Eurasia

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Thursday an extra contingent of its troops had begun arriving in Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia, a move Tbilisi said was an illegal act of military aggression.

(Reuters) – Diplomatic novice Dmitry Medvedev will take over next week as Russian president with a thick stack of foreign policy challenges in his in-tray.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Next week a lawyer with little foreign policy experience will become Russian president and lead a country with a nuclear arsenal, a UN veto and volatile relations with its neighbors and an energy-dependent West.

TBILISI (Reuters) – Moscow’s sabre-rattling over two disputed regions of Georgia is driven by Kremlin hardliners who want to push Russia’s next president into an anti-Western stance, diplomats in both countries said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Authorities in Azerbaijan are still demanding more complete documentation before they will release a consignment of Russian equipment destined for an Iranian nuclear power plant under construction at Bushehr.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran discussed with Russia on Monday the general outlines of a package of proposals aimed at defusing concerns about Tehran’s peaceful nuclear activities and programs.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan expects to be readmitted to the Commonwealth at a meeting of the 53-nation group next month, the country’s foreign minister said on Monday.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Leaders of Pakistan’s ruling coalition held inconclusive talks on Monday to finalize strategy for the restoration of judges dismissed by President Pervez Musharraf when he imposed emergency rule last year.

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) – The Pakistan-based commander of the biggest Kashmiri guerrilla group derided on Monday a peace process between Pakistan and India and vowed to continue a “holy war” against India.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran is not considered a threat to the region, Russian Defense Attaché in Tehran Col. Viktor Lobanov said here on Tuesday.