Pro-Russia forces have reportedly agreed to abide by a ceasefire brokered by Moscow and Kiev, which is aimed at stopping violence in eastern Ukraine ahead of the Christmas and New York holidays.

The “indefinite truce” went into effect at midnight Saturday (Friday 2200 GMT), according to Denis Pushilin, who heads the Council of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine.

The deal between Kiev and pro-Russia forces was reached with the help of Moscow and European monitors and is expected to last through at least the holiday season.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hailed the move as an important step towards a lasting peace.

“I expect that thanks to these measures, which come on the eve of the New Year and Christmas holidays, this ceasefire in eastern Ukraine will be a lasting one,” Poroshenko said in a statement.

A railway linking northern Iraq and Turkey has reopened after a seven-year stoppage following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, officials said.

Baghdad wants to boost economic and political relations with neighboring countries and increase investment to develop its dilapidated infrastructure and revamp the economy battered by years of war, underinvestment and sanctions.

Built in the early 20th century when Iraq was a British colony, the railway stopped after U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, plunging the country into violence.

"This will strengthen Iraqi-Turkish political and economic ties," Ender Saritekin, Turkey's deputy consul in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, said on Wednesday.

After strained ties under Saddam, relations between Ankara and Baghdad have warmed. Last year, the countries signed deals from energy cooperation to water sharing.

The train, with 13 passengers on board, set off on Tuesday for an 18-hour journey from Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, to the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep, Akram Ahmed, head of railways in Iraq's northern region said.

The train service, which covers a distance of about 600 km and will also carry freight, will operate twice a week.

As part of a plan to revamp Iraq's train network, the Baghdad mayor's office said last year that it had shortlisted eight foreign firms to build its first metro and expected the project to cost $3-$4 billion.

Iraq sends around a quarter of its oil exports, or around 500,000 barrels per day, from its north to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Baghdad is trying to vault itself to one of the top three global oil producers after a series of crude deals.

Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments on Wednesday decided to take a minority interest in an auto assembling plant in Algeria.

The investment company will also own a majority 51 per cent in joint venture tunnel-boring equipment manufacturing company with Herrenknecht, a leading German firm that has large stakes in tunnel-boring equipment manufacturing.

The directors of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange-listed investment company have approved a 24.5 per cent stake in a joint venture with the government of Algeria and Ferrostaal, to build the first of three factories in Algeria, the firm said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

This is the first stage in executing the memorandum of understanding signed by the Abu Dhabi firm last year with the government of Algeria, and Germany's auto giants Ferrostaal, Rheinmetall, Daimler, Deutz, and MTU.

Up to 10,000 cars and trucks will be assembled each year at the plant as the North African country looks to establish an industrial base. Assembly is expected to start in 2010 following the modernisation or development of plants in Tiaret, Ain Smara and Oued Hamimine. The project will be led by the German truck manufacturer MAN Ferrostaal.

Daimler, Deutz, MTU and Rheinmetall will participate as technology partners providing licences and intellectual property. The investment in the auto manufacturing unit is the third major investment by the ADX-listed company 
this year.
It shook the stock markets last month by acquiring 70 per cent ownership of Arabtec Holdings PJSC investing Dh6.4 billion, at a share price of Dh2.3.

Aabar share price climbed as much as 1.32 per cent to close at Dh2.33 on Wednesday at Abu Dhabi Securities 
Exchange.

Aabar last week agreed to invest US$20 million for stakes in US aviation company XOJET Inc.