Baghdad - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani slammed Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for his call for resistance in Iraq and advised him to focus on settling Lebanon's domestic problems and to leave Iraq alone

Beirut / Damascus- Syria's banned Muslim Brotherhood warned against the possible spread of factional violence from Lebanon to neighboring states and urged the Emir of Qatar to "protect" Lebanon's Sunni community.

Beirut - Lebanon's Head of the Administration and Justice Parliamentary Committee Robert Ghanem said there was a "resolution" to block the formation of a national unity cabinet, which also obstructed the beginning of the President Michel Suleiman's mandate.

Beirut- Lebanon said on Tuesday a prisoner swap deal reached between Israel and Hezbollah marked a "big failure" for the Jewish state which had earlier refused to agree to such a plan.

Beirut - According to Lebanese National news Agency , the Syrian authorities have imposed a fee of 550 ( about $10) on every that travels from Syria to Lebanon .

Sudan could tip into "freefall" unless the international community helps to resolve its multiple crises, Britain's minister for Africa said on the sidelines of an African summit on Monday. A lack of progress toward resolving the five-and-a-half-year-old Darfur conflict, fighting

Relative political newcomer Moussa Toybou won the presidential election on the Comoros isle of Anjouan, a government minister announced Monday, three months after renegade leader Mohamed Bacar was ousted. Toybou, a 45-year-old engineer, secured 52.37 percent of the vote in

The Israeli Parliament passed a law on Monday banning any citizen who has visited an "enemy" country in the previous seven years from standing for election to the legislature, triggering the anger of Palestinian-Israeli MPs. Fifty-two members of the 120-seat

A prisoner swap with Hizbullah could go ahead in two weeks if the Lebanese resistance provides a report on the fate of an Israeli airman who went missing in Lebanon in 1986, officials said on Monday. The Israeli Cabinet gave

President Michel Sleiman chaired a meeting on Monday to discuss the shaky security situation in Lebanon, and means by which violations could be contained. The meeting at Baabda Palace was attended by acting Lebanese Armed Forces Commander General Shawki al-Masri,

Lebanese political leaders reacted Monday to an Israeli cabinet decision taken on Sunday in which an overwhelming majority of Israeli ministers voted in favor of a prisoner exchange with Hizbullah. Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun, who is

Improved security fuels fragile rebirth in Iraqi capital

Only one of the jurists was injured in the attacks, which happened four days after senior judge Kamil Al Showaili of the country's Higher Judicial Council was assassinated while driving home in mostly Shi'ite east Baghdad. Police said it was

Beirut - The government formation will again be the focus on Tuesday. The president denied on Monday that he had set Tuesday as the deadline for forming the cabinet . Speaker Nabih Berri's sudden departure to Canada on a private

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the target of an "X-ray radiation plot" during his trip to Rome for the UN food summit earlier this month, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Monday. IRNA quoted Iran's ambassador to

Associated Press - A nearly 700-page study released Sunday by the Army found that "in the euphoria of early 2003," U.S.-based commanders prematurely believed their goals in Iraq had been reached and did not send enough troops to handle the

Beirut- An adviser to Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Fouad Siniora said representation in the new cabinet should be nationally "balanced."

Beirut- Lebanon's MP Antoine Andraous responded to MP Ali al-Miqdad's statement about corruption by saying "I wish the Hezbollah MP did not mention the word corruption,

A group of business leaders and non-governmental organizations (NGO) warned Monday that the state of Lebanese business associations is inimical to efficiency and economic growth. This issue was raised during a roundtable meeting between the country's largest business associations and