Baghdad - Baghdad is not seeking to buy advanced Russian weapons systems, an Iraqi government spokesman said Monday, denying earlier reports. "Iraq does not want to buy heavy, advanced weapons from Russia," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Baghdad's al-Iraqia television Monday.

Any reports to the contrary were "absolutely untrue," al-Dabbagh said, adding that budget cuts and Iraq's current security requirements precluded the purchase of advanced fighter jets or air defence systems.

Baghdad - In a surprise visit, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday arrived in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish Autonomous Region in northern Iraq, Iraqi national television reported. Abbas arrived from Saudi Arabia, but had been in Baghdad last week. His visit to Baghdad was the first by a Palestinian president since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Last week in Baghdad, Abbas discussed the Middle East peace process and the situation of Palestinian refugees stranded on the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Ankara - The separatist Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) on Monday announced a unilateral ceasefire to last until June 1, the PKK-linked Firat news agency reported. A statement released by PKK political commanders in Iraq, said that the time was ripe for a political solution to the Kurdish problem in Turkey, noting that the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) had done extremely well in local elections on March 29.

"The result of the elections were very clear - that it is necessary for democratization in Turkey and a democratic solution to the Kurdish problem," the statement said.

Shillong, April 13: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday criticized senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishan Advani stating that the Kandahar episode and the 2001 Parliament attack had occured when he was the Union Home Minister of the country.

"When Advaniji was the home minister, a terrorist who was captured and kept in jail here was released and escorted as a guest to Afghanistan. The terrorist then went to Pakistan and planned attacks against India, including the attack on our Parliament," she told an election rally at Shillong on Monday.

Hosur (Tamil Nadu), Apr 13: Hundreds of people attended a special yajna (religious fire ritual) ceremony held here for world peace on the last weekend.

Organised by Chinmaya Mission at Hosur in Tamil Nadu, the religious ceremony witnessed an overwhelming participation of people irrespective of their person religious faith.

The yajna was performed along with the recitation of powerful ''Gayatari Mantra'' for 108 times to promote harmony and seek relief for everyone suffering worldly troubles.