Friends of Israel

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s state-run news agency says a former military chief has been arrested for allegedly attempting to destabilize Turkey’s Islamic-rooted government through an Internet campaign.

Anadolu Agency says Friday a court ordered Gen. Ilker Basbug arrested pending trial. That makes him the most senior officer to be jailed in a series of investigations into alleged plots to bring down Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.

TUNIS, Tunisia — The prime minister of the Gaza government said Thursday the first meeting between Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators in more than a year was “a futile gesture” that will lead nowhere.

Ismail Haniyeh of the Palestinian faction Hamas received a hero’s welcome at Tunisia’s airport where he was greeted by thousands of people chanting their support for the Palestinian cause. He also met with Tunisia’s new prime minister, Hamadi Jebali.

BAGHDAD — At least 72 people were killed Thursday in a series of attacks on Shiites in Iraq, marking the deadliest day since U.S. troops withdrew last month and raising new worries about the country’s sharp sectarian divisions.

Analysts warned that the bombings, in what appeared to be the worst day of violence in the country in more than a year, could unleash more danger. One local security official blamed the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, but no militant organization asserted responsibility for the blasts.

TUNIS, Tunisia — France’s foreign minister has told Tunisia’s leaders they can expect France’s full support for the North African country’s democratic transition.

Alain Juppe said Thursday during his visit that Tunisia has France’s support because its democracy was founded on values the two countries hold in common, including respect for freedom and women’s rights.

PYLA, Cyprus — Divided Cyprus’ rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders hosted a dinner for U.N. officials in this ethnically mixed village Thursday as they faced growing pressure to make progress in reunification talks.

The gathering in Pyla came ahead of a crucial session with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in New York later this month.

CAIRO — Prosecutors in the historic trial of Hosni Mubarak on Thursday demanded that the former Egyptian president be executed for ordering the killing of pro-democracy protesters during the revolt that ultimately forced his ouster.

The five-person prosecution team also called for the same sentence — death by hanging — for his security chief and six top police commanders.

TEHRAN, Iran — Deep in Tehran’s carpet bazaar, merchants and laborers occupy chambers that have changed little over the centuries. But Iran’s carpet industry now faces some modern pressures.

The country’s more than 1 million weavers — producing an average of $500 million in exports a year — are fighting against competitors in major workshops in places such as Pakistan and China.

CAIRO — The top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East said Thursday he was “encouraged” about the prospects that three recently raided American organizations would be allowed to reopen, easing a source of tension between Washington and Egypt’s military rulers.

Jeffrey D. Feltman, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, said he discussed the Dec. 29 raids with top Egyptian officials during a visit to Cairo in which he stressed the overall importance of the U.S.-Egypt relationship.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military is gearing up together with U.S. forces for a major missile defense exercise, the Israeli military announced Thursday, as tension between Iran and the international community escalates.

The drill is called “Austere Challenge 12” and is designed to improve defense systems and cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli forces. It follows a 10-day Iranian naval exercise near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

LONDON — Britain’s defense secretary warned Iran Thursday that any attempt to block the key global oil passageway the Strait of Hormuz would be illegal and unsuccessful — hinting at a robust international response.

During his first visit to the Pentagon for talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Philip Hammond told the Atlantic Council in Washington that the presence of British and American naval ships in the Persian Gulf would ensure the route is kept open for trade.

SANAA, Yemen — Suspicions are mounting in Yemen that outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh is trying to wiggle out of a U.S.-backed deal meant to bring his 33-year, autocratic rule to an end.

Both opposition leaders and officials close to the president said Thursday they remain unconvinced that Saleh is serious about leaving power. They worry he will try to use the unstable country’s continued unrest to keep his seat on the grounds that Yemen’s active al-Qaida branch will step up operations if he leaves.

JERUSALEM — Israel temporarily banished a dozen suspected Jewish extremists from the West Bank on Thursday as part of a crackdown ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a series of attacks on Palestinians and the military.

An army statement said that the top military commander in the West Bank had signed “administrative removal orders” for 12 Jewish activists for periods ranging from three to nine months. The statement added that the group had been involved in “leading, directing and carrying out widespread violent and clandestine activities” against Palestinians and Israeli forces in the West Bank.

BEIRUT — Throughout a nine-month-long uprising, Syrian authorities have exerted ever-tighter control over the media, routinely censoring and detaining reporters, bloggers and photojournalists. But despite the risks, a flurry of new outlets has emerged to tell stories suppressed by President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

CAIRO — The dominant showing by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt’s first post-revolution elections puts the country on a collision course, analysts say, with emboldened Islamists and the entrenched military set to vie for power.

The Brotherhood, which was the leading opposition force under now-deposed leader Hosni Mubarak, has emerged as the country’s most viable political power. While votes are still being counted in the last of three stages of elections for parliament’s lower house, the Brotherhood expects to take more than 40 percent of seats and could claim an outright majority on Jan. 23, when the new parliament is scheduled to convene.

TEHRAN — Iran’s parliament said Wednesday that it was preparing a bill that would prohibit all foreign warships from entering the Persian Gulf unless they received permission from the Iranian navy.

The bill, disclosed by the semiofficial Fars News Agency, surfaced a day after Iran’s armed forces commander warned a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier not to return to the gulf, remarks that rattled commodities markets and helped drive up oil prices.

TEHRAN, Iran — Authorities in Iran said Sunday they are again moving ahead with plans to execute a woman sentenced to death by stoning on an adultery conviction in a case that sparked an international outcry, but are considering whether to carry out the punishment by hanging instead.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is already behind bars, serving a 10-year sentence on a separate conviction in the murder of her husband. Amid the international outrage her case generated, Iran in July 2010 suspended plans to carry out her death sentence on the adultery conviction.

JERUSALEM — A rare clay seal found under Jerusalem’s Old City appears to be linked to religious rituals practiced at the Jewish Temple 2,000 years ago, Israeli archaeologists said Sunday.

The coin-sized seal found near the Jewish holy site at the Western Wall bears two Aramaic words meaning “pure for God.”

SANAA, Yemen — Tens of thousands of people demonstrated Sunday in Yemen’s capital, protesting the deaths of protesters and demanding the resignation of the vice president for failing to bring the killers to justice.

Marching past the office of Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, the protesters denounced him as a “tool in the hands” of outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh.