UAE-LABOR: Survey on jobless nationals

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the National Human Resources Development Authority (Tanmia) will soon begin a survey of 2,000 UAE national families in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates to count the number of unemployed members, a senior official said Thursday.

MIDDLE EAST: Israel undermines all peace plans, says UAE daily

A leading United Arab Emirates (UAE) Arabic newspaper today commented on the heavy Israeli blow to any new peace plan aimed at ending the violence in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.

SUDAN-ERITREA: Reconciliation summit

A reconciliation summit meeting, aimed at ironing out differences between Sudan and Eritrea, will be held between Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Eritrean President Isaiah Afwerki in Tripoli today under the patronage of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.

UAE-IRAN: Zayed receives letter from Khatami

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan received a letter from Iranian President Mohammed Khatami dealing with latest developments in the region and the joint cooperation between the two countries.

UAE-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: Interior Ministry arrests 2,931 infiltrators in

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Interior Ministry has arrested a total of 2,931 infiltrators throughout the month of April, an official source from the ministry said.

MIDDLE EAST: Arafat appoints Ahmed Abdul Rahman as advisor

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat today issued a decision appointing Ahmed Abdul Rahman as advisor at the rank of minister. He was also appointed member of the higher committee for negotiations affairs.

POLITICS-SYRIA: Damascus Stands Up to U.S. Pressure

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Damascus Friday amidst indications that Syria will not take orders from the U.S.

MIDDLE EAST: ‘Road Map’ Needs Foreign Intervention

Without a massive international presence, it will be impossible to take even the first few steps outlined by the new plan for peace in the Middle East, sponsored by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, and known as the ''road map,'' Haim Oron, a leader of Israel's left- wing Meretz Party, told IPS.

IRAQ: Duped and disgruntled Arab volunteers responsible for unrest, says UAE

-A major United Arab Emirates (UAE) Arabic daily today blamed what it described as remnants of disgruntled Arab volunteers" for the current unrest in the Iraqi cities of Falluja, Tikrit, Mousal and other areas.

IRAQ: Four explosions hit Baghdad

Four big explosions shook the Iraqi capital Baghdad today near the presidential palace which the US forces use as headquarters.

IRAQ: Two top officials arrested in Baghdad

One of the most prominent officials of the Baath Party, member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Council Misbah Hadi, was arrested in Baghdad, a representative of the US military command said on Friday.

TURKEY: Earthquake death toll reaches 105

The death toll in the devastating earthquake which jolted the city of Bingol in southeastern Turkey yesterday increased to 105 dead and 600 injured.

MIDDLE EAST: Israeli occupation forces demolish two houses

The Israeli occupation forces in the early hours of Friday demolished two Palestinian houses in Bait Fourik near Nablus.

INDIA: Appointment of high commissioner to Pakistan announced

Carrying forward the peace initiative, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Friday announced in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) that India has decided to appoint a high commissioner to Pakistan and restore civil aviation links on a reciprocal basis.

/MAY DAY/IRAN: Workers Protest Ban on Demonstrations

Workers around Teheran who had planned to demonstrate May Day against low minimum wages, now plan to protest because they were not allowed to demonstrate.

UAE-IRAQ: Assistance to stranded Iraqi families

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Dubai Red Crescent Society (RCS) has offered humanitarian assistance to a number of stranded Iraqi families in Mina Rashid in Dubai after being banned from entry to Iraq and came back to the country on board the same ship which carried them to the Iraqi Seaport of Umm Al Qasr.

IRAQ: US-Britain want diminishing role for UN, says UAE paper

A leading United Arab Emirates (UAE) English daily has said that, US and Britain want UN to have a "diminishing responsibility" in Iraq.

IRAQ: Al Arabiya TV channel commissions former UN envoy

Former Iraqi ambassador to the UN Mohammed Al Douri has been commissioned to present a political program at Al Arabiya, the Dubai-based TV channel, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) English newspaper reported today.

IRAQ: UNESCO first mission to leave soon.

UNESCO's first mission may leave for Iraq in the near future û - in the first week of May", said the secretary general of this international organization, Koitiro Matsuura. According to him, the United Nations would like to see the creation of the UNESCO mission in Baghdad as soon as possible.

IRAQ: Seven US troops injured in bomb attack in Falluja

Seven US troops were reportedly injured this morning in what was said to be a - bomb" attack on their offices in Falluja to the west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

TURKEY: Dozens killed in powerful earthquake in southeast

At least 24 people were reportedly killed in a powerful earthquake that rocked south-east Turkey Thursday morning.