DAMASCUS, 23 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - The Syrian Human Rights Organisation (SHRO) condemned the arrest of several opposition figures in Damascus earlier this week. Full report

BAGHDAD, 22 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - Aid agencies say thay have been prevented from entering the city of Samarra, in central Iraq, where a major US and Iraqi military operation is underway.Full report

FALLUJAH, 21 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - It has been 14 months since US forces fought insurgents in the city of Fallujah, but there is still slow progress on humanitarian issues, according to local officials.Full report

SANAA, 21 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - Human rights groups in Yemen demanded on Tuesday that all detainees of a conflict in northern Yemen be released without exception, in accordance to a presidential pardon issued in September 2005.Full report

BEIRUT, 20 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - The in-absentia trial of Lebanese lawyer and human rights activist Muhamad Mugraby began on Monday, in a military court. He is accused of slander for having criticised the authorities' use of military courts to prosecute government critics.Full report

DUBAI, 19 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - CONTENTS: EGYPT: Ship disaster compensation inadequate, say...Full report

BAGHDAD, 16 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - Dozens of families in the capital, Baghdad, have been displaced from their neighbourhoods due to the sectarian violence that has come in the wake of the Samarra shrine bombing in February and subsequent attacks.Full report

DAMASCUS, 16 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - A human rights activist, arrested four days ago after attending political conferences in Washington and Paris, was released on Wednesday. Full report

CAIRO, 15 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - Arab journalists and activists called for greater freedoms of press and expression at a regional conference on Monday held at the Egyptian Journalists’ Syndicate in the capital, Cairo.Full report

BAGHDAD, 15 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - The US decision to hand over the Abu Ghraib prison to the Iraqi Ministry of Justice and transfer the so-called high security detainees to a new US-run facility is no guarantee that prisoners will not continue to be abused, according to NGOs and ordinary Iraqis.Full report

LEBANON: Year in Brief 2005 – A chronology of democratic developments

JORDAN: Year in Brief 2005 – A chronology of democratic developments

EGYPT: Migrant workers face abuse

IRAQ: Activists call on army, police to respect women’s rights

IRAQ: Male homosexuality still a taboo

EGYPT: Islamists appeal for release of prisoners

LEBANON: Homosexuals still facing discrimination

IRAQ: Briefing paper on food security

IRAQ: Briefing paper on power

IRAQ: Briefing paper on water and sanitation

IRAQ: Briefing paper on Education

IRAQ: Briefing paper on health