Full Coverage: Middle East

29.02.2004 Tony Blair could face further embarrassment in less than a fortnight when fourteen Greenpeace protestors appear in court on charges relating to an anti-war protest. Their case has taken on great significance following the collapse of the case against whistle-blower Katherine Gun, whose defence that her actions were justified to save lives could not be countered.

26.02.2004 WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 26 (OneWorld) -- Three days before the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) is due to ratify a Fundamental Law to guide the country's transition until a permanent constitution can be drafted, 16 Democratic members of Congress have asked President Bush to urgently clarify its strategy for guaranteeing the rights of Iraqi women.

25.02.2004 Cette semaine la Cour internationale de justice (CIJ) a amorcé des auditions afin de rendre un avis consultatif sur les implications juridiques de la construction par Israël d'un mur/barrière. Ce rapport d'Amnistie internationale démontre que la construction de ce mur/barrière à l'intérieur des Territoires occupés est contraire au droit international et entraîne de graves violations des droits humains.

25.02.2004 À chaque jour, le mur de l'apartheid encercle davantage la Palestine. Entre-temps, Washington et ses alliés sabotent l'initiative de l'Assemblée générale des Nations unies via la Cour internationale de justice de La Haye. Aux insultes s'ajoutent les injures et aux injures s'ajoutent les blessures, gravées dans le corps des jeunes Palestiniens qui meurent à chaque semaine. Devant cette montagne de répression et de mépris, la colère gronde dans les bidonvilles de Gaza, de Naplouse, de Jénine.

25.02.2004 A relief worker living near the West Bank during the construction of Israel's wall describes the wanton destruction of Palestinian orchards and the daily disregard for the rights and needs of people living in the construction area. Now Palestinians are forced to depend on aid rations, writes Rudolf Hinz.

24.02.2004 People in the central Iraqi governorate of Anbar have taken their first steps towards representative government – despite a local insurgency and general instability – by peacefully choosing a 41-member council.

24.02.2004 Le 21 février, le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (CICR) a visité pour la première fois Saddam Hussein, l'ancien dirigeant irakien, qui est détenu en tant que prisonnier de guerre par les forces de la coalition dirigées par les États-Unis. La visite a été effectuée par un délégué arabophone et un médecin du CICR, conformément aux modalités habituelles de l'institution. La décision des autorités américaines de considérer l'ancien président irakien comme un prisonnier de guerre signifie qu'il bénéficie de toutes les protections prévues par la IIIe Convention de Genève de 1949, qui comprend le droit d'être visité par le CICR.

23.02.2004 Elections held before January 2005 would be unlikely to have credibility, says the report of the UN team sent to Iraq to help mediate differences between leading Iraqis and the United States in a report released today that appears to put the UN mid-way between the positions adopted by the US and Iraqi religious leader Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani.

23.02.2004 Washington’s continued insistence on sticking to its arbitrarily determined schedule could create "so many time bombs that could lead to unwanted results," warns Isam al Khafaji, an Iraqi national who served as an adviser to the Bush administration and member of Iraq's Development and reconstruction Council until last summer.

23.02.2004 Alternatives, en collaboration avec SPHR, reçoit à Montréal M. Mustafa Barghouthi, l'un des plus importants leaders de la lutte palestinienne, qui participe activement dans la construction d'une société civile palestinienne démocratique.

23.02.2004 Acclaimed artist John Keane and Christian Aid are exhibiting paintings from Gaza and the West Bank at the London Institute, from 29 January to 11 March.

23.02.2004 The International Court of Justice case to decide on the legality of the barrier being built by Israel through the occupied West Bank begins today.

23.02.2004 More journalists were killed in the line of duty in 2003 than in any other year in almost a decade, according to two major international press watchdogs, Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in New York. Eritrea is one of the countries with a poor press freedom record.

20.02.2004 Veteran intelligence analyst Ray McGovern describes how the tail wagged the dog in the Bush decision to attack Iraq, while a handy timeline lays out the evolution of the whole fiasco, from which the administration lacks an exit strategy.

20.02.2004 WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 20 (OneWorld) -- On the eve of the World Court's opening hearing on Israel's construction of a barrier wall along the West Bank, two of the world's oldest and most influential non-governmental organizations are calling for the dismantling of those sections that cross the pre-1967 "Green Line" into occupied territory.

19.02.2004

Drop the debt © World Development Movement

Activists demanding debt relief are launching new campaigns to press their point home with international lenders, especially the World Bank and IMF, and the U.S. Congress. The 'Life Before Debt' Campaign targets Africa, while a second effort urges supports for the Iraqi Freedom From Debt Act.

19.02.2004 The tide is turning against the Bush administration and its war in Iraq, writes libertarian antiwar columnist Justin Raimundo, and some staunch Republicans are reportedly considering a boycott on election day. But the U.S. is nonethless stuck to the "tar-baby" of Iraq, and that geopolitical legacy will continue to haunt us.

19.02.2004 As the International Court of Justice prepares to consider the legality of Israel's infamous "Wall," the International Red Cross and Amnesty International have weighed in with strong demands for an end to the barrier running through Palestinian territories.

19.02.2004 Kurdish journalists continue to suffer harsh repression throughout the Middle East. Join the public meeting on Tuesday 24 February, 6.30pm at the NUJ's London office. Speakers include Cemal Ucar of Union of Journalists from Kurdistan, Hishyar Abid of Kurdish press and broadcasting and Baki Gul of Dicle News Agency, Istanbul.

19.02.2004 On the eve of the International Court of Justice's opening hearing on the construction of the fence/wall by Israel, Amnesty International calls on the Israeli authorities to immediately dismantle the sections already built inside the West Bank and halt the construction of the fence/wall and related infrastructure inside the Occupied Territories.