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E. Jerusalem Settler Plans 'Delayed over Obama Visit'

Israeli plans to grant final approval for a military academy in annexed east Jerusalem have been delayed to avoid tensions ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit, army radio said on Thursday.

The controversial project, to be built on the Mount of Olives, had been on the agenda of a Thursday meeting of the interior ministry's district planning committee but was taken off at the last moment, the radio said.

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Iraq Closes Border Post, Sends Reinforcements after Syria Clashes

The government closed a border crossing with Syria and sent in military reinforcements after cross-border fire killed an Iraqi soldier, the defense ministry's spokesman said on Thursday.

Mohammed al-Askari told Agence France Presse that the Yaarubiyeh crossing between eastern Syrian and the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh, near where Syrian regime forces and rebels battled on Saturday, had been closed.

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Germany Warns Weapons Delivery to Syria Rebels Would Lead to 'Arms Race'

Germany's foreign minister warned on Thursday that delivering weapons to Syria's rebels could result in an arms race in the region and stressed the EU would send only "defensive" equipment.

In an interview with the Tagesspiegel daily, Guido Westerwelle said the situation in Syria was "shocking" and said Berlin would do everything it could contribute to a political solution "despite all the difficulties."

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Syrian Observatory: Jets Pound City Captured by Rebels

Syrian fighter jets on Thursday pounded Raqa, a day after rebels took full control of the northern city, a watchdog said, raising concern for the fate of loyalists who surrendered.

The flag of the Islamist Al-Nusra Front, which led the rebel assault on Raqa, flew on the building housing the city's former feared military intelligence branch, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

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Yemen Official: Qaida Militant Killed Planting Bomb

An al-Qaida militant was killed Thursday when a roadside bomb he was trying to plant at a central market in the southern town of Loder exploded, a security official told Agence France Presse.

Witnesses in the town where a suspected al-Qaida suicide bomber killed 12 pro-government militiamen earlier this week said the militant's body was torn to pieces in the blast.

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Philippines Demands Syrian Rebels Release U.N. Golan Troops

The Philippines on Thursday strongly condemned the hostage-taking of 21 Filipino U.N. peacekeepers by Syrian rebels in the Golan Heights ceasefire zone and demanded their immediate release.

The soldiers, part of a 300-strong Filipino peacekeeping unit, were detained at a rebel observation point on Wednesday by gunmen who said the troops would be held until Syrian regime forces pulled back from a Golan village.

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Sweden Upgrades Palestinian Diplomatic Status

Sweden on Wednesday became the ninth European country to upgrade the status of a Palestinian representative office to that of an embassy.

Parliament voted by an overwhelming majority to ratify a June 28 agreement between Stockholm and Ramallah on upgrading the Palestinian Authority's mission here.

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Arab League Readies to Hand Syria Seat to Opposition as Lebanon Calls it 'Dangerous Step'

The Arab League said on Wednesday it is prepared to hand Syria's seat in the organisation to the opposition battling to oust President Bashar Assad if it sets up an executive body, as Lebanon expressed that it is a "dangerous step".

The League, in a resolution adopted at a meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo, called for the opposition National Coalition "to form an executive body to take up Syria's seat" and attend its next summit, in Doha on March 26-27.

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Armed Fighters Seize 20 Peacekeepers in Golan and U.N. Demands Their Release

Armed fighters on Wednesday detained about 20 U.N. peacekeepers in the Golan Heights between Syria and Israel, urging the U.N. to call in a statement for their immediate release.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman said the peacekeepers were from the Philippines.

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Fifteen Years for Bahraini Shiite in Bomb Case

A court in Bahrain on Wednesday condemned a protester accused of involvement in a bomb attack on police in a Shiite village to 15 years in prison, the official BNA news agency reported.

It quoted a judiciary source as saying that the High Criminal Court in Manama handed down the sentence to the unidentified defendant on charges that included "attempted murder of members of the security forces."

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