BBC Monitoring Text of report by semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) website Tehran: The Public Relations Office of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps [IRGC] has announced the launching of Sepah News website. In an official statement, the Public Relations and Publications Office of the IRGC has announced the official …

BBC Monitoring The Turkish overnight shelling of the Kurdistan Region border areas was widely covered in the Kurdish media on 16 December, but no official reaction has been observed as at 1230 gmt on that day. Websites The Kurdish media websites of Sbay, Awene, Chawder, Aso and PUKmedia all reported …

MideastWire Turki Al-Saheel of Asharq Al-Awsat, an independent Saudi owned newspaper, wrote on December 14: "Saudi Arabia permitted the Al-Jazeera channel which is based in the Qatari capital Al-Doha to cover this year's Hajj ceremony after the station pledged to remain "objective" in its coverage according to what a high …

BBC Monitoring Sudanese newspapers have welcomed the return of the former rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to the unity government that ended weeks of a debilitating political crisis. The return to government of the SPLM, which is the main political grouping in the south, was announced on 12 December, …

BBC Monitoring An Iranian official in Esfahan Province has said that Esfahan provincial TV has played the biggest role in informing the public. During a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the publication of the daily Esfahan-e Ziba [Beautiful Esfahan], Esfahan Mayor Saqai'an said that Esfahan is an international tourist …

MideastWire On December 7, the leftist independent daily As-Safir carried the following piece by Bumidyan al-Sahili: “Al-Manar television station carried, within its main newscast on Tuesday evening last week, a report about a strike in Al-Hirmil in a manner that was not on a par with the scale of the …

BBC Monitoring Text of press release by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on 10 December New York, 10 December, 2007: The Committee Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that the criminal hearing for an Associated Press photographer accused of collaborating with Iraqi insurgents is being held in secret. …

BBC Monitoring Bethlehem-based, independent Ma'an News Agency in Arabic reports at 2026 gmt on 11 December: "The Jaysh Al-Basha'ir unit of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, claimed responsibility for firing at an Israeli bus near Qedumim, east of Qalqilyah on Tuesday evening. A statement issued by …

BBC Monitoring Text of press release by Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo) on 12 December HRinfo condemns the continuing wave of collective legal cases brought against journalists in Egypt, as six lawsuits for insult and defamation were brought before the Misdemeanors Court of Al-Agouza on 10 December 2007 …

BBC Monitoring President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad has said there is no major problem in Iran's relations with Britain. He welcomed "friendly relations" if Britain "adopts an independent stance towards Iran". At a news conference in Tehran on 11 December, BBC correspondent Jon Leyne, asked Ahmadinezhad: "Mr President, in the light of …