CAIRO, Oct 1, 2007 (AFP) - The Arab League on Monday condemned a US Senate plan to split Iraq along ethnic and religious lines as a 'dangerous interference' in another country's affairs.

'The resolution is a dangerous form of interference in the internal affairs of another country which could create a precedent of disorder in international relations,' Arab League chief Amr Mussa told reporters.

'The Arab League position is clear, this is unacceptable,' he said.

GAZA CITY, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - The Islamist Hamas movement ruling Gaza called on Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries on Wednesday to stay away from a US-sponsored Middle East peace meeting expected in November.

'The (Hamas) government warns that the autumn conference will be a new occasion for negotiators to make concessions,' it said in a statement.

'We thus call on our Arab brothers not to venture into this obscure tunnel. In particular, we call on Saudi Arabia not to participate in this conference,' it said.

CAIRO, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - The Arab League on Monday welcomed US plans to invite Syria to an international conference on the Middle East later this year but expressed new doubts over its success.

The United States, which called in July for a conference to jumpstart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, said on Monday that members of the Arab League follow-up committee, which includes Syria, would be invited.

JERUSALEM, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - An Arab civil liberties group on Tuesday called on the Arab community in Israel to boycott national carrier El Al to protest against the 'humiliation' of Arab fliers in the name of security.

'These annoying and humiliating checks on Arab passangers are an intolerable form of discrimination,' said Amin Makhul, head of the so-called Arab follow-up committee defending the rights of Arab Israelis.

CAIRO, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - Arab League chief Amr Mussa warned on Wednesday against what he called Israeli attempts to lower expectations and downplay the political meaning of an upcoming US-sponsored conference on Middle East peace.

'We must strongly resist attempts to drain the conference of its meaning and to lower expectations, which I see signs of in Israeli statements,' Mussa told the 22-member league.

Otherwise, he told Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo, there would be 'further deterioration in the region.'

ASMARA, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Eritrea is looking east. Frustrated with the Western nations it blames for a border feud with arch-foe Ethiopia, this east African nation is boosting economic and political ties with China and Arab nations.

Exports to Eritrea from China jumped over 350 percent last year from the previous year to some 35 million dollars (26 million euros), according to Chinese statistics.

WASHINGTON, Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - A retired US diplomat who served in the Middle East has pleaded not guilty to two charges of making threats against Lebanese and Arabs, sources close to the case said Thursday.

Patrick Syring was indicted on August 15 for willful intimidation and making threats by allegedly delivering derogatory voicemail messages and emails to the Arab American Institute (AAI) in Washington last year.

CAIRO, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - Feeling less welcome in London, Paris or New York, growing numbers of Saudis and other Gulf Arabs prefer the warm reception and relaxed atmosphere of Cairo for their summer holiday.

'Everything has changed since September 11, 2001, this is the high season,' says Jean-Pierre Mainardi, manager of the Egyptian capital's Nile Hilton hotel that provides a temporary home to many Gulf visitors.

CAIRO, Aug 15, 2007 (AFP) - The Arab League on Wednesday condemned devastating suicide truck bombings that killed more than 200 people in northern Iraq and appealed for national reconciliation.

'The Arab League firmly condemns the explosions which on Tuesday killed hundreds of Yazidis,' the 22-nation body said in a statement after the blasts late Tuesday in two villages inhabited by members of the Yazidi minority.

JERUSALEM, Aug 8, 2007 (AFP) - The Arab Israeli leader of the Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, was indicted on Wednesday for incitement to violence and racism, judicial sources said.

Salah is accused of having called last March during a rally in east Jerusalem for 'a third intifada' to defend the mosques compound in the Old City, the third holiest in Islam, they said.

He was detained by Israeli police during a protest the same month against Israeli excavation work at the foot of the compound.