Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, April 16

TEHRAN -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the U.S.-led strikes on Syria proves that Washington has direct ties with terrorists, Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.

"The Americans showed such a reaction when they felt the terrorists were dislodged from an important region like Eastern Ghouta," Rouhani said in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Iran-Syria -U.S.)

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DAMASCUS -- Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Monday his government is keen to cooperate with the chemical weapons investigators who have arrived in Damascus three days ago, according to the state news agency SANA.

Mekdad said that the investigators of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) arrived in Damascus three days ago and held meetings with the Syrian government side, during which both sides discussed the cooperation for the team to carry out its work with transparency, impartiality, and accuracy. (Syria-Chemical Weapons-Investigation)

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DUQM, Oman, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The construction commencement ceremony for the Wanfang commercial-residential complex was held Monday in the China-Oman Industrial Park in Duqm.

Lee Cheekhian, CEO of Special Economic Zone Authority in Duqm, presided over the ceremony, which was also attended by Salim Al Sulaimani, CEO of Tatweer, and Sha Yanju, chairman of Oman Wanfang. (Oman-China-Industrial Park)

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TIKRIT, Iraq -- Two policemen were killed and two others wounded Monday in an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's central province of Salahudin, a provincial police source said.

The incident took place in the evening when IS militants attacked a police checkpoint near the town of Ishaqi, some 60 km south of the provincial capital Tikrit, sparking fierce clashes between the two sides, Capt. Ahmed al-Safi from Salahudin's Operations Command told Xinhua. (Iraq-IS Attack) Enditem