UNITED NATIONS, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday welcomed news that his special envoy Ibrahim Gambari would be allowed to visit restive Myanmar from Saturday and urged the military junta to agree to a 'constructive dialogue.'

'The secretary-general is pleased that the government of Myanmar has agreed to a visit by his special adviser, Ibrahim Gambari, beginning 29 September,' his press office said.

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon has been informed that his special envoy Ibrahim Gambari will be welcome in Myanmar to discuss the current turmoil, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

'The secretary general has been informed that his special envoy will be welcome in Myanmar,' spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. 'He is pleased.'

RIYADH, Sept 18, 2007 (AFP) - Saudi business leaders on Tuesday welcomed a decision by the Saudi government to facilitate entry visas for foreign businessmen, saying it would boost investments in the kingdom.

At its weekly meeting in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the cabinet decided that foreign businessmen would henceforth be granted multiple-entry visas valid for one year.

The decision was announced early Tuesday.

JERUSALEM, Sept 16, 2007 (AFP) - The Israeli government on Sunday offered to wave visa requirements for Russian citizens if Moscow reciprocates with the same measure, Tourism Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich said.

'The measure was taken with the aim of encouraging Russian tourism, seeing that each year some four million Russian tourists come to the region, but only 100,000 of them come to Israel,' Aharonovich told public radio.

Israel's 1.2 million immigrants from the former Soviet Union should also encourage tourism, said Aharonovich.

LONDON, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - A former Soviet dissident planning to run for the Russian presidency next year said Friday he has obtained a new Russian passport after years in exile, and plans to return later this year.

Vladimir Bukovsky, who spent 12 years behind bars in the Soviet Union before making his home in Britain in the mid-1970s, announced in May that he will be a candidate in 2008 ballots for the Kremlin.