http://www.aawsat.com/english Asharq Alawsat English Edition is your insight into the Middle East en-us © 2005 Saudi Research and Publishing Sat, 06 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT 1 http://www.aawsat.com/english http://www.aawsat.com/english/images/aaaeng.gif 144 33 Asharq-e delivers up-to-the-minute news and information on the latest stories, weather, entertainment, politics in the Middle East http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=18724 It does not make sense for anyone who understands the violence taking place in Iraq to attribute this solely to terrorism, occupation, and politics. In more than a few cases, such violence is nothing Sat, 06 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=18719 Every Afghan ruler has one fear and one hope, and Hamid Karzai, just confirmed as President of Afghanistan for a second term, is no exception. The fear is that of ending up as Shah Shujaa. The hope Sat, 06 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18723 PARIS (AP) - France's foreign minister says Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' decision not to run for re-election is a "threat to peace" in the Middle East. Turkey's foreign minister says he hopes "the Sat, 06 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18722 ANKARA, (Reuters) - Turkey's President Abdullah Gul accused the European Union on Friday of "interfering" after the bloc asked Ankara to reconsider a decision to invite indicted Sudanese President Omar Sat, 06 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18721 HERAT, Afghanistan, (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers transporting supplies in Afghanistan were reported missing on Friday and the Taliban said they were holding the bodies of two drowned foreign soldiers. The Sat, 06 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18720 GAZA, (Reuters) - Hundreds of Gaza Palestinians set off for Mecca on Friday for the annual haj pilgrimage, after bitter rivals Fatah and Hamas set aside their dispute to agree on a list of 4,500 participants Sat, 06 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18718 (Asharq Al-Awsat and Agencies) - Saudi Arabia said Friday it carried out airstrikes against “infiltrators” from Yemen that were limited to areas inside Saudi territory, and vowed to press on with the Sat, 06 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18717 JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel said on Friday that a U.N. General Assembly decision to endorse a report accusing the Jewish state of war crimes lacked the support of the world's "moral majority." In a vote Sat, 06 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18716 BAGHDAD, (Reuters) - Iraq's electoral authorities called on Friday for polls due next January to be delayed after parliament failed once more to agree on how to hold the vote. If parliament insisted Sat, 06 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18715 LONDON, (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday he had told Afghan President Hamid Karzai that British support for his government will depend on him taking serious steps to fight Sat, 06 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=18709 London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ismail al-Sadr urged the political parties and blocs standing in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Iraq to present their electoral programmes, Fri, 05 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=18711 In the opinion of Prince Khalid Al Faisal, the President of the Arab Thought Foundation [ATF] and the Arab intellectuals who were acting on his behalf and who met at the ATF's most recent conference Fri, 05 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18710 RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday he will not seek reelection in a January ballot because of the lack of progress in peace talks with Israel, Palestinian Fri, 05 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=18707 After approximately 30 years, everything has changed in Iran except the regime. What has happened in Tehran 30 years later? Public repentance has come over the architects of the old era. Many of Fri, 05 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=18704 When you read a news story saying that “the United Nations called on Israel to stop demolishing Palestinian homes and put an end to the policy of forced evictions in East Jerusalem, warning that there Fri, 05 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18701 JERUSALEM, (AP) – Israeli officials tallied up hundreds of tons of weapons seized from a commandeered ship Thursday as Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas denied Israeli claims that the arms were meant for Fri, 05 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18702 KABUL (Reuters) – The United Nations said on Thursday it would evacuate hundreds of its international staff from Afghanistan for several weeks due to deteriorating security, a sharp blow for Western Fri, 05 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18705 WASHINGTON, (AFP) — The top US military officer held out the possibility of a draw-down of American forces from Afghanistan within a few years, citing the troop "surge" in Iraq as a model. As President Fri, 05 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18706 MILAN, (AP) — An Italian judge found 23 Americans and two Italians guilty Wednesday in the kidnapping of an Egyptian terror suspect, delivering the first legal convictions anywhere in the world against Fri, 05 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18708 Mogadishu, Asharq Al-Awsat- Heavy fighting broke out between the Somali government forces and Islamists insurgents yesterday, resulting in the rebel group recapturing the town of Beledweyn in Hiran Fri, 05 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=7&id=18699 Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- Many archaeologists and researchers have spoken about Aper-al’s tomb that was discovered in the Saqqara area. Aper-al held the title of “Prime Minister of Egypt” and they Thu, 04 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=18696 Abu Dhabi, Asharq Al-Awsat- Bahrain was shocked to learn last week that Bahraini female citizens were now working as "muezzin" [person who calls for prayers]. This was revealed by the Ministry of Thu, 04 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18700 Gaza, Asharq al-Awsat- representatives of the Egyptian Intelligence Agency and circles within the Fatah Movement have informed Palestinian faction leaders that President Mahmud Abbas, alias Abu-Mazin, Thu, 04 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=18695 During the Saudi-Syrian summit that took place in Damascus at the beginning of last October, I was asked in Damascus about what the summit might result in and the possibility of it resulting in the Thu, 04 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=18694 The London-based Iranian conference which raises the slogan of Islamic unity "will be nothing more than a means to communicate destructive sectarian ideas to Islamic countries that are not aware of Thu, 04 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18688 TEHRAN (AFP) – Police used batons and teargas to break up an opposition protest in central Tehran on Wednesday, while huge crowds staged a noisy anti-US rally nearby to mark the storming of the American Thu, 04 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18689 CAIRO,(AP) – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended the U.S stance toward Israeli settlement building to worried Arab allies on Wednesday, saying Washington does not accept the legitimacy Thu, 04 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18690 ISLAMABAD, (AP) – Pakistani soldiers battled Taliban fighters Wednesday in the streets of a key militant stronghold, officials said, as government forces pressed ahead with their offensive in the tribal Thu, 04 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18691 BAGHDAD, (AP) – Iraq's election commission chairman said Wednesday that he has warned lawmakers that if they do not have an agreement in place on an election law by the end of Thursday, the country's Thu, 04 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=18692 Riyadh, SPA - An official source said on Tuesday morning that armed men were observed as infiltrated into the territory of Saudi Arabia at Jabal (mountain) Dukhan, near Khald Border Post in Khoba Thu, 04 Nov 2009 17:25:46 GMT