IPS correspondents bring you independent perspectives on what is happening in Iran, Iraq and across the Middle East.

IRAQ: Chance of a Breakthrough With the Kurds?
Mohammed A. Salih
WASHINGTON – A recent meeting between Iraq?s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Kurdish President Massoud Barzani appears to be a crucial step in lowering tensions in the country, but it has also prompted questions as to whether the two leaders can put an end to their differences.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47974

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Peace in Balance as Fatah Fights for Survival
Mel Frykberg
BETHLEHEM – Fatah, the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), is fighting for its very survival as the movement faces implosion, and attacks from all sides. The issues have come to the fore at the sixth revolutionary council of the party that began in Bethlehem Tuesday.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47970

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Hope Now Advances to Autumn
Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM – Much of the world is side-tracked into the summer holiday mood, but the Obama Administration consistently stresses it won’t allow its Middle East peacemaking effort to be side-tracked: We’ll soon be hitting full stride, is the constant White House message.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47967

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Traumatised Children Struggle to Rise Again
Mel Frykberg
BREJ, Gaza – Tens of thousands of children in Gaza are still suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following Israel’s three-week bombing December- January.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47966

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EGYPT: Opposition Equated With Terrorists
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani
CAIRO – The Egyptian government is now accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of links to Palestinian resistance groups and of establishing “global networks”. Recent months have seen a host of government accusations – which critics say are fabricated – against opposition groups it claims have ties with Hamas, Hizbullah, and the ever-elusive Al-Qaeda.
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=47952

For more IPS reporting on the Middle East – www.ipsnews.net/middle.asp

Iraq: Beyond the Green Zone – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iraq/index.asp

Iran: The Parthian Shot – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/iran/index.asp

Holy Land/Unholy War – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/israel_palestina/index.asp

Afghan Divide – www.ipsnews.net/afghanistan/index.asp

View From the U.S.: Bush at War – www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/warII/index.asp

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