King Abdullah’s Cri de Coeur ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Khaleej Times by Claude Salhani - May 1, 2009 - 12:00am Of all the countries involved in varying degrees in the Middle East conflict Jordan has always been one of the most moderate voices calling for peace. And of all the Middle East’s leaders, Jordan’s King Abdullah, much like his father King Hussein before him, has always offered a clear, crisp, intelligent analysis of the situation. It must be said that Jordan benefits from one of the better intelligence services in the Arab world. » Read more

Hezbollah is Paving the Way for a New War ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Hassan Haidar - (Opinion) April 30, 2009 - 12:00am What awaits Lebanon and the Lebanese if the opposition wins the coming parliamentary elections? The answer came in the form of a "notification" distributed by the head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc to participants in this week's national dialogue session. In it, the party warns of all-out military maneuvers that Israel will carry out at the end of next month, or a week before the elections, with the participation of all of its agencies, institutions and weapons. » Read more

Is this the Palestinians' Last Chance? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) April 30, 2009 - 12:00am Will the Palestinians seize the slim chance of statehood offered by President Barack Obama's pledge to work for a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Or will they throw it away because of unresolved inter-Palestinian conflicts? These unspoken questions lay behind the talks which Fatah and Hamas held in Cairo this week, in a last ditch attempt at reconciliation. Three earlier rounds of talks under Egyptian sponsorship ended in failure. This week's negotiations fared little better, so wide is the chasm between these rival Palestinian factions. » Read more

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Shia ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Tariq Alhomayed - April 29, 2009 - 12:00am Controversy within the Muslim Brotherhood [MB] is never-ending; as one storm dies down, another begins. The most recent of these odd disputes between leading figures of the Egyptian Brotherhood movement, internally and externally, politically or financially, is related to the [MB] position towards the Shia. » Read more