Middle East News - AFP

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US military said on Wednesday that a foreign insurgent killed in the main northern Iraqi city of Mosul this month has been identified as Abu Qaswarah, Al-Qaeda's number two in Iraq.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has rejected a call for talks with arch-rival Hamas ahead of early November Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo, his spokesman said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States and Iraq are still negotiating the terms of an agreement on the future presence of US troops in Iraq next year, senior US officials said Wednesday.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian teenager and seriously wounded another in two incidents near the West Bank city of Ramallah, medics said on Wednesday.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the globe took to the streets of Jerusalem on Wednesday, singing hymns and swaying in the autumn sunlight in a colourful parade of support for Israel.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq criticised as "inappropriate" on Wednesday comments by US commander General Raymond Odierno accusing Iran of trying to bribe Iraqi MPs to derail a planned military pact with Washington.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian leaders say the world financial crisis indicates the end of capitalism, the failure of liberal democracy and divine punishment -- marking the superiority of the Islamic republic's political model.

KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) - The Iraqi army has unearthed a mass grave near the Shiite holy city of Karbala believed to contain the bodies of 22 shepherds kidnapped last year by Al-Qaeda, security and hospital sources said on Wednesday.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli authorities on Wednesday released into house arrest an Arab Israeli who drove his car during the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday in an incident that sparked four nights of rioting in the northern town of Acre.

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Saudi shares rose slightly on Wednesday as other Arab stock markets closed lower in line with bourses in Europe and Asia, following two days of strong gains, on renewed concerns over the global financial crisis.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran inflicted a 2-1 Asian zone 2010 World Cup qualifier defeat on North Korea at the Azadi stadium here on Wednesday.

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has issued a decree to open full diplomatic ties with Lebanon for the first time since independence 60 years ago, the official SANA news agency said on Tuesday.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Maliki held talks on Tuesday with Turkish envoys following a string of air strikes launched by Ankara's forces in northern Iraq after a deadly Kurdish rebel attack.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pledged Tuesday to leave "no stone unturned" in her quest for a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal by January 20 when President George W. Bush steps down.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The United States on Tuesday condemned attacks on Iraqis, including those against Christians in the northern city of Mosul, where a surge in violence against the community has provoked an exodus.

ABU DHABI (AFP) - The president of the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday stressed the need to heal the inter-Palestinian rift during a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, state WAM news agency reported.

HEBRON, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian police discovered a tunnel running under a shop in the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday that was subsequently dynamited by Israeli sappers, sources from both sides said.

GENEVA (AFP) - The financial crisis is the result of "mistakes" by the United States and shows the limits of Washington's power to influence world events, Iran's parliamentary speaker said Tuesday.

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Stocks in the Arab world raced higher on Tuesday for a second straight day, bolstered by government action to shore up the banking sector and by a spectacular global market rally.

DUBAI (AFP) - The United Arab Emirates will host a forum on political reform in the Arab world this weekend amid questions about whether the annual gathering launched by US President George W. Bush has made any difference.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran has shortened the length of its mandatory military service by up to two months, the Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.

EL-ARISH, Egypt (AFP) - Egyptian police shot dead an African migrant and wounded another on Tuesday as they tried to cross illegally into Israel, a security official said.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli police arrested an Arab Israeli man who drove his car during the Yom Kippur holiday in an incident which sparked four nights of rioting in the northern town of Acre, police said on Tuesday.

TEHRAN (AFP) - The Iranian capital's traditional bazaar reopened on Monday following several days of strikes after the government announced the indefinite suspension of a controversial tax.

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Stock markets in the Middle East made a strong comeback on Monday led by bourses in the oil-rich Gulf following a series of local and international measures to try to ease the global financial crisis.

WASHINGTON8 (AFP) - General Ray Odierno, who commands US forces in Iraq, has accused Iran of trying to bribe Iraqi lawmakers in the hope of undermining an agreement that would allow US troops to remain in Iraq after the end of this year, The Washington Post reported Monday.

MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) - More Christian families have quit their homes in Mosul, a local official said on Monday, as the United Nations voiced concern at the community's plight in the northern Iraqi city.

JERUSALEM, Oct 13, 2008 (AFP) - Israel's Kadima and Labour parties on Monday reached an agreement in principle that would pave the way for the formation of a new government headed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, media reported.