U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in the southern Egyptian town of Aswan on Saturday at the start of a Middle East tour to explore Arab and Israeli views on possible steps toward peace.Just a few days before an Arab summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh, Rice meets four Arab foreign ministers friendly toward the United States, from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The summit will confirm an Arab peace initiative launched in 2002 and initially rejected by Israel because of its demand that Israel withdraw from all Arab land captured in 1967. Israel and the United States have recently shown some interest in the Arab peace plan and Rice told reporters on Friday the Arab governments could help by adding "active diplomacy" to the initiative. ... http://abcnews.go.com censor News |
Editor - 07:55:00 03-24-07 |
Middle East fears broken Iraq |
There was a time in 2003, between the removal of Saddam Hussein and the start of the insurgency, when you could stroll through Baghdad down to one of the teahouses on the banks of the Tigris without worrying too much about getting kidnapped or blown up. For those few months, supporters of the Iraq war generally felt pretty good about the way things had gone. No weapons of mass destruction had been found, but it was just a matter of time. Yes, there had been looting and banditry, but it would pass. It seemed, to the instigators and supporters of the war, that the dream of the American neo-conservatives was coming true. Iraq was being remade a beacon of democratic values. It would become such a successful friend of the West that all its neighbours would want to copy it. Of course, it has been clear for some time that the neo-con dreams were delusions. But they should not be forgotten, because they are, after all, a big part of the reason why we all ended up in this mess. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6476907.stm
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Editor - 07:53:00 03-24-07 |
Dozens die in fresh Iraq attacks |
More than 50 people have died in a wave of attacks across Iraq, including 20 killed when a suicide bomber struck a Baghdad police station, officials said. The bomber drove a truck up to the station, detonating explosives which brought down half of the building. The violence came as US and Iraqi forces continued their security push in the Iraqi capital to try to curb insurgent and sectarian violence. Among other attacks, a suicide bomber killed 10 people in northwest Iraq. On Saturday morning, an explosion reverberated across the Iraqi capital and a plume of black smoke rose into the sky. The target of the attack was a police station in the mainly Sunni district of Doura in southern Baghdad. Most of those killed were police officers. A further 26 people were injured in the blast. A police officer who witnessed the attack told the Associated Press news agency that the bomber was able to take advantage of building work being done at the police station, getting round security by ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6490865.stm
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Editor - 07:50:00 03-24-07 |
Suicide bombers strike in Iraq, killing dozens |
Suicide bombers struck in Baghdad and to the west and south of the capital on Saturday in a string of attacks on mostly Iraqi police targets that killed more than 30 people and wounded dozens, most of them policemen.In the worst attack, a man driving a truck packed with explosives blew up outside a police station in Baghdad's volatile southern district of Dora, killing 20. The blast sent a large column of smoke into the air and rattled windows kilometres away in the center of the city. Officers said the dead included 14 policemen and three detainees as well as three others working in the building. Another 26 were wounded. The blast caused major damage to the station, burying many victims in the rubble. Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops are sweeping through Baghdad in a major operation to stem communal bloodshed. They have succeeded in reducing the number of sectarian shootings, but curbing daily car bombings has proven more difficult. ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2978672
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Editor - 07:47:00 03-24-07 |
Iran: British Sailors, Marines Confessed to Illegally Entering Waters |
The Iranian military questioned 15 detained British soldiers Saturday and said they confessed to illegally entering the country's territorial waters as Iran accused Britain of "blatant aggression."Iran's tough comments came after Britain demanded the return of the sailors and denied they had strayed into Iranian waters while searching for smugglers off Iraq's coast.The eight Royal Navy sailors and seven Royal Marines were brought to Tehran for questioning, and a a top military official, Gen. Ali Reza Afshar, said they "confessed to illegal entry into Iran's waters.""The said personnel are being interrogated and have confessed to aggression into the Islamic Republic of Iran's waters," Afshar was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA and the semi-official ISNA news agency. He did not say what would now be done with the sailors.... http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,260861,00.html
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Editor - 07:45:00 03-24-07 |
Pope: Europe losing faith in future |
Europe seems to be losing faith in its future, Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday, citing the continent's population trends, which include generally low birth rates."One must unfortunately note that Europe seems to be going down a road which could lead it to take its leave from history," the pontiff told a gathering of the continent's bishops.The bishops were in Rome for ceremonies to mark the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which marked the start of the Common Market, forerunner of today's European Union.Benedict did not elaborate on the population trends, but the continent's demographics have been under intense scrutiny for decades.... http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-03-24-pope-europe_N.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 07:43:00 03-24-07 |
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post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
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