Turkey says premier to go to Iran, Iraq as mediator

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ulusu will visit Tehran, Iran, and Baghdad, Iraq, shortly to mediate in the war between Iran and Iraq, a senior government official said Tuesday. The official, declining to be named, said the trip was an independent peace initiative by Turkey.

Meanwhile, an alleged shake-up in the Iranian government has been reported. Citing political sources in Tehran, a US news agency said Iran's Supreme Court president, Ayatollah Abdel-Karim Mahdavi-Kani, reportedly resigned in a purge of religious extremists meant to ease Arab fears of Islamic expansionism. The report also said Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini will dispatch a team shortly to reassure Arab states that the Gulf war is not aimed at the overthrow of their regimes.