The Kuwaiti Education Ministry is investigating a complaint by the parent of a Kuwaiti high school student that the school played the Hizbullah anthem over the PA system as students were going to class, instead of the military music that schools always play.

The district education supervisor said that the school’s principal had stressed to her that the music that was played had nothing to do with the Hizbullah anthem.

The supervisor added that steps would be taken to obtain a full accounting from whoever was proven to have made the mistake.

Source: Al-Siyassa, Kuwait, April 29, 2007

From upper right: 1) A glance; 2) A smile; 3) Peace; 4) Normalization! (Document is titled "Agreement")

Source: Al-Itihad, UAE, April 29, 2007

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa has expressed astonishment at the U.S. Congress's demand that the Arab League recognize that genocide is taking place in Darfur, arguing that no international or regional organization is using this definition.

Source: Al-Arabiya.net, April 30, 2007

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman said that the time has come for Syria and Iran to recognize Lebanon as an independent state, and that they should not interfere in its presidential elections.

Source: Al-Akhbar, Lebanon, April 30, 2007

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moallem told ANB TV in an interview that Syria's strategic relations with the national forces in Lebanon stemmed from a joint view on the Arab-Israeli conflict and on resistance as a legitimate right of all peoples.

He added that Syria had national principles that it could not relinquish, which included the Golan Heights, the Palestinian cause, and the right of peoples to conduct resistance against occupation.

Al-Moallem criticized the proposed international tribunal for the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri, saying that Syria would not agree to give up its sovereignty and that if it was found that any Syrian official had been involved in the assassination, "he will be judged under the Syrian law of which we are proud."

Source: Teshreen, Syria; Al-Akhbar Al-Sharq, Lebanon, April 30, 2007

Political prisoners in Syria's Adra Prison in Damascus, among them Michel Kilo, Anwar Al-Bunni, and 'Aaref Dalila, are protesting against the lack of freedoms and human rights violations in Syria.

In a communiqué, they stated that for many long years in Syria, many had paid with their lives or with long years of torture.

The prisoners called on public opinion to act to release them and to force the Syrian authorities to respect human rights.

The prisoners added that the threats and the long years in prison would not prevent them from continuing to act for what they believed in.

Source: Metransparent.com, April 28, 2007

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in an interview that a U.N.-appointed cartographer was currently dealing with the issue of the Shab'a Farms and that he hoped to submit a report on the subject to the U.N. Security Council.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Lebanon, April 30, 2007

The Iranian daily Jomhouri-ye Eslami has accused Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan of arming Lebanon's March 14 forces in advance of a future clash with Hizbullah.

The paper said that the Saudis are stabbing Hizbullah-Lebanon in the back, and are serving as a fifth column for Israel and the U.S.

Source: Jomhouri-ye Eslami, Iran, April 30, 2007

Right to left: "[Turkish presidential candidate Abdullah] Gul... and... ghoul!"

Badge on cap: "Turkish military officer." On club and ballot box: "Democracy."

Source: Al-Dustour, Jordan, April 29, 2007

Following the conflict in Turkey against the backdrop of the presidential election, the conservative Iranian daily Resalat approvingly predicted the rise of Islam in Turkey, which, it says, will be "a nightmare for the Turkish generals."

Source: Resalat, Iran, April 39, 2007