Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, April 3

ANKARA -- The groundbreaking ceremony of Turkey's first nuclear power plant, Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, was held Tuesday with the participation of Turkish and Russian presidents via a video teleconference from capital Ankara.

During the video teleconference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said "The successful implementation of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will be a symbol of the dynamic development of Turkish-Russian partnership." (Turkey-Russia-Nuclear Plant)

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TRIPOLI -- The Libyan northern Tripoli court on Tuesday acquitted Saadi Gaddafi, son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, of murder of the late athlete Bashir al-Rayani, according to the Ministry of Justice.

"The court issued its verdict in case No. 877 of 2014, to acquit the first defendant, Saadi Muammar Gaddafi, for the premeditated murder, deception, threats, enslavement and defamation of Bashir al-Rayani," the Ministry said in a statement. (Libya-Son of Gaddafi-Aquittal)

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DAMASCUS -- Buses have prepared on Tuesday to transfer the second batch of the Islam Army rebels and their families from the district of Douma, the last rebel-held area in the capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta.

Buses waited at the Wafideen crossing northeast of Damascus for the second batch of the rebels to move out of the adjacent Douma district, a day after more than 1,400 Islam Army militants and their families left toward the rebel-held city of Jarablus in northern Syria near the Turkish border. (Syria-Eastern Ghouta-Rebels)

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ANKARA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia and Turkey agreed to bring forward the delivery of the S-400 missile defense systems to Turkey.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Putin said relations between the two countries are developing "step by step." (Turkey-Russia-Missile Systems) Enditem