Al-Rayah (QATAR): Al-Qaida Calls for Assassinating Rice During North Africa Tour – In an Islamist Web site, al-Qaida in North Africa called for the assassination of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her tour of North Africa, which she begins today in Libya. An unidentified jihadist said on the Web site that Rice's tour to the region "provides a rare opportunity to kill her." Among the issues she will discuss with leaders in Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria is fighting terrorism.

Al-Khaleej (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES): Qatar Denies Inviting Iran to Next Gulf Summit – Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem denied that his country invited Iran to the next Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Oman in December after reports he had stirred a controversy. He added that Qatar, however, proposed during the most recent visit to Tehran the launching of direct dialogue between Iran and the GCC countries, because "there should be an understanding" on regional issues between the two sides.

Al-Hayat (LONDON): Iran Denounces GCC 'Interference' in Its Affairs – Iran sharply denounced on Wednesday the GCC's position that condemned Iran's establishment of two official offices on the UAE's island of Abu Moussa and reiterated Iran's sovereignty over the island. Tehran described the GCC's call on Iran to remove the offices as "interference in its internal affairs," insisting that what Iran did in Abu Moussa was "legitimate."

An-Nahar (LEBANON): Sarkozy Gives Assad Decisive Message for Iran – French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a joint news conference with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus that he asked his Syrian counterpart, as a friend of Iran, to relay to Tehran that "nuclear weapons in Iran pose a threat to regional and world peace," adding that Assad should urge Tehran to consider all the initiatives aimed at bringing peace. Sarkozy also said France was ready to sponsor direct Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations "when the time comes" and vowed to help in any way possible if it is asked.

Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda (WEST BANK): Hamas Shuts Down Private Clinics, Kidnaps Strikers – A spokesman in the ousted Health Ministry in Gaza that several private medical clinics run by physicians on strike have been shut down in the Gaza Strip, describing the strike as "illegal." The spokesman warned that whoever continues with the work stoppage in the medical field will be "punished and possibly fired, because a doctor cannot become a politician or an inciter." Syndicate leaders said that Hamas forces had abducted a number of medical staff, interrogated them and went to their homes to take them to the hospitals by force.