Tag: Middle East

FILE This Oct. 9, 2003 file photo shows soldiers from the U.S. Army's 720th Military Police Battalion watching as a mine sweeper look for weapons in a hole they dug during a raid on a farmland just outside Tikrit, Iraq. The Obama administration announced Friday that the US will no longer produce or acquire anti-personnel land mines and plans to join an international treaty banning their use. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo, File)

US plans to curb land mines, join global treaty

Nedra Pickler · June 28, 2014 1:47 am

FILE - This undated file image posted on a militant website on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters from the al-Qaida linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) marching in Raqqa, Syria. Moderate Syrian rebels are buckling under the onslaught of the radical al-Qaida breakaway group that has swept over large parts of Iraq and Syria. Some rebels are giving up the fight, crippled by lack of weapons and frustrated with the power of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Other, more hard-line Syrian fighters are bending to the winds and joining the radicals. (AP Photo/Militant Website, File)

Syrian rebels buckling in face of jihadis

Zeina Karam · June 28, 2014 12:11 am

Pentagon: Armed drones guard US interests in Iraq

Pauline Jelinek · June 27, 2014 9:53 pm

Palestinians gather around wreckage after an airstrike in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on Friday, June 27, 2014. Palestinian officials said at least two people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. Earlier, Israel's military said it fired at Hamas targets in Gaza after an explosive device was deployed against troops on the border, causing no injuries. (AP photo/Hatem Moussa)

Militants killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza

Mohammed Daraghmeh · June 27, 2014 6:39 pm

FILE - This July 29, 2013 file photo shows Martin Indyk speaking at the State Department in Washington. U.S. special Mideast envoy Indyk is resigning after nearly a year of unsuccessful efforts to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, Obama administration officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

National Security

US Mideast envoy quits after attempt at peace deal

Matthew Lee · June 27, 2014 5:05 pm

Israeli soldiers search for three missing teens in the town of Halhul near the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday. (AP/Majdi Mohammed)

Here comes the Third Infatada against Israel — Will Obama cut off U.S. aid to the perpetrators?

alex-vanness · June 27, 2014 2:36 pm

FILE - This Aug. 21, 2013 file photo shows a Syrian military soldier holding his AK-47 with a sticker of Syrian President Bashar Assad and Arabic that reads, "Syria is fine," as he stands guard at a check point in Damascus, Syria. President Barack Obama is asking Congress for $500 million to train and arm vetted members of the Syrian opposition, as the U.S. grapples for a way to stem a civil war that has also fueled the al-Qaida inspired insurgency in neighboring Iraq. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Obama seeks $500M to train, equip Syrian rebels

Julie Pace · June 27, 2014 3:35 am

FILE - In this Friday, March 26, 2010, file photo, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks to the press in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq's Vice President Khudeir al-Khuzaie called on parliament to convene on Tuesday, July 1, 2014, taking the first step toward forming a new government to present a united front against a rapidly advancing Sunni insurgency while Britain's top diplomat started an official visit to the country to urge the country's leaders to put their differences aside for the good of the nation. Al-Maliki's political bloc won the most seats in April 30 elections, but he needs support from other blocs to govern with a majority. His efforts to form a coalition have been complicated by the current crisis as critics blame his failure to promote national reconciliation for the Sunni anger fueling the insurgent gains and want him to step down. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

Iraqi Shiites pushing for al-Maliki’s removal

HAMZA HENDAWIQASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA · June 27, 2014 12:50 am

Two-picture combo image provided by Shin Bet, Israel's security service, shows Marwan Qawasmeh, left, and Amer Abu Aisheh that the security service identified as the central suspects in the recent disappearance of three Israeli teenagers. Israel on Thursday, June 26, 2014, identified the two well-known Hamas operatives in the West Bank as the central suspects in the recent disappearance of three Israeli teenagers, in the first sign of progress in a frantic two-week search for the missing youths. (AP Photo/Shin Bet)

Israel identifies suspects in alleged kidnapping

JOSEF FEDERMANMOHAMMED DARAGHMEH · June 26, 2014 7:33 pm

Al-Qaida launches wave of attacks in south Yemen

Ahmed AlHaj · June 26, 2014 7:18 pm

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, right, US Secretary of State John Kerry, center, and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal walk to a meeting at the US Chief of Mission Residence in Paris, France. US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Paris on June 26, 2014 after stops in Baghdad, Arbil and Brussels to brief his Saudi, French and Israeli counterparts on his talks in Iraq and discuss the bloody three-year war in Syria. (AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, pool)

US, Sunni states meet on Mideast insurgent crisis

Lara Jakes · June 26, 2014 5:58 pm

Fire engines work on extinguishing a fire after a suicide bomber blew himself up in his room at a Beirut hotel, Lebanon, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, as Lebanese security forces raided the premises. The bombing is the latest in a string of attacks and security sweeps in Lebanon over the past week that have sparked fears of renewed violence in a country that has been deeply affected by the civil war in neighboring Syria. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanon: Beirut hotel bomber is Saudi citizen

Barbara Surk · June 26, 2014 12:17 pm