Wednesday, September 13 2006 15:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Havana: The Iran issue and the West Asia situation figured prominently in discussions on the second day of the NAM Summit where delegates of more than 100 developing countries urged for unconditional negotiations to resolve the standoff over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.

After hotly debated closed-door meetings, officials at the Summit issued separate resolutions on Iran and Palestine and fine-tuned a draft final document the heads of state and government are to adopt on Saturday.

The six-day gathering of NAM nations brings together almost 116 leaders from developing countries, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has defied UN demands that he halt uranium enrichment is also slated to attend the meeting.

Heads of state and government will start their talks on Friday, four days after the preparatory meetings.

The summit is officially led by an ailing Fidel Castro, 80, but it was not known if he would take part in any public summit activity.

On Iran, the officials updated a resolution adopted by a NAM meeting in May in Putrajaya, Malaysia, but added a paragraph stating the need for an 'unconditional resumption of dialogue.'

The statement had said that any country had the right to use nuclear energy and welcomed what it said was Iran's' voluntary confidence-building efforts' aimed at resolving the issue.

A document demanding that Israel withdraw from the West Bank, stop its 'aggression' in Gaza and release jailed Palestinian officials was also discussed at the meeting yesterday.