Az-Zaman (London; Iraq): Aziz sits on Saddam's seat in court – Iraq's former deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz yesterday sat on the very same chair on which Saddam Hussein sat in court, where Aziz's trial opened on charges of executing 42 Iraqi merchants in 1992. Meanwhile, Judge Raouf Rashid Abdel Rahman, who sentenced Saddam to death in 2006, yesterday criticized the way in which Saddam was executed, describing it as "uncivilized and backward."

Al-Qabas (Kuwait): Hundreds demonstrate at UAE embassy in Tehran – Hundreds of Iranian students protested yesterday in front of the UAE embassy in Tehran against the Arabs' changing of the name of the Gulf, and condemned the UAE's attempts to retrieve three islands occupied by Iran. The demonstrators carried banners and chanted slogans that insisted the "Persian Gulf will not separate from Iran," and condemned the Arabs' description of the region as the "Arab Gulf" instead of the "Persian Gulf."

Al-Quds al-Arabi (London): Sadrists accuse Iran of dividing power with U.S. in Iraq – A spokesman for the Sadrist movement, led by Moqtada Sadr, accused Iran of deliberately dividing power with the United States in Iraq. Sheik Salah al-Obeidi said Iran had a de facto agreement with the United States to share power and economic resources in Iraq, adding that Iran has not yet objected to a single long-term agreement between the Iraqi government and America.

Al-Watan (Oman): Bush sees aggression on Syria as message to N.Korea, Iran – U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday that the Israeli attack on Syria last September was a message to North Korea and Iran, implying that Washington had previous knowledge of this aggression and perhaps its blessings and support. He told a news conference at the White House, in response to a question on the Israeli strike on Syria, that the U.S. wanted to tell the North Koreans and Iranians that America "knows about you more than you think" and should therefore reveal their nuclear activities.

Al-Ahram (Egypt): Palestinian factions accept calm with national dialogue under Egyptian sponsorship – Egypt today resumes separate talks, which began yesterday with 12 Palestinian factions, to agree on a truce with Israel in the West Bank and Gaza, in return for lifting the blockade on Gaza and opening the border crossings. Most of the factions who spoke to Al-Ahram before the talks said they agreed on calm at the start of the national dialogue sponsored by Egypt.