Tehran’s new team stresses need for continuing dialogue

By Guy Dinmore in Rome and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran

Published: October 24 2007

The new Iranian team holding nuclear talks with the international community yesterday stressed the need to continue negotiating and agreed to hold a further round of talks next month.

EU ponders using troops to help quell Darfur strife

by Guy Dinmore and Hubert Wetzel in Washington and Daniel Dombey,in Vilnius

Published: April 22 2005

French and German forces could be sent to stop the violence in Sudan’s Darfur region as part of a European Union peacekeeping mission that is one of several ideas to be discussed by EU foreign ministers next week, officials said yesterday.

The proposed EU peacekeeping force would support an African Union observer mission made up largely of Nigerian and Rwandan troops already in the region but in too few numbers to have a significant impact.

The EU contingent, if agreed, was likely to give logistics support to the African observers but EU ground forces had not been ruled out, provided there was the consent of the Sudanese government and the AU, the officials said.

Analysts in Washington were sceptical of either party being able to agree or that the EU would find consensus or the available troops.