Oslo  - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held talks Tuesday with Norwegian officials, focusing on the humanitarian plight in Gaza and prospects for peace.

Abbas, currently touring several European capitals, met Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

The Palestinian Authority leader told reporters that he supported a national unity government between Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, and his own Fatah party.

Stoltenberg said that Norway's main "concern now is the humanitarian situation in Gaza. There is a desperate need for food, medical supplies and other humanitarian aid."

New York - The United Nations on Monday thanked the emir of Qatar for allocating 30 million dollars as humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip and 10 million dollars for a UN emergency fund.

Qatar said the 30 million dollars will go towards meeting the "critical needs" of Gaza residents affected by the recent Israel- Hamas conflict.

The UN also expressed its gratitude for Qatar's 10-million-dollar contribution to the Central Emergency Response Fund, which was set up to meet urgent relief needs around the world.

Damascus  - Presidents, important US senators, senior officials from the Arab League - lately it seems everyone is courting Syria.

In recent months Damascus has been the centre of a flurry of international diplomatic activity.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited. So did a delegation of European Union officials and foreign ministers. Arab League chief Amr Mussa, who hails from Egypt, a country with increasingly fraught relations with Syria, seeks Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's counsel.

London  - The first prisoner to be released from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since US President Barack Obama ordered a review of all detainee cases, arrived in Britain Monday alleging that he was subjected to "medieval" torture in which British intelligence services had been complicit.

Binyam Mohamed, a 30-year-old Ethiopian national who lived in Britain before his arrest in Pakistan in 2002, touched down at a military airport near London, accompanied by a doctor and government officials.

He was detained by immigration officials for several hours of questioning but released Monday evening, London's Metropolitan Police said.

Brussels - The European Union flirted with chaos Monday as top diplomats complained about a "cliquey" response to the recession and failed to agree on the use of community funds to aid economic recovery.

"I must admit I'm extremely worried about the EU's institutional chaos. Never in the EU's history has there been a period like this with so many cliques," Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said after regular talks in Brussels with his EU counterparts.

Brussels  - The European Union flirted with chaos Monday as top diplomats complained about a "cliquey" response to the recession and failed to agree on the use of community funds to aid economic recovery.

"I must admit I'm extremely worried about the EU's institutional chaos. Never in the EU's history has there been a period like this with so many cliques," Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said after regular talks in Brussels with his EU counterparts.