Middle Orient

Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces killed dozens of Taliban fighters in the south of the country after an ambush by a large group of insurgents, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.

Exiled former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday he was ready to work with another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, against the military rule of President Pervez Musharraf.

US and Iraqi forces killed an estimated 15 Al Qaeda gunmen during a fierce battle south of Baghdad after the fighters launched a major attack on recently formed neighbourhood patrols, the US military said on Tuesday.

Hamas rounded up at least 200 Fateh party members in Gaza on Tuesday, the day after Islamist gunmen killed seven people at a mass rally that underscored the deep divisions between rival Palestinians.

Israeli and Palestinian presidents Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday hailed an upcoming Middle East peace conference as an historic opportunity while warning that failure could spell fresh trouble for the region.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Tuesday launched a fresh bid to break a political impasse in Lebanon that is threatening to derail the election of a president by a November 23 deadline.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has sent messages to Syrian President Bashar Assad that he is interested in reopening peace talks and suggested Israel would return territory it captured 40 years ago, Israeli officials said Tuesday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad here Wednesday said that his country has started uranium enrichment at an industrial scale since the beginning of the current Iranian year, (started March 21).

A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei is likely to be released Wednesday afternoon.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is scheduled to pay a several-hour visit to Tehran following his attendance in the upcoming summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia early next week.