The May 12 bombings in Saudi Arabia reverberated throughout May 13. As the casualties mounted, U.S. officials announced that an FBI team was being sent to Saudi Arabia. U.S. President George W. Bush said he couldn't prove it yet, but he wouldn't be surprised if the attackers were al Qaeda.

At least three near-simultaneous car bomb attacks took place at residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, just before midnight May 12, killing several foreigners, including 10 Americans. Saudi officials linked the attacks to a group of 19 suspected al Qaeda sympathizers who have been on the run since May 6.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell -- in his "senior defense department official" persona -- revealed that the United States and Iran have been engaged in direct talks in Geneva. Powell said the purpose of the discussions was not to establish diplomatic relations but to discuss specific issues.

President George W. Bush will propose a free trade zone in the Middle East during a commencement speech tomorrow, White House officials said Thursday, May 8. It is difficult to imagine a free trade zone in an area as fragmented as the Middle East, but the concept has an interesting geopolitical pedigree.

Ret. Army Gen. Jay Garner, the U.S. civil administrator for Iraq, said Monday that a group of nine Iraqis will be appointed to head Iraq's interim government.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Syrian President Bashar al Assad on Saturday, April 2, and appeared to have negotiated an agreement whereby the Syrians would have shut down the offices of radical Palestinian groups operating out of Damascus.

The United States published its long-awaited roadmap for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The roadmap proposes to achieve a comprehensive settlement by 2005 in three phases.

The inevitable happened in Tel Aviv shortly after midnight local time on April 30, when a suicide bomber struck a bar near the U.S. Embassy, killing at least three people and injuring 49. The attack came a few hours after the Palestinian Parliament installed Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' new Cabinet.

Some 250 Iraqi leaders representing various political and ethnic groups attended a meeting sponsored by the United States on April 28. They agreed to hold a national conference within four weeks to choose an interim government for Iraq. U.S. President George W.

The situation in Iraq is slowly settling down, although the settling isn't all that visible. An explosion at an ammunition dump followed by an attack on U.S. soldiers in Baghdad, coupled with the arrest of Mohammed Mohsen al-Zubaidi, who declared himself mayor 10 days ago, all seem to indicate that the situation remains grim.