The two-day Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting, hosted by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, will have other topics on the agenda, but none so contentious as the conflict between President Bashar al-Assad's government and opposition forces battling to topple it.

CNN: Syria expected to dominate Islamic summit

It was "not right" to say that pressure should only be brought on the government of President Bashar al-Assad and not the opposition to end the conflict, Mr Lavrov said.

BBC: Syria unrest: Second day of fierce Damascus clashes

Many of the capital's surrounding towns and neighborhoods have been opposition strongholds during the 2-year-old conflict.

NPR: Syrian Troops Capture Key Town Near Damascus

Dominic Grieve, the shadow attorney-general, in turn accused the government of fomenting conflict with the opposition in order to sound tough.

ECONOMIST: Politics

It is an indication of the sorry state of our polity that some legislators are so intent on justifying their opposition to the conflict in Iraq that they persist in claiming that then-Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith and his organization engaged in intelligence skullduggery, misleading them and the nation in the run-up to the invasion in 2003.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Truly ��inappropriate�� behavior

Dean -- who until his third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses last week had led in New Hampshire polls -- highlighted Kerry's support of the Iraq war but his opposition to the first conflict, launched in 1991 after Iraq invaded Kuwait.

CNN: Democrats fire shots in final New Hampshire push

Mrs Kumaratunga, speaking a day after publicly accusing Tamil Tiger rebels of trying to assassinate her, made clear that she has no intention of forming a coalition government with her opposition rivals in the search for a solution to Sri Lanka's long-running conflict.

BBC: Sri Lankan leader accuses opposition

Most believe that, despite opposition from some lawyers, the barriers will soon fall, and they agree with the accountants that conflict-of-interest concerns can be resolved.

ECONOMIST: The battle of the Atlantic