Middle Orient

Hours before the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to arrive, Israel freed dozens of Palestinian prisoners in a gesture aimed at boosting Middle East peace. The group of 198 included the longest-serving prisonner held by Israel. Said al-Atabeh was arrested in 1977 and jailed for life for …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Gunmen kidnapped eight Iraqis from their homes on Saturday and held them through the day in volatile Diyala province, where al Qaeda militants continue to roam despite a crackdown by Iraqi security forces, police said.

KIRKUK (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded eight more on Saturday in Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk, police said.The bomber detonated a suicide vest in a car market in southern Kirkuk, said Major-General Torhan Abdul-Rahman, a senior police official in the city.

Two boats that set off from Cyprus packed with Palestinian activists; emergency supplies; and the sister-in-law of Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair have landed in the Gaza strip.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) Secretary General Abdulrahman bin Hamad al-Attiyah praised the visit to Iran by Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and his talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Turkish energy minister Hilmi Guler met with the Iranian ambassador to Ankara Thursday evening to iron out serious problems that have developed over the long-mooted wide-ranging gas deal between the two countries, a Turkish official said.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian border security guards on Friday evening arrested 21 Pakistanis on the two countries’ border and handed them over to Taftan police.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Charge d’affaires in Lebanon conferred with Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh on Friday.

NICOSIA (Reuters) – Activists seeking to challenge Israel’s sea blockade of Gaza were struggling with rough seas and disruptions to their communications, the group said on Saturday.

(Reuters) – Following are security developments in Iraq at 1200 GMT on Saturday. NEAR BAIJI – Gunmen killed four members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood patrol in a drive-by shooting at their checkpoint just south of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.