Nairobi/Doha - The Sudanese government and the Darfur rebel group Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) are ready to sign an agreement Tuesday on a swap of prisoners, the Sudan Tribune reported.

The agreement between Sudan and the most active of the militia groups in western Sudan would be signed in Doha, Qatar, and would form the foundations for broader peace talks bringing in other militias, the paper said.

"This agreement is a first step which could lay the foundation for a genuine peace process," JEM spokesman Ahmed Katar said.

Kuwait City, Doha - The head of militant Palestinian organization Hamas' political bureau in Damascus, Khaled Meshaal, has said that the group will not accept any preconditions to a ceasefire by Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Meshaal was speaking on Friday before a meeting of Arab leaders in Qatar, adding that the Palestinian movement in Gaza "had not suffered a defeat," and that they would therefore not accept any preconditions of the opponent.

Amman/Doha/Baghdad - Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to streets in the Arab world following Friday prayers to show their support for the people of Gaza and denounce the nearly two-week Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Demonstrators in Doha, Baghdad and Amman carried Palestinian flags and chanted slogans in support of Gaza.

The largest demonstrations took place in Amman, where tens of thousands of demonstrators carried photos of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who expelled his country's Israeli ambassador.

Doha - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon on Saturday urged leading industrialized nations to not let efforts to control terrorism allow them to neglect the war on poverty.

Ban told delegates to the United Nations' International Conference on Financing for Development that the battle against poverty is just as important as the battle on terror. The conference is underway in Doha and set to conclude Tuesday.

He said he regretted that many world leaders had opted out of the convention, citing the need to focus on the effects of the financial crisis back home.

ABU DHABI, Nov. 29th, 2008: Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Kin-moon today warned against social unrest and political instability arising from the current
global financial crisis and are likely to exacerbate all other problems facing humanity.

The financial crisis, which has hit all nations and "has brought an abrupt end to a long era of global growth, compounds other major threats: climate change, food insecurity,
the terrible persistence of extreme poverty," remarked Ki-moon.

Doha - An imposing new Museum of Islamic Arts was officially opened Saturday in Qatar by Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, amid an opulent fireworks display in the latest addition to the emirate's cultural scene.

The museum, designed by the Chinese-American star architect I M Pei, is built on an artificial peninsula with design elements recalling Egypt's famous Step Pyramid of Sakar, an artistically- constructed sand castle and a moorish palace.

Featuring Islamic art works from the 7th to 19th centuries, the museum will be opened to the public on December 1.