Washington  - US President Barack Obama Tuesday called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take steps in the coming months to build confidence and establish a foundation for resuming peace talks.

Obama, meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah, said the United States plans to be deeply involved in the peace process to build a better future for Israelis and Palestinians.

"My hope would be that, over the next several months, that you start seeing gestures of good faith on all sides," Obama said.

Cordoba, Spain - Ten western Mediterranean countries Tuesday urged Israel to open the frontiers of the Gaza Strip and to stop illegal Jewish settlements.

"Israel may have rights, but above all, it has duties towards its neighbours and the rest of the international community," Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi-Fihri said in the southern Spanish city of Cordoba.

New York, Apr 21: Iraq’s tourism industry is banking on Saddam Hussein''s “popularity” by offering the former dictator''s bedroom as the honeymoon suite for 150 pounds. However, the idea hasn’t sit well with longtime honeymoon planner Liliane Nash.

Nash, the president of Humbert Travel on Madison Ave, told New York Daily News: "In Iraq? Right now? Definitely not.”

"The first thing about honeymoons is you don''t want to be afraid. You want to make sure everything will be perfect.

Tikrit, Iraq - Thick clouds of black smoke filled the skies as far south as Tikrit on Monday after a massive fire started near the Baiji oil refinery complex, one of Iraq's largest.

An official with the North Refineries Company, which operates the refinery at Baiji told the Kurdish AKA news agency that the fire began in an area used to burn waste from the industrial complex's five refineries.

The company official ruled out the possibility of sabotage, but said the refinery was operating at its capacity of 350,000 barrels of oil a day, or about a third of Iraq's total refinery capacity.

Cairo- US special envoy George Mitchell is holding talks with Egyptian president Hosny Mubarak on Saturday in Cairo as part of his Middle East tour to promote peace in the region.

Mitchell arrived in Cairo on Friday night, coming from Israel and the Palestinian territories, and met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

After the meeting Mitchell praised the Egyptian role in establishing peace in the Middle East and told reporters that the US was committed to "comprehensive peace" in the region.

Ramallah - US President Barack Obama's envoy to the Middle East was due in Ramallah Friday to hear the Palestinians' position on renewing peace negotiations with the new Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

George Mitchell, who held his first talks in Israel Thursday since the government was sworn in, was to travel the short distance from Jerusalem to the central West Bank city for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and acting Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Abbas has said Netanyahu must openly endorse the two-state solution to the Middle East conflict for him to be a peace partner.