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Biden Urges Dialogue between Feuding Iraqi Leaders‎

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden urged leaders of Iraq's feuding political and sectarian factions Sunday to convene a "dialogue" to head off a worsening political crisis.

Biden, President Barack Obama's pointman on Iraq, has made a flurry of calls to Iraqi leaders this week, urging them to mend their fences after the Shiite president, Nouri al-Maliki, accused his Sunni vice president, Tareq al-Hashemi, of hiring bodyguards to run a death squad.

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Top U.S. Official: We're Not Going to Reinvade Iraq

The United States is mulling a far more subdued role in Iraq after pulling its troops out, and has no intention to send its forces back in despite a spike in violence, The New York Times reported Sunday.

U.S. officials told the Times that President Barack Obama was adamant that the United States would not send troops back to Iraq, adding that even an American military presence likely would not have prevented the political crisis and coordinated attacks plaguing the country days after a U.S. pullout.

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Wanted Iraq VP Refuses to Return to Baghdad

Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who is charged with running a death squad, told Agence France Presse in an interview on Sunday he would not go to Baghdad to stand trial and raised the prospect of fleeing Iraq.

Hashemi, holed up at an official guesthouse of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in the country's autonomous Kurdish region, acknowledged his guards may have carried out attacks, but he has steadfastly denied any involvement.

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Turkey Accuses Sarkozy of Breaking Promise on Genocide Bill

Turkey's deputy prime minister Sunday accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of breaking a promise that the parliament would not pass a bill criminalizing the denial of genocide in Armenia.

French lawmakers voted Thursday to jail and fine anyone in France who denies that the 1915 killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide, prompting Turkey to suspend political and military cooperation with Paris.

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Gaza Militants Fire Rockets, Mortars at Southern Israel

Gaza militants have fired two rockets and two mortars at southern Israel, none of them causing any injuries or damage, the Israeli military said on Sunday.

"We identified two rocket launches from Gaza at Israel to the Eshkol and Shaar Hanegev regions Saturday night," a spokeswoman told Agence France Presse, adding two mortars were fired at Israel the evening before.

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Putin Team Defiant after Protest Rocks Russia

Vladimir Putin still has the support of a majority of Russians, his spokesman said Sunday after a mass protest challenged the premier's authority two months before he stands in presidential polls.

Organizers said 120,000 people attended the rally in central Moscow Saturday where protesters chanted slogans against Prime Minister Putin and called for the annulment of disputed December parliamentary elections won by his party.

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Iran Says Ready to Expand Military Ties with Iraq

Iran stands ready to expand its military and security ties with Iraq, its armed forces chief of staff said Sunday, a week after the exit of U.S. forces from the neighboring Arab country.

General Hassan Firouzabadi hailed the "forced departure" of the U.S. and allied forces that he said "was due to the resistance and determination of the Iraqi people and government," the state Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

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Jordan Probes Violent Clashes at Demo

Jordan said on Sunday it was probing clashes between opposition Islamist demonstrators and government loyalists in a northern city, where dozens, including police, were wounded.

"The government is investigating the clashes that erupted Friday in Mafraq, where citizens and policemen have been attacked," government spokesman Rakan Majali said in published remarks.

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Pope Hopes for 'Common Good' from Arab Spring, End to Syria Violence‎

In his traditional Christmas message on Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI called for an end to the bloodshed in Syria and said he hoped this year's Arab revolts would aid the "common good."

"Let us turn our gaze anew to the grotto of Bethlehem. The Child whom we contemplate is our salvation! He has brought to the world a universal message of reconciliation and peace," he told thousands of pilgrims in the Vatican.

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Haniya to Leave Gaza for First Time since 2007

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya will begin a tour on Sunday, his office said, his first exit from Gaza since Israel and Egypt imposed a siege in 2007.

Sources in his office told AFP that Haniya would visit Egypt and Sudan, after which he plans to go to Qatar, Turkey, Tunisia, and Bahrain.

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