RIGHTS: Iraq Exodus Ends Four-Year Decline in Refugees

An exodus of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis escaping growing violence in their homeland last year increased the total number of refugees around the world to some 12 million, according to the World Refugee Survey 2006 released here Wednesday by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).

IRAQ: Priceless Assyrian Relics Used for Target Practice

Home to some of the most significant standing monuments of ancient Assyria, the Khinnis site in northern Iraq is a historical and cultural hallmark in desperate need of protection, warn Mesopotamian archaeologists and Assyriologists.

POLITICS: U.S. Image Abroad Takes a New Turn South

Three years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the image of the United States in Europe and the Islamic world has resumed its post-war slide, according to the latest in a series of surveys of public opinion in 14 countries released here Tuesday by the Pew Global Attitudes Project (PGAP).

RIGHTS-US: Groups Call for Probe of Guantanamo Suicides

The U.S. government sought to distance itself Tuesday from an official's statement calling the suicides of three Guantanamo Bay prisoners a "public relations move", as human rights groups, legal experts and newspapers in the Middle East renewed calls for the prison's closing.

POLITICS-US: “New American Century” Project Ends with a Whimper

Is the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), which did so much to promote the invasion of Iraq and an Israel-centred "global war on terror", closing down?

POLITICS: Bush Iran Strategy Suffers Major Diplomatic Defeat

Despite claims that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has regained the diplomatic initiative from Iran with a conditional offer to join multilateral talks with Tehran, the real story behind the policy shift is that the administration has suffered a decisive defeat of its effort to get international sanctions for possible military action against Iran.

DEATH PENALTY: A Hindrance to U.S. War on Terror, Say Rights Groups

Continued use of the death penalty in the United States is straining its relations with allies and hampering the war on terror, say international human rights and legal experts.

POLITICS-US: Bush Finally Gets Good News on Iraq

U.S. President George W. Bush got his first good news in months from Iraq with Thursday's announcement that U.S. forces had killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and that the key security portfolios in the new Iraqi government have finally been filled.

AFGHANISTAN: From Search-and-Destroy to Reconciliation?

A day before the spectacular arrests of 17 Muslim men under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act, a McMaster University professor now working in Afghanistan was in Ottawa to tell Canadian officials that their war against the Taliban is ill-advised.

RIGHTS-MIDEAST: Gov’t Watchdogs Tread Cautiously

As human rights groups expressed scepticism that detainees recently transferred from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Saudi Arabian custody could receive fair trials and escape torture, the oil-rich Kingdom put the finishing touches on its new human rights commission.

RIGHTS: Report Traces U.S./EU Covert Rendition Network

A long-awaited report by the Council of Europe on European complicity in "extraordinary renditions" secretly carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) against suspected terrorists was hailed here Wednesday by human rights groups, even as the U.S. State Department tried to cast doubt on its findings.

POLITICS-SOMALIA: Bush Hawks Down

The takeover of Mogadishu this week by Islamic militias marks a major defeat for the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, which had secretly backed a coalition of warlords that has reportedly been routed from the Somali capital.

POLITICS: Gulf States Rethink U.S.-Led Security Alliance

Amid increasing tensions between Tehran and Washington over Iran's nuclear programme, the George W. Bush administration is courting the Persian/Arab Gulf monarchies with the same proposal it offered them 15 years ago after the first Gulf War - purchase U.S. armoury in the billions and Washington will protect you against your Persian nemesis.

U.S./IRAN: Conditional Offer for Talks Seen as a Gamble

Wednesday's unprecedented offer by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to join multilateral negotiations over Tehran's nuclear programme was hailed as a positive step by Iran specialists here, who warned, however, that its conditional nature could prove problematic.

US/AFGHANISTAN: Bush May Have to Rethink Withdrawal Plans

By just about any measure, May has been a bad month for U.S. policy in Afghanistan.

POLITICS-US/IRAN: Khamenei in Control and Ready to “Haggle”

For months, the U.S. news media, the attention of pundits and elected officials have been riveted on the aims of ultra-conservative Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

POLITICS-US: Massacre Story Mars Memorial Day

Monday's observance of Memorial Day, the annual commemoration of U.S. soldiers who died in the service of their country, has taken place at a particularly difficult moment for both the U.S. armed forces and the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush.

POLITICS-US: Pressure Grows on Bush to Engage Iran Directly

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is under increasing pressure - both here and abroad - to engage Iran in direct talks despite the continued opposition of pro-Israel neo-conservatives and Vice President Dick Cheney.

RIGHTS-US: Public Hearings Sought in Phone Record Scandal

Anticipating that the U.S. federal government would invoke the so-called "state secrets" privilege to block any lawsuit calling for the disclosure of details about allegations that phone companies shared customer records with the government's biggest spy agency, a major civil rights group has embarked on an alternate course.

POLITICS-US: Right-Wing Israel Lobby Seizes on Olmert Visit

On his maiden visit to the United States as Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert received a first-hand look at the political muscle of the right-wing "Israel Lobby", part of which used the occasion to launch a campaign to deter him from following through on plans to unilaterally evacuate tens of thousands of settlers living in the occupied West Bank.

IRAN: Letter to Bush Lands With a Resounding Thud

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent letter to U.S. Pres. George W. Bush, which was quickly dismissed by the administration as offering no useful concessions, has found new critics in Tehran amid the uncertainties surrounding Iran's nuclear programme.