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The US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has increased pressure on North Korea over its nuclear ambitions.

He said he hoped that the International Atomic Energy Agency would soon refer Pyongyang's decision to withdraw from an international nuclear non-proliferation treaty to the United Nations Security Council.

CRISIS CHRONOLOGY

16 Oct: N Korea acknowledges secret nuclear programme, US says 14 Nov: Oil shipments to N Korea halted 22 Dec: N Korea removes monitoring devices at Yongbyon nuclear plant 31 Dec: UN nuclear inspectors forced to leave North Korea 10 Jan: N Korea pulls out of anti-nuclear treaty 11 Jan: Pyongyang suggests it could resume ballistic missile tests

Timeline of tensions

Such a move could result in sanctions against North Korea, a development that the communist state says it would regard as an act of war.

Mr Powell's comments came as a Russian envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov, met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in an attempt to resolve the stand-off between Washington and Pyongyang.

The United States had been signalling that it wanted a compromise. Last week, President George W Bush offered direct talks, and held out the prospect of increased aid to North Korea if it ended its nuclear programme.

BBC Washington correspondent Jon Leyne says the Americans seem to have chosen a "carrot and stick" strategy: more aid for North Korea if it co-operates, the possibility of sanctions if it does not.

'Progress'

Speaking on the American network CNN, Mr Powell said: "It is being considered by the IAEA, and I hope that the board of governors will meet in the not-too-distant future... and from that meeting they can refer the matter to the Security Council."

At the same time, he said that international efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis had achieved some results.

"I think we are seeing some progress with respect to the work we are doing with our friends in the [South-East Asian] region."

The US secretary of state discussed the issue with several foreign ministers who had gathered in New York for a UN Security Council meeting on counter-terrorism.

North Korea has responded to Mr Powell's comments by saying it will only negotiate with the US, and rejecting a UN role in the crisis.

It insisted that there must be a formal non-aggression pact between the two countries and "face-to-face" negotiations.

Russian package

The Russian envoy to North Korea said he had held substantive and successful talks with the North Korean leader, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass reports.

Mr Losyukov gave no indications of the substance of his six hours of discussions with Mr Kim, which took place at a heavily guarded official residence on the northern outskirts of Pyongyang.

He reportedly presented a Russian plan to resolve the stand-off. This envisages nuclear-free status for the Korean peninsula, security guarantees for North Korea, and a package of humanitarian and economic aid.

Russia has close relations with North Korea and is looking to build a rail link that would allow freight traffic between Europe and South Korea.

Beijing talks

Washington is seeking the assistance of China, North Korea's closest ally, to help resolve the dispute.

The US Under-Secretary of State, John Bolton, held talks in Beijing with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya on Monday.

Mr Bolton is the second high-level US diplomat to visit the region recently

After the meeting, Mr Bolton suggested that China was not against the involvement of the UN Security Council.

"I do not detect any substantial opposition to bringing the matter into the council," he told a news conference.

The Chinese "are absolutely in agreement with us that they do not want nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula", he added. "That is the true bottom line here."

South Korean concerns

Meanwhile, South Korea has indicated that it would not favour the UN Security Council imposing sanctions against North Korea.

The senior Foreign Policy Advisor to South Korea's president-elect, Roh Moo-hyun, told the BBC that calm diplomacy was needed to deal with Pyongyang.

Ministerial level talks between North and South Korea are due to get under way on Tuesday.

The dispute began in October when Washington said Pyongyang had acknowledged developing nuclear weapons in violation of a 1994 agreement.

The US suspended fuel shipments to North Korea, which in turn expelled UN nuclear inspectors, reactivated nuclear facilities and withdrew from the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

By Ishbel Matheson BBC, Nairobi

A team of French and Swiss archaeologists working in the Nile Valley have uncovered ancient statues described as sculptural masterpieces in northern Sudan.

The archaeologists from the University of Geneva discovered a pit full of large monuments and finely carved statues of the Nubian kings known as the black pharaohs.

The Swiss head of the archaeological expedition told the BBC that the find was of worldwide importance.

The black pharaohs, as they were known, ruled over a mighty empire stretching along the Nile Valley 2,500 years ago.

Breathtaking

The pit, which was full of ancient monuments, is located between some ruined temples on the banks of the Nile.

It had not been opened for over 2,000 years.

Inside, the archaeologists made a breathtaking discovery.

The statues of the black pharaohs are highly polished, finely carved and made of granite.

The name of the king is engraved on the back and on the feet of each sculpture.

The head of the expedition, Charles Bonnet, described them as very beautiful.

He told the BBC they were sculptural masterpieces.

They were important not just for the history of Sudan but also for world art.

Savagely destroyed

The Nubians were powerful and wealthy kings who controlled large territories along the Nile.

Their land was known as the Kingdom of Kush.

They controlled the valuable trade routes along the river but were eventually conquered by their neighbours from the north.

The ancient Egyptians made the pit into which the monuments and statues were piled.

Many of the sculptures were savagely destroyed, with smashed heads and broken feet.

Professor Bonnet says that this shows that the Egyptians were not content with simply conquering Kush.

They also wanted to obliterate the memory of the black pharaohs and their unique culture from the face of the earth.

An eighth man has died in an execution-style attack on a gay massage parlour in Cape Town, according to South African police.

Police were called in by neighbours who heard gun shots at the house about 0400 local time.

Two other men were in a very serious injured after the attack. All 10 men had been shot in the head.

It is being suggested that the attack could be linked to organised crime.

Earlier, neighbours had said there had been an altercation at the house involving drug dealers.

'Horrific'

Six men were found dead by police in the residential house in the Sea Point district of Cape Town. A seventh died of his injuries four hours after being admitted into hospital, and an eighth has now died.

The six had been tied up and shot at close range, Captain Etienne Terblanche, a police spokesman said. Their throats were also slit.

Police described the scene that greeted them when they arrived as "horrific".

There was "an incredible amount of blood about", Mr Terblanche said.

The injured men had also been shot in the head, he said. They had been rushed to two Cape Town hospitals.

"When we arrived, the injured were crawling around on the floor," he said.

He said the house was rented out and was run as a massage parlour, apparently for gay men.

Each bedroom in the house served as a massage suite and the walls were decorated with graphic images.

Bondage equipment was also found in the house.

The police are not yet certain whether the victims were clients or masseurs.

'Very concerned'

It looked like "organized crime was behind this," Leonard Ramatlakane, safety and security minister of the Western Cape province, said.

A police task force had been formed to investigate, he said.

The Lesbian and Gay Equality Project said the attack could have been a hate crime and called on police to work diligently to find the killers.

"We have been very concerned about threats issued by various fringe groups in society over recent months that indicated an intention to perpetrate acts of violence against lesbian and gay people," the organization's director, Evert Knoesen, said in a statement.

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Libya has been elected chairman of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, despite opposition from the United States.

In a secret ballot, Libyan Ambassador Najat Al-Hajjaji was backed by 33 members, with three countries voting against and 17 members abstaining.

Human rights groups have been protesting at Libya assuming the chairmanship.

The job of the Commission, the UN's main human rights watchdog, is to receive complaints about abuses, but it has been widely condemned as toothless.

The United States called for a vote at the commission to signal its displeasure, but no other candidates emerged to challenge Libya.

"This is not a defeat for the United States, this is a defeat for the Human Rights Commission," said US ambassador Kevin Moley.

Najat Al-Hajjaji: "If I make mistakes, please help me to correct them"

The BBC's world affairs correspondent Mark Doyle says the nomination of Libya to run the UN watchdog has highlighted what many see as a fundamental flaw in the way the UN has set the body up.

Countries with questionable human rights records find it convenient to sign up for membership of the Commission because it gives them a chance to block criticisms of themselves, he says.

While human rights groups have complained, Libya's chairing of the commission has been staunchly defended by the son of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Seif al-Islam al-Gaddafi told the BBC recently: "The Middle East has a generally bad record on human rights and this is an opportunity to embarrass middle eastern governments into improving that record".

Human rights concerns

Seif Gaddafi runs an organisation called the Gaddafy International Foundation for Charitable Organisations which, he says, is independent of his father's government.

"We and other non-governmental organisations will work with the UN Commission to improve human rights in the region," he said.

Critics of the Libyan Government said it was not credible that Seif Gaddafi's foundation was independent of his father's administration.

Over the past three decades, Libya's human rights record has been appalling Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch said: "Today hundreds of people remain arbitrarily detained, some for over a decade, and there are serious concerns about treatment in detention and the fairness of procedures in several ongoing high-profile trials before the Peoples' Courts".

Libya was nominated to run the UN Human Rights Commission by African nations.

Our correspondent says this was widely seen as part of the unofficial quid pro quo Libya had negotiated in return for financing the newly-created African Union, the successor to the Organisation of African Unity, which was formed last year.

Ignored

Amnesty International said that when it learnt Libya had been nominated to the Commission, it wrote to the government in Tripoli asking for permission for human rights investigators to do their work there, but had not received a reply.

Seif Gaddafi: Defended the appointment

Amnesty added that it expected the chair of the Commission to lead by example, but that it was apparent from various reports it had written on Libya that human rights were not respected there.

Seif Gaddafi, who spoke to the BBC when Libya was first nominated for chairmanship of the commission, said that following his intervention with the Libyan Government, all political prisoners had been released - except for two categories.

The first group of remaining prisoners, Gaddafi said, was from the Libyan Fighting Group which he described as "fanatical, violent and headquartered in Afghanistan".

We have a better human rights record than our neighbours Seif Gaddafi

The second group, he said, was from the Muslim Brotherhood - but he could not intervene in their case because it was before the Court of Appeal.

Human Rights Watch conceded that Libya had made "some positive commitments" since its nomination to the UN Commission.

These included indications that it would invite UN investigators and international human rights groups to visit Libya and review the role of the Peoples' Courts.

But the lobby group said Libya should put these initiatives into practice before taking over the chairmanship.

Seif Gaddafi said "We have a better human rights record than our neighbours. Sure, we are not Switzerland or Denmark; we are part of the Third World and part of the Middle East. But we are better than our neighbours".

At least 20 people have died in Bolivia when a bus crashed into a hill near the central city of Cochabamba.

Police said it was raining hard at the time of the crash, but they were not sure if that had caused the accident.

The bus, carrying more than 50 passengers - including several children - was travelling to the southern city of Tarija.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Ecuador's President, Lucio Gutierrez, has announced that the government will raise fuel prices by more than 35% as part of a new economic austerity plan.

Mr Gutierrez said he will also put a freeze on public sector workers' salaries for the rest of this year.

The former army colonel, who was sworn in four days ago, told reporters he had inherited a hole in this year's budget of more than $2bn, from his predecessor, Gustavo Noboa.

The announcement comes as Ecuador is trying to get approval for a loan from the International Monetary Fund of a $500m, to help pay off debts.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Nearly 50 inmates have escaped from a prison in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

The prisoners absconded during a mutiny in the jail, in the Rio borough of Bangu.

Three are reported to have been recaptured.

At least six police officers are still being held hostage by mutinous inmates.

Military police units have been dispatched to the area to deal with the riot.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Polls have closed in Cuba's National Assembly elections, after millions of Cuban's voted for pro-government candidates who were standing unopposed.

Cuban President Fidel Castro hailed the election as a shining example of democracy, while dissidents denounced the polls as a farce.

We trust that these elections will be a new decision by the Cuban people to defend their nation Cuban state television

The 609 candidates include President Castro, an Olympic track medallist and the father of Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy at the heart of a child custody battle with the United States in 2000.

After casting his vote, Mr Castro said the election was "a response to the empire in its efforts to destroy the revolution," in a veiled reference to the United States.

With no opposition, the result is a foregone conclusion.

There are exactly the same number of seats as there are candidates - all of whom are selected by government-approved bodies.

National unity

The vote was promoted by the government as an opportunity for a massive display of national unity.

Candidates were allowed a single piece of paper for their biography

"We trust that these elections will be a new decision by the Cuban people to defend their nation," an announcer on state television said on Sunday morning.

Voters were urged to tick the box on their ballot papers which enables them to vote for all candidates at once.

Mr Castro - who has been the country's president for 44 years - said Cuba's elections are more democratic than those of other nations, because voter turnout is higher and campaigns do not involve large amounts of money and propaganda.

Jose Luis Toledo, a National Assembly deputy who is also Dean of the University of Havana's Law School, said the elections were democratic because half the candidates were chosen at grass-roots level.

"Alongside a great scientist, there could be a sugar cane cutter or a baker," he said.

Boycott call

A leading Cuban dissident, Oswaldo Paya, has dismissed the poll as "neither constitutional nor legitimate", and urged Cubans not to vote.

Dissidents called for a boycott

Other dissidents on the island said they would be making themselves known in polling stations and encouraging voters to spoil their ballots.

Once elected, National Assembly delegates usually meet twice a year.

Their role is principally to approve national laws which are put forward by Cuba's Council of State, led by President Castro.

Authorities in the Australian capital, Canberra, have been accused of not doing enough to protect the city from bush fires which have left four people dead and thousands more homeless.

Emergency crews battling the blazes which ravaged western suburbs over the weekend say they have brought the fires under control.

CANBERRA - AREAS AFFECTED

But firefighters have warned the blazes could be whipped up again by strong north-westerly winds and temperatures forecast to soar to 37 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit).

The fires, which were sparked by lightning, were the worst in the city's history.

Nearly 400 homes were destroyed and some 2,500 residents forced to flee.

Large parts of the city were left without power and there were reports of people looting.

Answers sought

Angry residents said authorities should have done more to stop the fire from reaching the city and called for an inquiry.

The fires raged out of control to the south of the city for a week before they blew into Canberra.

TALKING POINT

I saw some flames that must have been 100 metres high David, Canberra

Click here to share your experiences of the fires

Some people complained that fire crews were overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the disaster and left some properties to burn down.

"We saw a few fire trucks coming down the street. But I think they must have thought, 'That one's a lost cause', and carried on to another house," said Phil Bates, a carpenter.

John Stanhope, the chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory, admitted fire crews could not cope at times.

"There are questions that need to be answered," he said. "And there perhaps are some bitter lessons there for us to learn."

Howard shocked

A pall of thick smoke hung over the city on Monday, as residents pickled through what remained of their smouldering homes.

The historic Stromlo Observatory was gutted

Visiting the scene earlier, Australian Prime Minister John Howard was visibly shocked.

"I have been to a lot of bush fire scenes in Australia... but this is by far the worst," he said.

The cost of the damage was expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.

As well as homes, medical centres, schools and thousands of acres of pine forests were destroyed.

More than 1,000 people remained in evacuation centres on Sunday, as authorities warned of a risk of more fires and explosions caused by gas leaks.

Germans should work longer hours and take less holiday, leaders of employers' organisations have demanded.

Hermann Franzen, head of the German retail association, said workers should give up two days of their annual six weeks of holiday, while average working hours should be extended from 36 to 40 hours a week.

Germany is experiencing a rare wave of strikes

Similar suggestions have been made by the bosses of the German Chambers of Commerce and the Small Business Association.

The tough demands come just as the government is hoping to bring together employers and trade unions for a new round of talks on job creation which is being called "alliance for jobs".

The last round of talks broke down in acrimony last year, with tensions high because of tough industrial disputes in the engineering sector and political point scoring in the run-up to general elections.

The German economy is close to recession, and the number of unemployed remains stubbornly above 4 million.

Government split

Industrial relations have not been helped by a new proposal to liberalise employment laws to make it easier for small firms to hire and fire workers.

Chancellor Schroeder is grasping for a plan to restore the economy

The plan, mooted by the government's minister for work and economics Wolfgang Clement, was immediately attacked by trade union leaders, who called his suggestions "irresponsible" and "confused".

Currently firms with more than five workers face tough regulations if they want to sack a worker.

The regulation was imposed by Chancellor Schroeder's government in 1999, shortly after it came to power.

Mr Clement now wants to revert to the original limit of 10 workers, arguing that small firms simply stop hiring once they reach the limit of five workers.

But Mr Clement has also been criticised by top politicians in his own party, the Social Democrats, who said the party should not go into the debate taking the employers' viewpoint.

'Save your job'

Employers, meanwhile, say workers should contribute more to improve the competitiveness of German companies.

"Every worker should be willing, in order to help secure his or her job, to give up three to four holidays per year," said Mario Ohoven, president of the country's Small Business Association.

"Germany can't afford to have the highest labour costs in Europe and at the same time the greatest number of holidays," he said.

Mr Franzen of the retailers' association believes that longer working hours could provide the much-needed kick-start for the Germany economy.

Trade union leaders, though, say they will have none of this.

They hope that higher wages will boost consumer demand, and so help to get Germany's economy out of its trough.

Nearly 20,000 firms went bankrupt in Japan during 2002, the second-highest number of corporate failures since World War II.

The danger exists that the special bank inspections... could act as a spark for a surge in bankruptcies Teikoku Databank

And experts predict that this year even more companies will go under, because the government is pushing Japanese banks to adopt stricter accounting standards.

Later this month the Financial Services Agency will begin a second round of special inspections to examine the balance sheets of the country's banks.

Firms that have little prospect of paying back their loans are likely to be cut off from further financing.

The government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has promised to halve the number of bad bank loans by March 2005. Japanese banks carry outstanding loans worth at least 50 trillion yen (£263bn, $423bn).

The Japanese Employers' Federation recently warned that it was "impossible" to meet this target.

Small firms under threat

As companies collapse, young graduates find it more difficult to get a job

According to research firm Teikoku Databank, 19,458 firms called in the receivers last year. The record was set in 1984, when more than 20,800 companies went to the wall.

"The danger exists that the second round of special bank inspections... could act as a spark for a surge in bankruptcies," Teikoku Databank said.

Small and medium-sized firms are said to be especially at risk, a trend that seems to be reflected in the figures. While bankruptcy numbers are going up, the total debt left behind by failed firms is actually falling.

Politically it's still not acceptable for that many companies to go bankrupt Garry Evans, HSBC

The pressure will grow during the coming 10 weeks, as balance sheets are drawn up for the financial year ending on 31 March.

Japan's deflation - where real prices are falling - is another factor pushing firms to the brink, Teikoku analysts say. Deflation makes it impossible for struggling companies to pass rising costs on to consumers.

They are left with the choice of either going further into debt, or, if that is not an option, to go bankrupt.

Political pressure

But as Japan's economy is mired in recession and unemployment near record highs, analysts warn that the political fallout of these social costs could still scupper the proposed reforms of the financial sector.

Politicians with links to the worst-affected industries are likely to water down reform plans, said HSBC chief strategist Garry Evans: "Politically it's still deemed not to be acceptable for that many companies to go bankrupt."

The largest number of bankruptcies were in the construction sector, which traditionally has close links to the ruling Liberal Democrats.

Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic has surrendered to the international tribunal in The Hague, where he faces war crimes charges.

Mr Milutinovic was taken by car to a United Nations detention centre in the city after arriving on a special flight from Belgrade.

He is accused of helping the Yugoslav leadership plot the persecution, deportation and murder of ethnic Albanians during the Kosovo conflict in 1998-1999.

Milutinovic is accused of crimes against Albanians

He was indicted along with former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who is currently on trial at The Hague for war crimes including genocide.

The way was cleared for Mr Milutinovic's extradition at the end of last year when his term in office expired and he lost his immunity from prosecution.

Mr Milutinovic has denied any involvement in war crimes and has indicated he is going to The Hague voluntarily.

However, it is unclear whether the court will grant a request from the Serbian Government to allow Mr Milutinovic, who has a heart condition, to return to Belgrade pending his trial.

PM recommendation

Mr Milutinovic was the last member of Mr Milosevic's inner circle to leave office.

After Mr Milosevic was toppled in October 2000, he offered to co-operate with the authorities who replaced him.

The war crimes tribunal has been pressing for Milutinovic's surrender

Serbian television said the Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, had signed a letter for Mr Milutinovic explaining the support he had given the Serbian Government over the past two years.

Mr Milutinovic is not expected to appear before the war crimes court until Wednesday.

Mr Milosevic's own trial was called off for a fifth day amid reports that he is recovering from flu. It is expected to resume on Tuesday.

'No power'

Prosecutors say Mr Milutinovic, who was elected president of Serbia in 1997, is one of those ultimately responsible for atrocities committed by Serb forces in Kosovo.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian Prime Minister, Bajram Rexhepi, described the extradition as "better late than never", but said that reconciliation would only come when all war crimes suspects were brought to justice.

Mr Milutinovic says he knew little of what was going on and had no power over Serbian troops or police.

The Serbian Government has been under pressure from the UN tribunal to arrest Mr Milutinovic since he was indicted in 1999.

But Serbian authorities refused to act against Mr Milutinovic while he was in power, saying to do so would degrade the office of president.

A controversial Franco-German plan to revolutionise the way the European Union is run gets its first real test on Monday, when it is discussed by the EU's constitutional convention.

The convention's 105 members, who are charged with deciding how the European Union should be run in future, have been meeting to examine the proposal to give the EU two presidents.

When Germany and France get along, Europe advances - when they don't, Europe stops Jacques Chirac French President

Under the plan, put forward by France and Germany last week, one president would head the European Commission while the other would take charge at the European Council, which brings together the leaders of individual member states.

The debate is key, because it will ultimately decide who runs the European Union and where the real power lies.

France and Germany believe the current system of a rotating EU presidency, where each member state is in charge for six months, will no longer work when the union expands next year to include 25 countries.

Balancing demands

Instead, they want a permanent president of the European Council, elected by European governments, to represent the EU around the world.

TWIN PRESIDENCY

European Commission president - elected by Parliament, responsible for day-to-day running European Council president - elected by governments, responsible for strategic leadership, speaking on world stage

They have also called for the president of the European Commission to be elected by the European Parliament, giving the post greater democratic legitimacy.

It is part of an effort to balance the demands of countries including the UK and Spain, which want to increase the power of nation states within the union, and smaller countries which want to strengthen the commission and its central authority.

The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Finland, Belgium and Portugal have all found fault with the plan, believing it could concentrate too much power in the hands of the EU's bigger countries.

"What Europe does not need at the moment is a new president," said Gijs de Vries, Dutch representative at the convention.

"The institutional balance would be... badly affected," said Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel.

Other critics - including spokesmen at the European Commission itself - say the Franco-German plan is a recipe for chaos, potentially creating two power centres which could clash with each other or create confusion.

'No president needed'

But the convention's leader, former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, has praised the idea, saying it guarantees the stability of EU institutions.

Giscard D'Estaing has welcomed the proposal

And Britain's leading member on the convention, Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, said on Monday that the commission needed strong leadership, balanced by a European Council headed by a "long-term" chairman.

"We do not want a President of Europe" said Mr Hain. "But we need a chair of the council working in partnership with the president of the commission, as France and Germany have proposed in their welcome contribution."

The convention must now decide whether the plan should become reality.

By the middle of the year, the convention is expected to present a draft constitution, setting the tone for the way Europe works for the next generation.

The BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says that when the convention opened, there were suspicions that the public debate was just for show, with national leaders making the real decisions behind closed doors.

But now, he says, everyone takes it seriously, and this is probably its most important meeting so far.

The convention has been meeting for nearly a year. The current round of talks started on Monday afternoon and is to end on Tuesday.

The plan is part of a series of initiatives by France and Germany to give fresh impetus to their relationship, traditionally at the heart of Europe.

The United States' top military commander says Turkish leaders have been very co-operative, after talks aimed at securing Ankara's support in any war against Iraq.

Any idea that I'm impatient or that we made demands here is not the case General Myers

General Richard Myers - who is chairman of the American Joint Chiefs of Staff - rejected any allegations that he was putting pressure on Turkey for a response and downplayed reports of tensions between the two countries.

Washington wants Ankara to give access to the US military in the event of war, but there is overwhelming domestic opposition to any such move in Turkey.

Turkey, as the only Muslim member of Nato and having a common border with Iraq, would be a vital ally for the US to keep in the event of war.

General Myers' visit to Ankara comes at a time when Turkey is promoting an initiative with Middle Eastern states to avert war.

'No impatience'

Speaking after talks with top Turkish military officials on Monday, General Myers did not give details about US troop deployments in the region, saying only that he was satisfied with his visit: