Free Republic

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — The Palestinian prime minister condemned the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, a reversal that could help patch relations 13 years after they soured because of Palestinian backing for Saddam Hussein. Mahmoud Abbas, on a tour of the Gulf region, had postponed a visit to Kuwait because, Kuwaiti officials said, he was hesitant about denouncing the Iraqi invasion — as Kuwait had demanded. But Abbas told the Kuwait News Agency on Monday that the Palestinian leadership's pro-Saddam position 13 years ago was "incorrect" and he understood why Kuwaitis were "angry and reproachful." "Speaking for the Palestinian Authority,...

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 2 July — Threatening with more bloodshed, the Islamist Hamas organization yesterday vowed revenge for the assassination of its West Bank leader, while Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer praised the killing as “the most important military operation in the past two months”.The call for revenge came as Palestinian Authority Cabinet’s Secretary-General Ahmed Abdel Rahman called on Palestinian residents to engage in “civil disobedience” to protest the Israeli takeover of seven West Bank cities over the past two weeks.Speaking on Israel Radio, Ben Eliezer called Muhaned Taher, 26, the commander of Hamas’ military arm in the West Bank,...