United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan urged the global body’s human rights watchdog today to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impartially and said it was time to focus attention on ”graver” crises such as Darfur.

DELEGATES to the world’s largest gathering of Islamic nations said yesterday that they expect to adopt a resolution welcoming the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council but will also call for Iraq’s return to full independence and control over its oil.

Israeli forces widened their offensive into the West Bank today, briefly entering Bethlehem, occupying several other towns and continuing a sweep for militants in fully occupied Ramallah.

The head of the Church of England was today telling Muslims that the military action in Afghanistan was not a war between Christianity and Islam.

Afghanistan’s Taliban Government has asked for a special meeting of the organisation of the Islamic Conferences to discuss the fallout from the attacks in the United States earlier this month.