pressure from the United Nations and its European allies, the United States has refused to publicly call for a ceasefire because it says Israel needs time to deal with Hizbollah, which it blames for the fighting.Rice is expected later on Friday to make the announcement of her trip, which will also include a leg in Asia to attend a regional forum, said one of the diplomats, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid pre-empting her publicly....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060721/ts_nm/mideast_usa_rice_dc
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Editor - 09:00:00 07-21-06
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| Saddam Pins War on Bush, Pro-Israel Lobby, Urges Americans to 'Save Your Country and Leave Iraq' |
Saddam Hussein said in a letter released Friday that President Bush and pro-Israel groups lied to Americans to justify the Iraq war, and he added that Iran "and its agents" helped facilitate the aggression. Saddam also urged Americans to "save your country and leave Iraq" in a letter written in prison to the American people and released by his lawyers in Jordan. "I see that officials of your administration are still lying to you and they still do not give you a true explanation for the reasons that motivated them to rush on the road of aggression against Iraq," Saddam wrote. Saddam said seven years of U.N. inspections failed to find evidence that Iraq was still trying to build weapons of mass destruction. "They also exploited the so-called war on terrorism which prevailed in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks" to claim a link between Iraq and al-Qaida, Saddam said. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2220613
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Editor - 08:58:00 07-21-06
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| 'Israeli fire' kills four in Gaza |
Four Palestinians have been killed in a blast in Gaza that witnesses say was caused by an Israeli tank shell. The house targeted in the blast, in the Shajaiyeh district, belonged to a known Hamas activist, locals quoted by the Associated Press news agency said. At least three people are said to have been hurt in the explosion. Israel launched its military offensive in the Gaza Strip three weeks ago after a soldier was captured by militants linked to Hamas's military wing. Cpl Gilad Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid near the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military has not confirmed its involvement in the latest incident. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5201896.stm
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Editor - 08:56:00 07-21-06
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| 2 Kidnapped Missionaries Freed in Haiti |
Two North Carolina missionaries kidnapped on their way to church in Haiti's capital were freed Thursday after their families paid an undisclosed ransom, the FBI said. Tom Barron, a minister at the non-denominational Mustard Seed church, and congregation member William Eugene Seastrum were driving early Sunday when assailants stopped their car and dragged them away. Both missionaries are from High Point, N.C. "They negotiated the amount and they were released," said Judy Orihuela, an FBI spokeswoman in Miami.Barron said in a phone interview that he and Seastrum were not harmed, but he declined to discuss his ordeal."I've been able to talk with my family and for right now I'd like to not say anything until things settle down," he said....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,204913,00.html
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Editor - 08:54:00 07-21-06
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| Barred Islamist preacher refused evacuation from Lebanon |
An Islamist preacher who was thrown out of Britain because of his radical views said Friday that officials turned him away when he tried to join the British evacuation from Lebanon.Omar Bakri Mohammed, speaking from Beirut, said he had been prevented from boarding a naval warship evacuating Britons from the chaos because he did not have a British passport.The Syrian-born preacher, who settled in Britain in 1985, was banned from re-entering the country in August last year, when then home secretary Charles Clarke ruled that his presence was "not conducive to the public good".He headed the radical al-Muhajiroun group in London until 2004 and praised the hijackers involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States as the "magnificent 19."...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-07-21-lebanon-islamist_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 08:51:00 07-21-06
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