Middle East News - AFP

GAZA CITY (AFP) - The Islamist Hamas movement said on Monday that an Israeli soldier held in Gaza for more than three years will not see "the light of day" until Israel releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - World stock markets mostly rallied on Monday after troubled Dubai received a 10-billion-dollar (6.8-billion-euro) bailout from oil-rich Abu Dhabi, analysts said. Full Story »

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran is to put on trial three US hikers facing espionage charges and jailed for over four months after "illegally" entering Iran, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Monday. Full Story »

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi vowed to press on with anti-government protests and urged hardliners to stop "violent" crackdown on protesters, an opposition website reported Monday. Full Story »

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Gulf states open a two-day annual summit in Kuwait City on Monday with the global recession's impact on their energy-dependent economies and regional conflicts high on the agenda. Full Story »

DUBAI (AFP) - The Dubai government said Monday it will pay 4.1 billion dollars to cover maturing Islamic bonds issued by its Nakheel property developer after receiving a 10-billion-dollar handout from oil-rich Abu Dhabi. Full Story »

RIYADH (AFP) - Saudi dissidents blasted the government in the wake of the deadly Jeddah flood, saying officials should be elected to overcome corrupt mismanagement by appointed princes and bureaucrats. Full Story »

TEHRAN (AFP) - Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, began a visit to Iran on Sunday, Mehr news agency reported. Full Story »

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Interior Minister Jawad Bolani on Sunday announced the arrest of 13 suspects over a devastating string of bomb blasts last week that killed more than 125 people in the Iraqi capital. Full Story »

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) - Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Kurbi on Sunday urged Tehran to crack down on Iranian groups he accused of aiding Huthi rebels in northern Yemen and held Iran's government partly to blame. Full Story »