Middle Orient

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday described diplomacy as the only way to end the nuclear standoff between his country and the West, and insisted that Tehran is serious about negotiations.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari announced that his country plans to supply petrol, diesel oil and fuel oil at free-market rates on daily basis while natural gas and kerosene will be semi-subsidized.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili will speak to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Monday, an Iranian official said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Syrian President Bashar Assad concluded his two-day visit to Tehran on Sunday in which he expressed support for Iran’s nuclear program.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Oil rose back above $126 a barrel on Monday on supply worries, lifted by concern over West’s ultimatum to Iran over its nuclear activities, a tropical storm that has formed near the Gulf of Mexico and further violence in OPEC member Nigeria.

DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Syrian officials attended the funeral on Sunday of a senior security officer whose killing has shaken the tightly controlled country.

RAMALLAH (Reuters) – Israel freed a former Hamas minister from prison on Sunday, an official from the Islamist group said.

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 1330 GMT on Sunday. * denotes a new or updated item.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish troops have killed eight Kurdish guerrillas in a fire fight in southeast Turkey, bringing the total death toll in a two-day clash to 13, military headquarters said on Sunday.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – A senior Syrian officer was shot dead in mysterious circumstances in northern Syria last week, Arab media reports said on Sunday.