Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Ehud Barak made a secret visit to Jordan on Tuesday and met with King Abdullah II, Israeli public radio reported on Thursday.

US president-elect Barack Obama Wednesday telephoned UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plus the presidents of Colombia, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, his office said.

Obama returned their calls `and expressed his appreciation for their congratulations on his election,` the Democrat`s transition office said in a statement, offering no further details.

US president-elect Barack Obama Wednesday telephoned UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plus the presidents of Colombia, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, his office said.

Obama returned their calls `and expressed his appreciation for their congratulations on his election,` the Democrat`s transition office said in a statement, offering no further details.

Vietnam`s president hailed his country`s friendship with Venezuela Wednesday in the first visit by a head of state from the communist nation here, which was set to focus on oil and gas ties.

Nguyen Minh Triet was due to meet President Hugo Chavez on Thursday, during the two-day trip, before traveling to Lima, Peru, for an Asia-Pacific summit.

The Vietnamese president was in Venezuela Wednesday where he was set to promote oil and gas cooperation in a two-day official visit, the first by a head of state from the communist nation.

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias voiced support on Wednesday for Moscow`s plans for a new European security pact during talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow.

A former United Nations official convicted by a US court of money-laundering in the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal has been transferred to his native Russia, the Russian foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to embark on a five-day official visit to India Thursday, his office said.

Erdogan will meet his counterpart Manmohan Singh, President Pratibha Patil and other senior officials in New Delhi in an effort to `secure concrete results from the momentum and openings` achieved in bilateral ties recently, a statement said.

Visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Wednesday he hopes 2009 will usher in changes around the globe that will bring about a comprehensive Middle East peace settlement.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is to visit Damascus, a Syrian official said Wednesday, reflecting tightening ties between Moscow and its Cold War ally.

`Tomorrow I will participate in a ministerial meeting to prepare for an upcoming meeting in Damascus of a commission led by the heads of government,` Syrian Economy Minister Amer Lutfi told a press conference.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is to visit Damascus, a Syrian official said Wednesday, reflecting tightening ties between Moscow and its Cold War ally.

`Tomorrow I will participate in a ministerial meeting to prepare for an upcoming meeting in Damascus of a commission led by the heads of government,` Syrian Economy Minister Amer Lutfi told a press conference.

Visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Wednesday he hoped 2009 would see a comprehensive Middle East peace settlement given changes in the US and Israeli administrations and elections in the region.

`I think 2009 is going to be a very important year,` Miliband told reporters after meeting with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman.

Visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Wednesday he hoped 2009 would see a comprehensive Middle East peace settlement given changes in the US and Israeli administrations and elections in the region.

`I think 2009 is going to be a very important year,` Miliband told reporters after meeting with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman.

Israel`s hawkish opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday a Palestinian state should only be created once the economy is strengthened, adding that this would be at the heart of his peace plan if he wins February elections.

Israel`s hawkish opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday a Palestinian state should only be created once the economy is strengthened, adding that this would be at the heart of his peace plan if he wins February elections.

A former United Nations official convicted by a US court of money laundering in connection with the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal has been handed over to his native Russia, officials said Wednesday.

A former United Nations official convicted by a US court of money laundering in connection with the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal has been handed over to his native Russia, officials said Wednesday.

China`s President Hu Jintao on Wednesday was to wrap up a landmark visit to Cuba where he brought millions of dollars in aid and promises of closer trade ties.

The Chinese leader brought 4.5 tonnes of humanitarian aid for victims of three hurricanes that battered Cuba this year, which was handed over late Monday after Hu`s arrival at the Jose Marti International Airport.

China`s President Hu Jintao on Wednesday was to wrap up a landmark visit to Cuba where he brought millions of dollars in aid and promises of closer trade ties.

The Chinese leader brought 4.5 tonnes of humanitarian aid for victims of three hurricanes that battered Cuba this year, which was handed over late Monday after Hu`s arrival at the Jose Marti International Airport.

China and Costa Rica were to launch free trade talks here Monday in a historic visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the start of a Latin America tour including Cuba and Peru.

China has increased diplomacy and investment in the region in recent years, with an eye on natural resources and developing markets for manufactured goods and even arms.

Leading Tibetan exiles were set to meet in India on Monday for a week of discussions that could usher in a more radical approach to their long struggle against Chinese rule in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet`s spiritual leader, called the meeting after admitting that his attempts to secure greater autonomy for the region through negotiation with the Chinese government had failed.

Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived Sunday in Costa Rica in the highest-level visit by a Chinese official to the country, just over a year after it gave up six decades of ties with Taiwan.

China has increased diplomacy and investment in Latin America in recent years, with an eye on its natural resources and developing markets for manufactured goods and even arms.

Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived Sunday in Costa Rica in the highest-level visit by a Chinese official to the country, just over a year after it gave up six decades of ties with Taiwan.

China has increased diplomacy and investment in Latin America in recent years, with an eye on its natural resources and developing markets for manufactured goods and even arms.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday told her visiting British counterpart David Miliband that she expected the international community to support the Jewish state`s tough stand in Gaza.

`Israel can not just watch its citizens being attacked... The international community can not turn a blind-eye,` Livni said during talks with Miliband.

Argentina President Cristina Kirchner held talks with her Algerian counterpart Sunday during a two-day visit aimed at bolstering trade and which is part of a tour of northern Africa.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika welcomed Kirchner when she arrived in the late morning before the face-to-face talks that preceded discussions between the two country`s delegations.

Chinese President Hu Jintao arrives Sunday in Costa Rica in the highest-level visit by a Chinese official to the country, just over a year after it gave up six decades of ties with Taiwan.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived in the Middle East on Sunday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a bid to bolster the peace process as Israel prepares for early elections.

After landing in Israel, Miliband was due to go into Jerusalem talks with interim Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a British embassy spokeswoman said.

Envoys of the Dalai Lama, Tibet`s exiled spiritual leader, said on Sunday that their most recent talks with China had failed, as the Tibet movement gathered in north India to assess its future.

TEL AVIV, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Saturday kicked off a 24-hour visit to the region for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders ahead of a US peace meeting planned for later this month.

Kouchner headed straight into talks with Tel Aviv with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak before going to Jerusalem where he was to meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday.

TRIPOLI, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Mauritanian President Sidi Ould Sheikh Abdallahi met Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi on Saturday at the start of visit to Tripoli aimed at boosting relations after years of tension.

The trip comes ahead of a European-African conference in Lisbon and aims to strengthen ties which cooled when Mauritania accused Libya of supporting attempts to destabilise the country.

MANAMA, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the prospect of war over his country's nuclear drive during a visit on Saturday to key US ally Bahrain, whose ties with Tehran have often been strained.

'We don't expect a new war in the region... and don't wish war to break out... But we have made all the preparations to face this eventuality (although) we don't expect (military conflict),' he told reporters.

It was only the second visit to the tiny Gulf island state by an Iranian president since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - European Union special envoy for Myanmar Piero Fassino expressed support Saturday for UN efforts to promote national reconciliation in the military-ruled country.

A day after meeting in New York with the United Nations special envoy for Myanmar, Fassino said the EU wants to help foster dialogue and reconciliation in the Southeast Asian nation after the military regime suppressed peaceful protests in September.

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - The Palestinians have written to the US government demanding a complete freeze on the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a senior official said on Saturday.

The demand comes amid intense talks between Israeli and Palestinians in an effort to reach understandings on a solution to the Middle East conflict ahead of a US-sponsored peace meeting planned for the end of this month.

PARIS, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Germany has grown 'worried' over a diplomatic crisis with Beijing sparked by German Chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting with the Dalai Lama in September, the country's foreign minister said Saturday.

'We have had better relations with China, that is unfortunately true,' Frank-Walter Steinmeier told journalists during a visit to Paris.

MANAMA, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday began a brief visit to key US ally Bahrain, with which ties have often been strained, to sign several cooperation agreements.

Ahmadinejad, who was to leave later in the day for Saudi Arabia to attend a rare summit of the OPEC oil cartel, immediately went into talks with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa, a senior official told AFP.

BEIJING, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - North Korea is fully cooperating with US weapons experts supervising the disabling of the communist country's principal nuclear site, New Zealand's foreign minister Winston Peters said Saturday.

'They receive full cooperation at this point of time,' said Peters, who is in China following a two-day visit to Pyongyang.

WASHINGTON, Nov 16, 2007 (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told US President George W. Bush here Friday that he would make his 'utmost efforts' to restart a Japanese naval mission supporting US-led efforts in Afghanistan.

After talks meant to defuse tensions on a range of issues, Bush promised 'we will not forget' the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea as Washington moves to take Pyongyang off a list of state sponsors of terrorism.