News: Middle East

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the any military attack on Iran over its nuclear programme would cost the world dearly.

Analysts split over a possible peace deal with Syria

Two Turkish soldiers and three Kurdish rebels are killed in clashes in south-eastern Turkey.

Israelis and the Palestinians disagree over the final declaration of Paris' Mediterranean summit, a French minister says.

Iraqi leaders face dilemma over future of US troop

Israeli and Palestinian leaders express their optimism for peace at a summit of EU and Mediterranean leaders in Paris.

A planned prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah will take place on Wednesday, Israeli officials say.

Leaders of EU and Mediterranean rim nations gather in Paris to launch a new Union for the Mediterranean.

Any long-term delay in the transfer would be a blow to American efforts to portray the province as having nearly completed a security turnaround.

The Bush administration is considering the withdrawal of additional combat forces from Iraq beginning in September, and one factor is a need for more troops in Afghanistan, officials said.

The MoD refers an allegation that British soldiers sexually assaulted a 14-year-old Iraqi boy to the Royal Military Police.

Free after years in Iranian prisons, a well-known dissident provides a rare window on Iran under its ruling clerics.

A French court denies citizenship to a Muslim woman, ruling that her practice of "radical" Islam is not compatible with French values.

Iran will target Israel and 32 US bases in the Gulf if the country is attacked, says an aide to Iran's supreme leader.

Cutting through the fog of Israel's war of words with Iran

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is due to welcome his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, to the Elysee Palace.

Nearly two years after they fled during an explosion of sectarian killings, 60 Shiite families have returned to Al Etha in Diyala Province.

The cabinet will be Lebanon’s first full-fledged government since November 2006, when an opposition walkout sparked a crisis that led the country to the brink of civil war.

Israeli prosecutors announced an expansion of their corruption investigation into Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Friday.

The raid underscored the bitter, often violent feuding between those loyal to the rebel Shiite cleric Moktada Al-Sadr and forces allied with the government.