Middle East News

BAGHDAD - The red-and-white identification card was faded. But the name was legible and the picture of the man with the necktie and tidy mustache was clear.

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - Lawmakers in Iraq's self-ruled Kurdish region approved a measure that would allow courts to accuse journalists of "vague offenses" relating to terrorism or disturbing security, drawing protests Friday from Kurdish journalists and an international media advocate.

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri said in a new message Friday that last month's U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference was a "betrayal" of the Palestinians, the terror group's first reaction to the gathering.

HARISA, Lebanon - A mournful farewell Friday to a top general killed in a car bombing prompted calls for Lebanon's deeply divided politicians to agree on a new president and end the country's worsening political crisis.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas gunmen on Friday burst into the home of a top Fatah official in Gaza and arrested him, relatives said. He was the most senior Fatah politician to be detained since Hamas forces overtook the territory in June.

BAGHDAD - One-third of Iraqi refugees who fled to neighboring Syria expect their money to run out within three months, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday in a report highlighting what some believe is the main reason families are returning to their still-violent homeland.

A look at some audio and video messages attributed to al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri in 2007:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gunmen burst into the home of a top Fatah official in Gaza early Friday and kidnapped him, the man's family said, in the first such abduction of a politician since Hamas forces routed their Fatah rivals and overtook the strip in June.

DAMASCUS, Syria - President Bashar Assad rejected claims that Syria's alliance with Iran had been weakened by Damascus' participation in last month's U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference, insisting Thursday that ties between the two countries will never be shaken.

BAGHDAD - The leader of Iraq's biggest Shiite militia movement has quietly resumed seminary studies toward attaining the title of ayatollah — a goal that could make firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army an even more formidable power broker in Iraq.

JERUSALEM - International assistance to the Palestinians will not be effective unless Israel eases travel restrictions that have stalled some aid projects and sent the costs of others soaring, Oxfam International warned on the eve of a donors' conference.

As of Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007, at least 3,889 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,167 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

UNITED NATIONS - China wants a two-track approach in trying to resolve the dispute with Iran over its nuclear program — a revitalized diplomatic initiative along with a new U.N. resolution on sanctions, Beijing's U.N. ambassador said Thursday,

BECOMING AN AYATOLLAH: Eight years of classes in religious studies, followed by research that can take a minimum of four years or far longer. The candidate also must be supported by Islamic seminarians and laymen.

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The Palestinian prime minister said he failed to win assurances from Israel's defense minister Thursday that he'll ease stifling restrictions on Palestinian movement — a measure seen as key to the success of an ambitious international effort to revive the Palestinian economy.

BAGHDAD - In a Dec. 10 story about the death of three contract security specialists in Iraq, The Associated Press, relying on information from the military, gave an incorrect age for Michael B. Doheny of Omaha, Neb. He was 30, not 35.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Thursday that talks with the U.N. nuclear watchdog on investigating traces of weapons-grade uranium found at a Tehran university were constructive, state media reported.

JERUSALEM - Israeli high school teachers ended a two-month strike on Thursday after receiving a pay raise and government promises to redress some of the problems in the Israeli school system, including class size.

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian pedestrians gawked at the unusual sight of female police officers directing traffic in Ramallah on Wednesday, the first batch of women to venture into a job traditionally reserved for men in the West Bank.