Middle Orient

A member of the pro-Syrian opposition in Lebanon has been killed in a car bombing south-east of the capital, Beirut, security officials have said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran protested Tuesday against Israeli threats to kidnap President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and use force against the Islamic Republic, declaring that it would not hesitate to act in self-defense.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Energy Ministry plans to build a dam and hydropower plant in Azerbaijan, an Iranian official said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Hezbollah chief Seyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Monday that any Israeli attack on Lebanon depended on the Iranian nuclear issue and the Israel-Syria talks.

Cairo – Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Soleiman will meet in Cairo with a delegation from the Palestine Democratic Union on Wednesday to discuss ways to end the inter-Palestinian conflict.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana heads to the Middle East next Friday on a tour which will include Egypt, the Palestinian territories, and Jordan.

RAMALLAH, The Palestinian security forces of President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday arrested ten members of Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the West Bank, Hamas said in a statement.

RAMALLAH, A high-ranking Palestinian source revealed on Tuesday that Israel would not free more Palestinian prisoners from its jails as a goodwill gesture to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia will repatriate all Iraqi prisoners in Saudi jails under a new agreement, Iraq’s national security advisor said on Tuesday, a move that could help slowly warming ties between the two nations.

TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) – Rival Lebanese leaders signed on Monday a reconciliation deal aimed at ending four months of sporadic sectarian fighting in a volatile northern city that had raised fears of a rise of Islamist militancy.