TOKYO (AP) — The departure of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cheered critics around the world who saw him as a symbol of a failed war in Iraq, while supporters of the military mission pledged to work closely with his successor.

CAIRO (Reuters) — The Sudanese government is willing to start unconditional talks with the National Redemption Front rebel group to stop the violence in Darfur but sees no need for a new peace deal, a senior presidential adviser said.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — An expected phased reduction in US troops in Iraq after the resignation of US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld left Iraqis split on Thursday whether a withdrawal would be in their best interest.

TEHRAN (Reuters) — Iran’s university campuses are falling silent. Student activists, once at the vanguard of a movement seeking political and social change in the Islamic Republic, say they are increasingly afraid to speak out.

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned against carrying out the death sentence on Saddam Hussein, saying that hanging the former leader would lead to more sectarian strife in Iraq.

BEIT HANOUN — “Watch out Jews — the army of Mohammed will return!” thundered mourners as thousands of Palestinians marched Thursday behind the funeral cortege of men, women and children killed by Israeli shelling the day before.

BAGHDAD — US soldiers strolled through neighbourhoods in troubled north Baghdad on Thursday, poking their heads into storefronts and delivering the same message all day: Donald Rumsfeld’s departure does not mean American forces will abandon efforts to stabilise the capital.

BEIRUT (Reuters) — Rival Lebanese leaders made some progress in talks on Thursday on a Hizbollah demand for more say in the Western-backed Cabinet that would give the pro-Syrian party effective veto power over the government.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei stressed that an overwhelming majority of the world people are opposed to the efforts of a few western countries, which seek to trespass Iran’s nuclear rights.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) ground force Wednesday stressed that Iran has now turned into a trans-regional power.