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A Palestinian who planned to launch a suicide bombing attack in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of French Hill in the coming days was arrested on Thursday afternoon in a combined operation carried out by IDF and ISA (Israel Security Agency) forces in the West Bank city of Nablus. The man was identified as Mahran Shukat Abu-Hamis, 21, a resident of the Ein-Beit Ilma refugee camp in Nablus, who planned the attack in an attempt to derail the cease-fire declared during Tuesday's summit in Sharm e-Sheikh. Abu-Hamis was involved in a number of terror organizations. The planned French Hill attack was...

I am appalled at how quickly the United States is leaping at the same old bait offered by the Palestinians. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, following the orders of our dear but naive president, is shoving Israel toward a disastrous agreement to grant a Palestinian state. As everyone applauds the "valiant efforts" of Mahmoud Abbas to secure a "cease-fire" from a bunch of terrorist gangs that have sworn they will never have a permanent peace with Israel, it is time to review the sacred Muslim concept of "hudna." It began with Islam's most revered founder, Muhammad. He declared a 10-year...

GAZA CITY -- The mainstream Palestinian movement Fatah said Sunday it would agree to a mutual cease-fire with Israel in the West Bank and Gaza, and it ruled out attacks against civilians inside Israel _ boosting peace prospects ahead of an upcoming summit. After a two-day meeting of its Revolutionary Council in Gaza, the Fatah movement, headed by new Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, declared it was prepared "to be committed to comprehensive mutual cease-fire in the occupied Palestinian land of 1967," referring to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Also, the statement confirmed an earlier pledge "not to target civilians...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- An Iraqi peace delegation has returned to Baghdad after radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr refused to meet with them in battle-torn Najaf. The Iraqi leaders had gone to Najaf in hopes of ending nearly two weeks of fighting between al-Sadr's militia fighters and a U.S.-Iraqi force.

NAJAF, Iraq (CNN) -- Efforts to broker a peace agreement with rebel forces loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the embattled city of Najaf have failed, an Iraqi government official said Saturday. A statement issued by Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser, suggested that fighting soon would resume in the south-central city.

Truce Talks Collapse in Najaf Amid Attempts to Quell Violence Between Iraqi Militants, Troops (AP) NAJAF, Iraq Aug. 14, 2004 — Truce talks aimed at ending more than a week of violence between Shiite militants and U.S. and Iraqi forces in the holy city of Najaf broke down Saturday, Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie said. It was not clear if the breakdown would lead to an immediate renewal of the fierce fighting between followers of firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the combined coalition-Iraqi force that shook Najaf's streets with gunfire and explosions since Aug. 5. The battles ended...

British Prime Minister Tony Blair signed the Olympic Truce at the birthplace of the games Saturday, even as his troops in Iraq were breaking with the spirit of the document that calls for a halt in worldwide conflict during the competition. Organizers of the truce -- inspired by the cease-fire between warring city-states during the ancient games at Olympia -- say more than 450 world leaders and international personalities have signed the initiative.The 16-day truce, however, is clearly not being observed by the United States, which has had troops fighting in Afghanistan and later Iraq since shortly after the Sept....

[Announcer-read report over video] [FBIS Translated Text] Iraqi Prime Minister Dr Iyad Allawi has said that the Iraqi Government is ready to declare halt of fighting if Al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr and his followers from Al-Mahdi Army announce readiness to lay down their weapons and turn into a civil organization functioning within the framework of the political process. He added that all Iraqis are invited to participate in the political process regardless of their political, religious, or ethnic backgrounds. He added that there are bad elements who are trying to take advantage of the current situation, adding that they were behind...

NAJAF, Iraq - Iraqi officials and aides to a radical Shiite cleric negotiated Friday to end fighting that has raged in the holy city of Najaf for nine days, after American forces suspended an offensive against Muqtada al-Sadr's militia, officials said. Aides said al-Sadr had been injured by shrapnel, though Iraqi officials disputed that. In the southern city of Basra, gunmen seized a British journalist, identified as James Brandon, from a hotel where he was staying late Thursday night, police said Friday. The kidnappers, almost certainly Shiite, threatened to kill him in 24 hours unless coalition forces withdraw from Najaf,...

A little more on this tomorrow, but for now hat tip to reader JM, who links to an article describing the landing of large quantities of small arms by the Mindanao Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), an act which may signal a resumption of hostilities against the Philippine Government. The Malaya reports that more than 1,000 rifles have been landed at two points in Mindanao (Marked in red flags on the map below. Click to expand) This may be followed by further shipments of mortars and machineguns. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation also reports that Philippine officials suspect that the truce may...

Muslim militants claiming links to al Qaeda vowed in a statement on Wednesday to launch a "bloody war" on Europe after a "truce" offered by Osama bin Laden expired earlier this month. ... The group had warned in an internet statement earlier this month it would launch new attacks on Europe once the truce, which expired in mid-July, ended. Al Qaeda leader bin Laden, in an audiotape on April 15, gave European states three months to pull troops out of Afghanistan, Iraq and other Muslim countries or face new attacks like the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people on...

A series of truces agreed on last month, encompassing Mr Sadr's stronghold in al-Thoura, Baghdad's eastern slum, as well as the Shia holy cities and other towns further south, are still holding. His own home turf in the capital has been more peaceful than it has been for months. Former fighters are now being paid to collect rubbish, plant trees, direct traffic and help the Iraqi police. The new government has promised to pay for a new sewage system so that the slum detritus will no longer flow past Baghdad's grimmest tenements. Outside the city, the clergy behind Mr...

Sun, Jul 18, 2004 Five Dutch postal workers ill from mail containing yellow powder 2 hours, 2 minutes ago AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Five Dutch postal workers became ill after handling a piece of mail containing yellow powder Sunday evening, police said. Police spokeswoman Claudia Metz in the city of Alkmaar said the workers weren't seriously sickened, and that the powder was not anthrax. However, she said those who came in contact with it had difficulty breathing and one mailman was briefly hospitalized before being released. "It was nasty stuff," Metz said of the yellow powder, which is being tested....

KUFA, Iraq (AP) - U.S. soldiers and fighters loyal to a radical Shiite cleric exchanged gunfire here on Saturday, raising new fears about whether a plan to end a seven-week standoff here will hold. Explosions could be heard near Kufa's main mosque, where members of Muqtada al-Sadr's militia had taken up positions. Militia members accused U.S. troops of provoking the gunfight by approaching the city center. Coalition officials were not available for comment. The main road leading to Kufa was blocked by tires and concrete blocks, forcing cars to take back roads into the city. Members of al-Sadr's militia, the...

Truces In Fallujah And Najaf May 27, 2004 The top aide of radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, Queis Al Kaza'aly, inspects the damage after overnight fighting in Najaf, Iraq, Wednesday.  (Photo: AP) Al-Sadr said he was making the truce offer because of "the tragic condition" in Najaf after weeks of fighting and the slight damage suffered by the Imam Ali mosque. Muqtada al-Sadr launched his uprising after the occupation authority launched a crackdown on his movement.  (Photo: AP) Iraqi Fallujah brigade soldiers collect weapons. Some fought U.S. troops before the cease-fire.  (Photo: AP) Stories:• The Latest Interactives:• • • •...

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - A US Marine general accused at least 200 foreign fighters of stoking tensions in the flashpoint Iraqi city of Fallujah and said only days were left for insurgents to turn in their weapons or risk renewed US attacks. Lieutenant-General James Conway, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Corps, said only "junk" had been handed over in a weapons amnesty announced Monday as part of a ceasefire deal. His comments came a day after marines claimed to have killed 36 insurgents in a long battle in the volatile city west of Baghdad. "We were not pleased at...

The demands behind last week's offer of a truce to Europe from Osama bin Laden were modest enough: in effect, the dissolution of Nato, the expulsion of all American forces and closure of all bases from the Mediterranean to the North Atlantic, and the creation of a single all-European central committee to promote Islamic causes. He might as well have ordered Luxembourg to hand over the moon - now, please. Some commentators seem to think that this represents a change in tactics, and his statement was a cunning ploy to divide Europe from the US. Well, it would possibly have...

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Civilians have fled Falluja after an informal truce halted a week of fighting between U.S. forces and rebels in which hundreds of Iraqis died. Only sporadic gunfire crackled in the town on Sunday, but guerrillas shot down a U.S. Apache attack helicopter just west of Baghdad airport and the U.S. military said its two-man crew was killed. Iraq's U.S. administrator Paul Bremer said no terms had been imposed on rebels in Falluja, where Iraqi mediators have been talking with town leaders and insurgents for the past two days. Grabbing their chance, desperate families fled combat zones...

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US-led coalition and insurgents in Fallujah have agreed to a 12-hour ceasefire starting Sunday 0600 GMT to pave the way for US Marines to leave the town, an Iraqi mediator said. "The two sides have agreed to observe a 12-hour ceasefire tomorrow Sunday at 10:00 am (0600 GMT)," Hatem al-Husseini, a senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, told AFP. "This will pave the way for the gradual pullout of US Marine troops from Fallujah," Husseini said after a meeting with coalition officials following his return from mediation efforts in the troubled town. Husseini said he...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Tribal, religious and community leaders in the Iraqi city of Falluja will call for fighters battling U.S. troops there to observe a truce from Sunday morning, a member of an Iraqi negotiating team said. Qahtan al-Rubaie, a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party who was part of a delegation of Sunni Muslim officials who went to Falluja on Saturday for peace talks, said the truce would be called from 10 a.m. (2 a.m. EDT) on Sunday.