DAMASCUS – Syrian participation in a US-sponsored peace conference could ease its troubled ties with the international community but Damascus is unlikely to back down on its terms, diplomats and officials say.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed students and professors at the US Columbia University during his short sojourn in New York before his address at the 62nd meeting of the UN General Assembly.

Talks between Iranian-and Pakistani officials for extraditing a group of hostage-takers from Pakistan will start producing its positive results today, an informed source said on Wednesday.