IPS correspondents bring you independent perspectives on what is happening in Iran, Iraq and across the Middle East.

U.S.-IRAN: Changing of the Guard Key to Talks
Omid Memarian
BERKLEY – A week after Senator Hillary Clinton’s harsh remarks that if hardliners in Tehran were to launch an attack on Israel, it would result in the “total obliteration” of Iran, a Republican member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, Peter Hoekstra, suggested on CNN that “engaging in a full-court diplomatic press with Iran is a good thing to begin the process” of reaching out to Tehran.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42175

Petraeus Promotion Frees Cheney to Threaten Iran
Analysis by Gareth Porter
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42101

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Palestinian Negotiators Go Home Frustrated
Khody Akhavi
WASHINGTON – Five months after the U.S. hosted the Annapolis conference to push for a decisive Israeli-Palestinian peace, negotiations between the two sides have shown no visible progress.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42157

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EGYPT: The Global Makes the Local Worse
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
CAIRO – The appearance of long breadlines outside state-run distribution centres in recent weeks has raised fears of possible bread shortages. Although the government has taken measures aimed at easing the crisis, experts point to soaring international wheat prices that have made the commodity more costly for households worldwide.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42153

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AFGHANISTAN: Death Row Numbers Raise Grave Doubts
Tahir Qadiry
KABUL – By lifting the shroud of secrecy over the number of Afghans on death row — some 100 — the government has ended up raising grave doubts about the trial procedures that led to the extreme sentences.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42180

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Olmert Closer to Deal with Syria, Israel Is Not
Analysis by Peter Hirschberg
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he is “very interested” in peace with Syria. He has sent a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad expressing a willingness to give back the Golan Heights in exchange for a comprehensive peace treaty.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42152

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Israel Could Make Orphans Homeless Again
Zack Baddorf
HEBRON – Nibaal Shriteh may soon be homeless. The 17-year-old Palestinian lives in a Hebron orphanage but, if the Israeli military has its way, she and 240 fellow orphans like her will be out on the streets.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42151

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BULGARIA: Two Iraqis Did Make It
Claudia Ciobanu
SOFIA – Bulgaria, sometimes considered a safe haven for Iraqi asylum seekers, has denied refugee status to all but two applicants from Iraq since December last year. Bulgaria’s move contributes to blocking land access to Europe for Iraqis fleeing violence.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42149

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LEBANON: Christian Divisions Complicate Politics
Mona Alami
BEIRUT – The political crisis gripping Lebanon has chipped away at what has been viewed by most since the 2005 parliamentary elections as an unlikely alignment of two political heavyweights.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42148

Assassinations Shake Christian Town
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42113

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U.S. Hawks Resurgent?
Analysis by Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON – Are the latest accusations and tough language leveled against Iran, Syria, and North Korea evidence of a resurgence by the remaining hawks in the administration of President George W. Bush hoping for a final confrontation against one or more members of the revised “axis of evil” before his term ends next January?
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42135

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Groups Wrangle with CIA over “Ghost Prisoners”
William Fisher
NEW YORK – The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has refused to release more than 7,000 documents related to its programmes of secret detentions, renditions, and torture, and is asking a federal judge to dismiss a Freedom of Information lawsuit demanding disclosure.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42133

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AFGHANISTAN: Bid to Slay Karzai Exposes Security Mess
Anand Gopal
KABUL – Violence levels have increased in Afghanistan in the first quarter of 2008, compared to the first part of 2007, a series of newly-released studies indicate.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42146

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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