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

The Czar Makes Up With the Sultan
Hilmi Toros
ISTANBUL – Once the worst of enemies, involved in 12 wars in three centuries, Turkey and Russia have suddenly become the best of friends, forging strong bonds that could be a counterpoint to the European Union if it freezes Turkey out of full membership.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48048

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EGYPT: Israel Gas Deal Inflames Opposition
Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa Al-Omrani
CAIRO – Opposition figures and political activists have slammed a new deal to sell Egyptian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Israel at what they say are vastly reduced prices.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48047

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MIDEAST: New Blood Invigorates Fatah Leadership
Mel Frykberg
BETHLEHEM – Despite internal divisions, much criticism and against enormous odds, the Fatah movement has emerged from its Sixth Revolutionary Council here with new blood in its leadership and hopes for a fresh agenda.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48046

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Saudi Arabia May Not Follow Obama’s Plan
Helena Cobban
WASHINGTON – Pro-Israeli lobbyists here won the support of 77 senators (out of 100) for a letter sent to President Barack Obama that urged him to “press Arab leaders” to consider making dramatic, upfront peace overtures to Israel.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48040

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RIGHTS-SAUDI ARABIA: Indefinite Detention in the Name of Counterterrorism
Marina Litvinsky
WASHINGTON – Human rights groups have accused Saudi Arabia of unlawfully detaining thousands of people without trial or conviction under its counterterrorism programme since 2003.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48039

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MIDEAST: Tensions Rise on Israel’s North
Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH – The war of words between Israel and the Lebanese resistance movement Hizbullah has heated up in the last week, raising fears that another war between Lebanon and Israel is imminent.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48033

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MIDEAST: There Just may Have to be a Partner
Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM – “We have no partner,” has been the mantra of successive Israeli governments, both right-wing and centre, ever since the outbreak of the Palestinian Intifadah in September 2000 in wake of the failed Camp David summit. That was the last time Palestinians and Israelis saw each other as potential peace partners.
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48020

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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