Despite assurances from several quarters, Iraqi elections in January will be far from easy to hold. Salah Hemeid reports

The escalating hostage-taking drama and bloody US reprisals have cast a dark shadow of doubt on the future democratisation process in Iraq, writes Hassan Hamid from Baghdad

The surprise about Israel's assassination of a Hamas leader in Damascus was not that it happened -- but that it provoked such little protest, writes Graham Usher in Jerusalem

While challenges to Syria are accumulating, the assassination of a prominent Hamas member only complicates matters. Sherine Bahaa reports

officials reject Israeli allegations about the Marwani Mosque's imminent collapse, reports Khaled Amayreh in Jerusalem

High on the heels of a withdrawal of some 3,000 Syrian soldiers, the Lebanese opposition, no longer restricted to Christian Maronites, is playing hardball, reports Mohalhel Fakih from Beirut

The Syrian government continues to assert its authority in Lebanon and the region as a whole, despite US attempts to contain the Syrian influence, reports Dina Dakhlallah from Damascus

The Arab presence in the UN General Assembly this year failed to impress. Dina Ezzat sees what went wrong at the annual world gathering