Middle Orient

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Monday welcomed the position of European Parliament about the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

A Palestinian official says Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will hold talks with US President Bush on Sept. 26 at the White House.

About 30 Palestinians living in a refugee camp in the desert region along the Iraqi-Syrian border are due to leave for resettlement in Iceland.

TEHRAN (FNA)- As France endeavors to pry Syria away from Iran, Tehran says warm relations between the two countries do not threaten the Islamic Republic.

RAMALLAH, Fatah movement’s spokesman in the West Bank Ahmed Abdel Rahman said on Sunday that it’s still premature to talk about bringing Arab forces to the Gaza Strip that is ruled by Hamas movement.

RAMALLAH, A Palestinian official on Sunday warned the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from accepting an American offer to create a Palestinian statehood on provisional borders.

Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held talks on Sunday in an effort to push forward the peace process and negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) – Lebanese Sunni Muslim leader Saad al-Hariri held talks with an Alawite community leader in a volatile northern city overnight, paving the way for agreement to end four months of sectarian tensions, politicians said on Sunday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah will visit Iraq after Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, an Iraqi government official said on Sunday.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday it was time to consider offering compensation to Jewish settlers who volunteer to leave parts of the West Bank that Israel would hand to the Palestinians in a statehood deal.