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Mubarak urges Obama to back an overall Israel-Palestinian peace settlement - in stages DEBKAfile Exclusive Report August 18, 2009, 1:44 PM (GMT+02:00) Mubarak tries to change Obama's Middle East disk Addressing the media after his White House talks with US president Barack Obama Tuesday, Aug. 18, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak spoke at length about the need for a final Israeli-Palestinian peace. However, in their closed discussions, DEBKAfile's Washington sources disclose, the Egyptian leader urged Obama to put the conflict on a back burner for now and focus on the far more urgent issue of Iran's advance toward a nuclear weapon.  More... Afghanistan: Taliban uses poll to escalate war DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis August 19, 2009, 6:03 PM (GMT+02:00) Kabul bank under Taliban attack The presidential and provincial elections taking place in Afghanistan Thursday, Aug. 20 may be an exercise in democracy, a system of governance which is alien to Afghanistan, but they have also provided Taliban with a stage for demonstrating its disruptive capabilities. Taliban aims to demonstrate it controls the capital - not President Hamid Karzai, who is likely to be re-elected, or the US-led NATO forces. DEBKAfile's military sources note that US forces must cope not only with a militarily ascendant Taliban but the lack of a clear definition from Washington of the conflict's objectives.  More...

Six blasts leave 95 dead, 536 wounded, huge destruction across Baghdad DEBKAfile Special Report August 19, 2009, 7:27 PM (GMT+02:00) Terrorists reach into Baghdad's Green Zone seat of government Several large truck bombs blew up across Baghdad and around its heavily fortified Green Zone, Wednesday, Aug. 19, hitting the Iraqi foreign and finance ministries, followed by a mortar barrage. Buildings were destroyed and windows shattered at the Iraqi parliament and the diplomatic complex inside the Green Zone in the bloodiest terror attack in Iraq this year. Al Qaeda's responsibility is strongly indicated by the fact that it occurred on the anniversary of the suicide bombing which killed 22 people at UN headquarters in Baghdad on Aug. 19, 2003  More...