COPENHAGEN, March 6 (Reuters) - Maersk, one of the world's biggest container shipping groups, said on Friday it has temporarily suspended two services linking the Middle East to Asia and Europe as the Iran conflict continues to disrupt global supply chains.

The Danish group said in a statement it would halt its FM1 service connecting the Far East to the Middle East and its ME11 service linking the Middle East to Europe

PARIS, March 6 (Reuters) - Around 50 French ships are currently blocked in the Persian Gulf and another eight in the Red Sea, France's Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on Friday, as Paris seeks support to build a coalition of countries to secure shipping traffic in the region.

"There are around fifty ships - 52 to be precise - in the Persian Gulf and eight in the Red Sea, and we are also in permanent contact with the crews, as there are French sailors aboard a number of these vessels," Tabarot told French broadcaster CNews/Europe 1.

SEOUL, March 6 (Reuters) - South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Friday the U.S. and South Korean militaries are discussing the possible redeployment of some U.S. Patriot missile defence systems based in South Korea to be used in the war against Iran.

Cho was responding to questions at a parliamentary hearing following media reports on Friday that units of the U.S. mobile missile interceptor system had been moved to the Osan Air Base in South Korea from other locations in the country.

Here are the latest events in the Middle East war on Saturday:

- Blasts in Dubai, Manama -

AFP journalists heard explosions in Dubai and Bahrain's capital, Manama, on Saturday, one week into Iran's retaliatory attacks on targets around the Gulf.

A warning siren sounded in Manama, with Bahrain's interior ministry urging residents in an X post to "head to the nearest safe place".

- US approves weapons to Israel -

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 6 (Reuters) - Israel carried out heavy airstrikes on the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut overnight after ordering its residents to leave, while the Iran-backed group warned Israelis to leave towns and villages at the frontier.

Explosions and flashes lit up the night sky over the Beirut southern suburbs, Reuters footage showed. The Israeli military said it had carried out 26 waves of strikes overnight in the southern suburbs, saying targets included Hezbollah's command centres and weapons storage facilities.

By Xinghui Kok, Rae Wee and Yantoultra Ngui

SINGAPORE/DUBAI, March 6 (Reuters) - Soon after the first Iranian missile and drone attacks on Dubai last week, two Indian entrepreneurs based there tried to move more than $100,000 each from their local bank accounts to Singapore to hedge risk.

Technological glitches in the aftermath of the Iranian attacks initially scuppered those plans, the entrepreneurs, who did not wish to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.

By Jeslyn Lerh

SINGAPORE, March 6 (Reuters) - Fuel oil traders in Asia are struggling to secure alternative supply as the Iran war curtails shipments from key Middle Eastern suppliers through the Strait of Hormuz, prompting them to look to the West for replacement cargoes.

JAKARTA, March 6 (Reuters) - Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has reassured local Islamic groups that he will withdraw from U.S. President Donald Trump's 'Board of Peace' if the platform does not benefit Palestinians, a government statement said on Friday.

The participation of Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, on the board, and its decision to contribute troops for a Gaza stabilisation force,has drawn criticism from experts and Muslim groups at home, who say it compromises its long-standing support for the Palestinian cause.

An Israeli strike on a hotel in central Beirut killed at least four people Sunday, Lebanese officials said, underscoring the widening reach of the US-backed war against Iran as missiles, drones and air strikes pounded targets across the region.

The attack came with the conflict spilling into a second week, as both sides pressed attacks and the bodies of the first US troops to die in the war were returned home.

An AFP photographer at the bombed seafront hotel saw shattered windows and heavy damage to one room while security forces sealed off the area.

By Parisa Hafezi and Steve Holland

DUBAI/WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump encouraged Iranian Kurdish forces in Iraq to launch attacks against Iran as the Middle East conflict widened, with Azerbaijan warning it would retaliate for being targeted by Iranian missiles.

Israel on Friday said it had started a "broad-scale" wave of attacks against infrastructure targets in Tehran, as Gulf cities came under renewed bombardment by Iran.