BEIRUT (AFP) — Arab League chief Amr Musa, mediating a crisis between pro- and anti-Damascus forces in Lebanon, said Wednesday that Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud should serve out his term despite calls for him to go.

DUBAI (AFP) — Britain’s Tony Blair on Wednesday accused Iran of being an obstacle to peace in the Middle East and urged moderate countries in the region to form an alliance to oppose its support for extremism.

CAIRO (AP) — The deputy leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman Zawahri, told the United States on Wednesday that it was negotiating with the wrong people in Iraq, strongly implying in a video broadcast on Jazeera that Washington should be talking to his group.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) — Somali Islamists and troops defending the government’s only stronghold battled with rockets and heavy weapons on Wednesday at two frontline areas, but a top Islamist leader denied it was the start of war.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) — Attacks on Darfur aid workers’ compounds in Gereida town have forced the evacuation of 71 staff and severely restricted humanitarian aid reaching the region’s largest population of war victims, officials said on Wednesday.

DAMASCUS  (AP) — US senators John Kerry and Christopher Dodd met with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Wednesday to discuss how Damascus could help bring about stability and security to war-ravaged Iraq.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed on Wednesday that his country is just one step away from becoming an

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- An economic and trade delegation from Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines met with Qatari commerce minister in Doha on Wednesday.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel warned that if the UN Security Council decides to increase pressures on Iran

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Deputy head of Iran’s Judiciary met with Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Tehran here on Wednesday.