Special to WorldTribune.com JERUSALEM — Israel has determined that the United Nations stopped monitoring the flow of weapons to the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah in southern Lebanon. Officials said the UN Interim Force in Lebanon has suspended most operations designed to track and intercept heavy weapons to Hizbullah and other militias south of Lebanon’s Litani River. The […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — The winds of change continue to swirl throughout the Middle East as the region enters the third year of the socio/political phenomenon optimistically dubbed as the Arab Spring. While political scientists debate the ebb and flow of freedoms and anarchy in the region ranging from Egypt to Libya and […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON [MENL] — The United Nations has acknowledged a reduction in operations on the Golan Heights, now a war-torn region between Israel and Syria. Officials said the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has been forced to suspend operations in the Golan Heights. They cited attacks by Sunni rebels, including the abduction of […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The United Nations has determined that Hamas was firing missiles and rockets from populated areas of the Gaza Strip. A report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Hamas and Palestinian allies fired from civilian communities during their eight-day war with Israel in November 2012. In a report, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — The United Nations peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights appears on the verge of collapse. Diplomatic sources said members of the UN Disengagement and Observers Force were fleeing the Syrian side of the Golan Heights for Israel. They said the flight was in coordination with the Israel Army, which has […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — After months of warning, Sunni rebels have taken hostage United Nations personnel in Syria. The United Nations has confirmed that at least 21 members of its peace-keeping and monitoring force in Syria were captured by rebels. The captives were identified as members of the UN Disengagement Observer Force, deployed on […]
John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — All of Syria’s five neighboring countries sensed a quiet pleasure in seeing the rebellion against the Damascus dictatorship start two years ago. Many observers, knowing the authoritarian political pedigree of the Assad family rule, probably assumed Syria’s entrenched but moribund political system would be swept away by the winds […]
Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — An Iranian opposition camp has come under heavy rocket fire in Iraq. At least six people were killed when 40 mortars and rockets landed in Iraq’s Camp Liberty, the new home of the Iranian opposition Mujahadeen Khalq and operated by the United Nations. Another 40 members of Khalq as well […]
Special to WorldTribune.com RAMALLAH — The United Nations has closed several offices in the West Bank amid attacks on staff. The UN Relief and Works Agency said it closed three offices in the West Bank. The agency said the closure stemmed from “illegal acts” by the Palestinians. “We wanted to avoid harming our services as […]
Special to WorldTribune.com (Originally posted on Aug. 26, 2003.) U.S. intelligence suspects Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction have finally been located. Unfortunately, getting to them will be nearly impossible for the United States and its allies, because the containers with the strategic materials are not in Iraq. Instead they are located in Lebanon’s heavily-fortified Bekaa […]