Israel steps up border security

Israel's military has stepped up operations along Gaza's frontier

Israel's military has strengthened positions along its frontier with Gaza ahead of a demonstration against the months-long blockade of the territory.

Three Hamas fighters were killed by Israeli air strikes near Gaza's border on Sunday, the group said.

Tens of thousands of Gazan women and children are expected to form a human chain stretching the length of the coastal enclave in Monday's protest.

Protest organisers say they have no intention of breaching the border.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported there are fears of casualties if the troops try to halt the demonstration.

"Israel will not intervene in demonstrations inside the Gaza Strip but it will ensure the defence of its territory and prevent any violation of its sovereign borders," said a joint statement released by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

"Israel will work to avoid a deterioration of the situation but declares unequivocally that Hamas must assume full responsibility if that happens," said the statement.

Day off school

Monday's demonstration has been organised by the Popular Anti-Siege Committee, a pro-Hamas group.

Organisers hope the chain will stretch along the border

"We do not have intentions of approaching the fence, either in the north or the south," said protest organiser Jamal Khudary.

"We hope all the participants will abide by the instructions and we will try to prevent any violations."

Hamas has said it backs the demonstration but did not organise it.

Hamas-controlled schools across the coastal enclave have given pupils time off to take part in the human chain protest.

An Israeli security source said the army was preparing for "all scenarios", Reuters reported.

"Obviously, if gunmen start shooting at the fence we will have to respond in kind and we are absolutely unwilling to countenance a situation where the fence is breached like it was at Rafah," Reuters reported the source as saying.

Last month, thousands of Gazans crossed the border into Egypt at Rafah, after militants blew holes in the frontier fence.

Smuggling tunnels

In Sunday's airstrikes, two Hamas fighters were killed near the Israeli border in Khan Younes, and another died in northern Gaza, the group said.

Israeli forces also detained 40 Palestinians and said they had discovered five smuggling tunnels along the territory's frontier.

Israel fears similar scenes to those after the Egyptian border breach

Israeli authorities fear a repetition of scenes from last month, when the fence separating Gaza from Egypt was demolished by Palestinian militants in several places near the Rafah crossing point.

Hundreds of thousands of Gazans poured through the breaches to buy essential goods before the border was resealed several days later.

Hamas officials have since raised the possibility of similar breaches along the border with Israel.

Israel's blockade of Gaza was imposed after the Islamist Hamas party routed secular Fatah forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas last June and seized control of the Gaza Strip.

Israel said the siege, which has prevented the flow of everything but essential humanitarian supplies, was in response to cross-border rocket attacks by militants in Gaza.

But Palestinians and several international agencies have said the sanctions amount to collective punishment of Gaza's 1.5 million civilians.

Turkey border tensions fuel confusion

The operation along the rugged, snowbound border is limited

The Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq has apparently turned out to be on a considerably lesser scale than initial reports had suggested.

Iraqi Kurdish officials and US-led coalition sources said only a few hundred Turkish troops at most took part in the cross-border operation.

The Iraqi Kurds - always on the look-out for any Turkish move that might be construed as an attempt against their own autonomous region - said the incursion took place in a remote, rugged and unpopulated sector of the border, where heavy snows hamper movement at this time of the year.

Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces, who control the part of northern Iraq south of the Turkish border, had no contact with the Turkish troops and were only aware of the operation from monitoring military radio traffic.

No vehicles or tanks were involved in the move across the border, although helicopter gunships were in action as well as jets and artillery.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari - himself a Kurd - described the operation as "very, very limited".

But he added that the Turks had destroyed five bridges over the Blue River tributary - part of the Greater Zaab river complex - and said he had called in the Turkish charge d'affaires in Baghdad to deliver a protest note.

Protective US umbrella

The underlying situation in Iraqi Kurdistan and on the Turkish border is so sensitive and tense that any news of Turkish military action is often blown out of proportion.

Turkish military statements are usually scant and elliptical, leaving the field open to speculation and interpretation.

Click to view a detailed map of the border region

But Ankara is well aware of Iraqi Kurdish sensibilities, and also that the United States is committed to maintaining the integrity both of Iraq as a whole, and of the federal autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, which has enjoyed a protective US umbrella since the early 1990s.

Tensions were particularly high in October and November, when the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) carried out raids in which about 30 Turkish soldiers were killed.

Turkey massed tens of thousands of troops on the border, a build-up which is still in place.

The Iraqi Kurds feared that a major invasion was imminent, and that their own autonomy would be the real target.

But the invasion did not materialise, with Washington playing a key role in persuading the Turks to hold off in exchange for co-operation in efforts to deal with the PKK with pin-point operations.

Prime Minister Erdogan said the PKK threatens Turkey's integrity

Washington confirmed that it had been notified in advance of the latest Turkish move, and received assurances that it would be directed solely at positions or fighters of the PKK.

They have hideouts in the rugged border mountains, from which they have conducted attacks across the border into Turkey.

The Turkish President, Abdullah Gul, also called his Iraqi counterpart, Jalal Talabani, on Thursday evening to assure him that border operations would not be directed against the Iraqi Kurds.

Mr Gul invited Mr Talabani, who is a Kurd, to pay an official visit to Ankara, an invitation which the Iraqi president accepted.

But the launching of the Turkish operation was preceded by some friction on the ground between Turkish troops and the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

Fighting season

There are two fixed Turkish bases inside northern Iraq, at Bamarni and Bakoufa, where a limited number of troops and tanks have been stationed since 1997 with a static monitoring and intelligence function.

The PKK wants a Kurdish homeland in south-eastern Turkey

On Wednesday, according to senior Iraqi Kurds, Turkish troops tried to move out of the bases to set up checkpoints on nearby main roads.

They were confronted by Peshmerga fighters who took up combat positions. There was a tense stand-off before the Turkish forces returned to their bases without any shots being fired.

The subsequent cross-border raid, so far at least, has fallen far short of the major incursion that had been feared before the winter weather ended the fighting season in late November.

For thousands of troops to pour across the border, as initial reports suggested, they would have to use the only major crossing, at Habur, near Zakho in the far north-west of Iraq.

The Iraqi Kurds say that did not happen. They control the southern end of the crossing, and would be the first to notice - and probably confront - a major Turkish advance.

Operations elsewhere along the rugged, snowbound border would necessarily be of a much more limited nature, until the spring thaws make the remote terrain somewhat more accessible.

Egypt watches Gaza traffic go on

Vehicles are now commonly crossing the border

Thousands of Gazans are pouring into Egypt for a fourth day, despite Egyptian attempts to reseal the border.

For the first time many Palestinians were using cars to cross, rather than going on foot.

Hamas, which rules Gaza, reacted to Israeli attempts to isolate the hostile territory with a blockade by blowing open Gaza's border with Egypt.

Hopes for talks between Hamas and its rival Fatah to tackle the crisis have been dealt a blow.

In a speech, President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated he would only talk to Hamas if it retreated from its June takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, which had indicated it would accept an invitation to talks, says this insistence effectively sabotages any prospect of negotiations.

This Gaza crisis began nine days ago, when Israel cut off the seaside territory, denying it supplies. It said it was aiming to subdue rocket fire from Gaza, but its actions were widely condemned.

'Let us live'

On Saturday, Gazans continued to stream over the border to Egypt.

Egyptian riot police failed in a bid to close the border on Friday, and the news agency Associated Press said on Saturday that another attempt by riot police to deny access to the border by forming human chains was also abandoned.

"If only they would let us live, breathe a bit. Don't shut the border on us," shouted Mariam al-Shal, a Palestinian woman from the Khan Yunis refugee camp in Gaza, according to AFP news agency.

Hundreds of thousands of people have surged into Egypt to buy supplies since the first breaches in the border wall were made on Wednesday.

The UN has estimated that as much as half of Gaza's 1.5 million population has crossed the border in defiance of Israel's blockade, which was recently tightened leading to acute shortages.

Israel alarm

Israel, alarmed at the ongoing breakdown in security on the Egypt-Gaza border, has closed the main road running along the border. Tourism sites and hiking trails have been closed.

GAZA BLOCKADE 17 January: Israel seals border following rise in rocket attacks 20 January: Gaza's only power plant shuts down 22 January: Israel eases restrictions 22 January: Egyptian border guards disperse Palestinian protest against closure 23 January: Border wall breached

Security measures have been increased, according to the Israeli military, on fears that Israeli citizens could be vulnerable to attacks by Palestinians now free to travel in the area.

The breaching of the border has blown a big hole in the policy of trying to weaken Hamas by isolating it and sealing it in, says BBC analyst Sebastian Usher.

Some new system of controlling the border must now be found and it seems unlikely that this can be achieved without Hamas's involvement and agreement, he says.

But in his speech on Saturday, Mr Abbas reduced the prospect of talks with his Hamas rivals when he repeated demands that they reverse their takeover of Gaza, which he called a "crime".

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri denounced the move, saying it amounted to a "rejection" of a talks initiative.

Mr Abbas also urged Gazans to stop firing rockets into southern Israel, saying it gave Israel an "excuse" to punish the territory.

He said he would renew his offer to take control of Gaza's border crossings instead of Hamas during talks with the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday.

The two are engaged in a new US-backed peace process that has excluded - and is rejected by - Hamas.

Mid-East talks on 'core issues'

There have been a series of meetings since the Annapolis talks

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have begun talks in Jerusalem on what are seen as the most intractable issues in the peace process.

These include the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state, Jewish settlements in the West Bank, refugees, security and water resources.

The talks are being led by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.

Three Palestinian militants died in an Israeli strike in Gaza on Sunday.

The vehicle in which the men were travelling through the Shati refugee camp near Gaza City was struck by an Israeli Air Force missile.

If we reach an agreement on all these issues, then we can say that we have reached a final agreement Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian Authority President

The raid had targeted militants involved in attacks on Israel, the Israeli military said.

One of the men has been named as Nidal Amudi, who was a senior member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group linked to the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Another was identified as Mahir Mabhuh, who belonged to another group, while the identity of the third militant was unknown.

'Final agreement'

During a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, Mr Abbas said the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams would begin discussion of the core "final stage issues" in the peace process at their meeting on Monday.

"If we reach an agreement on all these issues, then we can say that we have reached a final agreement," he said, adding that any peace treaty would have to resolve the disputes over all issues.

The talks come in the wake of an Israeli air strike in Gaza

Mr Abbas added that both sides would at the same time have to implement the first phase of the "road map" formulated by the Middle East Quartet in 2003, which suggests how a final settlement might be approached, and resolve economic and security issues in the West Bank.

The first phase of the road map requires:

• Both sides to issue statements supporting the two-state solution
• The Palestinians to end violence, act against "all those engaged in terror", draw up a constitution and hold elections
• The Israelis to stop settlement building activities and act with military restraint

A spokesman for the Israeli government, Mark Regev, also confirmed the negotiating teams would meet on Monday, and that they had received a mandate to discuss the core issues.

Hamas offer

Prospects for a comprehensive settlement were given fresh impetus by the US peace conference at Annapolis, Maryland, in November, after which Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to restart talks after seven years.

OBSTACLES TO PEACE

US President George W Bush, who visited Israel and the West Bank last week, has said Israel and the Palestinians could sign a peace treaty within a year.

"I believe it's going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office," he told reporters in Ramallah on Thursday.

In his speech, Mr Abbas said he had warned the president that the Palestinians could not move ahead in the negotiations while Jewish settlements continued to be built in the West Bank.

"We can't have negotiations while they are building houses all over," he added.

The Palestinian leader also said he was willing to restart talks with the Islamist movement, Hamas, if it relinquished control of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas ousted Mr Abbas's Fatah movement from the coastal territory in June following a week of violent clashes.

"I am ready to negotiate with Hamas even if the United States does not accept it," he said. "Such a dialogue is very important."

A Hamas statement denounced Mr Abbas's speech as "full of lies and fabrications".

Mid-East leaders in fresh talks

There has been scepticism over the drive in the region in question

Israeli and Palestinian leaders are set formally to begin a new round of peace talks at the White House.

US President George W Bush will meet with Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas alone before a rare three-way meeting.

It follows a conference on Tuesday when both sides agreed to engage in "vigorous" efforts to reach a peace deal by the end of 2008.

But the Palestinian group Hamas said the conference - from which it was excluded - had been a "failure".

Expectations had been low as representatives of more than 40 countries and international agencies gathered in Annapolis, Maryland, ahead of Tuesday's conference.

But in a joint statement concluded with only minutes to spare before the conference formally opened, the two sides agreed to launch negotiations for a treaty "resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception".

Both sides have said those "core issues" will include the thorny so-called "final-status issues" - the future of Jerusalem, borders, water, refugees and settlements - which have scuppered previous attempts at a peace deal.

'The beginning'

Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and the Palestinian President Abbas will formally inaugurate the new peace drive in meetings in the White House on Wednesday, said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a closing news conference on Tuesday.

According to the agreement, they will go on to meet every other week.

In addition, teams of negotiators will be led by a joint steering committee which will meet for the first time on 12 December.

In Tuesday's conference, Mr Bush committed himself to spending the rest of his presidency - until January 2009 - working towards "an independent democratic viable Palestinian state".

"Such a state will provide Palestinians with the chance to lead lives of freedom, purpose and dignity," Mr Bush said.

"And such a state will help provide Israelis with something they have been seeking for generations: to live in peace with their neighbours.

"This is the beginning of the process, not the end of it," he said.

Peace hopes

Mr Abbas repeated demands including that Israel stop building settlements, and release some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

"Neither we nor you must beg for peace from the other," he said.

"It is a joint interest for you and us."

Mr Olmert said he had come to Annapolis despite the obstacles posed by continuing violence against the people of Israel.

"We want peace. We demand an end to terror, an end to hatred. We are prepared to make a painful compromise rife with risks, in order to realise these aspirations," he said.

In a closing news conference, Ms Rice said the event had demonstrated "unambiguously" that the new initiative had international support.

Nations will be asked to provide financial support for Palestinian aid programmes at a donors' conference in Paris in mid-December.

Caution urged

Observers say the fact that the summit is being hosted by the US and has attracted the participation of Saudi Arabia and Syria, two Arab states that do not recognise Israel, is critical to its chances for success.

In Ramallah, Palestinians protested against the conference

But following the main speeches, both countries cautioned that a "comprehensive peace" which saw relations normalised between Israel and Arab countries was dependent on Israel first meeting demands to withdraw from occupied land.

Expectations going into Annapolis have been low because every other attempt at negotiation between the Israelis and the Palestinians has failed, says the BBC's Jeremy Bowen at the conference.

However, there are grounds for optimism, says our correspondent: the Americans are behind the talks, there is no plan B and the consequences of failure could be bloody.

Hamas dismissal

The absence of the Palestinian faction Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and Israel, could also make negotiating a deal problematic.

Hamas controls the internal affairs of the Gaza Strip and says it will not be bound by anything decided in Annapolis.

Following the conference, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri said it had only achieved "a declaration of the beginning of negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis and not a declaration of an agreement between them.

"This by itself is a sharp proof of the failure of the Annapolis meeting," he said.

In Gaza on Tuesday, tens of thousands of Hamas supporters demonstrated against the talks.

In the West Bank - a Fatah stronghold - police violently broke up some demonstrations, with one person killed in clashes in Hebron.

Pressure increases on PKK rebels

Turkey, Iraq and the US have all taken steps to combat the threat of Kurdish fighters based in northern Iraq and defuse the crisis in the region.

The Turkish government has announced economic sanctions against groups which support those responsible for a recent upsurge in attacks on Turkish soldiers.

The move came after Baghdad announced more checkpoints to curb the activities of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The US also said it was giving Turkey intelligence on PKK positions in Iraq.

Washington has urged the Turkish government to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis on its south-eastern border, where it has deployed thousands of troops and threatened to invade.

'Precautions'

Following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said his government had initiated "military, political diplomatic measures" to combat the PKK.

"The targets of these measures are the terrorist organization and those groups which are supporting, aiding and abetting it," he said.

Mr Cicek gave no details of the economic measures, but correspondents say they may result in a boycott of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq, which Ankara says is failing to rein in the activities of the PKK.

The territory receives food imports from Turkey, as well as investment and electricity supplies.

Mr Cicek said Turkey would avoid making innocent people suffer hardship as a result of the "precautions".

Earlier, the US Department of Defence said it had stepped up supplying Ankara with "actionable intelligence" on the positions of PKK fighters in northern Iraq.

THE PKK Formed in late 1970s Launched armed struggle in 1984 Dropped independence demands in 1990s Wants greater autonomy for Turkey's Kurds Leader Abdullah Ocalan arrested in 1999 Ended five-year ceasefire in 2004 Called a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and US

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the US had given Turkey "intelligence with regards to this situation for a long time".

"We are assisting the Turks in their efforts to combat the PKK by supplying them with intelligence, lots of intelligence," he added.

"The key for any sort of military response from the Turks or anyone else is having actionable intelligence and that's a pretty high standard, and we are making efforts to help them get actionable intelligence."

No details were given of how the information is collected but reports suggest American-manned U2 spy planes have been flying over the Turkish-Iraqi border.

Last week, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said his country and Turkey needed better intelligence about the location of PKK fighters in northern Iraq before launching any military strikes.

Border tensions

The Iraqi government says that it too is acting against the PKK.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari - a Kurd - said checkpoints along the border with Turkey were being set up to cut off the PKK's supply lines.

He added that he had not given up hope of a peaceful solution to the problems.

Mr Zebari's comments came after he met his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, for talks in advance of a conference about Iraq on Saturday in Istanbul.

The meeting, bringing together Iraq's neighbours with major international powers and institutions, is aimed at bolstering the country's security and stability.

Afterwards, both men stressed that the border tensions in northern Iraq should not be allowed to dominate the conference.

But the tensions clearly loomed large in the talks.

The two men agreed that the activities of the PKK against Turkey, and those of another Kurdish group, Pejak, against Iran, had to be curbed.

Gaza electricity cuts suspended

Israel's attorney general has intervened to suspend plans to restrict electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip.

Israel has already begun reducing petrol and diesel supplies - it says the action is in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

The government's senior legal adviser, said on Monday that ways of limiting the humanitarian effects of reducing the electricity supply had to be found.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called the plans punitive and unacceptable.

Attorney General Menachem Mazouz's decision came after a number of human rights groups criticised the proposed cutbacks as collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

Mr Mazouz did approve other restrictions, including on the supply of fuel to Gaza.

A range of such economic and political sanctions continue to cause daily hardship for Palestinians, our Jerusalem correspondent Mike Sergeant says.

'Humanitarian obligations'

A statement from Mr Mazouz read: "Security chiefs must carry out supplementary examinations to take account of the humanitarian obligations before ordering electricity cuts."

The Israeli Supreme Courts has given the government until Friday to justify the economic sanctions it is seeking to impose on the Palestinian territory.

ISRAEL'S PROPOSED SANCTIONS Gaza relies on Israel for almost all its fuel and more than half of its electricity Cuts of up to 15% in petrol and 10% in diesel Targeted electricity outages of at least 15 minutes in response to each new rocket attack Supplies of crude diesel to Gaza's power plant not due to be affected Source: Israeli officials

Gaza relies on Israel for almost all its fuel and petrol, and more than half of its electricity.

Israel says fuel cuts of up to 15% are a non-violent way of increasing pressure on Hamas. Israel started implementing the cuts on Sunday.

It insists there will be enough power for hospitals and that supplies will continue to Gaza's sole power station.

'Punitive'

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the action on Monday.

In a statement read out by a spokesperson, Mr Ban urged Palestinian militants to end indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israel, which he condemned.

But he also stated his belief that the "punitive measures taken by Israel... harm the well-being of the entire population of the Gaza Strip".

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU commissioner for external relations, said on a visit to Jerusalem she was "very concerned" about the Israeli move though she understood Israel's "distress" over rocket attacks.

"I think collective punishment is never a solution," she said.

As part of its sanctions, Israel had was envisaging shutting down one of its power lines to Gaza for 15 minutes after a rocket attack, with the cut-off period gradually increasing to a two-hour limit if barrages continue.

The cuts have also been condemned by Hamas, which governs the territory, as a crime against Gaza's population.

Rockets are fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza into Israel on an almost daily basis. Israel withdrew all its settlements from Gaza in 2005. Palestinian militants say they are responding to continued Israeli aggression in Gaza and the West Bank.

Oil prices break through $93 mark

Oil prices have risen to yet another fresh high due to ongoing concerns over the situation between Turkey and Iraq, and general supply jitters.

In early Asian trading on Monday, US light crude broke through $93 a barrel for the first time, hitting $93.20 before easing back slightly to $93.06.

London's Brent also hit a new high of $89.90 a barrel, up $1.21.

Oil prices have risen on fears Turkey may carry out an extensive ground assault against Kurdish rebels in Iraq.

'Geopolitical tensions'

"What we see is a continuation of the trend that was in place on Friday," said David Moore, a commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

"Geopolitical tensions, issues regarding tensions between Turkey and Kurdish rebels... those sort of factors have added to oil prices."

Analysts said prices had been further lifted by concerns that a tropical storm in the Caribbean could make its way to the US gulf coast, hitting key American oil facilities.

US light crude broke through the $92 a barrel price for the first time on Friday.

Iraq suicide bomber kills dozens

At least 27 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a police headquarters in the Iraqi city of Baquba, north of Baghdad, police say.

At least 20 people were hurt. Most victims were police recruits.

Correspondents say the attack bears the hallmarks of militants al-Qaeda in Iraq, who often target recruits.

Baquba is the capital of Diyala province, where some local tribes have recently joined US and Iraqi forces to fight the group.

On Sunday, nine tribal leaders from Diyala province were kidnapped while returning from Baghdad.

Violence levels falling

Police said the bomber arrived at the scene of the attack on a bicycle dressed in civilian clothes concealing a suicide belt.

He blew himself up as recruits waited to begin the day's training session.

Baquba's chief of police was killed in a suicide attack last month.

The September attack happened in a mosque compound during reconciliation talks between Sunni and Shia groups.

But the Jim Muir in Baghdad says levels of violence have generally been falling since a US troop surge began in February.

The US was set to hand over the mainly Shia central province of Karbala to Iraqi control on Monday.

It will be the eighth of 18 provinces to be transferred to local control since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Saudi king chides UK on terrorism

King Abdullah says Britain is not doing enough to fight terrorism

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has accused Britain of not doing enough to fight international terrorism, which he says could take 20 or 30 years to beat.

He was speaking in an interview ahead of a state visit to the UK - the first by a Saudi monarch for 20 years.

He also said Britain failed to act on information passed by the Saudis which might have averted terrorist attacks.

King Abdullah is expected to arrive in the UK on Monday afternoon; his visit begins formally on Tuesday,

In the BBC interview he said the fight against terrorism needed much more effort by countries such as Britain and that al-Qaeda continued to be a big problem for his country.

BBC world affairs correspondent John Simpson says King Abdullah is annoyed that the rest of the world has largely failed to act on his proposal for a UN clearing house for information about terrorism.

Terror 'information'

Speaking through an interpreter, the Saudi monarch said he believed most countries were not taking the issue seriously, "including, unfortunately, Great Britain".

"We have sent information to Great Britain before the terrorist attacks in Britain but unfortunately no action was taken. And it may have been able to maybe avert the tragedy."

The Saudi leadership maintains that it passed the UK information that might have averted the London bombings of 2005 if it had been acted on.

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says Whitehall officials have strenuously denied this, and a subsequent investigation by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) found no evidence of any intelligence passed on by the Saudis that could have prevented the 7 July 2005 bombings.

The king's visit has provoked controversy over Britain's relationship with Saudi Arabia.

A demonstration is planned outside the Saudi embassy in London later in the week in protest at the country's human rights record.

And acting Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable has announced he is boycotting the visit, citing the corruption scandal over Al Yamamah arms deal, and the Saudis' human rights record.

US threat over Iraq embassy staff

The US state department has said it may have to force some diplomats to work in Iraq to fill vacancies at the embassy in Baghdad.

About 250 foreign service staff are to be told they are "prime candidates" for nearly 50 jobs, state department human resources director Harry Thomas said.

If too few people volunteer, some will be ordered to go and risk dismissal if they refuse, Mr Thomas said.

Iraq postings have previously been filled on a voluntary basis.

Vietnam precedent

Mr Thomas said he hoped enough diplomats would volunteer to fill the one-year postings but that "we have many options, including dismissal from the foreign service".

The "prime candidates" will be informed by post on Monday and have 10 days to reply.

To sweeten the deal, an attractive financial package is being offered as well as a generous leave allowance.

The Baghdad embassy is considered a hardship posting by US diplomats because of the security risks and because spouses and children must be left at home.

American diplomats have been forced to work in undesirable postings before.

Some were given no choice but to take postings in some African countries in the 1970s and 1980s and in 1969 an entire class of new foreign service officers was sent to Vietnam.

Syria air strike target 'removed'

Syria air strike target 'removed'

Newly-released satellite images of the presumed site of an Israeli air raid on Syria last month suggest that a large building has been completely removed.

US research group, the Institute for Science and International Security, obtained and analysed the images.

The industrial-style building may have been a nuclear reactor under construction, says the ISIS.

A reporter says the images are not conclusive. Nor is it certain that they show the site hit by Israeli jets.

The Israeli strike has been shrouded in mystery and speculation.

Originally Israel did not even admit that the 6 September raid had been carried out, and its military censor ordered a complete blackout on information.

But Syria said Israeli warplanes violated its airspace in what it called a "hostile act", and Israel eventually acknowledged the mission some four weeks later.

Intelligence sources hinted at a possible link with North Korea's nuclear programme.

'Resemblance'

On Wednesday the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), an independent organisation, released satellite images pre-dating the attack, of a facility in northern Syria that it believes was the target.

They showed both a large industrial building and a pumping station near the Euphrates river.

SEQUENCE OF EVENTS 6 Sept: Syria says air defences fired at Israeli jets, which "dropped some ammunition without causing any material damage" Week one: Israel says nothing; US officials say Israel struck an unspecified target; one US source hints at links to North Korea Week two: N Korea denies any link to Syria; Israeli opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu admits Israel made strike Week three: Syrian president says a military construction site was hit and speaks of "retaliation"; Israel confirms strike on "military target"

The ISIS said the building bore a resemblance to the Yongbyon nuclear facility in North Korea.

"The length of the outer walls of the structures are approximately the same," the institute said in its analysis.

"From the image, the Syrian building is similar in shape to the North Korean reactor building, but the Syrian building is not far enough along in its construction to make a definitive comparison," it said.

The ISIS has now produced a more recent image of the same site taken on 24 October, more than six weeks after the alleged air attack.

The image appears to show that the building has been completely removed and the ground scraped clean.

'Provocative'

Syria has consistently denied any plans to build a nuclear reactor, and its ambassador to the UN rejected the ISIS's analysis, saying the building was "only a centre for research for the desert areas, arid and desert areas in Syria".

"The main point is that is that the Israeli fighter jet violated the airspace of a member state of the United Nations. This is the only fact that we should focus on," Bashar Jaafari said.

"The Israelis have undertaken a provocative action and they should assume the consequences."

North Korea has adamantly denied that it was involved in helping Syria build any kind of nuclear facility.

The images are far from conclusive.

But they suggest that, for whatever reason, the Syrian authorities have gone to great lengths to remove any trace of the building apparently targeted in the strike, our correspondent adds.

The ISIS argues that "dismantling and removing the building at such a rapid pace dramatically complicates any inspection of the facilities and suggests that Syria may be trying to hide what was there".

The report also raises the question of whether Syria might be in breach of its safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, our correspondent says.

Under that, it would have an obligation to notify the UN's nuclear watchdog of any plans to construct a new nuclear facility.

PRESUMED SITE OF ISRAELI ATTACK

Before and after satellite images appear to show that a large industrial building near the Euphrates river has been completely removed

Turkey seeks green light on Iraq

Turkey seeks green light on Iraq MPs in Turkey are due to debate a motion authorising cross-border military operations into northern Iraq to target Kurdish rebel bases there.

Parliament in Ankara is expected to approve the motion by a large majority amid widespread public support for military action against the PKK.

Attacks blamed on the rebels have been escalating inside Turkey in a conflict which dates back more than two decades.

But the US is anxious that Turkish action could destabilise northern Iraq.

It is also embroiled in a row with Turkey over a Congressional vote to recognise the mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman times as genocide.

Turkey is a regional hub for the US military, and some suggest access to Incirlik airbase or other supply lines crucial to US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan could be affected by the row.

Public pressure

The motion says that Turkey has warned Iraq repeatedly to clamp down on the PKK to no avail so now a military option is on the table.

The recent death of 13 Turkish soldiers in an ambush blamed on the PKK has put the government under immense pressure to respond with force, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford reports from Ankara.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the motion does not mean a military operation is imminent.

But he also warned that Turkey would act decisively in its fight against terrorism.

Iraq and America are urging restraint out of concern that military action by Turkey will bring chaos to the only relatively calm region of Iraq, our correspondent notes.

What Ankara wants is concrete action from them against the PKK to prevent that, she adds.

Iraqi concerns

Iraqi Vice-President Tareq Hashemi, who has been sent to Ankara for talks, said his government understood Turkish anger but wanted to achieve a "common understanding".

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh warned that unilateral action by Turkey in Iraq could have "very grave consequences".

"If Turkey as a neighbour of Iraq allows itself the right to intervene militarily in Iraq, what is there to prevent other neighbours from intervening?" he asked in the BBC interview.

Jamal Abdallah, a spokesman for the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq, told there was no co-operation with the PKK.

"We have not helped the PKK and we are not helping it," he said.

The head of the UN refugee agency has said he is deeply concerned that Turkish action could lead to big displacements of people.

Antonio Guterres said the "relatively stable" area had until now acted as a haven for Iraqis displaced from other parts of the country.

Iraq strike 'kills 15 civilians'

The US military says 19 suspected insurgents and 15 women and children have been killed in an operation north of Baghdad.

The air and ground assault was targeted at senior leaders of al-Qaeda in Iraq, in the Lake Tharthar region, it said.

An initial air raid killed four insurgents and more air strikes were launched to back up US ground troops, a statement said.

A further 15 insurgents were found dead along with six women and nine children.

'Small-arms fire'

The US military said the first air strike was launched after intelligence reports suggested senior members of al-Qaeda in Iraq were meeting in the Lake Tharthar area, 120km (75 miles) north of the capital.

The coalition said that after the first air raid suspects were observed fleeing to an area south of the lake.

Ground forces attacked a building in which insurgents were believed to be hiding and were engaged by small-arms fire, the statement said. Further air strikes were then called in.

After securing the area, the troops found 15 dead suspected insurgents along with 15 dead civilians.

Two suspected militants, one woman and three children were wounded and another suspect was detained, the statement said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has in the past expressed frustration with his allies over US military action resulting in civilian deaths.

Maj Brad Leighton, a Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman, said: "We regret that civilians are hurt or killed while coalition forces search to rid Iraq of terrorism.

"These terrorists chose to deliberately place innocent Iraqi women and children in danger by their actions and presence."

Lake Tharthar was the location for one of executed former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's grandest residences, the so-called Green Palace.

Turkey condemns US Armenia vote

Turkey has denounced a vote by a US congressional committee recognising as genocide the 1915-17 mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. President Abdullah Gul said the decision was unacceptable and had no validity for Turkey, which has always denied any genocide took place. The White House said it was very disappointed by the non-binding vote. It fears Turkey could now limit co-operation in the war on terror and provision of military bases near Iraq. The genocide bill passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee by 27 votes to 21 - the first step towards holding a vote in the House of Representatives. Divisions within the committee crossed party lines with eight Democrats voting against the measure and eight Republicans voting for it. President Bush had argued against a vote in favour of the bill, saying "its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in Nato and in the global war on terror". Turkey is a regional operational hub for the US military, and some suggest access to Incirlik airbase, or other supply lines crucial to US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, could be cut in response. 'Invalid' President Gul was quick to attack the vote late on Wednesday evening, saying that some US politicians had "closed their ears to calls to be reasonable and once again sought to sacrifice big problems for small domestic political games". "This unacceptable decision of the committee, like similar ones in the past, is not regarded by the Turkish people as valid or of any value," Mr Gul said, according to the Anatolian news agency. The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul says it is very unusual to hear such high-level political reaction so late at night - a sign of how seriously it takes this. Meanwhile in Washington the US Undersecretary of State, Nicholas Burns, told that the Bush administration was "deeply disappointed". "The United States recognises the immense suffering of the Armenian people due to mass killings and forced deportations at the end of the Ottoman Empire," he said. "We support a full and fair accounting of the atrocities that befell as many as 1.5m Armenians during World War I, which House Resolution 106 does not do." 'Sobering' Correspondents say the committee's vote means that only a change of heart by the opposition Democrats, who control Congress, can now stop a full vote on the bill. Tom Lantos, the committee's chairman, had opened the debate by admitting the resolution posed a "sobering" choice. "We have to weigh the desire to express our solidarity with the Armenian people... against the risk that it could cause young men and women in the uniform of the United States armed services to pay an even heavier price than they are currently paying," he said. Mr Lantos, a survivor of the Jewish Holocaust, said he would introduce a resolution praising US-Turkish friendship next week, according to AFP news agency. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to take up their version of the resolution in the future. Border concerns The controversy comes at a delicate time for relations between Turkey and the United States, our correspondent says. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that the Turkish parliament could discuss a motion as soon as Thursday that would authorise cross border military incursions into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish PKK separatists. The move comes after an escalation in attacks by the PKK killed almost 30 soldiers and civilians in just over a week. Mr Erdogan said such authorisation, which would be valid for one year, would ensure all options were available to Turkey in its fight against the PKK. That includes sending troops into northern Iraq, where the prime minister said more than 3,000 PKK fighters are based. The government is under immense pressure though to act, but Washington has warned Ankara against any unilateral moves that would destabilise Iraq even further. After the Armenian vote in Congress, our correspondent says, Turkey will be far less inclined to heed instructions from the US on anything.

Iraq provinces 'limit refugees'

The UN refugee agency has said the options for Iraqis fleeing violence are being narrowed by an increasing number of provinces refusing them entry.

The head of the UNHCR Iraq Support Unit told the BBC up to 11 governors were restricting access because they lacked resources to look after the refugees.

Andrew Harper warned that, with no imminent end to the displacement, Iraq was becoming a "pressure cooker".

The UNHCR recently said more than 2.2m Iraqis had become internally displaced.

It estimates a further 2.2m have fled to neighbouring states, particularly Syria and Jordan, since the US-led invasion in 2003.

'Pressure cooker'

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Harper said Iraqi authorities had been overwhelmed by the scope of the internal refugee problem and did not have the resources to cope.

The possibility for Iraqis to find safety and find is becoming increasingly restricted Andrew Harper UNHCR Iraq Support Unit

He said the governors of up to 11 provinces - out of 18 in the country - had reacted to the crisis by blocking internal migrants from entering their territory, or denying them food and education if they do get in.

"We are seeing an increasing number of governorates closing their borders or restricting entry to new arrivals," he said.

"And so we have a pressure cooker building up inside Iraq - there is no imminent end to the displacement," he added.

"The possibility for Iraqis to find safety and find is becoming increasingly restricted. So, where they can move is becoming over-populated and intense."

WHERE IRAQIS HAVE FLED TO Syria: 1,400,000 Jordan: 750,000 Gulf states: 200,000 Egypt: 100,000 Iran: 54,000 Lebanon: 40,000 Turkey: 10,000 Internally displaced: 2,250,000 Source: UNHCR

Mr Harper said the UNHCR had raised the problem with the Iraqi central government in Baghdad, but it was told that local authorities had been urged not to turn away Iraqis fleeing other parts of the country.

The 4.4m Iraqi refugees fleeing the violence and turmoil in the country, Mr Harper said, were the biggest challenge facing the UNHCR and the international community at the moment.

He said the figures were increasing on average by up to 100,000 every month.

In Diyala province, local aid workers have said they have been unable to reach thousands of families, including displaced refugees, because of the serious security situation.

Mr Harper's warning comes at a time when Iraq's neighbours have more or less closed their borders to Iraqi refugees, saying they can no longer cope with the strain on their resources.