Amman - The Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Karen AbuZayd, on Wednesday urged donor countries to contribute "significant additional pledges" to enable the agency to come to grips with "a grave and imminent financial crisis".

AbuZayd made the appeal during the concluding session of a two-day meeting in Amman that brought together donors and host governments, NGOs and other UNRWA stakeholders.

Washington  - Barack Obama spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday as the president-elect continues to return phone calls from leaders congratulating him on winning the White House.

The Obama transition team did not disclose details of Obama's conversation with Abbas.

Obama has vowed that he will continue to work for Israeli- Palestinian peace. He telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert two days after the November 4 election.

Tehran - The Iranian parliament on Tuesday approved Sadeq Mahsouli, a former university lecturer, as interior minister, Tehran radio reported.

Mahsouli, 49, an ideological ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, received the support of 138 of the 273 deputies voting at the confirmation hearing, the report said.

Mahsouli is replacing Ali Kordan, who was dismissed by parliament last week for having presented the lawmakers a faked Oxford University honorary doctorate.

The interior minister is directly in charge of the presidential elections scheduled for June, in which Ahmadinejad is to seek a second term in office.

Amman  - Jordanian Foreign Minister Salah Bashir met Monday with a visiting delegation of German lawmakers and stressed Berlin's role in pushing forward the peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbours.

"The minister underscored the importance of the European Union's role, particularly that of Germany, both on the international and regional levels, in spurring the Middle East peace process and giving a hand to the Palestinians and Israelis to enable them reach a peace agreement," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

Jerusalem  - Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners in advance of a Muslim holiday next month, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas when the two met in Jerusalem Monday afternoon.

The two held talks amid a collapsing truce between Israel and the Palestinian militias in the Gaza Strip. The truce has been unraveling since last week, as Palestinians fire rockets at southern Israel and Israel targets militants.

Abbas said after his talks with Olmert that Gaza had figured "extensively" in the meeting. He called on the Palestinian factions in the salient to stop firing the "useless" missiles, a call he has made previously, but without success.

Baghdad - Dozens of people were injured in a car bomb a