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

TURKEY: Obama Offers Islam a Handshake
By Hilmi Toros
ISTANBUL (IPS) – On his first visit to a Muslim country this week, U.S. President Barack Obama proposed “a new chapter” in U.S. engagement with the Islamic world. He drew much praise, while some remain skeptical.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46429

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POLITICS: Al-Maliki Draws U.S. Troops into Crackdown on Sunnis
By Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON (IPS) – When U.S. troops and Apache helicopters joined Iraqi forces in putting down an uprising by Sunni “Sons of Iraq” militiamen in central Baghdad last weekend, it was a preview of the kind of combat the U.S. military is likely to see increasingly over the next three years unless a policy decision is made in Washington to avoid it.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46358

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MIDEAST: Big Powers Moving In on Gaza
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani
CAIRO (IPS) – Nine NATO member states agreed last month to utilise naval, intelligence and diplomatic resources to combat the alleged flow of arms into the Gaza Strip. Some Egyptian commentators see the move as a surreptitious means of cementing foreign control over the region.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46377

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MIDEAST: It Will Take the World to Save These Homes
By Nora Barrows-Friedman
EAST JERUSALEM (IPS) – Orthodox Israeli settlers, backed by soldiers and police, attacked Palestinian residents of the Sa’diyya neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem Sunday evening, four days after the settler group invaded the home of the Jabir family and extra-judicially evicted them.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46427

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MIDEAST: Lost in the Buffer Zone
By Eva Bartlett*
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza (IPS) – “They’re always shooting at us. Every day they shoot at us,” says Alaa Samour (19), pulling aside his shirt to show a scar on his shoulder. Samour said he was shot on Dec. 28 last year by Israeli soldiers positioned along the border fence near New Abassan village, east of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46409

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TURKEY: Poll Win a Setback for AKP
By Hilmi Toros
ISTANBUL (IPS) – Turkey’s ruling party won the local elections last week, but the reduced majority comes as indicator that its popularity may be in decline.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46395

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MIDEAST: Obama’s Lieberman Problem
Analysis by Helena Cobban*
WASHINGTON (IPS) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?s government was sworn in Tuesday – just one day later his foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, set off a firestorm by saying he judged Israel was no longer bound by agreements reached at the late-2007 peace conference convened by the U.S. in Annapolis, Maryland.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46383

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EGYPT: State Security Blunts ‘Day of Anger’
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani
CAIRO (IPS) – Egyptians expressed their discontent Monday with rising prices and political stagnation in a national ‘day of anger’ organised by online activists. Although smaller in scope than a nationwide strike on this date last year, opposition figures say the demonstrations across the country made their point.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46428

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MIDEAST: All Unclear Over Israeli Policy
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM (IPS) – How genuine is Israel’s new leadership about peace when the Prime Minister says that he will go a long way towards striving for a settlement with the Palestinians, but purposefully omits to endorse an independent Palestinian state; and, when his foreign minister warns, “If you want peace, prepare for war”, a blunt statement on which the prime minister stays studiously silent?
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46376

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US-ISRAEL: Visa for Top Netanyahu Aide In Question
By Stephen Green*
WASHINGTON (IPS) – The first official test of wills between the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama and the new Likud-led government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could well be waged over the issuance, or restoration, of a simple entry visa.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46367

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DON'T MISS IPS EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.

U.S. President Barack Obama has inherited wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a tanking economy, and global crises like climate change. IPS reports on the implications of the new administration not just for U.S. citizens, but for the world.
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/us_elections2008/index.asp

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

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

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

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

Afghan Divide – www.ipsnews.net/afghanistan/

Bush?s Legacy – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/warII/

IPS coverage of terrorism – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/terrorism/

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