AFP – President Hamid Karzai reiterated his calls for Taliban fighters to put down their arms at a military parade Saturday that showed off Afghanistan’s newly-acquired weaponry and growing army. The president and his cabinet were among scores of dignitaries at a march-past of soldiers and equipment, much of it …

A prominent Iranian lawmaker called on the US to release the five Iranian diplomats to pave the ground for Iran’s active presence in Iraq’s security talks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Proposed by foreign minister and approved by president Ahmadinejad, Seyed Javad Ghavam Shahidi was assigned as Iran’s ambassador to Hanoi.