Al-Ayyam (West Bank): Palestinian reconciliation efforts open to all options – The Yemeni capital will tomorrow witness a crucial Palestinian reconciliation session after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas decided to keep the Palestine Liberation Organization delegation in Sanaa upon the request of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Kurbi said Hamas and PLO representatives will attempt a second time to agree on a Yemeni initiative aimed at launching talks for reconciliation.

As-Safir (Lebanon): McCain supports killing Palestinians in Gaza – U.S. Republican candidate Senator John McCain outbid the Israelis themselves when he declared, without hesitation, his support for the Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip and adopted the Israeli position that Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah were "dangerous to American national security." McCain said in Israel he also shared its concern that Iran is trying to destabilize a region that has U.S. security interests.

Okaz (Saudi Arabia): Diplomats: Cheney's tour aimed at 'taking pulse' to strike Iran – Well-informed Arab diplomatic sources in Cairo said that U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's tour in the region is not related to pushing forward the Middle East process, saying this was just a veil to try to trick the countries in the region and public opinion. The sources said the main objective of Cheney's visit is to take the pulse of the countries toward military action against Iran, which is being promoted by the neocons in the Bush administration upon the request of Israel.

Al-Khaleej (United Arab Emirates): Bush's popularity drops to 31 percent … Invasion of Iraq a total failure – As U.S. President George W. Bush defended the invasion of Iraq on its fifth anniversary, the majority of Americans polled said they believed that history will reveal that the invasion was a "total failure." The former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Hans Blix, described the invasion of Iraq as a "disaster," while massive anti-war demonstrations were held in European capitals.

Al-Hayat (London): Rome takes Bin Laden's threats seriously after he accused pope of involvement in the cartoons – Italian security sources said they are dealing seriously with the "dangerous threats" issued by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden after he accused the pope of involvement in the disparaging cartoons against Prophet Muhammad published in Danish newspapers. The Vatican denied the pope's involvement in these cartoons, saying the pontiff had condemned the "mocking campaign on Islam."