Month: June 2009

US Officials Leaked False Story Blaming Iran for Khobar Attack

In March 1997, FBI Director Louis Freeh got what he calls in his memoirs "the first truly big break in the case": the arrest in Canada of one of the Saudi Hezbollah members the Saudis accused of being the driver of the getaway car at Khobar Towers. Hani al-Sayegh, then 28 years old, had arrived … Continue reading “US Officials Leaked False Story Blaming Iran for Khobar Attack”

The Writing Is On the Settlement Walls

JERUSALEM — A paralyzing equation has long bedeviled would-be Middle East peacemakers: either, go directly to negotiating the kernel issues of the Israel-Palestine conflict — borders, security, refugees, Jerusalem — and leave, in the context of a full peace, the thorny question of Israeli settlements in the West Bank to fall naturally into place. Or, … Continue reading “The Writing Is On the Settlement Walls”

Wednesday: 82 Iraqis Killed, 206 Wounded

Updated at 10:37 p.m. EDT, June 24, 2009 Despite a major bombing in Baghdad, the White House reiterated that U.S. troops will leave Iraqi cities by the end of the month as planned. At least 82 Iraqis were killed and 206 more were wounded in the Baghdad attack and elsewhere. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, an Iraqi girl who was blinded and disfigured in a 2006 Sadr City bombing has returned home to Iraq following reconstructive surgery in London.

Hamas-Fatah Violence May Derail Reconciliation

RAMALLAH – Egyptian mediators have set July 7 as deadline for final Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo. The Egyptians say time is running out, and if there is no progress in July, they will no longer be prepared to arbitrate. Continued political detention and abuse of Palestinian prisoners by Hamas in Gaza and by the … Continue reading “Hamas-Fatah Violence May Derail Reconciliation”

Iran: Harsh Crackdown Extends to Leading Opposition Figures

TEHRAN – Eleven days after Iran’s disputed June 12 president election, the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears determined to round up key members of the opposition, journalists, and human rights activists who could play a key role in rallying public support for opposition demands. The streets of the Iranian capital and other provincial cities … Continue reading “Iran: Harsh Crackdown Extends to Leading Opposition Figures”