Middle East News - AFP

RIYADH (AFP) - US President George W. Bush arrived in Saudi Arabia from Israel on Friday for talks with the world's biggest crude exporter on record oil prices that have hit Western consumers hard.

DOHA (AFP) - Lebanon's squabbling political leaders were to meet in Qatar on Friday for talks brokered by the Arab League aimed at ending a long-running feud that drove the country to the brink of a new civil war.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States has warned Beijing over reported use of Chinese weapons by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the Asian giant's continued sale of arms to Iran, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Four Iranian embassy staff and their Iraqi driver were wounded when their convoy was shot at in the Iraqi capital, the embassy and Iraqi officials said on Friday.

GAZA CITY (AFP) - The Palestinian Hamas movement will send a delegation to Egypt to discuss a proposed truce with Israel in the Gaza Strip where the Islamists seized power nearly a year ago, a spokesman said on Friday.

MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) - Iraq on Friday offered cash in exchange for weapons in the main northern city of Mosul, described by US commanders as Al-Qaeda's last urban bastion in the country, as a crackdown against the insurgents entered its third day.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - A rocket fired by Gaza militants damaged a synagogue and another hit a kindergarten in the southern Israeli city of Sderot overnight, a military spokeswoman said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden will release a new audio-video message to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel, US groups monitoring Islamist websites said Thursday.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - US President George W. Bush warned on Thursday that allowing Iran to obtain a atomic bomb would be "an unforgivable betrayal" as he made his second visit to Israel in five months.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Dozens of Iraqis gather in a dimly lit room to scan hundreds of pictures on computer screens -- disfigured images of burnt faces, blown up body parts, beheaded corpses.

CANNES, France (AFP) - Israel's Ari Folman, in Cannes to premiere his fiercely anti-war animation "Waltz With Bashir," says his country is awash with ex-soldiers like himself who have repressed horrific memories of their time in the Israeli army.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Visiting US President George W. Bush vowed on Thursday to support Israel in battling "terror" groups as the nation marks its 60th anniversary still struggling to find peace with Arab neighbours.

BEIRUT (AFP) - Squabbling Lebanese factions agreed on an Arab League-mediated deal on Thursday to begin talks on defusing a long-running feud that drove the deeply divided country to the brink of a new civil war.

MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) - Iraqi security forces carried out mass arrests in the main northern city of Mosul on Thursday as a major crackdown against Al-Qaeda entered its second day, officials said.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinians protested across the occupied territories on Thursday on the 60th anniversary of the "catastrophe" of the birth of Israel and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel warned on Thursday that its forces were prepared to launch a major military assault on Gaza after a rocket attack wounded at least 14 people while US President George W. Bush was in Israel.

CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said in remarks published on Thursday that peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians before the end of the year is unlikely.

BEIRUT (AFP) - Militants loyal to Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition on Thursday began removing roadblocks on the highway leading to Beirut's international airport, paving the way for commercial flights to resume, an AFP correspondent said.

LONDON (AFP) - The employers of a Palestinian cameraman who was killed by Israeli tank fire while filming in the Gaza Strip a month ago called for answers over his death from Israel's military Thursday.

CANNES, France (AFP) - Repressed memories, the horrors of war and Israel's dubious role in a notorious Beirut refugee camp massacre are the themes of the Cannes film festival's first ever fully-animated documentary.

WARSAW (AFP) - Israeli writers were guests of honour at the 53rd annual Warsaw international book fair which opened Thursday featuring 600 publishing houses from 29 countries, organisers said.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Visiting US President George W. Bush paid a 60th anniversary tribute to Israel as a democracy challenged by "terrorists" on Wednesday just before a rocket attack wounded 14 people in a shopping mall.

BEIRUT (AFP) - The Lebanese government conceded a key demand of the Hezbollah-led opposition on Wednesday for ending a week of sectarian bloodshed, formally rescinding two decisions against the Shiite militant group.

MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a new assault on Al-Qaeda in the main northern city of Mosul on Wednesday, the jihadists' last urban bastion in Iraq according to the US military.

ASHKELON, Israel (AFP) - A rocket fired by Gaza militants slammed into a shopping mall in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Wednesday, wounding at least 14 people, as US President George W. Bush began a three-day visit to the Jewish state.

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Thousands of Kuwaitis joined a state funeral on Wednesday for former ruler Sheikh Saad Abdullah al-Sabah, a long-serving statesman who served as emir for just nine days.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Wednesday delivered to UN chief Ban Ki-moon a package of proposals aimed at solving global challenges, including the nuclear issue, state media reported.

PARIS (AFP) - Five French men, an Algerian and a Moroccan were sentenced to between 18 months and seven years in jail on Wednesday for running a network that recruited young Muslims in Paris to fight in Iraq.