Meast

The Pentagon on Tuesday defended the validity of the 1991 Gulf War victory against Iraq, casting aside suggestions that the allied action was hollow given the continued presence of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and some 24,000 U.S. troops still stationed in the region to contain Iraqi's military.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, seeking support for his stance in the stalled peace talks with Israel, was on his way to the United Arab Emirates from Libya, while U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker continued a tour of Arab nations begun after the collapse last month of the Mideast summit at Camp David, Maryland.

More than 70 divers searched waters off Bahrain on Tuesday to salvage wreckage that might give clues to why a Gulf Air plane crashed in the area killing all 143 people aboard.

Ehud Barak had better hope that bad news comes only in threes. Because having dealt him three body blows in the first three days of this week, the Israeli prime minister's domestic political foes may have smelled blood. Barak's foreign minister, David Levy, resigned Wednesday, taking his coalition votes with him. Losing Levy from the cabinet isn't exactly a body blow -- part of his pique at Barak ...

Pakistan assured Turkmenistan on Thursday of its full support for an Turkmen initiative intended to bring peace to the countries' war-torn neighbor Afghanistan and more stability to Central Asia.

The United Nations has released the text of a key letter to Libya which led to the turnover of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing suspects for trial,

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez followed up a controversial trip to Iraq with a visit Sunday to Libya -- another nation often at odds with the United States and familiar with the sort of U.N. sanctions he has condemned.

A Saudi Arabian prison riot over living conditions and insufficient recreational facilities left a guard and 17 inmates injured, a security official said Saturday.

The United States has drastically reduced its demands for veto rights on Israeli arms sales now that Israel has canceled the sale of a warning system to China and shown flexibility with the Palestinians, according to a radio report Thursday confirmed by U.S. and Israeli officials.

The single-aisle, 150-seat Airbus A320, one of which has crashed off Bahrain, is among the most popular jets with the air industry with 1,162 currently in service around the world.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has spoken in recent days to the foreign ministers of several countries in the Middle East, including Syria, about reviving the peace process, the State Department said on Tuesday.

A Gulf Air Airbus A320 on a scheduled flight from Manama, Bahrain, to Cairo, Egypt, crashed into the Persian Gulf off the coast of Bahrain on Wednesday, according to Bahrainian Information Ministry officials.

Differences between Arab nations, especially Egypt and Syria, may prevent Arab foreign ministers from reaching a common stand on Jerusalem when they meet in Cairo on Sunday and Monday, analysts and diplomats say.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's diplomatic offensive -- he has visited 15 countries in 18 days -- is shaping up as a disappointment.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said upon arrival in Moscow on Thursday that he had high hopes for his talks with Russian officials on the Middle East peace process.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday for talks focused on peace negotiations with Israel and the future of Jerusalem.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said upon arrival in Moscow on Thursday that he had high hopes for his talks with Russian officials on the Middle East peace process.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat left for Egypt on Monday for brief talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the most recent developments in Palestinian-Israeli peace moves.

Egypt's president said Sunday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may put off plans to declare an independent Palestinian state on September 13, the deadline for a final Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday before Middle East peace efforts shift to New York next week.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Cabinet minister Shimon Peres will visit Beijing in the coming week to brief Chinese leaders on the Middle East peace process, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday.

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat said in an interview published on Tuesday that he intends to declare an independent Palestinian state on time on September 13, regardless of outside pressure.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told Spain's prime minister on Sunday that a peace accord with Israel is still possible despite the collapse of the Camp David summit, a Spanish official said.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Wednesday he will

Iran sent only a deputy foreign minister to greet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the airport Thursday, a sign of the lowly opinion in which he is held here for trying to make peace with Israel.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said on Tuesday that Middle East summit talks might resume after this week's Democratic National Convention involving U.S. President Bill Clinton ends.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will ask Iran's president Thursday to convene a meeting of Islamic states to back him on the issue of Jerusalem, the official Iranian news agency reported.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat turned down an American plan to set up a $30 billion international fund to resettle refugees, a Palestinian official said Thursday.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat warned Friday of a regional

Syrian President Bashar Assad told a U.S. envoy Sunday that Syria will be willing to work toward a fair and comprehensive regional peace when

A U.S. Army reserve officer with access to intelligence information returned home Tuesday, two weeks after he alarmed the American military by going AWOL.

Bahrain began Monday to salvage the wreckage of a Gulf Air plane from shallow waters near the airport where it crashed last week, killing all 143 people on board.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak will consult this week with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Barak's office said Monday.

The relaxed candor encouraged by the United States at the Israeli-Palestinian summit at Camp David last month took hold among some negotiators but did not extend to the leaders, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak divvied up vacant Cabinet posts Sunday to members of his Labor party as chances dwindled that he would be able to cobble together a new coalition.

One of Prime Minister Ehud Barak's top aides resigned Monday, the second confidant to quit in a week amid complaints that the Israeli leader ignores advice and fails to delegate responsibility.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak will turn his focus away from the peace process and ask the hard-line Likud Party to join his government if the Palestinians do not make concessions in the coming weeks, an official close to Barak said Thursday.

Israel held up its relationship with Moslem Turkey on Monday as a model for co-operation in the region, proposing increased commerce and trade in defence equipment and water.

In Prime Minister Ehud Barak's clearest statement yet about Palestinian statehood, he offered the Palestinians an independent state if they formally end their conflict with Israel.

Israel will not excavate under Islamic holy sites for the remains of the biblical Jewish Temples in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Friday, trying to defuse Palestinian concerns about Israeli sovereignty there.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak urged Palestinians Wednesday to be flexible in peace negotiations over Jerusalem, as Palestinians said they had made all the compromises they could on the holy city.

The United States plans to move its embassy to Jerusalem by January 20, the day President Clinton leaves office, Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday.

Israel would agree to creation of a Palestinian state if the Palestinians end their conflict with Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday in his clearest reference yet to statehood.

The number of people living in countries facing severe water shortages will increase more than four-fold over the next 25 years, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Supporters of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden may be planning attacks in Israel to try to thwart the Middle East peace process, a U.S. congressional report warned on Monday.

British junior minister Peter Hain will begin a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday to offer encouragement for the Middle East peace process, British officials said on Monday.

Saudi forces exchanged gunfire Wednesday with unknown assailants at a compound housing American and other military personnel and their families in southern Saudi Arabia.

Saudi forces exchanged gunfire Wednesday with unknown assailants at a compound housing American and other military personnel and their families in southern Saudi Arabia.