Middle Orient

GAZA (Reuters) – Hamas wants this weekend’s Arab summit to back a Yemen-sponsored reconciliation agreement between the group and its Palestinian rival Fatah, a pro-Hamas Web site quoted the group’s leader as saying on Friday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi oil exports returned to normal in Basra on Friday after a bomb attack a day earlier, but heavy fighting throughout the region has sparked unease about the security of the southern oilfields and pipelines.

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil eased to near $107 a barrel on Friday as crude flows though Iraq’s pipeline system were restored after disruption by a bomb attack a day earlier.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – At least 120 “enemy” fighters have been killed in a four-day-old Iraqi military operation against Shi’ite militias in the southern oil hub of Basra, a senior Iraqi commander said on Friday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi security forces found 37 badly decomposed bodies in a mass grave north of Baghdad and some showed signs of torture, the U.S. military said on Friday.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) Iraq’s prime minister extended a deadline for Shi’ite militants in southern Basra to hand over their weapons from Saturday to April 8 and said they would receive a financial reward if they complied.

GAZA (Reuters) – Israeli troops killed one Hamas militant and wounded two during clashes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the Islamist group and the army said on Friday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran Tractor Manufacturing Company (ITMC) has implemented a production line to manufacture Iranian-made tractors in Uganda and Zimbabwe.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran and South Korea have underscored the need to develop bilateral cooperation, focusing on the transportation sector.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has suspended pilgrim tours to Shiite Muslim holy sites in Iraq because of rising violence there.