Preliminary returns from Iraq’s recent general elections award Premier Nouri al-Maliki’s parliamentary squad the lead in the capital, Baghdad.

The prime minister’s Rule of Law coalition is reportedly trailed by the Iraqi National Alliance and former prime minister Iyad Allawi’s Al-Iraqiya Alliance.

Maliki’s team also emerged victorious in two provinces to the south, the United Press International reported on Saturday.

Initial results since Thursday have put the Rule of Law in the lead in the predominantly-Shia southern provinces of Najaf, Babil, Karbala and Muthanna, AFP reported.

More than 6,200 candidates from six major coalitions and several other tribal and minority groups contested the parliamentary elections on March 7, despite the prospects of violence and fear of subversion on the part of the loyalists to Baath — the outlawed party of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The event kicked off following the disqualification of suspected Baath sympathizers. The elections day also saw more than 30 people killed in violent attacks.

Abbas al-Bayati, a senior member of Maliki’s coalition was, meanwhile, quoted by AFP as saying that the Rule of Law had formed a committee to begin negotiating with rival blocs to hammer out a government. “The committee met with representatives of four political entities that made progress in the elections,” he said.

This is while, Jamal al-Battikh from Allawi’s side is, recently told US-funded Radio Sawa that Al-Iraqiya might be deserted by a number of its members after they secure parliamentary seats.

A senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Ummah and Opressed People on Saturday criticized the German government for releasing the ringleader of the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) terrorist organization.

Ali Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister and senior adviser to Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said Germany had broken international law by releasing Abdolrahman Haji Ahmadi, the PJAK leader.

Haji Ahmadi was arrested two weeks ago but was released a few days later.

PJAK is an offshoot of the internationally-recognized terrorist group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which conducts deadly operations in Kurdish-populated regions of western Iran.

Velayati said Germany had tarnished his image in the international arena by showing that it lacked independence in its foreign policy.

He accused Berlin of being under the influence of the White House.

According to a New York Times report in October 2007, PJAK has “direct or indirect discussions” with American officials. Its ringleader reportedly visited Washington in the summer of 2007.

The group is branded as a terrorist group by the United States.

At least two foreign soldiers have been killed and a number of others have been injured in Afghanistan’s troubled southern province of Zabul.

According to Afghan officials, the troops died after a bomb planted on a bridge went off as their patrol car was passing by.

Three more servicemen were reportedly wounded. Nationalities of the soldiers remain unknown.

Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for the attack, saying four foreign troops were killed in the blast.

Meanwhile, a local official says a similar explosion in the nearby province of Kandahar has left two Afghan soldiers dead and three others wounded.

A UN report says 2009 was the deadliest year for both Afghan civilians and foreign forces since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. However, officials believe that the number of foreign casualties in 2010 will surpass that of last year.

Thousands have been killed since the US led the invasion of Afghanistan. Most of the victims have been civilians residing in the conflict areas.

The Russian foreign ministry has questioned the objectivity of US annual report on worldwide human rights practices, criticizing it for ignoring the United States’ own record.

The Russia section of the US State Department’s 2009 Human Rights Report noted a decline in the number of racially or religiously motivated crimes in Russia during the year, but expressed concern over ethnic discrimination.

“It is no secret to anyone that this opus is aimed primarily at solving the political issues of the US establishment,” said a statement from the ministry’s information and press department published on Friday.

The statement recommended a report on the human rights practices in the United States, which is not included in the US country report.

“For instance, it is interesting to know how the department, which is partial to moralizing in the human rights sphere, will comment on the tortures and cruel and inhumane treatment of people in the US itself.

“And not just the widely known cases in Bagram and the special prison in Guantanamo — which, contrary to the administration’s promises, just doesn’t close — but also in the prisons and on the streets of America.”

Such a report should not shirk from mentioning “domestic violence leading to the murder of children, including those adopted in Russia,” as well as “racism and xenophobia toward migrants, and Islamophobia,” it said.

The ministry concluded that despite efforts to “re-set” relations with Washington, which suffered a post-Cold War low during the former administration, the report had just rehashed its attitude towards Russia:

“Everything in the report fits tradition and ritual.”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that no “Zionist” was inside the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, as the terrorists flew the two hijacked planes into the two towers.

President Ahmadinejad said the arrogance, which “demonstrates the satanic characteristics of Satan,” sought to evoke sympathy by showing the impact of the planes jamming into the towers.

Led by Osama Bin Laden, al-Qaeda is believed to have carried out the attacks. Fifteen of the 19 plotters of terror attacks were Saudi nationals.

The terror attacks paved the ground for former President George W. Bush to dispatch the US Army to Afghanistan and Iraq and initiate two unpopular, costly wars that continue to date.

President Ahmadinejad said the US government was quick to pronounce that the terrorists were “Muslims,” the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

“They launched a propaganda campaign for six months; they said 3,000 people were killed in the towers … but everyone knows that on the day of the attacks on the two towers, many of the Zionists had left the buildings since they already knew [about the terror plot],” he said.

“[The US Army] killed 100,000 people in Afghanistan and acted in a way that no one would ask them why this happened.”

Iran says the presence of foreign troops in the Middle East is the reason behind instability in the region.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Moscow next week for a Middle East quartet meeting and sideline negotiations about Iran.

The quartet, which includes the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, will meet on March 19 to address a self-proclaimed goal of reviving peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel’s Tuesday announcement of plans to build 1,600 more homes in East Jerusalem al-Quds has, however, cast serious doubts over the effectiveness of the Moscow negotiations.

Other than issues concerning Israel, Clinton’s stay in the Russian capital will include efforts to convince officials in Moscow to back a US-push for more sanctions against the Iran at the UN Security Council.

This is while, China and Brazil, both Security Council members, have so far resisted US pressure to back the embargoes against Iran.

Beijing has stressed that diplomacy is still the best way to resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, while Brasilia has also warned of the adverse consequences of pressuring Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says Tehran seeks to establish and fortify unity among Palestinians against Israel.

Mehmanparast on Saturday dismissed remarks by acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas who claimed that Iran was impeding reconciliation talks between his Fatah group and the Hamas resistance movement.

“Iran doesn’t want Hamas to sign the Cairo reconciliation document,” Abbas said during a meeting in the Tunisian capital on Friday.

In response, Mehmanparast said that Iran sought unity and solidarity among Palestinians.

“In the first place, the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to create unity among Palestinians and in the second to seriously pursue the rights of the Palestinians to regain their land and return to their territory under a Palestinian government.”

Iran believes that the only solution to the Palestinian issue is to hold a free referendum, in which the Palestinians can determine their own fate.

Fatah and Hamas are yet to reach an Egyptian-mediated unity deal to end divisions.

The proposal put forward by Cairo, which acts as a mediator in the reconciliation talks, aims to lay the groundwork for new presidential and legislative elections.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has condemned the new Israeli plan to build 1,600 new Jewish homes in the occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds.

The movement warned that the project seeks demographic changes in the occupied territories.

“The scheme is yet another part of a Judaization campaign that targets the holy city of al-Quds and a provocation of Muslim feeling, “the political party said in a statement released on Friday.

Hezbollah also accused the US of supporting Israel’s expansionist policies on Palestinian lands.

“The Zionist plan to construct hundreds of homes in al-Quds truly shows American cover to it.”

Israel’s interior ministry on Tuesday said it had approved the construction of 1,600 new housing units in Ramat Shlomo neighborhood in the mainly Arab eastern sector of al-Quds.

The announcement sparked swift condemnation from the International community including Turkey, Lebanon, Brazil, China, Russia, and even the US and UK.

There are currently 121 Israeli settlements and 102 Israeli outposts built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel in 1967.

These settlements and outposts are inhabited by a population of approximately 462,000 Israeli settlers. Some 191,000 Israelis are living in settlements around al-Quds and an additional 271,400 are spread throughout the West Bank.

US President Barack Obama has convened his war cabinet with top military and intelligence officials to get an update on the US-led occupation of Afghanistan.

Obama was briefed on the latest situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan by his top aides during the Friday session in the so-called ‘Situation Room’ of the White House.

In the convention, US General Stanley McChrystal, commander of US military in war-ravaged Afghanistan, spoke, via video link, of “continued progress” on the ground against Taliban forces.

“We were largely through the clearing phase and more rapidly moving to a phase of hold, which puts a premium obviously on good governance,” AFP quoted White House spokesman Robert Gibbs Gibbs as saying on the continued occupation of the country.

He also quoted McChrystal as saying that the US military is keeping Obama’s commitment to send 30,000 additional US troops to the hotspots.

“We were on schedule on our force flow in getting additional forces approved by the president into Afghanistan by the end of summer,” he noted.

Militancy in Afghanistan has worsened in recent months despite US plans to fortify military and deploy extra troops in the war-ravaged country.

The heads of top US intelligence agencies were also present at the meeting of which no detailed report has been published.

Brazil has highlighted Iran’s role in the region, reiterating that Tehran must be part of a solution to any conflict in the Middle East.

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva said in an interview with the Israeli daily Haaretz that “new ideas” from all key players in the Middle East are needed to resolve issues in the sensitive region including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“The time has come to bring into the arena players who will be able to put forward new ideas. Those players must have access to all levels of the conflict: in Israel, Palestine, Iran, Syria, Jordan and in many other countries that are associated with this conflict.”

“After all, the Middle East conflict is not bilateral and does not pertain only to Israel and Palestine. There are other interests in the Middle East, interests which must be represented so we can find a solution. Iran is part of all this, and therefore someone must talk to them,” he added.

Lula’s remarks come as Israel is under pressure to stop settlement activities, which are considered the key obstacle to a long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Israel on Friday, saying that its plan to erect new housing units in East Jerusalem Al-Quds has undermined trust and confidence in the so-called peace process.

Israel’s settlement activities are in direct violation of international law.

On the Iranian nuclear issue, the Brazilian president, who is scheduled to travel to Iran in May, said he did not favor further sanctions against Tehran.

“Before sanctions of any kind are imposed, we must make every effort to rebuild peace in the Middle East.”

Brazil has repeatedly warned that fresh sanctions against Iran would be counterproductive reiterating that diplomacy can still work on the issue.

Pakistan’s navy says it has test-fired missiles and torpedoes from ships, submarines and aircraft in the Arabian Sea in a move it has called ‘a message of deterrence’.

“Pakistan’s navy today tested its fire power in the north Arabian Sea to assess the lethality, precision and efficacy of its weapons system,” it said in a statement released Friday.

The naval maneuver included anti-surface and air-to-surface missiles, as well as missiles fired from a submarine.

The navy did not announce any technical details about the missiles, only saying that “this included the successful firing of a variety of missiles and torpedoes from the ships.”

Pakistan says the launches are a show of force to the country’s enemies in the Arabian Sea, sending a message to “anyone harboring nefarious designs” against it.

“While reassuring the Pakistani navy’s commitment of defending the motherland, this strike capability would also send a message of deterrence to anyone harboring nefarious designs against Pakistan,” the statement said.

South Asian rivals India and Pakistan have been routinely carrying out missile tests since 1998, when the two neighbors demonstrated nuclear weapons capabilities.

Pakistan’s arsenal includes short-range, medium and long-range nuclear capable missiles.

Tehran lays out its foreign policy objectives for the new Iranian year, citing the nuclear issue, atomic disarmament and broader diplomatic ties as major priorities.

“Global disarmament will definitely be on the agenda for the country’s diplomatic body this coming year [which begins on March 21],” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told ILNA on Friday.

“We will try to lead the international disarmament campaign with the hope of intensifying the efforts and encouraging other countries to join in,” he added.

Mehmanparast also reiterated that Iran would move forward with its peaceful nuclear work, determined not to allow “greedy” powers to advance their hostile and unreasonable demands regarding Iran’s legitimate nuclear pursuits.

The spokesman added that Tehran would also try to expand ties with regional states, with the greater goal of establishing an Asia Union in mind.

Commenting on the prospective of stronger relations with the European Union, Mehmanparast emphasized that any sort of cooperation between the sides could only be possible if EU governments reduce Washington’s influence on their policy-making.

A member of the Iraqiya List, a secular alliance of former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, says the bloc may break up after the release of legislative election results.

Jamal al-Battikh told US-funded Radio Sawa that a number of the bloc members may leave the alliance after they win seats on the council of representatives.

He said the bloc lacked coherence, adding that certain members were trying to quit the bloc as they held different views.

Headed by former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, the Iraqiya List is comprised of 20 political parties among which are Salah al-Mutlak’s National Dialogue Front and Ajeel Yawar’s party Reform and Justice Movement.

Five days after the elections, the initial results for five provinces have been released so far, with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition holding the lead.

The results for 13 other provinces are yet to be announced.

Egyptian police have arrested several members of the country’s main opposition group, al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper website reports.

About 50 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, returning from Friday Prayers, staged rallies in five major Egyptian cities to protest the decision by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex Muslim holy sites to the Jewish heritage.

Protesters, carrying placards, gathered in front of mosques in Ismailia (near Suez Canal), Sharqiya, Menoufia, Dakahlia in Niger Delta, and Giza in southern Cairo.

They chanted slogans against the Tel Aviv regime and condemned the silence of Arabs towards “the Zionist aggression.”

Days after the Iranian president’s visit to Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki explains whether the trip has had an influence on the Afghan president’s trip made immediately afterwards to Pakistan.

Speaking to Press TV on Friday, the Iranian foreign minister said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Kabul had been scheduled only days after the presidential elections in Afghanistan.

Mottaki said the visit was aimed at “congratulating Mr.[Hamid] Karzai,” “reviewing relations between Tehran and Kabul, reviewing the latest situation in Afghanistan,” and “holding talks on security measures.”

The Iranian minister went on to explain about the trip made by President Karzai to Pakistan immediately after the departure of the Iranian delegation, saying “it is the nature of relations between countries.”

Mottaki said while the visit was “not directly linked” to President Ahmadinejad’s trip, it was related to a decision made during talks with the Iranian delegation about holding a trilateral summit in Islamabad.

“I think based on the negotiation between Ahmadinejad and Karzai, he will also be in contact with President Zardari,” the Iranian foreign minister said.

Saudi Arabia has dismissed US claims that Riyadh would use its leverage to pressure China to approve new sanctions against Iran.

According to the Saudi official news agency, SPA, an official in Riadh rejected a claim by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the issue of pressuring China to support fresh sanctions against Iran, IRNA reported on Friday.

The report indicates that the two sides did not even discuss the matter during Gates’ visit to Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, Gates had said that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia had expressed willingness to push Beijing to support sanctions against Iran.

The West accuses Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons through its nuclear program.

Iran has repeatedly denied the charge, saying that the country seeks nuclear energy to meet its growing demand for electricity.

Tehran notes that its nuclear program does not violate the boundaries of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which it is a signatory.

The Middle East diplomatic Quartet has condemned Israel’s plans to build new housing units in annexed East Jerusalem al-Quds.

The group, compriding of the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations, “condemns Israel’s decision to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem.”

“The Quartet reaffirms that unilateral actions taken by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations and will not be recognized by the international community,” the group said in a statement released Friday.

The Quartet said that the Palestinian-Israeli peace and the creation of “an independent, contiguous and viable state of Palestine is in the fundamental interests of the parties, of all states in the region, and of the international community.”

The party said it had agreed to closely monitor developments in Jerusalem and to keep under consideration “additional steps that may be required to address the situation on the ground.”

Israel announced Tuesday during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden that 1,600 new settler homes would be built in East al-Quds.

The announcement was made as indirect talks with the Palestinians appeared to have been resumed under United States mediation.

The Palestinians, however, said they would not enter direct or indirect peace negotiations with Israel unless it halts its new settlement plans.

US Secretary of state Hillary Clinton has criticized Israel after it announced plans this week to build new housing units in East Jerusalem Al-Quds.

On Friday, Clinton told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Tel Aviv’s latest settlement plans are a “deeply negative signal.”

She also said that the move has undermined trust and confidence in the so-called peace process.

Clinton underlined that Israel is expected to take actions to improve the prospects of re-launching peace talks with Palestinians.

The dispute opened up a rare diplomatic rift between the US and Israel, as the announcement for the new constructions came while Vice President Joe Biden was in Israel.

On Tuesday, Israel announced a decision to approve 16-hundred new housing units in East al-Quds. The move drew condemnation from the UN and even Israel’s western allies.

With Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in India, New Delhi and Moscow inked a raft of agreements on defense, space and civil nuclear energy cooperation and discussed fighting terrorism in the region.

Putin, who was on a one-day deal-making visit to New Delhi, held back-to-back meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pratibha Patil and ruling Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi.

The two countries signed a series of deals on Friday under which India will purchase more than $7 billion in hardware and expertise from Russia.

The multi-billion-dollar agreements include the construction of at least 12 Russian nuclear reactors for an energy-starved India, purchase of an aircraft carrier, a fleet of MIG-29 fighters, along with defense and space technology.

Following the signing of the agreements, Singh told a joint press conference that India and Russia can work together to promote global peace and stability and help revive the global economy.

“We’ve agreed to intensify our consultations on Afghanistan and the challenges posed by terrorism and extremism in our region,” the Indian prime minister told reporters.

The new pacts come as the Russian prime minister wants the level of trade between India and Russia to expand to $20 billion a year by 2015 from the current $8 billion.

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman will not attend an Arab League summit in Tripoli due to a row over the disappearance of prominent Shia cleric Mussa al-Sadr in Libya in 1978.

“President Michel Sleiman will not take part in the summit in Libya based on a request by speaker of parliament Nabih Berri,” AFP quoted a senior government official as speaking on condition of anonymity.

Imam Mussa al-Sadr, the founder of the Amal movement, went missing with two of his companions, Mohammed Yaqoub and Abbas Badreddin, while on an official visit to Libya in August 1978.

Sadr, who was scheduled to meet with officials from the government of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, is widely believed in Lebanon to have been kidnapped and killed on the orders of senior officials in Tripoli.

In 2008, Lebanon issued an arrest warrant for Gaddafi over the disappearance of the revered spiritual leader. But Gaddafi has so far managed to ignore Lebanese calls for more information on the case, never officially visiting Lebanon since 1978.

Several Lebanese politicians including Berri — who leads Sadr’s Amal party — had called for Lebanon in February to boycott the Libya summit scheduled for March 27-28.

During an interview in February, Sleiman said Beirut wishes to strengthen its ties with Tripoli but is also “determined to learn the fate” of Sadr and his companions.

The Higher Shia Council also called Lebanon’s probable participation in the 22 member strong summit a “catastrophe,” saying Beirut’s only condition for participating in the summit was that Sadr’s case be discussed publicly in the opening session and before the media.

Libya denies any involvement in Sadr’s disappearance, saying the trio left the country for Italy.

Italy has always denied the cleric ever arrived there; however, in 2004 Italian authorities returned a passport found in Italy belonging to the imam.