Hamas's armed wing on Sunday announced that armed groups in its Gaza Strip stronghold had finalized a deal to stop firing rockets into Israel, but said they would respond to Israeli raids, one of which coincidentally happened also on Sunday, injuring seven Palestinians. "The agreement between (Ezzedine) ... More

Iran has jailed former vice president Mohammad Ali Abtahi for six years on charges linked to protests over June's presidential election while opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi called on the Sunday government to stop intimidating people to try and change their political views. Abtahi, who was a close aide of ... More

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday four pilgrims had died of the new H1N1 flu virus three days before the massive annual Muslim hajj, or pilgrimage, is due to begin. The Health Ministry said the deaths were among pilgrims who came from outside Saudi Arabia but Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Mirghalani could not be immediately ... More

U.S. Justice Department prosecutors asked a federal judge on Friday to dismiss the charges against one of five Blackwater security guards accused of killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in a 2007 shooting in Baghdad. In a brief court notice, prosecutors said they filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against Nicholas ... More

A Japanese engineer kidnapped by Yemeni tribesmen has been seized by al-Qaeda gunmen, a tribal source who has been seeking to negotiate his release said on Saturday. "The hostage was seized by elements of al-Qaeda, who took him to an unknown destination in the Maarib region," east of the capital, Sanaa, one of two ... More

Egypt will not allow its citizens living abroad to be humiliated, President Hosni Mubarak said in an address to parliament on Saturday, in an apparent reference to a spat with Algeria over a World Cup qualifier. "We do not allow anyone to humiliate them (citizens abroad)," Mubarak said to applause from the ... More

Iran will stage large-scale air defense war games next week to help protect its nuclear facilities against any attack, a senior commander said Saturday, as the head of a hardline political party called for a top opposition leader to face trial for spreading the "big lie" about the elections. Brigadier General Ahmad ... More

Protesters hurled stones and firebombs at police near the Algerian embassy in Cairo on Friday, wounding 11 officers and 24 policemen as anger mounted over attacks on Egyptians after the countries' World Cup qualifier. The interior ministry that 15 cars were also damaged in the violence. ... More

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said presidential and legislative elections scheduled for January will be postponed, confirming that he has accepted advice not to hold the vote. Abbas, speaking to BBC Arabic, said the Palestinian leadership would take measures to avoid a constitutional vacuum -- although he did not ... More

Hassan Nasrallah was re-elected head of Hezbollah late on Thursday following a congress that also adopted a new manifesto, which is to be revealed in coming days, the armed Shiite party announced. Nasrallah, 49, has been heading Hezbollah since 1992 when his predecessor, Abbas Moussaoui, was killed in an ... More

The publication of mugshots of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi's son after his arrest in Switzerland led Tripoli to block the return of two Swiss nationals from Libya, the Swiss President told newspapers Friday. Daily newspaper La Tribune de Geneve on Sept. 4 printed police pictures of Hannibal Gaddafi ... More

The Yemeni army succeeded in aborting an attack on the northern governorate of Saada, killing and injuring dozens of insurgents, according to media reports Thursday. As the conflict escalated between Houthi rebels on one hand and the Saudi and Yemeni armies on the other, the insurgent group launched a massive attack on the ... More

Peace talks with Israel have failed and the Palestinians must launch popular and diplomatic campaigns to achieve statehood, Marwan Barghouti said in an interview from his prison cell. Still popular and articulate despite five years behind bars, the 50-year-old activist is seen by some as a Palestinian Nelson Mandela, the ... More

Fearing loss of life and money, Palestinians are abandoning tunnels that supply the blockaded Gaza Strip with everything from food to fridges to weapons. On the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, there is little activity in an area that was once as busy as an industrial ... More

Cairo recalled its envoy to Algiers and Egyptians burned the Algerian flag on Thursday after Egypt's soccer team lost to Algeria in a play-off to reach the World Cup finals, accusing its fans of post-match thuggery. The move is the latest in a tit-for-tat spat between the North African countries about minor ... More

World powers came down hard on Israel on Wednesday for its approval to build hundreds of new homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem as the United States warned it was undermining efforts to relaunch Middle East peace talks. The unusually biting response from President Barack Obama's administration came after ... More

Iraq's election commission halted all preparations for elections in January after Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president vetoed part of an election law that had paved the way for the poll, an electoral official said on Wednesday. "As a result of the veto, we have decided to stop all our activities and work as we ... More

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy wrapped up Wednesday a Gulf visit during which he agreed with Saudi King Abdullah on the need to restart Middle East peace talks and took a firm stance on Iran. In three hours of "deep" talks at Abdullah's Janadiriyah desert farm, north of Riyadh, late ... More

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz confirmed late Monday that all armed infiltrators have been driven of the Saudi territory by the country’s armed forces. He said that all residents who have been evacuated from their villages due to fighting are being taken care of with the government. The Saudi Monarch made those ... More

French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday for talks with Saudi King Abdullah after warning of an extremist backlash if Middle East peace talks do not commence soon. Abdullah greeted Sarkozy late in the afternoon at King Khalid International Airport and the two then headed for the king's ... More