Word: palestinians
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...offer a different reason for what started the fighting last week between fighters loyal to the Hamas-controlled government and the various militias of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party. But most agree that the fragile cease-fire put into place on Sunday has no chance unless the Palestinian leadership can pull off a near miracle in Saudi Arabia under the guidance of the Kingdom's last-ditch mediation effort...
...Maybe being this close to God will stop this madness," says Abu Awad, a Gaza merchant referring to fact that the Palestinian rivals are meeting in Mecca, Islam's holiest site...
Having failed to impose its will in Iraq and the Palestinian Territories - and contemplating new setbacks in Afghanistan and Lebanon - the Bush Administration has lately been recasting its Middle East policy: Gone is the bold talk of spreading democracy through the "creative chaos" and "birth pangs" unleashed by the Iraq invasion and other violent episodes; in its stead, we are told, the Administration is seeking a new united front with "responsible" (i.e. U.S.-allied) Arab regimes and Israel to help counter the extremist camp of Iran, Hizballah and Hamas. In this new narrative, Iran is cast as the major regional...
...lead: Not only is Saudi Arabia talking to Iran (where Washington calls for Tehran to be isolated); it is actively cooperating with Iran in shaping a political agreement to avert a civil war in Lebanon. Similarly, while the U.S. is demanding that Hamas be isolated and is pressuring Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to refrain from forming a unity government with the organization, Saudi Arabia is actively engaging with Hamas and promoting the formation of just such a unity government at talks currently underway in Mecca. Moreover, in the case of both Iran and Hamas, the Saudi position appears to reflect...
...chorus coming from Iraq and some of the key elements of the purported anti-Iran alliance is urging the U.S. to do what the Bush Administration has steadfastly refused to do - begin talking with Iran. The Saudi cooperation with Iran over Lebanon and its engagement with Hamas in the Palestinian territories reflects the reality that Iranian influence in Iraq and in the wider region - and Hamas's centrality in Palestinian politics - are inescapable facts. And some facts can't be altered to fit a new U.S. theory of how it would like the Middle East to work...