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CONTENTS PAGE 5-6

Palestine

Population: 1.8 million (Gaza); 2.7 million (West Bank)

The latest Gaza war has been a terrible reminder of untenable status quo. Prospects for peace with Israel weakened by the Arab spring and divisions between PLO in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza, isolated by Israel and anti-Islamist military in Cairo, and by chaos in Syria. Rapprochement with the PLO was a rare move towards unity. Israel blamed Hamas for murder of , thrbe teenagers in the West Bank and launched crackdown. Western-backed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas looks weak, with nothing to show for security cooperation with Israel.

No peace process for the first time in 20 years.

■ Backs (PLO) all Arab states; (Hamas) Turkey, Qatar.

Against (PLO) Israel; (Hamas) Israel,

. Saudi Arabia, Egypt.

Watch Hamas-PLO unity moves; PLO quest for international recognition. Boycott and sanctions campaign.

Saudi Arabia (with Qatar, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates) funded Sunni rebels in Syria and Iraq. Businessmen and clerics promoted Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra, but the government is now coordinating with the US in backing only “vetted” non-jihadi Islamist units. The dismissal of Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan reflected a sharper counter-terrorist focus, sparked by fears of Afghan-style “blowback” from returning fighters. Saudi citizens travelling to.Iraq now face fines. King Abdullah, 92, was horrified by the overthrow of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak in 2011, and furious with Barack Obama. Saudis fear a deal over Iran’s nuclear programme - arid being abandoned by a US “pivoting” to Asia. Accused of quietly backing Israel’s war on Hamas.

Backs Syrian rebels (not Isis), Sisi, Bahrain.

Against Assad, Maliki, Iran, Hamas/ Muslim Brotherhood.

Watch Strains over royal succession. Counter-terrorist moves.

Western-backed Sunni monarchy, hosting US naval base, repressing island state’s restive Shia majority despite professed committment to political reform. At the heart of the region’s sectarian fault line.

Backs Saudi Arabia.

Against Iran.

Watch Unrest.

Fabulously Wealthy Gulf state uses Al Jazeera TV and support for Islamists to punch above its weight with an independent foreign policy at odds with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf neighbours.

Backs Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas. Against Sisi.

Watch Fence-mending with Gulf neighbours.

Poorest country in the Arab world. Running out of water as well as oil.

US drone strikes, launched from Saudi Arabia, target al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula but often kill innocents. Attempts to reach a ceasefire between Yemeni army and Houthi rebels (said to be backed by Iran) failed. Tribal sabotage of the electrical grid left the capital city Sana’a without fuel or electricity earlier this year, prompting mass protests calling for the overthrow of the government.

Backs Saudis.

Against al-Qaida. Iran.

Watch Fuel and food shortages.

Drone strikes.