Middle Orient

KABUL (AFP) – US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates arrived in Afghanistan late Monday for a surprise visit to evaluate international efforts against rising violence led by Taliban rebels allied with Al-Qaeda.

The Afghan ministry of defence has announced plans to treble the size of its army. The ministry said this was to dissuade Afghanistan’s neighbours, Iran and Pakistan, from interfering, as well as to provide better internal security.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday played down expectations for a peace deal with the Palestinians before the end of 2008 as laid out at a U.S.-sponsored peace conference last week.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq must take advantage of improved security to enact laws aimed at reconciliation or risk a resumption of sectarian violence, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said on Sunday.

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 7:30 a.m. EST on Thursday. * denotes new or updated items. * BAGHDAD – Iraqi soldiers killed one gunman and detained 47 other suspects in different areas of Iraq in the past 24 hours, the Defence Ministry said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The U.S. military will carefully manage the growth of neighborhood police units credited with helping to curb violence in Iraq, aiming ultimately to move many into public work roles, a spokesman said on Thursday.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s army will reach a targeted strength of a trained force of 70,000 within four months, but that will be insufficient to stand against internal and external threats, a government spokesman said on Sunday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s army said on Sunday it had offered to escort the leader of the main Sunni Arab political bloc out of his home, where he has been confined for three days in a standoff that has threatened to worsen sectarian tension.

(Reuters) – One U.S. soldier was killed and three were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol in eastern Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – A Japanese student kidnapped by bandits in Iran is healthy and has spoken to his family in the past few days, an Iranian official said on Sunday.