Middle Orient

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Al Qaeda-linked militants in northwest Pakistan have attacked two offices of a government-sponsored peace movement and killed eight people, the military said on Monday.

A U.S. soldier died after a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in Diyala Province on Saturday. Following are the latest figures for military deaths in Iraq and Iraqi civilians killed in attacks since the U.S.-led invasion in March, 2003:

GAZA – Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Saturday dismissed U.S. President George W. Bush’s upcoming visit to the Middle East as a “photo opportunity” and said he was not welcome in the region.

BAGHDAD – An Iraqi soldier opened fire on U.S. troops during a joint patrol in the northern city of Mosul on December 26, killing two and wounding three others along with a civilian interpreter, Iraqi and U.S. officials said on Saturday.

TEHRAN (FNA) Turkmenistan has violated a last year contract which required Ashgabat to double supplies to Iran following an increase in prices, an Iranian oil ministry official said.

TBILISI – Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili is likely to scrape an election win on Saturday in a vote the West will scrutinize for fairness, but polls differ on whether his victory will be big enough to avoid a second round.

DAMASCUS – Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called on Friday for unconditional talks with the rival Fatah faction to halt violence between Palestinians but vowed to keep up the Islamist group’s armed struggle against Israel.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey – Turkey’s top general said on Friday a bomb attack which killed five people including three children in the city of Diyarbakir would only strengthen Turkey’s resolve to crack down on Kurdish separatist guerrillas.

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad criticized Israel on Friday for a major military operation in the West Bank, saying such intervention was ruining a Western-backed internal Palestinian security plan.

ISLAMABAD – Violence may erupt in volatile Pakistan in the run-up to February elections but a six-week postponement of the polls has not fueled unrest, the head of a European Union observer mission said on Friday.