LEBANON: Children Look At The Brighter Picture
Mona Alami
BEIRUT – On the outskirts of Beirut, narrow alleyways cut through the Chatila Palestinian refugee camp. A maze of electricity cables connect one concrete block and another. Sewage pours continuously through a small grey construction, filling the street with nauseating stench.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41371

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IRAQ: Baquba Losing Life – And Hope
Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*
BAQUBA – Life has been bad enough in Diyala province north of Baghdad after prolonged violence, unemployment and loss of all forms of normal living. What could be worse now is the loss of hope that anything will ever be better.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41368

IRAQ: Unemployment Too Becomes Epidemic
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41284

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MIDEAST: Gaza Border In Political Limbo
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO – One month after throngs of Palestinians flooded into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula from the Gaza Strip, the flashpoint Rafah border crossing remains tightly shut. But according to some opposition figures, the breach — viewed by many as a victory for Palestinian resistance faction Hamas — signalled the need for new border protocols consistent with shifting political realities.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41367

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Ousted By Iran, Afghan Refugees Languish At Home
Anand Gopal
KABUL – Thousands of Afghan refugees, forcibly repatriated by Iran, have been living in makeshift camps across Afghanistan. Many of the displaced, who fled the Soviet invasion and subsequent civil war, have returned to their home country to find a dearth of jobs, shelter and government programmes to help them reintegrate.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41344

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CANADA: Some Say Afghan Mission Is in the Wrong Hands
Paul Weinberg
TORONTO – As Canada’s parliament debates whether to extend the country’s mission in Afghanistan beyond next year’s withdrawal deadline, some peace advocates and conflict resolution experts say a U.N.-led mission is the best bet to negotiate a peace settlement involving all of the major parties in the ongoing civil war.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41361

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EGYPT: EU Criticism Finds Some Unofficial Welcome
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO – The European Parliament adopted a resolution last month censuring Egypt’s human rights record, and urging Cairo to embrace substantial political reforms. But while Egyptian officialdom responded angrily to the criticism, reactions among independent political figures have been more ambivalent.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41359

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U.S. Neo-cons Fine-Tune Iran Angle
Khody Akhavi
WASHINGTON – A new report published by the American Enterprise Institute think-tank purports to show the reach and scope of Iranian influence across the Middle East, but stops short of drawing conclusions about Tehran’s intentions or grand strategy.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41337

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U.S.-IRAQ: Strategic Alliances Remain Elusive
Ali Gharib
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration has ballyhooed recent legislation passed by the Iraqi parliament as a sign that its troop escalation strategy has indeed created space for political reconciliation.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41333

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IRAN-UAE: US Efforts to Scuttle Economic Ties Fail
Kimia Sanati
TEHRAN – Iran and the United Arab Emirates have begun top level talks to boost economic relations despite efforts by the United States to disrupt trade ties and an unresolved territorial dispute over the three strategic islands of Abu Mousa, the Lesser and the Greater Tunb in the Strait of Hormuz.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41327

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EUROPE: Heading for a New Security Deal with Israel
David Cronin
BRUSSELS – The European Union is considering new steps to deepen its cooperation on scientific research with Israel, despite admitting that previous funds earmarked for that purpose have gone to firms operating illegally in the Palestinian territories.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41314

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IRAQ: In Tatters Beneath a Surge of Claims
Analysis by Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail*
BAGHDAD – What the United States has been calling the success of a “surge”, many Iraqis see as evidence of catastrophe. Where U.S. forces point to peace and calm, local Iraqis find an eerie silence.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41308

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U.S.: Snake Oil Sellers of the Christian Right?
Khody Akhavi
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs came under heavy criticism earlier this month from Muslim and religious freedom advocacy groups after it invited to a conference three self-professed “former terrorists” with strong links to the Christian right.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41299

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EGYPT: Border Breach Raises Fundamental Questions
Analysis by Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO – Authorities sealed the border with the Gaza Strip earlier this month after more than a half million Palestinians flooded into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in late January. But while most have since returned home, the episode served to highlight Egypt’s tenuous control over its border with the troubled territory next door.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41270

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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