Al-Quds al-Arabi (London): Warm Iraqi-Israeli Handshake Denounced in Iraq – Iraqi President Jalal Talabani very warmly shook hands with Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak in the presence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a Socialist International conference in Greece. The news of the handshake angered Iraqis, prompting Talabani's office to issue an explanation. Sources close to the Baath Party in Iraq denounced the move as confirming what it called the close ties between the "tools of the occupation in Iraq and the Zionist entity."

Al-Hayat (London): 'Syria Seeks U.S. Involvement' in Direct Negotiations with Israel – Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in an interview with Al-Hayat that Syrian leaders told him they wanted America's involvement in order to begin direct peace negotiations with Israel. He said he would brief his U.S. counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, on his visit to Damascus and to urge Washington to open channels with Syria to push forward the peace talks with Israel.

An-Nahar (Lebanon): Syrian-Israeli Negotiations Resume – Syria and Israel resumed a third round of indirect negotiations in Istanbul yesterday, as France announced that President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Paris on July 12. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that indirect negotiations were continuing in order to hold direct talks to arrive at peace that would secure Israel's security.

Al-Sharq (Qatar): Despite Rafah Opening, Palestinians Stranded on Border – Although the Rafah crossing was reopened between Egypt and Gaza yesterday for some humanitarian cases, the Palestinian crisis of those stranded on border for months continued because the Egyptian authorities refused to let them return home. The Palestinians returning from Arab and foreign countries are suffering in the streets and sidewalks of Egypt's Rafah border town, as they wait for mercy from the authorities to let them return to their homes, which they can see from across the barbed wires.

Al-Rai (Jordan): 'Prices, Prices, Prices Are Three Challenges We Face' – Jordan's King Abdullah II said in a lengthy interview with the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the country is facing three challenges: Prices, prices and prices, in addition to unemployment and poverty. "Everyday, the issue of high prices consumes my thoughts and worries me a great deal in terms of what this poses on the majority of Jordanians," he said, adding the whole world, particularly the developing countries such as Jordan, were suffering the most from this trend.