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WASHINGTON, April 28 (UPI) -- A trio of U.S. senators said the Obama administration must do more to identify and assist friendly elements of the anti-Assad rebel forces fighting in Syria. Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the United States should do what it can to prevent Syria from becoming a fractured, failed state that is home to potential terrorists. "There's nothing you can do in Syria without risk, but the greatest risk is a failed state with chemical weapons falling in the hands of radical Islamists and they're pouring into Syria," Graham said....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Despite President Barack Obama's pledge that Syria's use of chemical weapons is a "game changer" for the United States, he is unlikely to turn to military options quickly and would want allies joining him in any intervention. Possible military choices range from limited one-off missile strikes from ships - one of the less complicated scenarios - to bolder operations like carving out no-fly safe zones. One of the most politically unpalatable possibilities envisions sending tens of thousands of U.S. forces to help secure Syrian chemical weapons. Obama has so far opposed limited steps, like arming anti-government rebels,...

Iraq's prime minister has warned that a plague of sectarianism is threatening Arab nations, after the most widespread violence there since US troops left. Nouri Maliki said sectarian conflict had returned to Iraq "because it began in another place in this region" - an apparent reference to Syria. The violence has left some 170 people dead across the country since Tuesday. On Saturday, at least five anti-al-Qaeda Sunni militiamen and three security forces personnel were killed. Police said the first attack saw gunmen open fire on a checkpoint near the city of Tikrit manned by members of the local Awakening...

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is sending about 200 soldiers from a U.S. Army headquarters unit to Jordan to assist efforts to contain violence along the Syrian border and plan for any operations needed to ensure the safety of chemical weapons in Syria, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress Wednesday. The decision to dispatch the 1st Armored Division troops of planners and specialists in intelligence, logistics and operations comes as several lawmakers pressed the Obama administration for even more aggressive steps to end the two-year civil war. Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, faced persistent...

NORMAN, Okla., April 26 (UPI) -- The lack of a vibrant oil sector in Syria is part of the reason there are so many refugees in the region, Syrian expert Joshua Landis said. "Oil is the only thing that Syria has going for it," Landis, a Syrian expert and professor at the University of Oklahoma, told Bloomberg News. "Farming has collapsed and that is why we are seeing this outflow of refugees. They are starving. They don't have the basics to sustain them." European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva said there are 1.3 million refugees due...

The United Nations has been a “major disappointment” in the 21st Century and has “inverted right and wrong,” human rights scholar and activist Anne Bayefsky tells Arutz Sheva in a special interview. The UN “was founded in the middle of the 20th Century to offer a new world order based on peace and security and protection of human rights, and it has inverted right and wrong so that Israel becomes the villain and the victims become those who are some of the most intolerant people in the region,” said Bayefsky. …

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United States should consider military action to curb Syrian chemical weapons after Washington went public with suspicions they have been used in the country's civil war, Israel's deputy foreign minister said on Friday. The challenge by Zev Elkin, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, underscored tension this week over the allies' assessments on Syria, as well as longer-running disputes about how aggressively to confront Iran's nuclear program. The White House said on Thursday the Syrian government had probably employed chemical arms on a small scale against rebels. The disclosure created a bind for President Barack...

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey said on Friday any use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would "take the crisis to another level", but remained cautious about any foreign military intervention in the conflict on its border. The White House said on Thursday Assad's government had probably used chemical arms on a small scale, but that President Barack Obama needed proof before he would act. "We have been hearing allegations of the use of chemical weapons for quite some time now and these new findings take things to another level. They are very alarming," Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Levent...

WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday thanked the emir of Qatar for the "excellent relationship" between the two countries with respect to security and trade. "Qatar has been a center of innovation," Obama said after their bilateral meeting in the Oval Office. "We've seen enormous progress within the country on everything ranging from education to health care. And I think His Highness has shown extraordinary leadership over the last many years in helping to guide this country. "Obviously, Qatar is also an important country in the region, and has an influence that extends beyond its relatively...

BEIRUT, Lebanon, April 24 (UPI) -- Syria's top rebel commander is reportedly seeking Western support for taking over oil fields held by Islamist factions but the real conflict over Syria's energy resources is likely to be vast natural gas fields under the eastern Mediterranean. Whatever is under the seabed in Syrian waters remains undiscovered but in the wake of major strikes by Israel and Cyprus, and Lebanon supposedly sitting on similar prizes, it's a pretty good bet Syria has significant gas holdings. There seems little doubt that Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime will eventually be displaced as rebel forces, disunited...

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — In a step toward restoring ties, former allies Turkey and Israel agreed Monday on the "methods and principles" of working out compensation payments for the victims of a deadly 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Turkey's deputy prime minister said. Eight Turks and one Turkish-American were killed and several other pro-Palestinian activists were wounded when Israeli commandos stormed the ship Mavi Marmara while stopping an international flotilla trying to breach a blockade of the Gaza Strip. The incident, which also wounded seven Israeli soldiers, increased tensions between the once close allies and led to...

BRUSSELS (AP) -- Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday he would host a meeting of top Afghan and Pakistani officials this week in Brussels to discuss reconciliation with the Taliban and other issues. Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his defense minister, along with Pakistan's military chief and foreign secretary, will attend Wednesday's meeting, Kerry said. "I will be meeting with President Karzai and General (Ashfaq Parvez) Kayani and the civilian foreign minister from Pakistan while I am here," Kerry told reporters. He said the goal was to advance the peace process "in the simplest most, most cooperative, most cogent...

In an apparent change in long-standing policy, a top Hamas leader said Friday the militant Islamic group would accept the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as a long-term truce with Israel. Hamas has long sought to destroy Israel and replace it with an Islamic Palestinian state, rejecting peace accords and carrying out suicide bombings and other attacks that have killed hundreds of people and badly damaged peace efforts. "Hamas has announced that it accepts a Palestinian independent state within the 1967 borders with a long-term truce," Sheikh Hassan Yousef, the top...

His Majesty, King Abdullah II of Jordan, addresses the European Parliament, June 12, 2002, in Strasbourg, France. King Abdullah II said the Middle East needs Europe to take a leadership role in the peace process. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler Yahoo King urges EU leadership role for Mideast peace STRASBOURG (Agencies) — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday called on Europeans to play a leading role in a global coalition to broker a new Middle East peace process with pre-defined goals and deadlines. "The time has come for genuine peace, a peace that resonates with both Palestinians and Israelis," King Abdullah told...

King highlights human tragedy in Palestine   AMMAN (Agencies) — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday called on Muslims and Christians to work together for peace and urged the US National Council of Churches to draw the world's attention to the humanitarian tragedy in the Palestinian territories. Addressing a delegation representing the council at the Royal Court, King Abdullah said Jerusalem should remain a symbol of peace and a sanctuary for the followers of the three monotheistic religions, drawing them closer together. Such work is urgently needed under the present and difficult circumstances affecting the region, the King said. Jordan,...

King Abdullah says no security with occupation AMMAN (JT) — His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday expressed disappointment at the failure of efforts to bring about an immediate Israeli pullout from reoccupied Palestinian areas and stressed only a political solution can end bloodshed. In an interview with Fox Television, King Abdullah said Israel cannot enjoy security as long as it continues to occupy a whole nation, stressing that a political process that ensures a future for the Palestinians will invariably translate into a future for the Israelis. The King said US Secretary of State Colin Powell's Mideast peace mission which...