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

US-MIDEAST: A Week of Dimming Peace Prospects
Analysis by Helena Cobban*
WASHINGTON (IPS) – Eight months after Barack Obama launched his presidency by promising a speedy push for Palestinian-Israeli peace, that effort has stalled badly. And there are now growing fears that the top levels of Obama’s peace team are torn by internal disagreements that may undermine the whole peace effort.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48599

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MIDEAST: A Good Time Not to Make Peace
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM (IPS) – Most analysts agree that the past week of Middle East diplomacy has actually set back the cause of peacemaking. If they are right that the intensive U.S.-led effort has actually diminished prospects for a breakthrough towards Palestinian-Israel peace, who is to blame?
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48611

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US-MIDEAST: Has Netanyahu Out-Manoeuvred Obama or Vice Versa?
By Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON (IPS) – While Israeli officials claimed a major win in U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to shelve his long-held demand for a freeze on Israeli settlements on the West Bank and East Jerusalem, some analysts here believe it may yet prove a Pyrrhic victory for the hard-line government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48562

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MIDEAST: Riots May Point to Third Palestinian Uprising
By Mel Frykberg
EAST JERUSALEM (IPS) – Palestinian politicians and Israeli political analysts are warning of a third Palestinian Intifadah following serious rioting in East Jerusalem last Sunday.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48660

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POLITICS: Libyan Leader Thrashes All and Sundry in U.N. Debut
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi, in his maiden visit to the United Nations Wednesday, made a highly predictable speech – long on rhetoric and short on substance.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48568

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MIDEAST: More Palestinian Children Getting Jailed
By Mel Frykberg
BI’ILIN, West Bank (IPS) – Eight children between the ages of 10 and 17 were arrested and detained by Israeli soldiers during military raids Monday night and Tuesday morning in the northern West Bank cities Nablus and Qalqilia.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48576

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MIDEAST: Jerusalem Palestinians Defining Their Own Future
By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
EAST JERUSALEM (IPS) – Almost a year ago a barely noticed event took place in Sawarha, a Palestinian neighbourhood in the Israeli-occupied part of the city. On that November day, Israeli Jerusalemites were voting in a new mayor and a new city council.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48593

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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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