OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Israeli minister said on Tuesday his country should exchange jailed Palestinian Intifada leader Marwan Barghouthi for an Israeli soldier seized by Gaza fighters more than a year ago.

GAZA CITY (AFP) – Haidar Abdel Shafi, who led the Palestinian delegation to the Madrid international peace conference in 1991, died in a Gaza City hospital early on Tuesday, officials said. He was 88.

DAMASCUS – Syrian participation in a US-sponsored peace conference could ease its troubled ties with the international community but Damascus is unlikely to back down on its terms, diplomats and officials say.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed students and professors at the US Columbia University during his short sojourn in New York before his address at the 62nd meeting of the UN General Assembly.

Talks between Iranian-and Pakistani officials for extraditing a group of hostage-takers from Pakistan will start producing its positive results today, an informed source said on Wednesday.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates said the present hues and cries by the Washington against Tehran results from Iran’s constructive cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United States’ failure in Iraq.

Secret documents proving that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had ordered chemical bombardments of his own troops during the 8 years of Iraqi imposed war on Iran was released by FNA for the first time.

Iran voiced preparedness to transfer its experience and knowledge in the field of civilian nuclear technology to other Muslim states.

The following is the full text of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s address at the 62nd meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Iran said Sunday its nuclear activities have not halted or slowed down, rejecting reports that it has not significantly expanded its uranium enrichment program this summer as planned.