French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to boost relations with Libya as he met with the country’s leader Muammar Qadhafi on Wednesday as a reward for the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor.

Lebanese troops advanced towards fortified positions of Islamist gunmen at a Palestinian refugee camp on Wednesday in what political sources said was the start of a final assault to root out the gunmen.

Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib and his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Wednesday held intensive talks here over the Arab peace plan and called for a rapid timetable for talks with the Palestinians over statehood.