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Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, Feb. 19

Xinhua, February 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

Turkey and the United States signed an agreement on Thursday for training and equipping the Syrian rebels, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

A memorandum of understanding was signed by U.S. Ambassador John Bass and Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, Cavusoglu told reporters. (Turkey-US-Deal)

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DAMASCUS -- Jihadist militants captured at least 32 Syrian government soldiers and allied fighters in northern province of Aleppo, a monitoring group reported Thursday.

An array of rebel groups, including the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, also killed six government troops or allied militiamen others in intense battles on Wednesday in the town of Ritan in the northern countryside of Aleppo, where the Syrian army has recently waged a major offensive to dislodge rebels from key areas and cut their supply routes from neighboring Turkey.(Syria-Rebels-Attack)

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TRIPOLI -- The UN Support Mission in Libya plans to organize a new round of dialogue between Libya's political rivals in Morocco next week, according to a member of the outgoing parliament of Tripoli.

The expired General National Congress (GNC) will be involved in the talks for the first time after continuously refusing to participate in any dialogue held outside Libya. (Libya-Dialogue)

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TEHRAN -- Delegations from Iran and the United States will sit for another round of nuclear talks in Geneva on Friday, Iranian state media reported Thursday.

The talks will begin as a bilateral meeting between Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and U.S. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted Araqchi as saying. (Iran-US-Talks) Endit