IRAQ: Security Meet Ends, Insecurity Does Not

The security conference held last Saturday in Baghdad produced statements, drew mortar fire, and brought little hope of security.

EGYPT: Tribute to U.S. General Draws Fire

Cairo's decision last month to award U.S. General John Abizaid a prestigious medal of honour has angered much of the political opposition.

POLITICS-US: End of Cowboy Diplomacy, Part II?

It was just nine months ago when Newsweek spoke for the conventional wisdom at that moment when it pronounced "The End of Cowboy Diplomacy".

IRAQ: Kurds Fear a New War

The fragile quiet in this no-man's-land is broken by a young fighter shooting into the air at a regular morning ceremony to "commemorate martyrs".

POLITICS-US: Democrats Seek Iraq Withdrawal by End 2008

After several weeks of internal wrangling, the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives Thursday proposed legislation that, if enacted, would require all U.S. combat troops in Iraq to be withdrawn by Oct. 1, 2008.

RIGHTS: Women’s Lives Unraveling in Occupied Iraq

Amid the chaos and violence of U.S.-occupied Iraq, the significance of widespread gender-based violence has been largely overlooked, according to a groundbreaking report released here today by MADRE, an internationally active women's human rights organisation.

POLITICS: Rice Picks Neo-Con Champion of Iraq War as Counselor

In a move that has surprised many foreign policy analysts here, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has appointed a prominent neo-conservative hawk and leading champion of the Iraq war to the post of State Department Counselor.

IRAQ: Outrage over Imminent Execution of Iraqi Women

Three young women accused of joining the Iraqi insurgency movement and engaging in "terrorism" have been sentenced to death, provoking protest from rights organisations fearing that this could be the start of more executions of women in post-Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

POLITICS: U.S. to Send Top Refugee Official to Damascus

The State Department plans to send its top refugee official to Damascus in the coming weeks to discuss how best to deal with the estimated 500,000 to one million Iraqis who have sought safe haven in Syria, a Department spokesman confirmed here Thursday.

IRAQ: Rape Cases Emerge From the Shadows

Reports of the gang-rape of 20-year-old Sabrine al-Janabi by three policemen has set off new demands for justice from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.

IRAQ: World Bank Mum Over Report of Staff Injury

An Iraqi World Bank staffer has been wounded in Baghdad, according to an inside source in the Bank and an email message from a source on the ground in Iraq, the first casualty for an international organisation since a bombing that targeted the Baghdad U.N. headquarters in 2003.

POLITICS: Pentagon Meet Discussed Escalating Pressure on Iran

Two weeks ago, Pentagon officials discussed a strategy to escalate U.S. pressure on Iran with the intention of creating the impression that the U.S. is ready to go to war, according to an account by one of the participants.

POLITICS-US/IRAQ: Ready to Talk With Iran, Syria

Two weeks after making major concessions for a nuclear accord with North Korea, the administration of President George W. Bush said Tuesday it was prepared to sit down with Iran and Syria as part of a regional conference to stabilise Iraq.

IRAQ: New Oil Law Seen as Cover for Privatisation

The U.S.-backed Iraqi cabinet approved a new oil law Monday that is set to give foreign companies the long-term contracts and safe legal framework they have been waiting for, but which has rattled labour unions and international campaigners who say oil production should remain in the hands of Iraqis.

POLITICS: Will Surge Hurt US More Than Sanctions Hurt Iran?

The winds of fortune in the Iranian nuclear stand-off seem to have shifted, judging by the U.S.'s new confidence. But in Washington's apparent quest to get an upper hand, misreading the causes of the backlash against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran may cause the U.S. to lose rather than gain leverage.

IRAQ: Sparks Rise From a Time Bomb

The security situation in Iraq's northern oil rich-city Kirkuk has deteriorated over the past few weeks as a constitutional deadline approaches to determine the fate of the city.

EGYPT: Iran-Bashing Fails to Get Far

A news report in the state press late last month suggesting Iranian involvement in the 2005 death of an Egyptian ambassador to Iraq triggered a series of contradictory statements from the foreign ministry. Now that the dust has settled, many local observers see the incident as a heavy-handed attempt by Cairo - following Washington's lead - to jump on the anti-Tehran bandwagon.

IRAQ: Another U.S. Military Assault on Media

Iraqi journalists are outraged over yet another U.S. military raid on the media.

FINANCE: Wolfowitz May Bring Bank Back to Iraq

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz may appoint a new resident director for Iraq soon, a move that sources inside the Bank say could contradict the institution's policies on engagement in conflict-stricken areas and put his role in the 2003 U.S. invasion back into the limelight.

IRAQ: Fallujans Defiant Amidst Chaos

Resistance attacks against U.S. forces have been continuing in Fallujah despite military onslaughts and strong security measures.

IRAQ: Now It Is Lack of Food Security

The lack of security in Iraq is leading now to a collapse in food supplies.