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Lebanese violence spreads to mountains outside capital

By Bela Szandelszky (AP)

Lebanon hung between fears of all-out war and hopes of political compromise Sunday as government supporters and opponents battled with rockets and machine guns in the mountains overlooking the capital.

The fighting saw the collapse of pro-government forces in the Aley region, a stronghold of anti-Syrian Druse leader Walid Jumblatt.

Beirut was quiet a day after Hezbollah gunmen left the streets, heeding an army call for the Shiite fighters to clear out. The city was the focus of four days of Sunni-Shiite clashes that culminated with Hezbollah seizing large swaths of Muslim...

By Vahid Salemi (AP)

At this huge oil field in southwest Iran, one building stands out among the pumps and maze of pipelines: On its roof in giant letters, big enough for satellites or pilots to see, are the words: "We can do it."

The slogan, made famous by Iran's revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, highlights the country's new drive to tap its oil riches on its own _ without Western investment or technological know-how _ as Iran faces a threat of tighter U.N. sanctions and American financial pressure over its nuclear ambitions.

The Azadegan field in southwestern Iran showcases th...

By SEBASTIAN SCHEINER (AP)

The Bush administration has told Israeli and Palestinian leaders they will need to show progress in their secret talks soon, or risk a potentially fatal erosion in public support for a process now in its sixth month without any obvious successes.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice passed that message during meetings with both sides a little more than a week ago, Arab, U.S. and other Western diplomats said. Rice was reacting mainly to the increasingly pessimistic Palestinian assessments of the talks, but she warned that confidence was fragile among Israelis, too.

"We talked...

By Mahmoud Tawil (AP)

Heavy fighting broke out Sunday between supporters of Lebanon's Western-backed government and opposition followers in the central mountains overlooking the capital, security officials said.

The violence came after overnight clashes in northern Lebanon left one woman dead, bringing the toll across the country for the past five days to 38 _ the worst sectarian violence since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

Sunday's fighting between pro-government supporters of Druse leader Walid Jumblatt and Shiite gunmen started in Aytat around 2 p.m., involving exchanges of rocket and machine ...

By KARIM KADIM (AP)

Militants were withdrawing from the streets and shops were reopening on the first day of a cease-fire between Shiite extremists and U.S.-backed Iraqi forces following two months of intense clashes.

Authorities in Baghdad's Sadr City reported no violence Sunday.

"Today, people are very happy and very optimistic," said Sadiq Jaafar, a 30-year-old father. "Last night for the first time in more than 40 days we were able to sleep without being woken up by explosions or gunfire."

The government said it retained the right to chase wanted militants and search houses in order ...

By LEFTERIS PITARAKIS (AP)

Heavy fighting broke out between pro- and anti-government supporters in northern Lebanon amid the country's power struggle, security officials said Sunday.

Beirut, for four days the focus of bloody sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Shiites, spent a quiet night. However, many of its roads remained blocked, including the one to the airport, by the ongoing civil disobedience campaign of the opposition.

The heaviest clashes took place in the northern city of Tripoli, where pro-government supporters in the Tebaneh neighborhood exchanged rocket propelled grenades and heavy...

By LEFTERIS PITARAKIS (AP)

Heavy fighting broke out between pro- and anti-government supporters in northern Lebanon amid the country's power struggle, security officials said Sunday.

Beirut, for four days the focus of bloody sectarian clashes between Sunnis and Shiites, spent a quiet night. However, many of its roads remained blocked, including the one to the airport, by the ongoing civil disobedience campaign of the opposition.

The heaviest clashes took place in the northern city of Tripoli, where pro-government supporters in the Tebaneh neighborhood exchanged rocket propelled grenades and heavy...

By ALAA AL-MARJANI (AP)

The U.S. military says four people, including a woman and a child, have been killed in an operation against al-Qaida in near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

The military says the woman and child were riding in a vehicle targeted south of Mosul. It says two armed men were also killed.

In Sunday's statement, the military regretted killing "civilians" in the operation Saturday against what was described as associates of foreign al-Qaida fighters.

Iraq's security forces on Saturday launched a new operation against al-Qaida in Mosul. Mosul was considered the last importan...

By KHALIL HAMRA (AP)

Hamas says a member of the militant group has been killed in an explosion along Gaza's fence with Israel.

The Islamic group's military wing says the member was killed and another injured during a "holy mission." Such language is used when explosives meant for an attack on Israel explode prematurely.

Israel's army said it was not operating in the area at the time of the explosion early Sunday.

Fighting has escalated since an Israeli man was killed in a mortar shell attack on southern Israel on Friday. In retaliation, Israeli forces fired missiles that killed five Hamas...

By LEFTERIS PITARAKIS (AP)

Hezbollah gunmen melted off the streets of Beirut Saturday, heeding an army call to pull the fighters out after the Shiite militants demonstrated their military might in a power struggle with the U.S.-backed government.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, in his first public statement since sectarian clashes erupted on Wednesday, said Lebanon can no longer tolerate Hezbollah having weapons. He called on the army to restore law and order and remove gunmen from the streets.

Despite his tough talk, Saniora made a key concession to the Hezbollah-led opposition that would effectively...

By LEFTERIS PITARAKIS (AP)

Hezbollah gunmen were melting away from the streets of Beirut late Saturday, heeding an army call to clear out fighters after the Shiite militants demonstrated their military might in a power struggle with the U.S.-backed government.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, in his first public statement since sectarian clashes erupted on Wednesday, said Lebanon can no longer tolerate Hezbollah having weapons. He called on the army to restore law and order and remove gunmen from the streets.

Despite his tough talk, Saniora made a key concession to the Hezbollah-led opposition that would...

By ALAA AL-MARJANI (AP)

Shiite groups brokered a reported cease-fire Saturday with militants fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad's Sadr City as the country's army launched an offensive in Mosul against al-Qaida's main bastion in Iraq.

Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, an aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said the cease-fire will go into effect Sunday. The cease-fire may not necessarily end the seven-week old clashes in Sadr City, the stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, as U.S. military has blamed clashes on breakaway groups.

The bulk of the 60,000-strong Mahdi Army is not believed to have p...

By Ahmad Omar (AP)

Hezbollah said Saturday it was withdrawing its gunmen from Beirut neighborhoods seized in sectarian clashes after the army ordered its troops to establish security and called on fighters to clear the streets.

But while tensions in the capital appeared to be defusing, at least 12 people were killed and 20 wounded when pro- and anti-government groups fought in a remote region of northern Lebanon, Lebanese security and hospital officials said. It was the heaviest toll for a single clash since sectarian fighting began on Wednesday.

Hezbollah and its allied seized large swaths of...

By STR (AP)

The Lebanese army command ordered its troops Saturday to establish security, calling on all parties to withdraw their gunmen from the streets while offering the opposition Hezbollah a compromise.

Shiite Hezbollah gunmen seized most of the capital's Muslim sector Friday in the worst sectarian strife since a 15-year civil war ended nearly two decades ago. On Saturday, gunmen stood on the corners of Sunni-dominated neighborhoods though in fewer numbers than the day before.

An army statement said that the airport security chief, whose firing precipitated the latest crisis, will...

By STR (AP)

Lebanon's army command is ordering troops to establish security in the capital and is calling on all parties to withdraw their gunmen from the streets.

The army statement also says an airport security chief fired by the government for alleged ties to Hezbollah will be kept on.

The chief's removal and the government's decision to declare Hezbollah's communications network illegal sparked days of the worst sectarian clashes in the country since the civil war ended in 1990.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is bel...

By STR (AP)

A Shiite Muslim shop owner opened fire on a funeral procession Saturday, killing two people and wounding six others in a Sunni neighborhood, police and witnesses said.

The attack came a day after Shiite Hezbollah gunmen seized most of the capital's Muslim sector in the worst sectarian strife since a 15-year civil war ended nearly two decades ago.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said Hezbollah had carried out "armed coup" against Lebanese democracy, and called on the army to restore law and order and remove gunmen from the streets.

A total of 25 people have been killed and d...

By Bela Szandelszky (AP)

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora says Hezbollah has carried out "armed coup" against Lebanese democracy.

Saniora is holed up at his government headquarters protected by Lebanese troops after Hezbollah and its allies swept through the Muslim sector of the capital after sectarian clashes.

The remarks are Saniora's first since the fighting began.

Saniora said the dream of democracy in Lebanon has been dealt "a poisonous stab by the armed coup carried out by Hezbollah and its allies."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier ...

By SABAH AL-BAZEE (AP)

Shiite militants agreed on a ceasefire in Baghdad's embattled neighborhood of Sadr City, an aide to a high level cleric said Saturday, holding out hope that weeks of clashes in the capital could be at an end.

In the northern city of Mosul, an Iraqi army commander announced the start of a long anticipated offensive against al-Qaida in Iraq's last urban stronghold.

Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, an aide to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said the cease-fire will go into effect Sunday.

The cease-fire may not necessarily end seven-week-old clashes in Sadr City, the stronghold...

By Nasser Nasser (AP)

Police say gunmen have killed two people and wounded two others in a shooting targeting a funeral procession in a Sunni neighborhood in Beirut.

The violence comes as Lebanon is experiencing the worst sectarian strife since a 15-year civil war ended in 1990.

Saturday's shooting occurred a day after Shiite Hezbollah gunmen took over large swaths of Sunni neighborhoods in Beirut's Muslim sector.

An Associated Press photographer who saw the shooting says the attack happened while a group of 200 people headed toward a cemetery to bury a 24-year-old. The man was killed by a...

By KARIM KADIM (AP)

An aide to a radical Shiite cleric says extremists have agreed to a cease-fire in Sadr City.

Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, an aide to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, says the cease-fire will go into effect Sunday. He spoke in the southern city of Najaf on Saturday.

The cease-fire may not necessarily end clashes in Sadr City, the stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. U.S. military has blamed clashes on groups who broke away from the main Mahdi militiamen.

...

By BASSEM TELLAWI (AP)

Hamas fired rockets at southern Israel on Saturday, hitting a house and a Jewish seminary just hours after five Hamas policemen were killed in Israeli air strikes.

No one was hurt in the strikes.

Hamas militants said they fired 15 homemade rockets at Israel. The Israeli military said five of them landed, one directly hitting a house in the border town of Sderot, a frequent target for militants. Another landed next to a Jewish seminary and another in the courtyard of a local college.

Nobody was hurt in the barrage, which came after Israel fired missiles at two Hamas...

By KARIM KADIM (AP)

An Iraqi army commander says U.S-backed forces have launched an operation against al-Qaida in Mosul.

Maj. Gen. Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq, the commander of military operations in the northern city of Mosul, issued a statement announcing the beginning of the offensive against al-Qaida in Iraq on Saturday.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BAGHDAD (AP) _ Clashes in Baghdad between U.S. soldiers and Shiite extremists left 19 militants dead, and one American soldier died of non-combat injuries, the military said...

By SABAH AL-BAZEE (AP)

Clashes in Baghdad between U.S. soldiers and Shiite extremists left 19 militants dead, and one American soldier died of non-combat injuries, the military said Saturday.

The U.S. soldier, who was assigned to the Multi National Division _ Center, died of non-combat related injuries Friday, the military said. The death raised the number of U.S. military fatalities in Iraq to at least 4,074 since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Iraqi health authorities said Saturday that 13 people were killed and 77 others wounded _ including women and...

By TSAFRIR ABAYOV (AP)

The Israeli army says a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip fell next to a Jewish seminary in southern Israel and damaged the building.

No one was hurt in Saturday's rocket strike in the border town of Sderot, Israel' army said. A second rocket fell in the courtyard of Sapir College in Sderot, it said.

The rocket attack came a day after mortar shells fired by militant Hamas killed an Israeli man in an Israeli communal farm near Gaza.

Israel fired missiles at two Hamas police station in retaliation and killed five Hamas members.

...

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