BRUSSELS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - EU Commissioner Dubravka Suica will travel to Washington this week to attend a meeting of the Board of Peace, as set up by U.S President Donald Trump, in her capacity as an observer, a spokesperson for the EU Commission said on Monday.

By Orhan Qereman

ROJ CAMP, Syria, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Syrian Kurdish forces on Monday released 34 Australians who were detained in a camp holding families of suspected Islamic State militants in northern Syria, saying they would be flown to Australia from Damascus.

Hukmiya Mohamed, a co-director of Roj camp, told Reuters that the 34 Australians had been handed to members of their families who had come to Syria for the release. They were put on small buses for Damascus ahead of their departure from the country. A military vehicle escorted the buses.

PARIS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - French police on Monday searched the Arab World Institute in Paris in connection with an investigation into its former head, ex culture minister Jack Lang, and his ties with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into alleged tax fraud against Lang and his daughter Caroline following the release of documents by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Arab World Institute said it could not comment immediately.

ATHENS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The Israeli producer of hit spy thriller "Tehran" was found dead on Sunday at a hotel room in Athens, Greek police officials said while a probe into the incident is underway.

The body of the 52-year-old woman, identified as Dana Eden, was found after a relative made several failed attempts to reach her.

The case is being treated as suicide based on evidence and testimonies, the police officials said.

Greek investigators found pills at the scene. A coroner also found bruises on the victim's neck.

DUBAI, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said he will meet the UN nuclear watchdog chief on Monday, ahead of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks to tackle their dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme and avert conflict as U.S. warships deploy to the Middle East.

The two sides held indirect talks earlier this month in Oman.

"I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal. What is not on the table: submission before threats," Araqchi said on X.

JAKARTA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Indonesia is readying 1,000 troops for potential deployment in Gaza by early April as part of a proposed multinational peacekeeping force, its army spokesperson said on Monday.

The final deployment decision will be made by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, spokesperson Donny Pramono said, adding that a total of 8,000 soldiers will be ready for deployment by June.

"The departure schedule remains entirely subject to the political decisions of the state and applicable international mechanisms," he said in a text message to Reuters.

DUBAI, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said he will meet with the director of the UN nuclear watchdog on Monday, the day before a second round of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva.

Iran and the U.S. renewed negotiations earlier this month to tackle their decades-long dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme and avert a new military confrontation as U.S. warships, including a second aircraft carrier, are deploying to the region.

Iran said on Monday that the United States's position on Iran's nuclear programme "has moved towards a more realistic one", a day ahead of a second round of US-Iranian talks in Geneva.

Tehran's foreign minister arrived in Geneva for the new round of indirect negotiations with the US, as the Revolutionary Guards began military drills in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for oil and gas.

With global sales mired in a slump, art dealers have turned to buyers in the oil-rich Gulf, where culture sector spending is on the rise.

Art Basel, which runs elite fairs in Miami, Hong Kong, Paris and Switzerland, held its Gulf debut in Qatar earlier this month.

"The second you land here, you see the ambition. It's basically the future," Andisheh Avini, a senior director at New York-based Gagosian Gallery, told AFP at the Doha fair.

Some residents of Tehran on Sunday chanted slogans against the clerical leadership from balconies and windows, reports said, a day after Iranians abroad staged giant opposition rallies in Europe and North America.

The Islamic republic under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was shaken by a protest movement that peaked in January and which according to rights groups was repressed by security forces in a crackdown that left thousands dead.