Mideast Leaders Going It Alone, Week Sees Power Brokers Engaged in Talks to Res

Mideast Leaders Going It Alone, Week Sees Power Brokers Engaged In Talks To Res ... Page 1 of 3

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Mideast Leaders Going It Alone Week Sees Power Brokers Engaged In Talks To Resolve Conflicts, Without The West

World Main Page Dec. 22, 2006 (Page 1 of 2) War On Terror (Christian Science Iraq: After Saddam Monitor) This article was written Reporter's Notebook by Dan Murphy .

Letter From Asia Diplomatic Dispatches For many of the Middle East's Audible.com Downloads leaders, the upshot of the swirling World Video American debate over Iraq is that when the U.S. withdraws, as Sponsor seems likely, it will leave behind an ongoing war.

So the region's powers — U.S. In this photo released by Dalati Nohra, the allies Jordan, Israel, and Saudi official photographer of the Lebanese Arabia, and its foes Syria and government, President Emile Lahoud, center, Iran — are engaging in new welcomes Arab League Secretary -General Amr diplomatic efforts, largely aimed Moussa, left, at the presidential palace in Beirut, at preventing Iraq's fighting from Lebanon Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006. (AP causing broader turmoil. Photo/Lebanese Government)

QUOTE While in some cases the talks are only tangentially about Iraq, this INTERACTIVE "All of these players are on the same high-level dialogue appears to side wishing to preserve the state order reflect a new reality: With U.S. Mideast Conflict rather than seeing it undone." prestige crippled by the war, Events, key players regional actors are bypassing the and a history of the Asher Susser, West to forge partnerships and world's most unstable Tel Aviv University Jordan-Israel expert region. find solutions on their own.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Thursday, Jordan's King Abdullah

INTERACTIVE II, who has recently been more vocal about restarting Arab-Israeli Iraq: A Turning Go To Comments negotiations, invited Palestinian Point? rivals Hamas and Fatah, locked New Congress, in deadly street battles this past week, to hash out their differences in Jordan on change at the Sunday. Pentagon, study group report; what does the future hold? In Beirut, Arab League negotiator Amr Moussa seems to be making some progress at ending the political crisis between the country's ruling coalition and the Shiite militant party Hizbullah.

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PHOTO ESSAY But in all cases, Iraq is the volatile backdrop, specifically its potential to become a Modern Man In proxy arena for the region's problems. The Mideast The life of Jordan's King Abdullah in A good example is Israel. Watching the unfolding tragedy in Iraq and with its own pictures. war this summer against the Shiite militants of Hizbullah in mind, it's reaching out to the Jordanians, the Saudis, and the Lebanese to find solutions to its own security problems. RELATED STORIES & LINKS "In the late 1990s, Israel's worldview was that 'we are the military superpower in New Palestinian Truce the region and we are very closely allied with the world's only superpower. So we Already Bloodied have very little to worry about,' " says Gidi Grinstein, a former peace negotiator Two Cops Loyal To Fatah Killed In Gaza City Morning After New for the Israeli government and now president of the Reut Institute, a Tel Aviv Ceasefire Announced think tank.

Now, he says, "you have America in a situation of very serious overstretch, unable to get a decisive victory across the region ... we have to look for new 'There Are No Holidays In partners, alliances, and means of cooperation." Iraq' 4 U.S. Troops, 7 Iraqi Policemen Before Sunday's meeting between Fatah and Hamas was announced, Israeli Killed In Violent Attacks On Holy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert flew to Jordan Tuesday to talk with Abdullah about Days reviving failed peace talks with the Palestinians.

Diplomatic activity is also swirling in Lebanon, where a domestic squabble over the country's sectarian power-sharing arrangement, also draws together the Abbas Announces Cease- competing interests of the Sunni Arab powers of the region on the one side, and Fire In Gaza Shiite Iran, on the other. After Week Of Factional Violence, Palestinian President Announces Truce Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, a former Egyptian foreign minister, returned to Beirut Wednesday, where he met with an Iranian official and Lebanese leaders from the ruling party and Hizbullah, before traveling to Damascus to meet with that country's president, Bashar Assad. Abbas Calls For Palestinian Elections His regional hopscotch is an effort to cobble together a deal that would probably Hamas Dismisses The Call see pressure lessened on Syria over its political role in Lebanon in return for As 'Illegal' Hizbullah, an ally of Syria and Iran's, agreeing to a smaller role in a new Lebanese government than it has been demanding so far. The current Beirut government, in turn, is heavily backed by both the U.S. and by Saudi Arabia, which sees it as a bulwark against the expansion of Iranian influence in the Israel Rejects Iraq Study region. Group Proposals PM Doesn't See Link Iraq War- From Iraq to Lebanon and in the capitals of Amman and Cairo, the perception of Israel Link, Doesn't Want Talks Iran as a potential threat is driving the new engagement and is making for With Syria unusual alliances in which the interests of a state like Israel's are being closely aligned with those of the Saudi Arabian monarchy.

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Comments [ + Post Your Own ] scouser691 Funny! But unfortunately so true! Military industry needs so much those items you mentioned.

Posted by grazinggoat at 05:25 PM : Dec 22, 2006 + report this comment

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/22/world/main2292444.shtml 1/22/2007 Mideast Leaders Going It Alone, Week Sees Power Brokers Engaged In Talks To Res ... Page 3 of 3

The ineptitude of the E.U. under French and German leadership should be sufficient to continue the world's turmoil.

Posted by ozilot at 12:56 PM : Dec 22, 2006 + report this comment

This is bad, without U.K. and U.S., who is gonna incite instability and create chaos.

Posted by scouser691 at 12:35 PM : Dec 22, 2006 + report this comment

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