Reporters sans frontières (Reporters Without Borders - RSF) is concerned about the fate of ten journalists whose trial, to be held in camera, is scheduled to start on 8 January in the revolutionary court. They are liable to the death sentence. "We have full reason to fear that these journalists will not be given a fair trial. To date, their advocates have not had access to their clients' files nor even to the indictment" said Robert Ménard, RSF general secretary. "We ask the Iranian authorities to make the trial public. We also protest against the fact that international observers have been unable to obtain visas to attend the trial" he added. ... more

The two sides are expected to launch negotiations over the next few weeks. Diplomatic sources in both Teheran and Brussels said the negotiations could last up to two years because of significant differences. ... more

TEHRAN - Police have arrested 11 suspected illegal arms dealers, including five who are believed to be Iraqi nationals, a report said Monday. Police seized 52 firearms "of modern design destined for terrorist activities and armed robberies" during the arrests, said the conservative Kayhan daily. It did not give the exact date of the arrests. ... more

Peres, speaking on Israel's army radio, accused Iran of arming groups that have attacked Israel, such as the Lebanese Hezbollah group. Iran is also linked to the shipload of munitions seized in the Red Sea last week by Israeli commandos, Peres said. ... more

Gen. Alexander M. Haig Jr. said Syria's "footprints" are much clearer than Iraq's. ... more

Well before the outbreak of World War II, a little known Austro-Italian writer, Italo Svevo, wrote a novel, "Confessions of Zeno, " in which occurred this remarkable passage: "When all the poison gases [of the war] are exhausted, a man, made like all other men of flesh and blood, will, in the quiet of a room, invent an explosive of such potency that all the explosives in existence will seem like harmless toys beside it. And another man, made in his image and in the image of all the rest, but a little weaker than them, will steal that explosive and crawl to the center of the Earth with it, and place it just where he calculates it would have the maximum effect. There will be a tremendous explosion, but none will hear it and the Earth will return to its nebulous state and go wandering through the sky, free at last from parasites and disease." ... more

"It is the duty of every Muslim country to support the Palestinian people, and to criticize the silence of the world in the face of Israel's state terrorism," Khatami said in his meeting with the Moroccan minister, Mohammed Benaissa, according to state television. ... more

Israel has accused Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of being directly involved in the operation, saying he had to have known of the attempt to smuggle tens of millions of dollars worth of rockets and anti-tank missiles. ... more

Israeli commandos seized the 4,000-ton Karine A in the Red Sea. They found 50 tonnes of weapons, including rockets, anti-tank missiles and mortars, mostly made in Iran. ... more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Former Secretary of State Gen. Alexander M. Haig Jr. said Monday Syria, not Iraq, should be the next target in the war against international terrorism. His comments came in an exclusive interview with United Press International's Editor at Large, Arnaud de Borchgrave. Here is the full transcript of the interview: ... more

PARIS 8 Jan. (IPS) In order to deviate Iranians from paying attention to the ongoing events in neighbouring Afghanistan, the conservatives, instructed by Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the leader of the Islamic republic, are deliberately creating a state of chaos and domestic turbulences by opening new fronts against the so-called reformers. ... more

The Export Credits Guarantee Department is providing Pounds 28m in reinsurance cover for exporters involved in a deal to build a coal mine close to Iran's border with Afghanistan. ... more