SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt – Israeli, Palestinian and international negotiators pledged Sunday to continue peace talks launched last year by President Bush, even though the quest for peace will certainly outlast his administration.
But future talks will be held in an increasingly uncertain terrain, with the prospect of a hawk coming to power in Israel’s February parliamentary elections and deeply divided Palestinian factions controlling the West Bank and Gaza. It is also unclear how high Mideast peacemaking will figure on Barack Obama’s agenda.

JERUSALEM (CNN) — The Israeli army said Saturday it is investigating a video that appears to show Israeli soldiers taunting a blindfolded Palestinian man.
Israel’s Channel 10 broadcast the video this week and said soldiers had uploaded it to YouTube.
The footage shows a blindfolded man kneeling with what appear to be Israelis in green army uniforms standing behind him. The people in uniform force the man to repeat what they say in Hebrew while they laugh at him.

Libya has paid $1.5bn into a US compensation fund for relatives of victims of terror attacks blamed on Tripoli, the US state department says.
The fund was agreed in August to settle remaining lawsuits in the US.
The attacks include the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people and the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco which killed three and wounded more than 200

The Syrian ambassador to the United States lashed out at the Bush administration following a deadly suspected U.S. military raid inside Syria last Sunday. Ambassador Imad Moustapha called the raid a criminal, terrorist attack against innocent civilians. VOA correspondent Meredith Buel has details from Washington.