CHINA 'REASSURES' OLMERT ON IRAN

Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has said he has received candid reassurance from China that the country opposes any plans by Iran to develop nuclear weapons.Mr Olmert, in China as part of a three-day visit, met his Chinese counterpart Wen Jibao.Speaking after the discussions, Mr Olmert said he was "positively surprised" by what he had heard.The US and EU claim Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, but Iran says its programme is entirely peaceful."China made it absolutely clear that it opposes an Iran with a nuclear bomb," Mr Olmert told reporters after the 90-minute meeting with the Chinese premier.He said that he believed Iran had the nuclear knowledge to reach the "threshold" where it could begin to build nuclear bombs.International pressure"I believe Iran will try and reach it and I believe international pressure will prevent it," he said.Israel is pushing for tougher measures against Iran if it continues to ignore a UN resolution calling on it to halt work on its nuclear programme.China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has so far indicated it would prefer to continue talks with Tehran.China's official news agency, Xinhua, quoted Mr Wen as telling Mr Olmert that the country, "will continue to play a constructive role in promoting the settlement of the [Iran] issue."Analysts say that China's hunger for Iranian gas and oil to fuel its economy might soften its stance towards the country.Mr Olmert's trip to China comes just days after a visit by Iran's nuclear negotiator, who was in Beijing last week.Personal resonanceTrade relations were also high on the agenda.Business between China and Israel is booming - last year it was worth more than $700m, up by a third on the previous 12 months.The two leaders signed agreements on importing Israeli citrus fruit and water purification technology, as well as improving cultural ties between the countries.China also has a special personal significance for Mr Olmert. His parents took refuge in the country in the early 1900s, after fleeing persecution in Russia.In the past Mr Olmert has talked of having a spiritual tie with China.

Lt-Gen Petraeus: Bush's 'last hope' for Iraq

Lt-Gen David Petraeus, who is to take over as the top US military commander, is being seen by many as the best, perhaps the last hope, of President Bush's Iraq policy.He comes into the job just as Mr Bush announces his new strategy for the future of US involvement in Iraq, to include the sending of an extra 21,500 troops to the worst trouble spots.Lt-Gen Petraeus, who has spent two of the last four years in Iraq, has a reputation as one of the smartest generals in the US Army and has just helped to rewrite its counter-insurgency doctrine.He is credited with subduing northern Iraq following the 2003 invasion, but his subsequent role - as head of a programme to train the new Iraqi security forces - has led to greater criticism.BBC world affairs correspondent Nick Childs says he has his detractors, even within the military.He is intense, ambitious and hugely competitive, our correspondent says. But some resent his high profile, and complain he is a self-promoter.Cheating deathBorn in 1952, David Petraeus graduated from the West Point military academy in 1974 and was commissioned in the infantry. He also has a PhD in international relations from Princeton University.He served as an officer in airborne, mechanised, and air assault infantry units in the US, Europe and the Middle East, before the invasion.But he was lucky to ever reach Iraq, having twice suffered life-threatening injuries.In a training exercise in 1991, an infantryman tripped and accidentally shot him in the chest with his rifle. He was five hours in surgery, operated on by Bill Frist, who later became majority leader in the last Republican-controlled Senate.And during a parachute jump nine years later, his parachute collapsed 60 ft from the ground and he broke his pelvis.'Hearts and minds'He was commander of the 101st Airborne Division during the invasion of Iraq and its subsequent occupation of Mosul.The division was charged with restarting the economy, building security forces and establishing democratic institutions in the city.His success appears to have been down to a combination of less aggressive military tactics than others employed and a very aggressive effort to win over the locals.If the rest of the US military had adopted this "hearts and minds" approach, his supporters say, Iraq would not be in the mess it is today.In June 2004 he became head of the Multi-National Security Transition Command, where he was tasked with building a new Iraqi army and police force virtually from scratch.He appears to have had some success in this - Iraq now has nearly 190,000 trained local and national police and 130,000 troops.But so far only three divisions are under full Iraqi government control, and our correspondent says the failure of the programme to produce the required results is partly why Mr Bush is in his current predicament.

US forces storm Iranian consulate

US forces have stormed an Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi town of Irbil and seized six members of staff.The troops raided the building at about 0300 (0001GMT), taking away computers and papers, according to Kurdish media and senior local officials.The US military would only confirm the detention of six people around Irbil.The raid comes amid high Iran-US tension. The US accuses Iran of helping to fuel violence in Iraq and seeking nuclear arms. Iran denies both charges.Tehran counters that US military involvement in the Middle East endangers the whole region.A local TV station said Kurdish security forces had taken over the building after the Americans had left.Irbil lies in Iraq's Kurdish-controlled north, about 350km (220 miles) from the capital Baghdad.Reports say the Iranian consulate there was set up last year under an agreement with the Kurdish regional government to facilitate cross-border visits.PressureIranian media said the country's embassy in Baghdad had sent a letter of protest about the raid to the Iraqi foreign ministry.One Iranian news agency with a correspondent in Irbil says five US helicopters were used to land troops on the roof of the Iranian consulate.It reports that a number of vehicles cordoned off the streets around the building, while US soldiers warned the occupants in three different languages that they should surrender or be killed.In December, US troops detained a number of Iranians in Iraq, including two with diplomatic immunity who were later released.Thursday's raid came as US President George W Bush unveiled his new strategy in Iraq, which included increasing troop numbers and a commitment to stop Iranian support for "our enemies in Iraq".BBC Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the raid could signal a ratcheting-up of pressure on the Iranians, in line with the rhetorical thrust of his speech.Meanwhile in the Iraqi capital, the five off-duty policemen were killed in an ambush in the western al-Khadra neighbourhood, hospital officials saidSecurity sources said another man was killed wounded in an attack on a money changer in downtown Baghdad.In the restive Anbar province, the US military said that one of its troops was killed on Tuesday by a roadside bombing.