MUNICH (Reuters) – Iran sees good prospects for clinching a deal with world powers on exchanging some of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) for higher-grade fuel it can use in a reactor producing medical isotopes, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Friday.

Such a deal could represent a major breakthrough in the long-running dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, but it was not clear whether Iran’s conditions would be acceptable to the United States and others.

MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) – Afghanistan will not pay bribes to persuade Taliban footsoldiers to stop fighting, but will help them to reintegrate into Afghan society and find jobs, Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasul said on Friday.

In an interview with Reuters, Rasul also rejected the suggestion that Taliban fighters might accept money under the scheme, which Western donors agreed to fund at a conference in London last week, and then simply resume their insurgency.

LONDON (Reuters) – The United States will more than double its security assistance for Yemen and Britain will host an international meeting this month to seek ways of preventing the poorest Arab state from becoming an al Qaeda stronghold.

The moves highlighted mounting Western concern over Yemen after a failed Christmas Day attempt to bomb a U.S. airliner by a Nigerian man who said he had received training and equipment in the country that borders Saudi Arabia.