Middle Orient

LONDON – HarperCollins will rush out a book submitted by former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto just days before her December 27 assassination, it said on Monday.

BAIJI, Iraq – Firefighters have succeeded in bringing a blaze at Iraq’s largest oil refinery in Baiji under control, an engineer at the refinery said.

BAIJI, Iraq – Iraq’s largest oil refinery was continuing to operate on Monday despite a fire that destroyed its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) unit, an engineer at the facility told Reuters.

JERUSALEM – Israeli and Palestinian negotiators struggled on Monday to get U.S.-sponsored peace talks, stalled by disputes over Jewish settlements, on course before a visit by President George W. Bush.

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.