Updated: July 11, 2012, 12:00 AM
In pictures: Middle East Pictures of the Week
In this image released by the Egyptian President, Egyptian military soldiers perform during a medal ceremony, at a military base east of Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, July 5, 2012. A Palestinian official says Gaza's prime minister will head to Cairo within the next two weeks to meet with Egypt's new Islamist president, who has close ties with the territory's Hamas rulers. (AP Photo/Mohammed Abd El Moaty, Egyptian Presidency)
A Palestinian child flies a kite at Shaik Ajlen beach in the Gaza Strip, on 06 July 2012. ALI ALI/EPA
Iraqi women pray at the shrine of Imam Abbas bin Ali ibn Abi Taleb, one of Shiite Islam's most revered figures, during the Shaabaniya ceremony commemorating the birth of Imam al-Mahdi, the 12th holiest figure for Shiite Muslims, in the city of Karbala, on???
Shiite pilgrims pounding their hands during a major religious festival at the Imam Abbas shrine in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, July 5, 2012. The Shabaniyah festival marks the birth of Mohammed al-Mahdi, the 12th Shiite imam who disappeared in the 9th century. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
US blues legend B.B. King performs during a concert at the Byblos International Festival in Byblos (Jbeil) north of Beirut, Lebanon, 05 July 2012. The festival runs from 25 June to 25 July 2012. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
An Israeli border policeman fires teargas towards Palestinian demonstrators during a protest against the expansion of the nearby Jewish settlement of Kdumim, in the northern West Bank village of Kufr Qaddum, Friday, July 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)
Firefighters work to put out a blaze in a warehouse of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Peshawar, July 8, 2012. The cause behind the fire is unknown. No casualties were reported, according to local media. REUTERS/Fayaz Aziz
Light emanates from the inside of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter as it waits for passengers at FOB Joyce in Afghanistan's Kunar Province July 5, 2012. Picture taken July 5, 2012. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Pakistani Allah Ditta Jandool, 76, right, who sells camel milk, tickles his grandson Nasser, 7, while waiting for customers, on a roadside on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, July 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
In this photo taken Thursday, July 5, 2012, Shiite pilgrims light candles and fireworks inside the courtyard of the Imam Hussein shrine during the annual festival of Shabaniyah, which marks the anniversary of the birth of the ninth-century Shiite leader known as the Hidden Imam, in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq. Religious Shiites refer to Mohammed al-Mahdi as the "Hidden Imam," believing he was spared death and will return to Earth to bring peace and justice. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Pakistani women take a break from working in a rice field on the outskirts of Gujranwala, in Punjab province, Pakistan, Sunday, July 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
A child walks on the backs of cattle in a river in the eastern suburb of Fadaliayah, outside of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, July 7, 2012. The animals are bathed daily to help keep them free of diseases and to protect them from the heat. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
An Afghan boy jumps down from a vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, July, 5, 2012. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)
A Pakistani mechanic works on an oil tanker, which was used to transport NATO fuel supplies to Afghanistan, while parked with other tankers in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, July 3, 2012. The Obama administration said Tuesday that Pakistan was reopening its supply lines into Afghanistan, after the U.S. belatedly issued an apology for the November killing of 24 Pakistani troops in a NATO airstrike. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)