Cairo - Arab League Chief Amr Mussa appointed retired diplomat Hani Khalaf, an Egyptian national, to head the Arab League representation in Iraq, an Arab League statement said Thursday.

The new Arab League ambassador will fly to Baghdad in October, the statement said.

The Arab League office in Baghdad was previously headed by a Morrocan, Mukhtar Yemeni, who resigned in the summer of 2007 over the security conditions in the country. Since then the post has been vacant.

Egypt for its part has not sent a top diplomats to Iraq since the killing of its ambassador there, Ihab al-Sherif, in July 2005, five days after he was kidnapped in Baghdad.

Cairo still has no ambassador in the war-torn country.

Cairo  - Arab League head Amr Mussa left Monday on a key visit to Tehran to attend a foreign ministers meeting of members of the Non-Aligned Movement, Egyptian airport officials said.

The three-day meeting to start Monday aims to prepare for the Non- Aligned Movement Summit to take place in July 2009 at the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.

Mussa left for Tehran through the Saudi Arabian coastal city of Jeddah, due to the lack of direct flights between Tehran and Cairo.

During his landmark visit, the Arab League chief will meet with Iranian officials to discuss the current affairs in the Middle East.

Arab countries are generally concerned about Iran's nuclear programme and its growing involvement in regional affairs.

Cairo - In an effort to avert possible prosec

Amman  - Arab stocks lost further ground this week as investors were cautious over the persistent Iranian nuclear standoff and the half-year results of listed firms, financial analysts said Friday.

However, they expected regional bourses to recover in the coming couple of weeks when semi-annual results are expected to be out.

"We believe political developments and uncertainty as to the second quarter results still put downward pressure on stock prices," an Amman-based portfolio manager told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Cairo  - Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mussa warned Wednesday that a decision by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to charge Sudan's president with genocide would have da

Cairo - The Arab League said Monday that Arab foreign ministers would hold an emergency meeting to di