Int'l Observers Tour Mideast Roadblocks
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International observers toured army roadblocks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Saturday, and Palestinian officials complained Israel wasn't fully complying with promises to ease travel restrictions one day ahead of presidential elections to replace the late Yasser Arafat.
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Hundreds of Palestinians thronged two major West Bank checkpoints, trying to reach a key Islamic shrine in Jerusalem on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, despite tight Israeli restrictions.
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US-funded efforts to spread democracy in Middle East meet with resistance.
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JERUSALEM - Many Middle East observers believe the word opportunity describes the situation in the region after the death of Yasser Arafat.
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World powers have largely abandoned hope that Hamas radicals will drop anti-Israel positions that have riven the Palestinian leadership and led to a cutoff of direct international aid. Now diplomats are looking for a new approach.
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The spiralling Middle East crisis sparked by the seizure of three Israeli soldiers has exposed deep divisions within the Arab world and forced its leaders into a frank admission of helplessness.
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JERUSALEM -- Sporadic Palestinian protests, including a rock-throwing attack on a busload of Canadian tourists, broke out in Jerusalem and the West Bank yesterday over Israel's construction of a ramp leading to a flashpoint holy site.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank Two unlikely factors - the maneuverings of Hamas, a group the United States considers a chief sponsor of terrorism, and a widespread fear of chaos among Palestinians - are combining to create some hope in the run-up to next month&#39;s
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Israel looks powerless to stop the barrage of rockets from Hamas-ruled Gaza. The Islamic militants, choked by a blockade of their territory, find it increasingly difficult to hold on to power. And moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is facing growing pressure to suspend peace talks because of Israel's strikes in Gaza.
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PARIS -- He stood only 5 feet 2 inches but Yasser Arafat cast a long shadow on the world stage, and many leaders, diplomats, and analysts saw in his passing an opportunity to unlock the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
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What Ariel Sharon has been indicating for months is now stated Israeli policy: The US-drawn &quot;road map&quot; to a Palestinian state is locked in the glove compartment - along with other failed peace plans.
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As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in the battle-scarred Middle East, she has tried to walk delicately between supporting the democratic government of Lebanon while not dictating to Israel how it should handle its own security.
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Israelis and Palestinians are in the midst of rapidly evolving events that could lead to a period of instability in both camps, but could also usher in the changes necessary to resume peace negotiations.
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Long locked in struggle, Sharon and Arafat both confront fights for survival that could reshape the Middle East
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DEAD SEA, Jordan &#151; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice threw herself at two intractable Mideast problems &#151; the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iraq &#151; during a brief trip to the region, and encountered the reality that the U.S. has few options other than patience.
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Hope for progress toward peace in the region is tempered by a Palestinian power vacuum.
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Peace requires Israeli concessions, not just compromises from the Palestinians. Israel must freeze settlement activity in the West Bank and stop constructing its barrier on Palestinian territory, free Palestinian