EL-ARISH, egypt, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - A Turkish man who was shot by Egyptian police as he tried to sneak across the border into Israel died of his wounds on Friday, a security source said.

The 35-year-old, whose name was not released, was hit in the head in Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Thursday after he and seven others ignored police calls to stop.

He was taken to hostpial in the nearby town of El-Arish where he died of his wounds on Friday, the source told AFP.

EL-ARISH, Egypt, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Around 300 Palestinians rallied in northern Egypt on Thursday demanding the reopening of the Rafah border crossing so they can return home to the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinians, including women and children, gathered in the town of El-Arish and waved banners calling for Rafah to be reopened after it was shut in June following Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip.

'Give us back to our families, to our children!' read one demonstrator's banner, amid a strong police presence.

EL-ARISH, Egypt, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Egyptian police shot and seriously wounded a Turkish man as he tried to sneak across the border into Israel from the Sinai peninsula early on Thursday, a security source said.

The unnamed 35-year-old was hit in the head after he and a group of seven others failed to obey police calls to stop in the desert area between Egypt and Israel.

He was taken to hospital in the nearby town of El-Arish where he told police the others in his party were also Turks, the source said.

EL-ARISH, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - Egyptian police shot and wounded two Turkish teenagers on Monday as they tried to sneak across the border into Israel from the Sinai peninsula, a security source said.

The two boys, aged 14 and 16, and their father were trying to cross from central Sinai when they were spotted by an Egyptian border patrol.

Police ordered them to stop and opened fire when they refused, resulting in foot injuries to both teenagers, the source told AFP.

They were taken to hospital in the city of Rafah farther north, the source said.

BRUSSELS, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - The Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola moved closer to resolving a long-standing border dispute Thursday at talks with former colonial powers Belgium and Portugal, diplomats said.

'At first, there were differences over 11 villages. Then over three. Today only one remains, right on the border, which could pose a problem,' said Angolan ambassador Toko Serao.

BASHMAKH, Iraq, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - A cacophony of horns greeted Iran's reopening on Monday of its border with northern Iraq as trucks rolled across again two weeks after Tehran shut its frontiers in protest at the US military seizure of an Iranian national.

More than 400 queueing trucks, some stacked with goods, others empty, crossed at Bashmakh in the mountains north of the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah as merchants looked to make up for tens of thousands of dollars in lost trade.

BASHMAKH, Iraq, Oct 8, 2007 (AFP) - Iran reopened its border with northern Iraq on Monday after a two-week closure to protest at the detention by the US military of an Iranian national.

'Bashmakh border point was open at 9 o'clock,' Rostum Kukai, a security guard at the frontier in the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq, told AFP.

An AFP correspondent witnessed trucks rolling across the border at Bashmakh.

BASHMAKH, Iraq, Oct 7, 2007 (AFP) - Iran on Sunday failed to reopen its border with northern Iraq's Kurdish region after a two-week closure as announced, leaving hundreds of traders stranded at crossing points.

Witnesses and officials said queues of trucks formed from early morning at the border points, closed by Iran on September 24 to protest the US arrest of an Iranian national, but by late afternoon traders had given up hope of crossing before Monday.

BASHMAKH, Iraq, Oct 7, 2007 (AFP) - Traders in Iraq's northern Kurdish region flocked on Sunday to border posts Iran announced would reopen after a two-week closure but found them still shut, witnesses and officials said.

Queues of trucks formed from early morning at the border points, closed by Iran on September 24 to protest the US arrest of an Iranian national, but by late afternoon traders had given up hope of crossing before Monday.

BAGHDAD, Oct 7, 2007 (AFP) - Traders in Iraq's northern Kurdish region flocked on Sunday to a border post Iran announced it would reopen after a two-week closure to protest at the US arrest of an Iranian national.

The trucks began arriving early Sunday at the Haj Umran frontier crossing but by mid-morning there was no sign of movement from the Iranian side, said Abdul Wahid Koani, mayor of the frontier town of Joman.