L.A. Times - Middle East

Fourth American fatality by U.S. drones disclosed

By Ken Dilanian and Shashank Bengali, Los Angeles Times — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:53:00 PDT

The news that the secret program's accidental death toll is higher raises new questions as President Obama prepares to give a major national security speech.

WASHINGTON — As President Obama prepared to deliver a major speech on national security Thursday, his administration acknowledged for the first time that it had killed four U.S. citizens — one more than previously known — in drone missile strikes in Yemen and Pakistan.

In Britain, terrorism suspected in man's hacking death

By Henry Chu, Los Angeles Times — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:49:00 PDT

Two assailants slashed their victim to death near a military barracks in Woolwich, in southeast London, witnesses say. The suspects are wounded by police.

LONDON — As bystanders watched in horror, a man was hacked to death in broad daylight on a London street Wednesday and two suspects were shot and wounded by police, who are investigating the incident as a likely terrorist attack.

Kerry downplays Syria government's gains

By Nabih Bulos and Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:42:00 PDT

In Jordan for talks with the pro-opposition Friends of Syria bloc, he calls Bashar Assad's military advances 'very temporary.'

AMMAN, Jordan — Recent battlefield advances by the Syrian military against U.S.-backed rebels are "very temporary" and do not signal that the government of President Bashar Assad is gaining the upper hand, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Wednesday.

Iran president denounces aide's disqualification from election

By Ramin Mostaghim and Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:25:00 PDT

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans to ask Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to intervene. Ex-President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, also disqualified, won't appeal.

TEHRAN — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday denounced as unjust the supervisory electoral body's disqualification of his top aide from next month's presidential poll and said he plans to appeal to the nation's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran disqualifies 2 high-profile presidential candidates

By Ramin Mostaghim and Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:21:00 PDT

Ex-President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, a confidant of the outgoing president, have been seen as disloyal to the supreme leader.

TEHRAN — In a highly anticipated decision likely to spark controversy, Iran's supervisory electoral body on Tuesday disqualified two high-profile candidates from next month's presidential race after both were assailed as disloyal to the nation's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Syria's military shows unexpected resilience

By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:37:00 PDT

The government force's onslaught in Qusair has confounded predictions that the Syrian government's days were numbered.

BEIRUT — The military onslaught this week against the strategic Syrian town of Qusair has dramatized a surprising combat resilience that has already put rebel forces on the defensive on other key fronts, including near the capital, Damascus.

Iraq car bombings leave dozens dead

By Aziz Alwan and Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:44:00 PDT

The continuing violence fuels fears that Iraq is sliding back into chaos and on the verge of splintering.

BAGHDAD — Car bombs around Iraq killed at least 65 people Monday amid the worst wave of violence in the country since U.S. troops withdrew a year and a half ago.

Syria launches major assault on strategic rebel stronghold

By Patrick J. McDonnell and Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:51:00 PDT

Opposition fighters say the bombardment of the city of Qusair, near the Lebanese border, is one of the most intense of the Syrian conflict.

BEIRUT — Syrian forces launched a large-scale assault Sunday on the city of Qusair, a rebel stronghold near the Lebanese border, in the government's latest effort to push back opposition fighters from strategic areas of the country.

Egypt's border with Gaza stays closed as protest continues

By Ingy Hassieb, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 19 May 2013 18:10:00 PDT

Nearly 170 demonstrators participate in a sit-in after the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers last week in the Sinai Peninsula.

CAIRO — Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip remained closed Sunday as the families and colleagues of seven Egyptian soldiers who were kidnapped in the northern Sinai Peninsula last week continued a sit-in.

Syria's Assad dubious of U.S.-Russia peace initiative

By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:49:00 PDT

In an interview with an Argentine newspaper, President Bashar Assad says he doubts the West wants a solution to the Syrian conflict. He also reiterates that he does not intend to resign.

BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad has expressed skepticism that a planned U.S.-Russian peace conference could help stop the bloodshed in his country, according to an interview published Saturday in an Argentine newspaper.