Al-Hayat (London): Dispute between Moussa, Peres at Nobel conference – The first day of a Nobel Peace laureate conference in Petra, Jordan, saw a dispute between Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Shimon Peres, the Israeli president. Peres surprised participants by accusing the Arabs of not doing enough for peace. Moussa protested by walking out of the hall. He returned to speak at the podium, telling Peres, to an eager round of applause: "What peace initiative has Israel given the Arabs? The 22 Arab countries offered peace … but you don't want real peace … You are a master of talk and we are not stupid to believe you."

Ash-Sharq al-Awsat (London; Saudi Arabia): Muallem: No pressure on Syria to start direct negotiations – Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told Ash-Sharq al-Awsat there is no pressure on Syria to switch from indirect to direct negotiations with Israel, saying that President Bashar Assad believes it is difficult to go into direct talks before agreeing on the foundations and elements of peace. On Lebanon, Muallem said Damascus is not interfering in the formation of a new government in Beirut.

An-Nahar (Lebanon): Syria, Israel don't rule out 'new realities' in event of peace – There were indications yesterday that the Syrian-Israeli negotiations have a chance of making progress in the coming weeks, as a French envoy who visited Damascus last week did not rule out a meeting between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Paris next month. Syria's deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad said he expected a peace treaty with Israel will create "new realities" in Syria's relationship with Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas movement.

Al-Arab al-Yawm (Jordan): Hezbollah supporters stone convoy of U.S. diplomat in south Lebanon – Hezbollah supporters yesterday threw stones at the convoy of the U.S. charge d'affaires in Beirut, Michele Sison, in southern Lebanon where she was having lunch at a home of an anti-Hezbollah Shiite politician. Security sources said around 200 people, including women and children, gathered around the house where she was and threw stones at her motorcade, chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

Al-Ahram (Egypt): Israel agrees to truce agreement – Israel announced its approval of a truce agreement in the Gaza Strip to go into effect as of 6 a.m. Thursday, which was reached through Egyptian sponsorship. This came as the Rafah crossing was opened to allow those stranded in Egypt to enter into Gaza and arrangements were being made to allow a number of Gazans into Egypt.