Much will rest on Mahmoud Abbas's meeting with George Bush on Thursday -- almost certainly too much, writes Graham Usher in Jerusalem

Lebanon's antiquated confessional political system could well prove an obstacle to reform, reports Mohalhel Fakih from Beirut

Next month's Baath Party Conference will introduce less radical changes than rumoured but changes nonetheless, reports Sami Moubayed from Damascus

This year's WEF in Jordan was a near repeat of the 2003 meeting except that this time round Jordan stands poised to make much political capital, writes Amy Henderson from the Dead Sea resort

Amid nuclear deadlock, emergency talks began yesterday between Iran and the EU, Rasha Saad reports

Putin's recent visit to the Middle East marks the beginning of the end for the Iranian-Russian alliance, argues Mustafa El-Labbad

With increased sectarian tension, the world has finally awakened to the grave dangers unbridled violence poses to Iraq's national unity, writes Salah Hemeid

Economics top the agenda as Al-Jaafari visits the Turkish capital, reports Gareth Jenkins from Ankara

This week, the Maghreb Union suffered a new and most severe setback, reports Dina Ezzat

It is time for international dignitaries who support the peace process in Darfur to speak up, writes Gamal Nkrumah

Once shot four times for criticising the Palestinian Authority, Abdel-Sattar Kassem, one of Palestine's most noted political intellectuals, is again under fire. He spoke to Ian Douglas in Nablus about the past and future of Palestinian politics