Middle East News

A Syrian rebel takes up position during a battle with Syrian government forces, at Rastan in Homs province, Syria, in this Jan.

Palestinians hold images of Khader Adnan, 33, a senior member of Islamic Jihad jailed in Israel who has been on hunger strike, as they protest in his support, and for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, in the West Bank city of Jenin, Monday, Feb.

A car belonging to the Israeli Embassy goes up in flames after an explosion in New Delhi, India, on Monday.

Security forces in Bahrain fired tear gas and stun grenades at protesters trying to occupy a landmark square in the nation's capital on Monday ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Gulf kingdom's Shiite-led uprising.

Israeli settlers say they have reached a deal with the country's government to allow them to stay in their West Bank outpost for two more years, despite Supreme Court orders for evacuation next month.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of having "turned his back on peace, dpa reported

Iraq's capital is embracing Valentine's Day this year with a huge public display of affection in what its residents say is the nation's most amorous celebration of the holiday ever.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, center, cuts the ribbon during a ceremony for the opening of a new oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf, southern Iraq, Sunday.

The top U.S. Navy official in the Gulf said Sunday he takes Iran's military capabilities seriously but insists his forces are prepared to confront any Iranian aggression in the region.

In this Jan. 9, 2012 file photo, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seen outside his office in Ankara, Turkey.

An Arab League official says the Sudanese head of the League's observer mission to Syria has resigned.

Israeli authorities temporarily blocked Jews and foreign tourists from entering some of Jerusalem's most visited holy sites Sunday after leaflets called for causing disturbances there, police said.

A rare public rift broke open Sunday in the usually tightly disciplined Islamic movement Hamas over a reconciliation deal that would require it to relinquish key areas of control in the Gaza Strip.

Iranian state TV quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as telling Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday that people expect Hamas to continue its fight against Israel.

Iraq has opened the taps at a new oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf in a vital step to bringing sorely needed cash for reconstruction after decades of war and international sanctions.

As U.N. diplomats make another attempt to condemn Syria's massacre of civilians, one resident in the besieged city of Homs pleaded for President Bashar al-Assad's regime to have mercy on the most innocent victims.

A group of political dissidents created a new Iraqi opposition party Saturday, vowing to act as a check on the government as the prime minister warned that a push for regional autonomy could tear the country apart.

Bahraini police fired teargas and stun grenades to stop mainly Shi'ite protesters trying to march towards the roundabout at the centre of a failed pro-democracy uprising last year and detained two American rights activists who came to monitor.

ASHINGTON _ The Iraqi branch of al-Qaida, seeking to exploit the bloody turmoil in Syria to reassert its potency, carried out two recent bombings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and likely was behind suicide bombings Friday that killed at least 28 people in the largest city, Aleppo, U.S. officials told McClatchy Newspapers.

Gunmen assassinated an army general in Damascus on Saturday in the first killing of a high ranking military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March, the state-run news agency said.