Tishreen (Syria): Assad receives message from Sarkozy – Syrian President Bashar Assad received a message from his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, delivered by his aides, Claude Gueant and Jean-David Levitte, during a visit to Damascus yesterday. Assad held fruitful talks with the French officials on bilateral relations, developments in the region, especially Lebanon, and the peace process. They agreed to continue contacts.

Al-Masry al-Youm (Egypt): Olmert aides: Direct negotiations with Syria soon – Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel and Syria will soon be able to carry out direct negotiations. The aides said the current indirect negotiations, held through Turkish mediation, may likely become face-to-face in the coming phase between the two states.

Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda (West Bank): Abbas, Rice: Settlements biggest obstacle to peace – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agreed in a meeting yesterday that Jewish settlements constitute the biggest obstacle to peace. Rice said Israel's continued settlement construction harms the peace negotiations, but believes that it is still possible to reach a Palestinian-Israeli deal this year.

Az-Zaman (London; Iraq): 14 women blew themselves up in Diyala in six months – Local officials in Iraq's Diyala province, north of Baghdad, revealed yesterday that 14 women suicide bombers have blown themselves up in the past six months. Intelligence sources said al-Qaida plans to dispatch 25 more women from other areas to carry out further bombings in the province.

Al-Bayan (United Arab Emirates): Bush seeks Britain's help to arrest Bin Laden – U.S. President George W. Bush has asked for help from the British Special Forces to help capture al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden before he leaves the White House at the end of the year. A U.S. intelligence source said if Bush succeeded in getting rid of Saddam Hussein and arrests bin Laden, he can then claim he made the "world a safer place" after his term expires.