The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Baghdad

Insurgents killed a US soldier and wounded three others in a bomb attack during combat operations in the restive Diyala province, north of the Iraqi capital, the US military said on Saturday.

The soldiers were attacked on Friday.

The US military's overall losses in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion have now reached 3,858, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures, which also take into account soldiers who die after leaving Iraq for treatment.

AP report adds: Former Sunni insurgents asked the U.S. to stay away, then ambushed members of al-Qaida in Iraq, killing 18 in a battle that raged for hours north of Baghdad, an ex-insurgent leader and Iraqi police said Saturday.

The Islamic Army in Iraq sent advance word to Iraqi police requesting that U.S. helicopters keep out of the area since its fighters had no uniforms and were indistinguishable from al-Qaida, according to the police and a top Islamic Army leader known as Abu Ibrahim. Abu Ibrahim told The Associated Press that his fighters killed 18 al-Qaida militants and captured 16 in the fight southeast of Samarra, a mostly Sunni city about 60 miles north of Baghdad. "We found out that al-Qaida intended to attack us, so we ambushed them at 3 p.m. on Friday," Abu Ibrahim said. He would not say whether any Islamic Army members were killed.

Much of the Islamic Army in Iraq, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group that includes former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, has joined the U.S.-led fight against al-Qaida in Iraq along with Sunni tribesmen and other former insurgents repelled by the terror group's brutality and extremism.

An Iraqi police officer corroborated Abu Ibrahim's account, but said policemen were not able to verify the number of bodies because the area was still too dangerous to enter.

Before the battle, the insurgent commander personally contacted Iraqi police in Samarra himself to tell them his plans, according to the officer and Abu Ibrahim himself. He asked that Iraqi authorities inform the American military about his plans, and requested that no U.S. troops interfere, they said.

The U.S. military said Saturday it had no record of U.S. troops ever being informed about the operation, and it was unclear whether Iraqi police followed through on Abu Ibrahim's request. The police officer said the al-Qaida captives would not be transferred to Iraqi police.

Instead, he said, he believed the Islamic Army would offer a prisoner swap for some of its members held by al-Qaida. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because of the situation's sensitivity.

Meanwhile, farther east, in Diyala province, members of another former insurgent group, the 1920s Revolution Brigades, launched a military-style operation Saturday against al-Qaida in Iraq there, the Iraqi Army said.

About 60 militants were captured and handed over to Iraqi soldiers, an Army officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to media. Afterward, hundreds of people paraded through the streets of Buhriz, about 35 miles north of Baghdad, witnesses said. Many danced and fired their guns into the air, shouting "Down with al-Qaida!" and "Diyala is for all Iraqis!"

AP, Islamabad

Pakistan's military ruler has amended a law to give sweeping powers to army courts to try civilians on charges such as treason and inciting public unrest, officials said Sunday as a key opposition leader prepared to stage a massive, 185-mile protest march in defiance of a ban.

The moves came one week after President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said he was imposing a state of emergency to help fight Islamic militancy. But the main targets of his crackdown so far have been his most outspoken critics, including the increasingly independent judiciary and media. Musharraf was to hold a press conference with international journalists later Sunday.

Pakistan eased the crackdown Saturday, releasing opposition leader Benazir Bhutto from house arrest. Musharraf - under pressure by the United States and other Western allies to return to the path of democracy - won praise for agreeing to lift the emergency within weeks and hold elections by Feb. 15, just one month later than originally scheduled.

President Bush called the promises "positive steps," throwing U.S. support firmly behind the Pakistani leader in the fight against Islamic militants.

But a decision to amend the Pakistan Army Act - confirmed by Attorney General Malik Mohammed Qayyum on Sunday - is likely to raise fresh concerns. It would allow military courts to try people accused of treason, sedition, or "giving statements conducive to public mischief."

In theory, that could include Bhutto, who said she would defy Musharraf's ban on public gatherings and lead supporters on a march from the eastern city of Lahore to the capital Islamabad on Tuesday.

AFP, Tokyo

Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda may dissolve the lower house of parliament and call a snap election if the opposition passes a censure motion against him, a ruling party leader said Sunday.

"If a censure motion is passed, Prime Minister Fukuda may make a crucial decision," Bummei Ibuki, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said in a television panel discussion.

"That will be one of his options as a matter of course," he added on the public network NHK.

Ibuki was referring to the possibility of an early general election to break the impasse in parliament over a LDP-backed bill aimed at resuming a Japanese naval refuelling mission in the Indian Ocean to support the US-led "war on terror" in Afghanistan. The LDP, with the help of junior coalition partner Buddhist-backed New Komeito, can force the bill through as they occupy about 70 percent of the 480-seat House of Representatives, the lower house.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which is against the mission, has said that if the LDP does that, it might pass a censure motion against Fukuda for "breaching the will of the people."

"We will decide whether or not we will present the censure motion to the upper house after assessing which view the people consider right -- our view or the view of the government and the ruling party," DJP secretary general Yukio Hatoyama said in the same TV programme.

AFP, Jerusalem

An Israeli deputy prime minister said on Saturday after a US visit that "all options are on the table" to halt Iran's nuclear drive , which Israel considers a threat to its existence.

"The strategy for now is one of sanctions, of a united front of nations in that context, and the strategy of declaring without any doubt that all options are on the table," Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told public radio.

Israel and the United States accuse Iran of pursuing atomic weapons under the guise of a peaceful nuclear energy programme, charges Tehran has repeatedly denied.

"I think like others that the option of using military force is the last resort," Mofaz said.

But "it's clear that the opportunity for a negotiated solution is diminishing if by the diplomatic path we should not succeed to stop the advancement of the Iranian nuclear programme," he added.

Israel and the United States agreed to appoint two working committees to hone a joint strategy against Iran's nuclear ambitions, public radio reported on Friday, following the talks which Mofaz held in Washington this week.

AP, Washington

The rate at which infants die in the United States has dropped substantially over the past half-century, but broad disparities remain among racial groups, and the country stacks up poorly next to other industrialized nations.

In 2004, the most recent year for which statistics are available, roughly seven babies died for every 1,000 live births before reaching their first birthday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. That was down from about 26 in 1960.

Babies born to black mothers died at two and a half times the rate of those born to white mothers, according to the CDC figures.

The United States ranks near the bottom for infant survival rates among modernized nations. A Save the Children report last year placed the United States ahead of only Latvia, and tied with Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia. The same report noted the United States had more neonatologists and newborn intensive care beds per person than Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom - but still had a higher rate of infant mortality than any of those nations.

AFP, Manila

The chief legal officer of the Philippines' elections commission has been shot and killed outside a hotel in Manila, a report said Sunday.

Alioden Dalaig, 64, was found slumped on the ground with a gunshot wound in the chest Saturday evening and was already dead by the time he was taken to hospital, the Philippine Star reported.

As chief of the Commission on Elections' legal department, Dalaig investigated allegations of cheating by candidates. Police said the motive for the attack was still unknown, but said it may be connected to this work.

Dalaig was a close ally of disgraced elections official Virgilio Garcillano, who allegedly helped rig the May 2004 presidential vote in favour of President Gloria Arroyo.

The political opposition publicly released audio tapes in which a man sounding like Garcillano could be heard talking to a woman sounding like Arroyo conniving to manipulate the votes.

Arroyo had repeatedly denied any wrong doing, but later made a public apology for a "lapse in judgment" in phoning an elections official she did not name in the middle of a vote count.

Her popularity tumbled after the apology but her political opponents in two successive bids failed to impeach her in Congress, which is dominated by her allies.

Commission spokesman James Jimenez said Dalaig's family and colleagues were awaiting results of an official autopsy, declining to speculate on the motive.

"He is a big loss for the Comelec," he said, adding that Dalaig has been with the commission for 30 years and was about to retire.

Reuters, London

Prince William laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in London for the first time in remembrance of the war dead on Sunday.

The young second lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment, second in line to the throne, followed his grandmother the Queen in paying respects to the fallen at Whitehall amid overcast skies.

Among those he remembered were his former army mentor from his training school days at Sandhurst, Major Alexis Roberts, of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, who was killed in action in Afghanistan last month.

Other royals attending included the Queen's husband Philip and children Charles, Andrew, Edward and Anne. William's brother Prince Harry, also a second lieutenant, was to attend a separate service with his own regiment.

The leaders of Britain's political parties laid wreaths, as did high commissioners of Commonwealth countries whose soldiers fought in both world wars as part of the British empire.

Thousands of veterans marched to the memorial with medals pinned to their chests, standing in silence at the Cenotaph for two minutes as Big Ben struck 11 o'clock.

Services took place around the world, including among soldiers involved in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, 100 Royal Marines from 40 Commando held a service in Helmand province.

More than 80 British soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the Taliban government was toppled in 2001.

Reuters, Ramallah

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday inaugurated a mausoleum built over Yasser Arafat's grave and vowed to press on with his iconic predecessor's drive for a Palestinian state. Abbas, who is preparing for a U.S.-hosted peace conference with Israel, said he hoped Arafat's wish to be buried in Jerusalem would be realized along with the Palestinians' dream of making the Arab East of the city their capital. "We will continue on the path to set up the independent Palestinian state with (Jerusalem) as its capital, God willing," Abbas said at an unveiling ceremony in the occupied West Bank. Arafat founded the secular Fatah movement in the 1960s, leading the Arab fight against Israel before signing an interim peace deal in 1993. That agreement broke down in botched talks over a final accord.

AP, Crawford

President Bush stepped up praise of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf Saturday, hailing "positive steps" the general took by promising to lift emergency rule, resign as army chief and hold elections. Indeed, Bush refused to pointedly criticize Musharraf at a joint news conference here with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, continuing the cautious and measured response he's embraced in the week since Musharraf imposed the crackdown. Bush did, however, dodge a question whether Musharraf's moves, seen by many as an attempt to cling to power, constitute a dangerous distraction from the battle against al-Qaida insurgents. Speaking after two days of meetings with Merkel, the president said he has confidence in the commitment of Pakistan's leadership to stick with the U.S. in the fight against global terrorism. "We share a common goal," Bush said. Musharraf aligned himself with Washington after the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. soil, Bush noted, suggesting the Pakistani has given him no reason to doubt him since that decision. In fact, Bush added, several al-Qaida leaders have been brought to justice, "and that wouldn't have happened without President Musharraf honoring his word."

AP, Cairo

Egypt and Saudi Arabia backed an upcoming U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference Saturday as a way to set the stage for a final agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, an Egyptian official said. It was still unclear, however, whether the two countries would attend the conference, scheduled for late November in Annapolis, Md. Arab countries have been reluctant to commit to attending without guarantees that the meeting will yield firm results. "Egypt and Saudi Arabia have a clear stance, that is to welcome the meeting because it comes after long years of a frozen peace process," said Suleiman Awaad, a spokesman for Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. He spoke after a meeting between Mubarak and Saudi King Abdullah. Awaad said Mubarak and Abdullah expect the meeting to "set up the final solutions t within serious negotiations and a timetable." Saudi officials did not comment after the meeting. In September, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said his country would probably not attend the conference if it did not tackle substantive issues.

Reuters, Seoul

South Korean protesters opposed to a free trade deal with the United States fought pitched battles with riot police on Sunday, as thousands of demonstrators jammed the streets of downtown Seoul. Police, using truncheons and water cannon, detained scores of farmers and student activists, according to Reuters witnesses. Organizers estimated 50,000 people took part in the protest, while police put the number of demonstrators at 20,000. At one location, police beat male and female college students with batons, forcing protesters to the ground and then kicking several of them into submission before dragging them away, one Reuters witness said. South Korea and the United States struck a sweeping bilateral free trade deal in April that studies say could boost their $73 billion-a-year annual trade by about a further $20 billion.

AP, Beijing

China's safety watchdog confirmed Saturday that toy beads recalled in the United States and Australia after sickening children contain a substance that can turn into the "date-rape" drug after ingested. The toys, coated with the industrial chemical 1,4-butanediol, were made by the Wangqi Product Factory in Shenzhen, a city just over the border from Hong Kong, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine said in a statement. When ingested, the chemical metabolizes into the "date-rape" drug gamma hydroxy butyrate, also known as GHB, which can cause breathing problems, loss of consciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death. Millions of units of the popular toys, which are sold as Aqua Dots in the United States and as Bindeez in Australia, were recalled in those countries as well as Britain, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere this past week after children began falling sick from swallowing the toy's bead-like parts.