Tripoli  - Leaders from Arab countries bordering the Mediterranean sea were due to meet Tuesday in the Libyan capital to discuss a French-proposed Euro-Mediterranean union amid concerns over Israel

Cairo  - Arab commentators and officials Wednesday deplored the conditions in which the Palestinians live and berated Israel for its "crimes" on the 60th anniversary of its establishment, which Ara

Gaza  -  A Palestinian civilian was killed and several were wounded Sunday in Israeli shelling of a house in the southeast of the Gaza Strip, medical staff and witnesses said.

Amman  -  Arab stock markets extended gains this week, buoyed by first-quarter results and surging oil prices, and financial analysts said Friday they were "cautiously optimistic" over the performance of regional bourses in the coming weeks.

"We are cautiously optimistic over the behaviour of regional bourses in the coming weeks, because speculation continues to be a key driving force for markets," Wajdi Makhamreh, Deputy CEO of the Amman-based Sanabel International Brokerage told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa.

"Stock markets continue to act as haven for investors who conduct trading on the basis of fundamentals and not for speculation purposes, given the huge amounts of liquidity seeking investment outlets," he said.

Beirut  - Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa arrived Thursday in Beirut to hold political talks with rival political groups.

According to a close aide to Mussa, the Arab League envoy's main objective is to try and broker the Arab League initiative to end the Lebanese political impasse which has kept the country without a president since November 23, 2007.

He added that Mussa is also in Beirut to attend the opening of the Arab Economic Forum on Friday in Beirut.

Amman  - The Arab Bank Group posted a 24.4-per-cent increase in net profits in the first quarter of the year, to 232.8 million dollars from 187.1 million dollars in the same period of 2007, the gro