Middle Orient

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) – Israeli forces killed four Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, hours after the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers demanded a halt to all Israeli “aggression” as a condition for a ceasefire.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – A Hamas leader and representatives of the Fatah-dominated PLO plan separate visits to Yemen to discuss Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s initiative to reconcile the rival Palestinian groups.

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey plans to invest up to $12 billion in its impoverished, mainly Kurdish southeast region as part of efforts to drain support for separatist PKK rebels, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 8:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. * NEAR KIRKUK – A roadside bomb targeting a local council member near Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, wounded two of his bodyguards, police said.

AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordanian authorities on Wednesday released Jordanian Sheikh Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, a leading al-Qaeda mentor, after several years imprisonment without trial, security sources said.

TULKARM, West Bank (Reuters) – Israeli troops killed an Islamic Jihad militant in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, residents said, in an incident that could complicate Egyptian-mediated efforts to broker a Gaza ceasefire.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei met with visiting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here on Tuesday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- A large number of Iranians from different walks of life met with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, here on Wednesday to stress their fervent desire to take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Firefighting squads in Iran’s western province of Lorestan have striven hard in recent days to extinguish sporadic fires which have most probably been started by imprudent picnic-goers who began summer camping even before the winter ends.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei on Tuesday said that “unity and cooperation will develop the Islamic world into a major global power”.