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Morocco Islamists Claim 'Historic' Vote Breakthrough

Morocco's moderate Islamists said Saturday they were poised for an unprecedented electoral win, the latest religious party to achieve spectacular gains on the back of the Arab Spring.

A month after Islamists won Tunisia's post-revolution election and days before their predicted surge in Egyptian polls, their Moroccan counterparts claimed to have achieved a similar breakthrough without bloodshed.

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One Dead in Fresh Tahrir Square Clashes in Egypt as Election Looms

One person died in fresh clashes on Saturday, as the rift between Egypt's military rulers and activists who ousted Hosni Mubarak deepened just days before landmark polls.

The naming of a new prime minister, Kamal al-Ganzuri who once served as premier under Mubarak, failed to satisfy demands for change ahead of parliamentary elections due to start on Monday.

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Syrian Observatory: Troops Killed in Clashes with Deserters

At least 10 troops and security service agents were killed in clashes with mutinous soldiers in the east of the country, a human rights group said on Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths occurred late Friday in Deir Ezzor while early Saturday a civilian was also killed in the eastern city.

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15 Killed in Iraq Bomb Attacks

Bomb attacks in central Iraq killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 20 on Saturday, security officials and a doctor said.

The latest bombings came two days after triple blasts killed 19 people in the southern port city of Basra.

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U.N.: Syria Needs Food but Not Humanitarian Corridors

The United Nations said Friday that international help is needed to feed 1.5 million people in crisis-torn Syria, but humanitarian corridors were not yet justified.

U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said almost three million people out of Syria's population of about 20.5 million had been affected by the deadly crackdown on protests launched by President Bashar Assad since March.

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U.N. Rights Chief Working with Arab League on Syria Case

The U.N.'s human rights chief is in contact with the Arab League over its efforts to end the deadly crackdown on protests in Syria, a U.N. spokesman said Friday.

The League said Thursday it wants U.N. help in its showdown with President Bashar al-Assad, and diplomats said the League may want a U.N. contribution to an international observer mission that Syria is refusing to let in.

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Cairo Protesters Insist Army Quit, Reject New PM

Tens of thousands of demonstrators packed Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday after days of deadly clashes, demanding the military rulers step down and rejecting their choice of new prime minister.

Ahead of elections due to start on Monday despite the political turmoil, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) tasked Kamal al-Ganzouri, 78, a premier under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, to head a new cabinet.

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UAE Urges its Citizens to Leave Syria

The United Arab Emirates has called on its citizens in Syria to exercise caution and avoid the areas that witness frequent anti-regime protests.

Isa Abdullah al-Kalbani, director of Citizens' Affairs at the UAE Foreign Ministry, called on citizens to leave Syria and reconsider travel to the country, reported the Emirates News Agency WAM on Friday.

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Saudi Beheaded for Murder of Policeman

A man convicted of murdering a policeman during a drug trafficking arrest was beheaded on Friday, the Interior Ministry said, raising to at least 71 the number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year.

The ministry, in a statement carried by the state news agency SPA, said Fahd Kahtani had also wounded several other police officers with machinegun fire.

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ICC Trial for Seif al-Islam Could Be in Libya

The trial of deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s son Seif al-Islam could be held in Libya under the auspices of the International Criminal Court, its chief prosecutor said Friday.

"The prosecutor proposed as a third possibility that the ICC might, subject to judges' approval, conduct the trial against Seif al-Islam in Libya," Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a document before the Hague-based court.

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