Eurasia Press & News

PRAGUE  – The European Union said on Wednesday it would invite Iran to a conference on Afghanistan. Calls have grown in the international community to engage Iran in both regional diplomacy and in direct talks on Tehran’s nuclear program. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the planned conference would …

MOSCOW  – Russia has halted plans to deploy missiles near the Polish border, a Russian news agency quoted the military as saying on Wednesday, in what could be a sign Moscow is seeking better ties with the new U.S. president. But there was no official confirmation and a Kremlin official …

LONDON  – Private security companies are expanding operations in Afghanistan as the war there heats up, but industry experts say those that made fortunes in Iraq may find business much tougher in the new market. As Iraq has grown more stable, Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is strong, has been …

BAGHDAD  – Iraq will send Syria its first ambassador since around the time Saddam Hussein became president in 1979, a government official said Wednesday. Alaa al-Jawadi would leave Wednesday to become Iraq’s new envoy in Damascus, Mohammed al-Haj Hamoud, Iraq’s deputy foreign minister, told Reuters. Last October Damascus posted its …

BRUSSELS  – A reported Russian move to halt deployment of Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad would be a good step if confirmed, NATO said on Wednesday. “The earlier Russian announcement that they were going to deploy missiles into Kaliningrad and point them at NATO allies was unwelcome. If that decision has …

NAZRAN, Russia  – A new president in Russia’s mainly Muslim Ingushetia region has taken the heat out of a simmering rebellion by restoring some trust in the regional authorities. Although violence still scars Ingushetia, residents say it has decreased since Yunus-Bek Yevkurov replaced former secret police officer Murat Zyazikov in …

WASHINGTON  – Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari called on the United States on Wednesday to boost both military and non-military aid to his country to help it fight extremists. In an opinion piece in the Washington Post, Zardari said U.S. President Barack Obama should push Congress to pass legislation introduced …

DAVOS, Switzerland  – Pakistan will release details of an investigation into the Mumbai attacks “very soon,” Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday. “We are investigating … anything substantive we will share with the world,” he told Reuters in an interview in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, where …

JERUSALEM  – The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had reprimanded an officer behind the distribution of a booklet during the Gaza war that advised soldiers against showing any mercy to enemies. An Israeli rights group, Yesh Din, called Monday for the dismissal of the chief military rabbi, Brigadier-General Avichai …

ISLAMABAD  – Pakistan said Wednesday it wanted closer cooperation with the United States in the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban but had no understanding with Washington that allowed missile strikes on its territory. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that Washington would continue with strikes by unmanned …