Middle Orient

ANKARA – Turkey’s military General Staff said on Monday the number of Kurdish PKK rebels killed during its ground and air offensive in northern Iraq had risen to 153.

BAGHDAD – Iraq fears that a prolonged Turkish incursion into northern Iraq could trigger clashes between Turkish troops and Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga security forces, the country’s national security adviser said on Monday.

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip – Thousands of Palestinians formed a human chain in the Gaza Strip on Monday in a protest against an Israeli blockade that has deepened hardship in the Hamas-controlled territory.

ANKARA – Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul has postponed a planned trip to Africa this week due to a major Turkish ground offensive against Kurdish PKK rebels in northern Iraq, the state Anatolian news agency said on Monday.

SAMARRA, Iraq – A suicide bomber in a wheelchair killed a top policeman and wounded two others when he blew himself up in the police operations centre in the Iraqi city of Samarra on Monday, police said.

BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb blast targeting Iraqis on a pilgrimage to a Shi’ite festival killed three people and wounded 15 on Monday, police said, the day after a suicide bombing also aimed at pilgrims left 40 dead.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Judiciary Spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi paid a 2.5-hour-long visit to Fars News Agency on Sunday, where he praised FNA for its sincere and tireless efforts to cover stories and inform the public of the existing realities and breaking news.

TEHRAN (FNA) – The third Green Development Festival encouraging sustainable and environment-friendly development kicked off work here in Tehran on Sunday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – A new UN Security Council resolution imposing sanctions against Iran over its nuclear drive will receive a “deserving” response from Tehran, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini said on Sunday.

TEHRAN (FNA) – Anchors of the Islamic Republic convened in an Expediency Council meeting here on Sunday to review the latest strategies of the country.