Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda (West Bank): Seven martyrs and 3 Israelis dead in clashes, raids – Seven Palestinians were martyred, including children, and 14 others injured in Israeli occupation raids in the northern Gaza Strip, while three Israeli soldiers were killed in cross-border resistance attacks. In West Bank towns, the occupation forces arrested 41 Palestinians, most of them from Fatah, and shut down charity and cultural institutions.

Al-Watan (Oman): Killing and curfew in Baghdad; Talabani hopes for government reshuffle – The Iraqis met the fifth anniversary of the entry of American tanks into central Baghdad with more bloodshed, despite a security curfew imposed on the capital.

President Jalal Talabani said that consultations were ongoing for a government reshuffle within a week, adding he hoped this would be achieved.

Al-Jazirah (Saudi Arabia): American official announces death of London attacks mastermind – An American anti-terror official yesterday announced the death of a top al-Qaida operative suspected of masterminding the July 2005 attacks in London, Abu Obaida al-Masri.

The official said on condition of anonymity that Abu Obaida might have died in the tribal areas along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Al-Arab al-Yawm (Jordan): British court revokes decision to deport Abu Qatada to Jordan – A British appeals court revoked a decision to deport to Jordan Muslim cleric Omar Abu Omar, known as Abu Qatada, who is suspected of being linked to al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden, according to a British embassy statement in Amman.

Britain's Home Office said it was disappointed by the decision and that the government continues to believe the Jordanian government's assurances of treating well those who return to Jordan.

An-Nahar (Lebanon): Al-Saddiq 'liquidated' by French, brother accuses – Suspicion around the disappearance of a key witness in the inquiry into former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri's assassination continues to grow in Paris, after the brother of missing Muhammad al-Saddiq accused the French authorities of facilitating his "liquidation."

Saddiq is a former Syrian intelligence officer who turned into a hostile witness in the Hariri probe. He was living in Paris and some sources say he may have gone to the United Arab Emirates.