Al-Hayat (London): Rice in Israel focuses on removing roadblocks, suggests to Abbas a 'framework agreement' defining a state – The issue of removing restrictions on the movement of Palestinians was the focus of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's talks in Israel and the Palestinian territories, in which she criticized settlements and said she was optimistic on reaching a peace accord before the end of the year.
A senior Palestinian official revealed that Rice suggested to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a framework agreement defining the principles of the peace process, to which Abbas replied positively.
Al-Ayyam (West Bank): Hundreds of policemen deployed in Jenin camp in third phase of enforcing law – The Palestinian security forces yesterday began implementing in Jenin the third phase of a security plan aimed at imposing the rule of law and order in the province. This phase, in which hundreds of policemen were deployed in Jenin [refugee] camp, came less than 24 hours after a special force of 600 men arrived in the same province.
Al-Ittihad (United Arab Emirates): Talabani's wife escapes blast in Baghdad – The wife of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani escaped unharmed when her convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in central Baghdad, in which four of her bodyguards were injured. In the Shiite Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. army killed 13 people it described as "criminals," in reference to al-Mahdi Army militiamen.
Az-Zaman (London; Iraq): Maliki's government retracts accusations that Iran is arming militias – The Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki suddenly retracted its accusations that Iran was arming militias fighting fierce battles against the government and the U.S. forces.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Maliki will form an Iraqi committee to gather evidence regarding accusations that Iran is providing the militias with weapons. The spokesman ignored statements by the Iraqi coalition delegation to Tehran, which said it had documents proving Iranian parties were giving Iraqi gangs and militias arms, money and training.
Al-Ahram (Egypt): Work, seriousness defeat callers for strike – It was a bright day and everything was normal: employees in their offices, laborers in their factories, students in their schools and universities. Across Egypt yesterday, there were clear signs of seriousness and persistence to work, ignoring calls for a general strike.