Abuja - Nigeria was Wednesday preparing to officially hand over the disputed Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon on Thursday, ending a decades-long dispute marked by legal battles and sporadic violence.

Brussels - The European Union's foreign ministers were Wednesday seeking to find a united response to Georgia's conflict with Russia at an extraordinary meeting in Brussels.

The ministers were due to be briefed by their colleague Bernard Kouchner, who has just toured the region on behalf of the French presidency of the bloc, about his country's efforts to broker a ceasefire.

On Tuesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev declared an end to Russian military operations in its neighbouring country. The announcement coincided with a visit to Moscow by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who put forward a six-phase plan for stabilizing the region.

Damascus  - Syria is the "principal place for peace in the Arab region," Syria's top Muslim cleric said Tuesday during a meeting with visiting European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering.

"If Syria is in peace then the whole region is. But if it is in a state of war, the whole region will catch on fire," Syria's grand mufti Sheikh Ahmed Badr el-Din Hassoun said.

Hassoun said his country asked the European Parliament to play a vital and fundamental role in the peace process.

Cairo  - Ambassador Ahmed bin Heli did not go to Mauritania to give the Arab League's consent to the coup in the West African nation that saw the president toppled, Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa said Tuesday.

"The envoy's visit was not to give the coup the green light. The Arab League will discuss this issue in the next foreign ministers meeting, that will witness Mauritania's attendance," Mussa said.

Washington  - The US government on Tuesday placed sanctions on an additional five Iranian entities accused of supporting the Islamic state's nuclear and missile activities.

The US Treasury Department said the entities served as front organizations to assist in the country's development of nuclear technology and ballistic missiles.

"These five nuclear and missile entities have been used by Iran to hide its illicit conduct and further its dangerous nuclear ambitions," said Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Washington  - US President George W Bush said Monday that Russia's assault in Georgia is a "dramatic and brutal escalation" that appears meant to topple the Georgian government.

"It now appears that an effort may be underway to depose (Georgia's) duly elected government," Bush said at the White House shortly after returning from the Olympics in Beijing.