Iraq's drive to forge ties with Sunni-led Arab neighbors, who it says have shunned its Shiite Muslim leadership, got a boost Monday when Jordan's King Abdullah II became the first leader of an Arab nation to visit since the fall of Saddam Hussein. ...more

August 12, 2008

A young German girl named Clara receives a gift of a wooden nutcracker, shaped like a toy soldier, at the family Christmas party. ...more

December 11, 2007

This week's Mideast peace conference is unlike any previous U.S. attempt to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because the price of failure has risen dramatically: Radical Islamists could gain the upper hand in Palestinian areas and in an increasingly polarized Middle East. ...more

November 25, 2007

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians sought Thursday to persuade skeptical Arab nations to attend a U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference, insisting it could open the door to a Palestinian state in the next year. Saudi Arabia and Syria remain the most important holdouts. ...more

November 23, 2007

The United States will invite 12 Arab nations, including Syria, to President Bush's Mideast peace conference this fall, a senior U.S. official said. ...more

September 24, 2007