ANKARA (AP) – The Syrian president discussed ways of reviving his country’s peace process with Israel in talks yesterday with Turkey’s prime minister, a day after security talks with Iraq failed to ease tensions. Turkey, which mediated indirect Syrian-Israeli talks last year, has offered to help restart the peace negotiations after they broke off in March when a more hardline Israeli government came to power. Syrian President Bashar Assad sat down yesterday with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to consider ways of reviving the stalled peace talks with Israel, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, without elaborating. Turkey has also been trying to help defuse a spat between Syria and Iraq triggered by Iraqi allegations that Damascus has been used as a launching pad for violence in Baghdad. The Iraqi and Syrian foreign ministers plan to meet today in Istanbul, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

PRISTINA (Reuters) – Unknown assailants hurled firebombs at two EU mission cars yesterday, days after the mission signed a protocol on security and law enforcement cooperation with neighboring Serbia. The attack in the Gnjilane area, in eastern Kosovo, left one car of the European Union police and justice mission EULEX burned and another damaged, said Ismet Hashani, a Kosovo police spokesperson. There were no injuries. “Inside the damaged car, we found a petrol bottle that failed to ignite,” Hashani said. EULEX has condemned the attack and described it as an isolated incident. Earlier this week, EULEX, tasked with helping Kosovo authorities improve the rule of law, signed an agreement with Serbian police on sharing information for combating cross-border crime and trafficking.

ANKARA (AFP) – A landmark deal to establish ties between longtime foes Turkey and Armenia is likely to be signed ahead of a soccer game between the two countries next month, a Turkish official said yesterday. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin made the comment in reacting to media reports that the deal would be signed on October 13, the day before the soccer teams from Turkey and Armenia meet for a World Cup qualification game. “We have a month... I think the signing will be sometime around this time,” Ozugergin told reporters. Following the signing, the protocols will be submitted to the Turkish and Armenian parliaments for ratification, after which they will take effect. The deal has come under fire from opposition groups in both countries, which accuse their governments of making concessions.

The Turkish police said yesterday they had caught six fugitives wanted in connection with four massive suicide bombings in Istanbul in 2003. The suspected al-Qaida members, already convicted in absentia over the attacks, were detained in Istanbul, the statement said, without giving names. The Anatolia news agency said the suspects had been convicted either for being members of al-Qaida or aiding and abetting the radical network. Suicide drivers detonated truck bombs at two Istanbul synagogues on November 15, 2003, and at the British Consulate and a British bank five days later, killing a total of 63 people, including the British consul, and leaving hundreds injured. A Turkish cell of al-Qaida was held responsible for the attacks. (AFP)

Bulgaria’s Sports Minister Svilen Neykov ordered yesterday a special review of the national lottery after the same numbers were picked in straight draws. The numbers 4, 15, 23, 24, 35, and 42 were drawn on September 6 and again on September 10 in consecutive lottery rounds. The probability of this happening is 4.2 million to one, mathematician Mihail Konstantinov commented, although he added that such coincidences can happen. Three of the numbers also appeared in the September 13 draw. Lottery Deputy Chairwoman Maria Yaneva excluded any possibility of manipulation, telling the 24 Hours newspaper that the numbers were drawn in different order each time. (AFP)

An explosion yesterday damaged an oil pipeline in northwest Turkey that supplies installations of the NATO military alliance, state-run news agency Anatolia reported, citing security sources. Government officials said the explosion was due to excessive pressure on the pipeline, Anatolia reported. About 60 to 70 tons of oil had leaked from the line in the province of Bilecik and firefighters were at the scene to prevent the fuel from catching fire. (Reuters)