London  - African leaders urged British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Monday not to allow the global economic crisis to dilute the commitments made on spending to developing nations.

The African leaders, including the presidents of Liberia, Tanzania and Botswana and the prime ministers of Kenya and Ethiopia, had come to London to ensure that the continent's voice will be heard at the summit of G20 nations in London on April 2.

Johannesburg  - The billion-dollar China-Africa Development Fund opened its first Africa office in Johannesburg on Monday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao announced the creation of the 5-billion-dollar fund in 2006 to support Chinese investment in Africa, which supplies China with oil and other commodities.

South Africa's leading candidate for president in April elections, Jacob Zuma, attended the opening, together with Chen Yuan, the chairman of the Chinese Development Bank, and other Chinese officials.

Lisbon  - Jordan and Portugal will launch joint diplomatic efforts to push for an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians over the next few months, Jordan's King Abdullah II said after meeting Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva on Monday.

The two countries wanted Israel and the Palestinians to start negotiating "as soon as possible," the king said at the start of his two-day state visit to Portugal.

Portugal and Jordan were to sign cooperation agreements in sectors including education, science, technology, culture and social communication.

Tehran  - Presidential candidate  might quit in favour of former prime minister Mir-Hossein Moussavi in Iran's presidential race on June 12, ILNA news agency reported Sunday.

Khatami, Iran's former president, would meet Moussavi later Sunday and it was expected that one of them might quit the race against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the report said.

The news agencies Fars and Mehr reported Sunday that Khatami had

already quit the race.

ILNA also reported that Khatami himself did not want to compete against his close aide Moussavi but the reformist factions wanted the moderate cleric to stay.

London - Finance ministers and central bankers from the world's big economic powers moved Saturday to paper over sharp differences in their efforts to combat the global recession with a pledge to return the international economy to growth.

"We are prepared to take whatever action is necessary." said British Chancellor of the Chequer Alistair Darling, who chaired the meeting of Group of 20's (G20) financial chiefs.

Damascus - A European parliamentary delegation on Saturday met with members of Hamas's political leadership-in-exile in Damascus to discuss ways to end the group's international isolation.

The six-member EU delegation, which includes lawmakers from Britain and Ireland, said that their meeting with Hamas politburo leader Khaled Meshaal in Damascus was intended to encourage more Europeans to recognise Hamas as a legitimate movement that was democratically elected by its people.