The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Swat

Militants said Saturday they captured two police stations in a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan that has increasingly fallen under the control of Taliban and al-Qaida-linked extremists, bringing further embarrassment to President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's government.

A flag was hoisted over one of the buildings after it was abandoned by officers in the scenic Swat valley, once a popular tourist destination now plagued by fighting between paramilitary forces and Islamic militants, said Sirajuddin, speaking on behalf of the insurgents.

Hours later, militants took control of another police post six miles to the north, said Mian Rasool Shah, a Taliban commander, claiming his men had convinced 60 officers to leave and then locked the doors to prevent the looting of weapons.

No government official was immediately available to comment on the claims, which came a day after extremists paraded 48 men described as government troops who had decided to surrender. The men, who told journalists they no longer wanted to fight their Muslim brothers, were later released.

The rising violence and political turmoil have fueled fears that Musharraf might extend his military rule by imposing a state of emergency or martial law, jeopardizing a promised transition to democracy. The Bush administration and European allies have urged against such moves, a Western diplomat in Islamabad said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Elements in Pakistan's ruling party were pushing the U.S.-backed leader to impose emergency measures in case the Supreme Court disqualifies his Oct. 6 presidential victory because he did not first give up his position as army chief, the diplomat said. A verdict is due before his current term expires Nov. 15, after which Pakistan is due to hold parliamentary elections.

Adm. William Fallon, the chief of the U.S. Central Command, met with Musharraf and other top generals on Friday to discuss the security situation in the northwest, where Islamic militants have expanded their reach beyond traditional tribal regions. Washington backs Musharraf as a bulwark in its war on terrorism.

Another report adds: Islamic militants took 120 police and paramilitary soldiers hostage overnight in northwest Pakistan but released them Saturday after disarming them, a rebel spokesman said.

The men were seized in the town of Matta in the scenic Swat valley in Northwest Frontier Province after militants besieged their post late Friday.

"Around 120 policemen and paramilitary soldiers surrendered after they were surrounded," spokesman Sirajuddin said. "We released them on Saturday because they agreed to return to their homes and not to fight with Muslim brothers," the spokesman, who goes by one name only, told AFP.

"Our mujaheddin (holy warriors) are in control of the police station."

It was the second time in a week militants loyal to pro-Taliban cleric Mullah Fazlullah have taken security personnel captive.

Earlier, 48 men said to be paramilitary soldiers were seized by extremists in Khawazakhela town and released after parading them before media on Friday.

Provincial authorities denied the first incident but declined comment on the latest capture of security men.

An AFP correspondent witnessed masked men brandishing assault rifles, rocket launchers and traditional curved Swati swords set up checkposts in Matta and Khawazakhela.

AP, Baghdad

Bombs and drive-by shootings killed at least 21 people across Baghdad and its northern belts yesterday, and the US military announced the deaths of three more soldiers killed in combat in the country's north.

Yesterday's tolls were in line with a trend borne out by Associated Press figures that show the number of Iraqi civilians who meet violent deaths fell sharply in October, as did the US military death toll. The number of Iraqi civilians killed dropped from at least 1,023 in September to at least 905 in October, according to an AP count, and the number of American military deaths fell from 65 to at least 39 over the same period.

America's number-two military commander in Iraq said yesterday that over the past three months, there has also been a sharp decline in the number of EFPs, or explosively formed projectiles, found across the country.

EFPs fire a slug of molten copper capable of penetrating armored vehicles and so are more deadly than other roadside bombs. They are used largely by Shi'ite militias, and Washington blames Iran for their manufacture and distribution in Iraq. Iran denies the assertion.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters by videoconference from Iraq, Army Lieutenant General Ray Odierno said there were 30 EFP explosions in October and 23 more were found unexploded, for a total of 53. That compares with 99 in July, 78 in August, and 52 in September, he said.

But Odierno said it was unclear whether the decline was attributable to the Iranians curtailing the flow of the weapons.

"It's unclear to me whether they have slowed down bringing in weapons and supporting the insurgency or not," Odierno said. "I'll still wait and see."

Iraqi and American forces captured some 118 suspected insurgents in two days of raids in central and northern Iraq. US troops killed 14 suspects during the operations, the military said.

AFP, Wintersburg

As authorities tried to understand why a contract worker would bring a pipe bomb to the nation's largest nuclear power plant, one thing was immediately clear: The security worked.

Guards stopped Roger William Hurd, 61, at the entrance to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station when they spotted the bomb. He was detained about a half mile from the containment domes where the nuclear material is stored. Officials pulled his security clearances and placed the facility on lockdown.

"The guards were attentive and alert and took the appropriate action when they identified something suspicious," said Victor Dricks, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

CNN, United Nations

The United Nations said Friday it was "disappointed" that Myanmar's government had expelled a top U.N. diplomat, and the Bush administration condemned the action by the ruling military junta in the secretive Asian country.

Ibrahim Gambari, U.N. special envoy to Myanmar, is due to return as another U.N. diplomat faces expulsion. "The secretary-general is disappointed by the message from the government of Myanmar that it would not want the resident coordinator, Mr. Charles Petrie, to continue to serve," said a statement issued on behalf of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe called the expulsion of Petrie, the U.N.'s human rights representative, "outrageous" and noted it came the day before Ibrahim Gambari, the special U.N. envoy to Myanmar, is scheduled to return to the country. It is "an insult to the United Nations and the international community," Johndroe said.

The U.S. charge d'affaires in Myanmar , Shari Villarosa, told CNN earlier Friday that Petrie was told he was no longer welcome in the country.

"They say that they are interested in cooperating with the U.N.," Villarosa said, "so this seems very unusual to say the least." It was unclear whether Petrie was given a deadline to leave the country.

In the statement, a spokesman for Ban said he "has full confidence in the United Nations country team." Ban has instructed Ibrahim Gambari "to convey his views directly to the authorities" in Myanmar upon his arrival, the statement said.

AFP, Heart

Taliban fighters have overrun a second district in western Afghanistan, a district governor said Friday, warning the rebels could be planning to sweep into his own area.

The police and administration heads of the strategic Bakwa district in Farah province had fled after days of attacks by scores of rebels, the official said, after the militants late Monday took the adjacent Gulistan district.

Taliban insurgents have previously overrun several districts in remote parts of Afghanistan, including Bakwa, but are easily ejected by the international militaries here to aid the country's own weak security forces.

They have, however, held the district of Musa Qala, close to Gulistan, since February and the area is considered a Taliban base.

Bakwa police had made a "tactical withdrawal" to Delaram district after a new Taliban attack late Thursday, said Delaram governor Yahya Riadth.

"Taliban have control over Bakwa district now and the police and district governor have retreated to our district," he said.

Riadth warned his district, bordered by both Bakwa and Gulistan, could also be attacked.

"The government needs to reinforce our district urgently otherwise we have intelligence reports that the Taliban will attack us from both districts they have captured," he said.

AFP, Washington

Thirty US senators wrote to President George W. Bush, warning he had no authority to launch military action against Iran, and expressing concern about the administration's "provocative" rhetoric.

The senators, 29 Democrats and one independent, urged the resolution of disputes with the Islamic republic through diplomacy.

"We wish to emphasize that no congressional authority exists for unilateral military action against Iran," said the letter signed by senators including presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Another Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Chris Dodd, signed the letter but Senators Barack Obama and Joseph Biden did not. The letter warned that a resolution passed by the Senate in September, calling for the designation of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group, should not be used as a pretext for war.

It hit out at "provocative statements and actions" by the administration on Iran, after Bush last month warned Tehran must be barred from nuclear weapons to avoid the prospect of "World War III."

Reuters, Jerusalem

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hopes to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office, an Israeli government official said on Friday. In separate remarks, Olmert's deputy said talks with the Palestinians on core statehood issues, including the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees, would immediately follow a U.S.-led conference due late this month or early in December.

"There are big advantages to reaching an agreement before the end of Bush's term. This is the right thing to do. It is the best thing to do for both sides," the official quoted Olmert as telling German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The official said Olmert wanted to seize the opportunity because it was impossible to know how committed the next U.S. administration would be to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Olmert also wants to take advantage of a commitment by the Bush administration that Israel can keep control in any peace deal of large Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank, on land it occupied in the 1967 Middle East War, the official said.

AFP, Ramallah

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with members of Hamas on Friday for the first time since the militant group ousted his forces and took over the Gaza Strip in June.

Abbas' aides described the meeting with four West Bank-based Hamas members as an informal gathering after Friday prayers at Abbas' presidential compound, saying it was not an official contact between the two movements. Abbas has repeatedly said he would have no contact with Hamas until it cedes power in Gaza. But one of the Hamas men, Hussein Abu Quaik, said Abbas invited them to prayers.

"Everybody in Hamas knew about this," Abu Quaik said. "This will contribute to strengthening our relationship, and lay the basis for national unity, God willing."

AP, Tokyo

A team of U.S. experts is expected to begin disabling North Korea's nuclear facilities on Monday, the U.S. envoy to disarmament talks with Pyongyang said. If carried out, it would mark the biggest step the communist country has taken to scale back its atomic program.

Envoy Christopher Hill also said Saturday that the North - one of the world's most isolated countries - appeared to be opening up, and said U.S. lawyers had begun working with Pyongyang to remove the communist regime from Washington's list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

"By Monday morning, they will begin their work," Hill said, referring to the U.S. team that arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday. "It's a very big day because it's the first time it's actually going to start disabling its nuclear program." The North shut down its Yongbyon reactor in July and promised to disable it by year's end in exchange for energy aid and political concessions from the nations that participate in talks on its nuclear program: the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.

AFP, Mexico City

Rescuers Friday battled to reach people perched on rooftops as the worst floods on record in Mexico's southern state of Tabasco left hundreds of thousands of residents trapped.

Television pictures showed people struggling to get to higher ground as rising water levels reached up to their necks.

Others awaited rescue on rooftops, surrounded by floodwater.

Mexican navy crews used small boats to rescue victims of the disastrous floods.

"The event has overwhelmed everybody," Interior Minister Francisco Ramirez Acuna told journalists.

Overnight, military troops evacuated the center of Tabasco's capital Villahermosa after a levy collapsed, and hospital patients in the city of 750,000 were flown to neighboring states as floodwaters continued to rise.