MIDDLE EAST: Focus on peace, not Arafat

A United Arab Emirates (UAE) newspaper today urged the US to pressure Sharon to comply with the Palestinians' minimum demands, including the easing of the horrific conditions in the Occupied Territories, ending military attacks and curbing settlement expansion.

IRAQ: UAE sends second shipload of aid

A shipload of relief aid will leave the United Arab Emirates (UAE) tonight for Um Qasr port in Iraq as part of an assistance campaign launched by the UAE Red Crescent Society (RCS) on the directives of President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

MIDDLE EAST: Israel not to retaliate for the recent suicide bombing

Israel will not attack Palestinian territories in response to the latest suicide bombing, which killed one Israeli and injured 13, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said this morning after meeting with army commanders.

MIDDLE EAST: Four Palestinians arrested, explosive charge detonated

The Israeli army arrested at dawn today four activists from the Palestinian Liberation Movement (Fatah) at Balata refugee camp, to the east of the West Bank city of Nablus.

IRAN-FRANCE: In favor of UN role in Iraq

Iran and France appealed Thursday for UN supervision in post-war Iraq until self rule is established.

MIDDLE EAST: Arafat meets Moratinos

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat today received the European envoy for Middle East peace Miguel Angel Moratinos.

UAE: ‘Iraq needs your help’ campaign launched

In a bid to involve the general public in its ongoing fund-raising efforts for the rehabilitation of the war-ravaged people of Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Red Crescent Society (RCS), in collaboration with Albawardi Enterprises (AE), launched yesterday the - Iraq Needs Your Help" initiative at the Abu Dhabi Corniche, according to a report published today in the ‘Khaleej Times'.

MIDDLE EAST: Differences between Arafat and Abu Mazen resolved

A United Arab Emirates (UAE) newspaper today commented on the success of the Egyptian mediation, which resolved the differences between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and his premier-designate, Mahamoud Abbas, on the formation of the new Palestinian cabinet list.

UAE-IRAQ: Conference on Iraqi economy

Dubai, on of the United Arab Emirates, will host on June 21 and 22 a conference on the Iraqi economy.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE: Suicide bomb injures at least 15

A suspected suicide bomb explosion at a train station in the Israeli town of Kfar Saba north of Tel Aviv Thursday, injured at least 15 people, many of them seriously.

IRAQ: Islamic Challenge Rises in Neighbouring Yemen

In the face of the Islamic upsurge within Iraq, attention is turning also to the strong challenge from Islamic parties in elections due in Yemen April 27.

DEVELOPMENT-MIDEAST: Water Divides, But Can It Unite?

The government of Ariel Sharon persists in its endeavour to build a wall separating Israel from the Palestinian territories, breathing new life into the discord surrounding an essential natural resource: water.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: Let the people speak, UAE paper advises

If the US wants the Iraqi people to listen to its voice, it is rather better for it to listen to the voices of Iraqis, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) English daily advised the US administration of President George Bush.

MIDDLE EAST: Sudanese minister appeals to UAE to convene meeting on Iraq

In a lecture at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Zayed Centre for Coordination and Follow-up, Sudanese Foreign Minister Dr. Mostafa Ismael appealed to President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to convene in the UAE a conference which encompasses representatives of all Iraqi denominations and ethnicities for achieving a common formula to serve as a starting point to the building of a new stable and democratic Iraq, according to a press release from ZCCF.

UAE-OIL: OPEC meet should address quota violations

The sole issue that might be on the agenda of tomorrow's meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is the status of the oil market and price level, according to United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Obeid bin Saif Al Nassiri.

IRAQ-UN: Russia may block quick end to economic sanctions

Chances for an early end to UN economic sanctions against Iraq sank Wednesday after Russia linked their end to a demand that international weapons inspections resume.

IRAQ: IAEA only organization with legal powers to verify disarmament

The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog agency wants his inspectors back in Iraq as soon as possible, arguing that they are the only ones who have legal authority to verify the country's nuclear disarmament.

LEBANON: President Lahoud says Israel behind US threats

Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud has said that Israel is definitely intriguing the US President George W. Bush and his administration to keep threatening Lebanon and Syria.

SYRIA: No political emigrants from Iraq.

Syria does not allow into its territory groups of political emigrants from Iraq who are headed by former Syrian government head Amin al Hafez and had lived in Baghdad since the end of the 1960s.

IRAQ: UNICEF singles out disastrous conditions of Baghdad hospitals

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Iraqi hospitals were operating in "disastrous conditions", singling out Baghdad care centers as particularly hard-hit in a statement released Tuesday.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE: Three bombs defused near Jewish settlement

Three bombs weighing 2 kgs inside a box placed near a Jewish settlement on the outskirts of Al Tarah town were defused safely, Israeli sources said. The sources said an Israeli border guard patrol saw a person drop and leave the box at the site.