IRAQ: Chalabi – From White House to Dog House in Just Five Months

It was just last January that Ahmed Chalabi occupied the coveted balcony seat next to First Lady Laura Bush and gazed out at Washington's glittering elite who had gathered to hear President George W Bush deliver his State of the Union Address from the Capitol's imposing rostrum.

SPECIAL REPORT: Wanted in Africa, Needed in Iraq

Arms dealer Viktor Bout was the merchant of death wanted for feeding conflicts in Africa - until Iraq happened.

MIDEAST: Europe Could Help Make ‘Road Map’ a Reality

The positions stated by Israeli and Palestinian officials during a visit to Spain Tuesday and Wednesday indicate just how far both sides are from returning to the "road map", the peace plan that diplomats say requires European Union participation.

POLITICS-U.S.: Pentagon’s Feith Again at Centre of Disaster

Although it will take weeks, if not months, to sort out precisely who was responsible for what increasingly appears to have been the systemic abuse by U.S. soldiers of Iraqi detainees, it should be no surprise if Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Douglas Feith is found to have played an important role.

POLITICS: U.S. Faulted for Short-Circuiting Global Treaties

The United States, which preaches the virtues of good governance and rule of law to the outside world, is notoriously remiss in either signing, ratifying or adhering to major international treaties, according to U.S. academics, constitutional lawyers and human rights activists.

IRAQ: EU Urged to Do More to Help

The European Union must take decisive steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Iraq, leading European groups say.

MIDEAST: Israeli Missiles May Rebound Politically

The killing of at least 10 Palestinian demonstrators and the wounding of many others by Israeli forces in Rafah in the southern Gaza strip Wednesday increased domestic and international pressure on the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to end the military operation in the town.

MIDEAST: Militants Pay a Price

The Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood of Rafah bore the brunt of the large-scale operation the Israeli army launched Tuesday after suffering severe losses last week. Streets leading into the neighbourhood were blocked by tanks and sand hills, local residents said.

POLITICS-U.S.: Imperial Dreams Sink in Iraqi Quagmire

The coalition of Bush administration hawks that was empowered by the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon agreed on three main strategic objectives.

IRAQ: Halliburton Under Renewed Fire for Overcharging

U.S. construction giant Halliburton came under renewed fire Tuesday when auditors urged the Defence Department to hold back payments to the company on an Iraq-based contract, while critics geared up to protest the controversial Houston-based firm's annual meeting.

MIDEAST: U.N. Warns of Israeli Demolition Plan in Rafah

The United Nations issued a call to the international community Tuesday to press Israel to stop its military operations under way in Gaza aimed at destroying hundreds of houses, the largest such effort by the Israeli military in that region.

IRAQ: Where an Assassination Is Celebrated

Motorists honked in celebration in this western Iraqi town as news spread of the assassination of the president of the Iraqi Governing Council Ezzidin Salim Monday.

MIDEAST: Firing Line Comes Home

A few dozen militants could be seen trickling into the Block O neighbourhood of Rafah along the border with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip Monday afternoon. They said they came in anticipation of a major Israeli army operation in the area.

MIDEAST: Palestinians Brace for More Destruction

More and more Palestinians are facing homelessness after the fighting last week.

MIDEAST: Sanctions Unlikely to Hurt Syria

The limited sanctions imposed on Syria are unlikely to do it much harm, or the United States much good.

IRAQ: Anger Rises Over Raid Now on Sunni Mosque

As U.S. forces fought the Shia forces of Muqtada Al- Sadr in the south, they broke into the Sunni Abu Hanifa mosque in Baghdad Saturday.

MIDEAST: Deep Difficulties Underlie Violence

Given gory television pictures of a captive being beheaded, abuse of Iraqi prisoners, bomb explosions in Saudi Arabia and fighting between Israelis and Palestinians, the world's attention is undoubtedly focused on events in the Middle East.

IRAQ: Sunnis and Shias Uniting Against U.S.

As U.S. military actions continue to raise the staggeringly high toll of dead Iraqis, Sunnis and Shias appear to be uniting against the occupation.

POLITICS-U.S.: Evidence Grows of More Widespread Abuse

The Bush administration's contention that the sexual humiliation and physical abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison as depicted in photographs first disclosed two weeks ago were the work of just a ''few bad apples'' from a poorly trained military police unit is fast becoming untenable.

IRAQ: The Gloves Came Off

When Aldo Moro who was prime minister of Italy five times was kidnapped and later murdered by Red Brigade terrorists in 1978, a member of the Italian security forces suggested to General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa that a suspect be tortured. The general famously replied: "Italy can do without Aldo Moro, but not with the introduction of torture."

IRAQ: Europe Growing Uneasy over Alliance with U.S.

European officials seem agreed that the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. and British forces rule the two countries out of an international peace initiative. But they stop short of considering a European policy independent of the United States.