| 11 February 2004 | Wednesday | 19 Zilhaj 1424 |
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Iraqis back Sistani's call for elections
NAJAF, Feb 10: Tens of thousands of Shias gathered in Najaf on Tuesday to celebrate the festival of Ghadeer and support their spiritual leader's demands for early elections. ... 
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Washington wants to outsource Iraqi sovereignty
LONDON: If you believe the White House, the future government of Iraq is being designed in Iraq. If you believe the Iraqi people, however, it is being designed in the White House. ...
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Blair to meet Qadhafi
LONDON, Feb 10: British Prime Minister Tony Blair has agreed to meet Libyan President Moamer Qadhafi after talks here on Tuesday indicated the former pariah state was aiming to return to the international fold after decades in the diplomatic wilderness. ...
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Israel's 'security fence' in the dock
AL QUDS: Israeli human rights groups on Monday asked the country's supreme court to stop the construction of a vast "security fence" through the West Bank, on the grounds that it breaches international and Israeli law and creates a form of apartheid. ...
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UN probing Europe's nuke black marketeers
VIENNA, Feb 10: The UN nuclear watchdog's list of Europeans who may have been suppliers to a global atomic black market is getting longer by the day, diplomats said. ...
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French scarf law angers Arabs
CAIRO, Feb 10: The passage by France's National Assembly on Tuesday of a bill to ban the Muslim headscarf from state schools has angered many in the Arab world, who say the law will damage France's image in the region. ...
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Govts kept in the dark, say diplomats: US plan for ME reforms
CAIRO, Feb 10: The United States has kept most Arab governments in the dark about its plans for the Middle East, now taking shape under the title of the Greater Middle East Initiative, Arab diplomats and officials said on Tuesday. ...
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Russia begins exercises to test nuclear forces: Reaction to Bush doctrine
MOSCOW, Feb 10: A top general said on Tuesday Russia had started major exercises to test its nuclear forces amid concerns that changes in US military doctrine could "lower the threshold" for the use of nuclear arms. ...
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Space station crew notice flying object
MOSCOW, Feb 10: The Russian-US crew on board the International Space Station (ISS) have noticed an unidentified object outside the orbiting craft, US and Russian space officials said on Tuesday. ...
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Haj brought $1.3bn to S. Arabia
RIYADH, Feb 10: This year's Haj reportedly generated business worth 5.2 billion Saudi riyals ($1.3 billion) in lieu of services extended to an estimated two million pilgrims. ...
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Arab gas plan promises political dividends
DUBAI: Four Arab countries have embarked on a massive multi-billion dollar economic project that may also foster the kind of intra-Arab unity that politicians have long promised. ...
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China may rely too much on US: Reining in Taiwan
SINGAPORE: After years of accusing the United States of meddling on Taiwan, China has shown signs it thinks it has found a way to use US influence to rein in the island's independence ambitions. All sides may be miscalculating. ...
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