Full Coverage: Middle East

29.04.2005 It looks increasingly as though the folly of the Iraq war will condemn Tony Blair to an early retirement. Meanwhile his comrade-in-arms sits comfortably in the White House. On the anniversary of the publication of the Abu Ghraib photographs, Amnesty expresses frustration that only the lowest ranks of the US military have been charged for the torture crimes.

29.04.2005 A female Iraqi member of parliament, who had no security detail and was forced to rely on her own sons for protection, was shot and killed at her home in Baghdad Wednesday. Threats against Iraqi women leaders and women working for the United States have been escalating over the past year, says the Feminist Majority Foundation.

28.04.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Apr 28 (OneWorld) - Rights watchdogs seized on Thursday's anniversary of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal to complain of a lack of accountability for the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody, and to warn that problems which came to light there merely were ''the tip of the iceberg.''

28.04.2005 Who would have believed the US government to be capable of redirecting the Iraq reconstruction budget from US to Iraqi companies? The U-turn of the year is apparently the result of poor performance and continuing security problems.

28.04.2005 The last Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon on Wednesday, ending nearly three decades of military and political domination. Top intelligence officials are resigning and two UN teams are going to Lebanon to assess the withdrawal, and to investigate who assassinated Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February.

28.04.2005 Meet Salim, a 35-year-old Iraqi who is part of the well-oiled criminal machine supplying an overseas black market with fuel meant for domestic consumption and creating a huge problem for Iraq’s oil industry.

27.04.2005 More useful data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act - the value of infrastructure projects in Palestine funded by European and UK taxpayers which end up as rubble thanks to the Israeli military.

25.04.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Apr 25 (OneWorld) - The U.S. government should name a special prosecutor to look at Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's possible role in the torture and abuse of Iraqi and other prisoners by U.S. troops, a leading human rights group has demanded.

25.04.2005 If long-term political change is to take root in the Middle East, political parties are certainly important. But so too are labor unions; social welfare organizations; and professional, cultural, and educational associations; all of which empower individuals to express their hopes and aspirations in a variety of fora that can then feed into the political process. Former U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Dov S. Zakheim lays out a culturally respectful path to democracy in a deeply religious part of the world.

23.04.2005 NEW YORK, Apr 22 (IPS) - A humanitarian aid worker's death in Iraq last week is spurring calls for a public accounting of civilian casualties by the United States government and more attention to the issue by the U.S. media.

22.04.2005 OneWorld UK meets the organisers of the Palestine Film Festival, an event growing in size and ambition, which runs this year at the Barbican and SOAS.

21.04.2005

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On April 16, 28-year-old Marla Ruzicka of California was killed when a car bomb exploded on the streets of Baghdad. Marla, a long time activist, had worked with refugees in Palestine, campesinos in Nicaragua, and AIDS victims in Zimbabwe. She was in Baghdad working for the humanitarian organization she founded, the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), which documents cases of innocent civilians hurt by war.

20.04.2005 On April 16, 28-year-old Marla Ruzicka of California was killed when a car bomb exploded on the streets of Baghdad. Marla, a long time activist, had worked with refugees in Palestine, campesinos in Nicaragua, and AIDS victims in Zimbabwe. She was in Baghdad working for the humanitarian organization she founded, the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), which documents cases of innocent civilians hurt by war.

20.04.2005 Black market sales, dodgy fuel guages, illicit pipeline taps, smuggling and tanker hijacks - it's a miracle that Iraq is able to lay claim to any of its most important economic asset. Sacking hundreds of staff at the oil ministry is a first step to overcoming inherent corruption.

19.04.2005 GAZA, Apr 19 (IPS) - Two dates in the Middle East that once seemed set in stone are now being challenged as Israel considers delaying its Gaza disengagement and Palestinians mull over postponing their elections.

14.04.2005 It seems only yesterday that the Kurds in Iraq were suffering ruthless persecution under Saddam Hussein. Now their leader, Jalal Talabani, is President. The Sunni Arab community views the transformation with mixed emotions.

14.04.2005 Link TV, a non-commercial television network, has received radio and television’s most prestigious award for "Mosaic: World News from the Middle East." The daily news show was launched after 9/11 and presents the Middle East as 280 million people in 22 countries see it every day, often breaking regional stories that other U.S. networks won’t report.

14.04.2005 CAIRO, Apr 13 (IPS) - In another reflection of warming diplomatic ties, Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom - a member of Israel's right-wing Likud Party - visited Cairo Tuesday to hold discussions with President Hosni Mubarak.

11.04.2005 Grassroots International partners with social justice organizations around the world to advance political, economic and social rights. Discover Palestine with them as Grassroots staffers blog from the West Bank and Gaza as they visit women's organzations, cultural centers, refugee camps, and more in the occupied territories this week.

08.04.2005 “From that day on my misery started: he was sending around 50 clients a day, sometimes even more. I did not understand what was happening. I had no right to be sick, I had no right to refuse or choose.”