IPS brings you independent perspective on what is happening in Iran, Iraq and across the Middle East.

MIDEAST: Annapolis Watchers Fear Zero-Sum Game
Ali Gharib
WASHINGTON – With formal invitations to a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian leaders finally sent out Tuesday, many doubts and uncertainties linger about the substance of the conference and its potential effectiveness as a step towards lasting peace in the Middle East.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40144

Palestine Protests Biased U.N. Reporting – By Thalif Deen
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40139

Olmert Begins to Rival Abbas in Weakness – Analysis by Peter Hirschberg
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40115

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IRAQ: Toward National Reconciliation or a Warlord State?
Analysis by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON – While the vast majority of analysts here agree that sectarian violence in Iraq has declined sharply from pre-”surge” levels one year ago, a major debate has broken out as to whether the achievement of the Surge’s strategic objective — national reconciliation — is closer or more distant than ever.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40140

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EGYPT: Al Qaeda Faction Alters Course
Emad Mekay
CAIRO – The ideology al Qaeda rests on to justify its activities suffered a major blow this week. The Al-Jihad Group, partly responsible for killing former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981, and the nest for some of most aggressive smaller violent groups, has begun publishing a “review of its positions” in two Arabic language newspapers.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40133

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IRAQ: Fallujah Now Under a Different Kind of Siege
Ali al-Fadhily*
FALLUJAH – Three years after a devastating U.S.-led siege of the city, residents of Fallujah continue to struggle with a shattered economy, infrastructure, and lack of mobility.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40125

Corruption Adds to Baquba’s Problems – By Ahmed Ali*
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40070

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AFGHANISTAN: Militancy Spreads to Northern Provinces
Tahir Qadiry
MAZAR-E-SHARIF – Militancy, which has turned southern Afghanistan into a conflict zone, has spread to the northern provinces that have been relatively peaceful since the Taliban regime was ousted from Kabul in end-2001.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40130

Afghanistan Uneasy Over Pakistan’s Emergency – By IPS Correspondents*
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40102

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Israel’s Syrian Airstrike Was Aimed at Iran
Analysis by Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON – Until late October, the accepted explanation about the Sep. 6 Israeli airstrike in Syria, constructed in a series of press leaks from U.S. officials, was that it was prompted by dramatic satellite intelligence that Syria was building a nuclear facility with help from North Korea.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40123

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Canada Shuts Doors to U.S. War Resisters
Aaron Glantz
SAN FRANCISCO, California – Two U.S. Army deserters who fled to Canada and sought refugee status on grounds of their opposition to the war in Iraq have lost their bids to have the Supreme Court of Canada hear their cases.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40094

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Rendition Victim Appeals Ruling Barring Suit
William Fisher
NEW YORK – Maher Arar, arguably the world’s best-known victim of “extraordinary rendition”, went back to court last week to reverse a previous ruling barring him from suing the U.S. government for shipping him off to Syria, where he was jailed and tortured for close to a year.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40060

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LEBANON: Death Penalty Abolition Linked to Political Stability
Rebecca Murray
TYRE – Sonele Daas sits on death row in Lebanon’s central Roumieh prison, found guilty of murder almost one decade ago. The 60-year-old Bangladeshi had travelled to Lebanon to work and send wages home to his family. However, after a dispute with a fellow compatriot, Daas was arrested, tried and convicted by a Lebanese court for his friend’s subsequent death.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40057

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POLAND: It’s Hard Saying Even Goodbye to Iraq
Zoltán Dujisin
PRAGUE – Leaving Iraq will prove harder than going in, especially as Warsaw’s new government’s decision comes amid deadly attacks against Polish interests in Iraq.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40053

LobeLog.com
IPS Washington bureau chief Jim Lobe’s take on U.S. foreign policy and the story behind the story. www.ips.org/blog/jimlobe/

For more IPS reporting on the Middle East – www.ipsnews.net/middle.asp

Iraq: Beyond the Green Zone – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iraq/index.asp

Iran: The Parthian Shot – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iran/index.asp

Holy Land/Unholy War – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/israel_palestina/index.asp

Afghan Divide – www.ipsnews.net/afghanistan/index.asp

View From the U.S.: Bush at War – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/warII/index.asp

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