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The BBC's unrivalled team of correspondents is bringing you news from the Gulf and reaction from around the world. On this page BBC News Online logs their impressions and personal experiences as they watch events unfold.
Most recent postings are at the top.
Wednesday, 16 April
New York :: Greg Barrow :: 2030GMT
Diplomats at the United Nations are predicting a tough round of negotiations on the Security Council if the United States decides to push for a lifting of UN sanctions against Iraq.
One US diplomat said now that the regime of Saddam Hussein has gone, the Iraqi people should not have to endure the burden of UN sanctions.
But the diplomatic route to the lifting of UN sanctions is strewn with obstacles and potentially serious opposition from powerful Security Council members.
A central part of the existing resolutions is the requirement that Iraq shows itself to be free of weapons of mass destruction. But UN weapons inspectors were withdrawn from Iraq in the days before the US led military intervention began.
Some Council members are insisting that until those inspectors are allowed back to verify the destruction of any remaining chemical and biological weapons, there can be no progress on a new resolution.
Mosul :: Malcolm Brabant :: 1846GMT
The atmosphere in Mosul is said to be very tense, and a long way from what the Americans call a permissive environment, where their troops can move around with little fear of attack.
For a second consecutive day, there has been shooting there. Fatalities have been reported and some of the wounded claim they were shot by Americans.
Damascus :: Kim Ghattas :: 1836GMT
We have heard hints from Colin Powell in the last few days that Israel would only give up its own weapons of mass destruction if there were a peace deal between Israel, and Syria and Lebanon.
Basra :: Rupert Wingfield-Hayes :: 1757GMT
There was something vaguely colonial about the first meeting of Basra's new interim city council.
The city elders were welcomed at the grand entrance to Saddam Hussein's former summer palace by Brigadier-General Graham Binns, commander of Britain's 7th Armoured Brigade.
The council's job will be to help British troops occupying Basra to get the city functioning again, to get schools reopened and to get people to go back to work.
Washington D.C. :: Jon Leyne :: 1745GMT
Everyone had expected sanctions to be lifted in due course. But its come as a surprise that Washington wants to move so quickly.
According to existing UN Resolutions, Iraq must have completed the elimination of it's weapons of mass destruction before sanctions can be lifted, something the Americans clearly believe hasn't happened yet.
The problem for Washington is that the Security Council has control over Iraq's oil. That gives France and Russia the power to block American rebuilding plans. The lifting of sanctions would be one way around that.
Athens :: Stephen Sackur :: 1712GMT
Everybody here has been talking about moving on. Some are calling it the 'kiss and make up' summit. The French and the Germans all say they now want to work with the UN and the Americans to make sense of Iraq's post-war settlement.
Some are talking about sending troops and policemen, and airlifting Iraqi children into Europe to help them.
Basra :: Rupert Wingfield-Hayes :: 1655GMT
There was something vaguely colonial about the first meeting of Baghdad's first interim city council. The city elders were welcomed at the entrance to Saddam Hussein's former summer palace by Brigadier General Graham Binns.
But if the scene was colonial, the words were not.
This may be a castle that we meet in, General Binns told the council, but do not think of me as the new king of this castle.
Athens :: William Horsley :: 1616GMT
The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, is holding urgent talks in private here to try for a framework agreement on Iraq's future and avoid a new bust-up with France and Russia in the UN Security Council.
Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, is joining in. Word is that all sides hope to agree, but progress is slow. The prime minister, Tony Blair, was one of 25 leaders who spoke at the treaty signing ceremony at the Acropolis.
He welcomed the ten EU newcomers, mostly from Eastern Europe, saying membership was all about giving people a better life and democracy.
Hungary's leader summed up the feeling of the new entrants. He called it the realisation of a dream.
Washington :: Jon Leyne :: 1507GMT
The United States has been on a high-level of alert for terrorist attacks since just before the war with Iraq began. The orange alert is the second highest level of warning on the five-point scale, introduced after the September 11 attacks.
It led to a high level of security in public buildings and airports. There was widespread nervousness in the country that terrorist attacks might be launched to coincide with the start of the war.
That did not happen. Now with the war winding down the threat level has been reduced to yellow, or elevated.
The Department of Homeland Security which coordinates the fight against terrorism in America said the decision had been made following a review of the latest intelligence situation.
Damascus :: Kim Ghattas :: 1310GMT
Syria has no weapons of mass destruction, but it is willing to sign UN treaties to ban all such weapons in the region. This is how Syria's Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa put it on Wednesday responding to US allegations that his country had chemical weapons.
Mr al-Sharaa's comments about a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East are not new. Syrian officials have often called for all countries in the region to give up such weapons, but they say this has to include Israel.
The two countries are still officially at war. Some experts believe that Syria has the largest and most developed chemical weapons arsenal in the region.
This would include Sarin, VX nerve agent and mustard gas. It is also suspected Syria has chemical warheads for Scud missiles.
Kirkuk :: Dumeetha Luthra :: 1302GMT
Iraq's northern cities all now have a US presence in them, but security is still far from certain. Ethnic tensions and anti-western feelings are still very close to the surface.
In Mosul a rally turned violent killing a number of people. Since the city fell over the weekend it has been mired in chaos and anarchy.
US forces have brought a measure of control, but the place is still a tinderbox. An uneasy calm rests over Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit.
London :: Frank Gardner :: 1242GMT
Abu Abbas admitted his part in the hijacking of a cruise ship in 1985. He has apologised for it and admitted it was a mistake.
The team he sent onto that ship executed in cold blood a Jewish American passenger and threw him overboard. It was a disgusting scene.
But in terms of the war on terror, this is not a big catch. There are no known links between this man and al-Qaeda. The Americans are making a big song and dance about this.
But it only emphasizes how far they still have to go in catching the big fish - the senior leaders of al-Qaeda - not to mention all the main members of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Athens :: Steven Sackur :: 1216GMT
This is the first EU summit since American and British forces toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. We all know that the war deeply divided Europe and now leaders here are desperately trying to find common ground on Iraq's future.
Greek security forces now have the rioting situation under control here. The rioting was intense for a short time in central Athens, particularly around the British embassy.
It was to be expected. People here are deeply opposed to the war.
Inside the summit, within the last hour, Jacques Chirac has had a 20 minute conversation with Tony Blair.
All the signals we're getting suggest the French and the Germans want to find a way to work with the British on getting the UN involved.
Nasiriya :: Jo Floto :: 1049GMT
I think the delegates here yesterday are keen to keep the momentum going. That meeting produced a 13 point plan. This I think was a statement of principle as opposed to a road map. The statement is the easy part.
The Americans have set a very tight deadline for the handover of power to local control. That will be difficult.
Kirkuk :: Dumeetha Luthra :: 1056GMT
There is a growing tension in Mosul after the killing of ten people in an incident between Kurds and Arabs.
There are isolated incidents of fighting continuing here.
There are worries that the Kurds coming back to the city are going to get into grief with Arabs who are now living in their homes.
The Kurdish militia have withdrawn from Kirkuk and what has come in is a security force, a police force effectively, who are working with the Americans and the local people to bring calm.
Damascus :: Kim Ghattas :: 1043GMT
Shoppers in Syria go about their business. But there is palpable tension and concern about a US war against Syria.
One woman, holding her daughter by the hand, told me she couldn't help worrying.
She thought I as a journalist knew more than her about the US plans and begged me to tell her.
There has always been distrust of the USA in Syria but now there is real anger too.
Rome :: David Willey :: 1034GMT
The Italians' goal is to provide a self-contained force expected to operate in the south of Iraq. They'll be setting up a field hospital and mine-clearing operations.
The Italians are very keen to make their presence felt as soon as possible in Iraq. They feel they have a lot of expertise in peace-keeping operations. And they have a reputation internationally for carrying out this sort of work.
Mr Berlusconi knew that Italian public opinion was opposed to this war. It would have been rash of him to send Italian troops to fight and risk their lives. Italian public opinion wouldn't have stood for that.
Baghdad :: Lyse Doucet :: 1031GMT
US marines that I talk to here on the streets say they still feel welcome in Baghdad.
I think the people of the city understand there will be a transition period, but they are looking to Britain and the USA to keep their pledge and have Iraqis running the country again very soon.
Baghdad :: Richard Galpin :: 0951GMT
In the letter published on Wednesday, Queen Rania of Jordan says it is no exaggeration to state that every minute counts in the struggle to save lives in Iraq.
She calls on the American and British forces in the country to make restoring law and order their top priority.
The Queen writes it will then be possible to establish land and air corridors along which humanitarian aid can flow from neighbouring countries.
Jerusalem :: Simon Wilson :: 0927GMT
A Palestinian cabinet minister has called on the United States to release the Palestinian faction leader Abu Abbas, who was arrested in Baghdad.
Saeb Erekat says American forces have no right to imprison Abu Abbas who led the group which hijacked the Achille Lauro cruise ship in 1985, executing an elderly American Jewish passenger onboard.
Mr Erekat says the interim agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, which was signed by Washington, exempts members of the PLO from acts committed before 1993.
The Israeli supreme court formally declared Abu Abbas immune from prosecution five years ago and allowed him to return to Gaza.
Athens :: William Horsley :: 0859GMT
Realism is the watchword at this meeting as European leaders confront the grim fact that the European Union has been split and sidelined over the Iraq war.
The British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has called on opponents of the war to accept the new reality in Iraq, adding that if other countries do not co-operate by supporting moves at the United Nations to rebuild Iraq, the US and Britain would have to make other arrangements.
Leaders of France, Germany and Russia have all pledged to put past quarrels behind and co-operate with the Americans and British.
But big problems remain to be resolved over Iraq's foreign debts, the selection of new political leaders and large contracts for reconstruction.
Centcom, Qatar :: Jon Brain :: 0657GMT
Having tentatively dipped a toe into the unfamiliar waters of political dialogue, the delegates who attended yesterday's historic conference are anxious to keep up the momentum.
A second meeting, to be held at a location still to be decided, will attempt to fast forward the process towards an interim Iraqi authority.
Delegates will have as a basis for their talks a thirteen point plan agreed upon yesterday. This calls for a fully democratic Iraq, based on the rule of law and a respect for diversity.
It also demands that the Ba'ath Party which underpinned Saddam Hussein's regime be dissolved. But the initiative still has many critics.
Yesterday, thousands of Shi'ite Muslims demonstrated in Nasiriya, to protest at the involvement of the US government in helping to shape post-war Iraq.
Kuwait City :: Anita McVeigh :: 0636GMT
A twelve year old Iraqi boy who lost both arms in a bombing raid in Baghdad has arrived in Kuwait for specialist hospital treatment. Ali Ismail Abbas lost his father, mother and brother in the attack
Centcom, Qatar :: Dominic Hughes :: 0540GMT
Abu Abbas was captured in a raid by coalition forces in southern Baghdad on Monday evening.
Abbas is described as the leader of the Palestine Liberation Front, the group that carried out the hijack of the Italian cruise ship the Achille Lauro in 1985 during which a disabled American passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, was shot and his body pushed overboard. US central command says his capture represents another victory in the war against terrorism.
The plans for Abbas are not yet clear. A spokesman merely said that justice will be done. Abbas has been living in Iraq for the last seventeen years, but he's also travelled in the Middle East and the Israeli authorities did allow him to visit Gaza several times in the late 1990s after their security committee concluded he'd renounced violence.
The United States also dropped a warrant for his arrest several years ago but his capture in Iraq is now likely to be used as evidence that Saddam Hussein was supporting terror groups.
Nasiriya :: Damian Grammaticas :: 0410GMT
There were protests outside Tuesday's US-brokered meeting of exiles and ethnic groups at Ur, near Nasiriya, protests against US and British involvement here.
The Iraqi groups who did attend the meeting are trying to dismiss those protests. They say that the main Shia group who did not attend has Iranian backing, and of course they wouldn't want to be involved with the US.
But from another point of view, the Shias are a significant part of Iraq's population, and their absence from such talks is a serious problems for the Americans.
US representatives are going to have to work hard to win the Shias over.
CentCom, Qatar :: Dominic Hughes :: 0405GMT
The US military certainly see the capture of Abu Abbas in Baghdad as a victory in the war on terrorism. They are saying they have "removed a portion of the terror network".
It shows the growing US control in Baghdad, and that is set to spread with the start of co-operation between American soldiers and local police.
However, there are reports of continuing firefights in some parts of the city so it remains an uneven picture.
London :: Charu Shahane :: 0110GMT
Some European Union countries have been critical of the strong US words on Syria.
The Americans said they don't have a list, but a Syrian radio station produced one. Not the kind of war list Washington is accused of having, but another, more friendly one of countries ready to put in a good word for Damascus.
Spain, well-known for being one of Washington's closest allies on Iraq, said Syria was a friend and the furore over it had got out of hand.
Italy was another country that supported military action in Iraq, but Italian Minister for Europe Rocco Buttiglione told the BBC that "we should try with the means of dialogue, of increased economic cooperation, making it clear to Syria that one age in history has gone".
Washington D C:: Ian Pannell :: 0010GMT
The capture of Abu Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that carried out the hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship in 1985, was carried out by US special forces in Baghdad.
The US military claims this is an important victory in the war on terrorism.
Equally important to Washington will be the seeming vindication of the administration's long held charge that the regime of Saddam Hussein was harbouring terrorists.
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