AL-HAYAT (LONDON)
Tehran welcomes talks with West
Iran this week set the framework for its talks with the West over its nuclear program and called for dealing with Tehran as a “civilian nuclear state.”
It also reiterated its refusal to stop uranium enrichment, and suggested that the group of six states involved in the Iranian nuclear talks, which entails the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, become a “group of seven” to also include Iran.
AL-MASRY AL-YOUM (EGYPT)
State indicts six in Hezbollah case
Egypt’s state security prosecution has indicted six defendants in the Hezbollah case on charges of spying for a foreign country and illegal possession of weapons after seven hours of interrogation.
The suspects denied the charges, but confessed to their links with the Lebanese Hezbollah organization, without confirming whether they were actual members.
AL-SHARQ (QATAR)
Egypt wants Nasrallah on trial
The Egyptian press has launched fierce criticism against Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and called for putting him on trial for sending members to Egypt to help the Palestinians in Gaza.
And in Israel, Transport Minister Israel Katz, who is close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Nasrallah “deserves to die,” while Israeli security officials accused Hezbollah of being part of an “Iranian conspiracy” that seeks to fight the “moderate” Arab regimes in the region.
AL-MOTAMAR (YEMEN)
American captain freed; three pirates killed
The U.S. State Department said the American ship captain who was held hostage by Somali pirates for five days, Richard Phillips, has been released and three pirates were killed in a rescue operation.
It said the U.S. Navy operation was carried out after negotiations with the pirates failed, adding that the captain was unharmed.
AL-SABAH (IRAQ)
Coordination sought against PKK rebels
An Iraqi-American-Turkish committee formed in Baghdad to solve the problem of the Kurdish Workers Party, PKK, has met and decided to increase coordination efforts to confront the group, whose elements are spread across Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Iraqi state minister for national security Sherwan al-Waeli said the joint committee has decided to exert more effort to stop the military, political and media operations of the Turkish PKK in Iraq.
Compiled by Sana Abdallah of the Middle East Times
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