The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Baghdad

A double bombing killed at least seven people and wounded 25 Monday outside the Baghdad office of a government agency that cares for Sunni mosques and shrines, witnesses and a hospital official said. A police officer, however, put the death toll as high as 14.

In the first attack, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the entrance to the Sunni Endowment office in Baghdad's northern Azamiyah district, witnesses and an army official said. As people rushed away, a second explosion - believed to have been caused by a roadside bomb - occurred just yards away.

The dead included Riyadh al-Samarrai, head of a local U.S.-backed armed group, said one witness, an employee of the Sunni Endowment. His account was corroborated by a member of the armed group, who gave his name only as Abu Omar, and by an Iraqi army official.

Another witness, one of al-Samarrai's guards, said the suicide bomber walked up to al-Samarrai - a former police colonel - and embraced him before detonating his explosives.

Most witnesses and officials spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals or because they were not officially authorized to speak to media. The differing death tolls could not immediately be reconciled.

An official at Azamiyah's al-Noaman hospital said his hospital had received seven bodies, but the police officer said some casualties had also been taken to another hospital in the city.

The U.S.-backed groups - predominantly Sunni Arab fighters who turned against al-Qaida and are known as "awakening councils" - have been credited with helping reduce violence across Iraq by 60 percent since June. But they are increasingly becoming targets, with several recent bombings striking their offices and checkpoints.

The Azamiyah area had been a stronghold of Sunni insurgents since 2003 as well as a safe haven for al-Qaida in Iraq militants. Local insurgents, however, rose against al-Qaida last year and joined the U.S. military in the fight against the terror network.

The switch of allegiance by the Azamiyah insurgents was one of the most significant in a series of similar moves across Baghdad's Sunni neighborhoods. Azamiyah is home to Iraq's most revered Sunni shrine, the mosque of Imam Abu Hanifa and many in the Tigris-side area served as officers in Saddam Hussein's army and security agencies, giving an edge to the insurgency there.

In an audiotape released Dec. 29, Osama bin Laden warned Iraq's Sunni Arabs against joining the groups or participating in any unity government.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner said last week the attacks were the "clearest indication" that the foreign-led al-Qaida was worried about losing the support of its fellow Sunni Arabs.

A number of insurgent groups are thought to have switched allegiances and joined the "awakening" movement. There are more than 70,000 men in about 300 such groups being bankrolled by the U.S. around Iraq, and the number is expected to grow.

AP, ISLAMABAD

Suspected Islamic militants fatally shot eight tribal leaders involved in efforts to broker a cease-fire between security forces and insurgents in Pakistan's volatile northwest, authorities said Monday.

Meanwhile, a suicide attacker detonated a bomb near a guest house where military officers were staying Monday, also in the country's northwest, wounding one person, authorities said.

The tribal leaders were killed in separate attacks late Sunday and early Monday in South Waziristan, a mountainous region close to Afghanistan where al-Qaida and Taliban militants are known to operate, a security official and the military said in a statement.

The suspected insurgents killed three of the men in a market in Wana, the region's main town, while the other five were killed in attacks on their homes, the security official said. The men were scheduled to meet each other on Monday in Wana to discuss the negotiations, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.

Pakistan is an ally in the U.S. war on terrorism, and its security forces have fought intense battles with militants in South Waziristan. Although the government has encouraged moderate tribal elders to broker a cease-fire in the region, there has been little sign of success.

In the suicide attack, the bomber blew himself up when he was stopped by soldiers at a checkpoint, wounding one other person, according to a military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The attack happened in the town of Kabal in the Swat region, a former tourist destination where security forces have been battling loyalists of a pro-Taliban cleric. Swat is about 175 miles north of South Waziristan.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan border area has long been considered a likely hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, and the U.S. has pressured the government of President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on militants operating in the area.

On Sunday, Pakistan reiterated that it will not let American forces hunt al-Qaida and Taliban militants on its soil, after a report in The New York Times said that the Bush administration was considering expanding U.S. military and intelligence operations into Pakistan's tribal regions.

Reuters, Colombo

Sri Lankan troops killed seven Tamil Tigers in the island's far north on Monday, taking the death toll from fierce fighting to 73, mostly rebels, since Saturday alone, the military said.

Troops destroyed three rebel bunkers in the far northern Jaffna peninsula early on Monday, the latest in a series of confrontations along a shared "border" that separates government territory from the rebels' de facto state in the north.

Weekend clashes in the northern Jaffna Peninsula, northern district of Vavuniya and northwestern district of Mannar amid now near-daily air raids, land and sea battles and bombings killed 62 rebels and four soldiers, the military said, as a 25-year civil war escalates.

"Troops attacked three bunkers in Jaffna and killed seven LTTE terrorists," a spokesman at the Media Centre for National Security said, asking not to be named in line with policy.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who seek to carve out an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka, were not immediately available for comment.

There were no independent accounts of how many people were killed or what had happened. Analysts say both sides tend to overstate enemy losses and play down their own.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration notified mediator Norway late on Thursday it was formally scrapping a six-year ceasefire pact that fell apart on the ground in early 2006. Well over 5,000 people have been killed since then.

The government has given a 14-day notice period, meaning the paper truce officially ends on January 16.

Its finish dashes hopes of resurrecting collapsed peace talks anytime soon to end a war that has killed around 70,000 people since 1983.

Reuters, Gaza

Israeli troops killed four Palestinians in a raid into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Sunday, witnesses said, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to step up attacks on militants who fire rockets into Israel.

Palestinian hospital officials said three of the dead in the al-Bureij refugee camp were civilians -- a woman, an 18-year-old man and a 16-year-old youth. The fourth was a Hamas gunman killed in battle with the Israelis, the Islamist faction said.

Militants fired an anti-tank rocket, wounding five Israeli soldiers, during the raid which raised tension ahead of U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank starting on Wednesday.

The fighting, which ended when Israeli forces withdrew at nightfall, also wounded at least 34 Palestinians, including four women, seven children and 15 gunmen.

Olmert told his cabinet that Defence Minister Ehud Barak had ordered security forces "to escalate Israel's actions" in coastal Gaza after a rocket fired by militants last week reached an unprecedented distance, hitting the Israeli city of Ashkelon.

Israeli ground forces moved into al-Bureij at dawn, according to military and Palestinian officials.

Palestinian hospital staff said the 18-year-old and the other youth were shot dead. The woman died when a tank shell hit the house she was in. Another tank shell killed the gunman.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said troops shot several gunmen. She had no immediate word on the civilian casualties.

Israel has stepped up attacks against militants in Gaza to try to curb cross-border rocket salvoes from the territory.

Earlier this week, Israeli troops raided the West Bank city of Nablus, conducting house-to-house searches and detaining at least 6 Palestinians. The raids triggered clashes with stone- throwing youths that injured at least 29 people.

The operations have drawn censure from the administration of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who, after losing control of Gaza to Hamas, formally relaunched peace talks with Olmert at a conference convened by Bush in November.

"We call on Israel to halt its military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," Abbas's prime minister, Salam Fayyad, told reporters.

Reuters, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia and India agreed on Monday to step up defence cooperation, including training of air force pilots and submarine personnel, defence ministers from both sides said.

Keeping pace with its new economic powerhouse image, India's military, the world's fourth largest, is fostering closer ties with Southeast Asian allies.

"Both sides will enhance defence exchanges at various levels, promote cooperation in training, in strategic and security studies," Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony said after talks with his Malaysian counterpart, Najib Razak.

Najib said they did not discuss the issue of ethnic Indians, who staged an unprecedented protest in November to complain of racial discrimination.

The protest drew world attention particularly from India, whose prime minister voiced his sympathy for the plight of the Indian diaspora in Malaysia.

"The minister is aware of the political development. Just leave it," Najib said.

Under the defence deal, India will deploy 31 air force personnel to train Malaysian air force pilots and technicians at a Malaysian airbase for two years from next month.

This is on top of similar training in India for Malaysian air force personnel flying Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 fighters, Najib told reporters.

"We also agreed to consider the possibility of a cooperation in joint maintenance and use of Scorpene submarines," he said.

Malaysia has bought two French Scorpene submarines, with the first unit to be delivered next year, while India has ordered six of the submarines.

The two countries also agreed to exchange army trainers and expand joint naval exercises, Najib said.

AP, Beijing

Authorities in central China have expelled 500 people from the Communist Party for defying the country's one-child policy, state media said Monday.

More than 93,000 people in Hubei province violated the policy last year, including hundreds of officials, lawmakers and political advisers, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

China has been trying to crack down on officials and the wealthy who ignore its strict family planning laws. Expulsion from the party could end a political career or prohibit promotions.

Xinhua said 395 offenders were dismissed from their posts, but it wasn't immediately clear if they were included in the 500 who were expelled from the Communist Party. It also wasn't clear if the offenders were additionally penalized. Fines are another common punishment for violating the one-child policy.

Under the policy, implemented in the late 1970s, most urban couples are limited to one child and rural families to two to control population growth and conserve natural resources.

China's 1.3 billion people account for 20 percent of the world's total. The government has set growth targets, pledging to keep the population under 1.36 billion in 2010, and under 1.45 billion in 2020.

But rising incomes mean some of the newly rich - such as businessmen and entertainment stars - can afford to break the rules and pay the resulting fines.

"More party members, celebrities, and well-off people are violating the policies in recent years, which has undermined social equality," Yang Youwang, director of Hubei's family planning commission, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Telephone calls to the provincial family planning commission and provincial Communist Party office were not answered.

AFP, Jerusalem

US President George W. Bush said Washington would defend its close ally Israel in the event of an Iranian attack, in remarks broadcast on Israeli army radio on Sunday.

"Whether there's an imminent attack coming, I don't think so," Bush said in excerpts of an interview with an Israeli television station to be aired in its entirety later in the day.

"If Iran did strike Israelt We will defend our ally, no ands, ifs or buts," he said.

Bush's statements came just days before he arrives in the region for his first visit since taking office in January 2001 and the first trip by a sitting US president since December 1998.

The visit is aimed at boosting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks relaunched at a US conference in late November and at rallying regional opposition to Iran's controversial nuclear programme.

Israel considers the Islamic republic its main regional threat in the wake of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated statements for it to be wiped off the map.

Widely considered to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, Israel along with the US suspects that Tehran's nuclear programme is a cover for developing atomic weapons, a charge Iran has denied.

"If I were an Israeli, I would take the words of the Iranian president seriously, and as president of the United States I take them seriously," Bush said.

International support for further sanctions against Iran has been waning since a US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) in early December said that the Islamic republic had halted a nuclear weapons programme in 2003.

On Sunday Iran slammed Bush's planned trip as an interference in relations between regional states.

"We see such a trip as interference in the relations of the countries in the region and propaganda," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters in Tehran.

AFP, Washington

Pakistan is not specifically looking for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, as there is no proof he is in Pakistan, President Pervez Musharraf has said.

"We are not particularly looking for him, but we are operating against terrorists and Al Qaeda and militant Taliban. And in the process, obviously, combined, maybe we are looking for him also," the Pakistani leader told CBS television in an interview aired late Sunday.

Asked what Pakistan was doing to find the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Musharraf said it was fighting extremism and terrorism.

"We are fighting first of all Al-Qaeda. Let's take Al-Qaeda. We have arrested or eliminated about 700 Al-Qaeda leaders t which other country has done this?"

"Well, which other country has Bin Laden?" his CBS interviewer replied, inciting a sharp retort from the Pakistani leader.

"No, I challenge -- I don't accept that at all. There is no proof whatsoever that he is here in Pakistan."

Mahmoud Ali Durrani, Pakistan's envoy to the United States, sought to clarify Musharraf's remark, in an exchange with CNN.

"I think the president is suggesting that neither we, nor the US, has any intelligence where exactly Osama bin Laden is," Durrani said.

"He may be in Afghanistan," the ambassador said. "He may be in the border region. If we knew where he was, we would have taken him out."

Durrani noted that US and other foreign intelligence agencies believe bin Laden to be sheltering in the tribal area along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

But "that's just speculation," the envoy said.

"Believe me. If they knew or we knew we would have taken him out," he said.

"And when Musharraf says that he's not specifically looking for Osama, what he really means is that we are totally focused on destroying Al-Qaeda and the Taliban network and not just one person."

The New York Times reported that under a proposal being discussed in Washington, CIA operatives based in Afghanistan would be able to call on direct military support for counter-terrorism operations in neighboring Pakistan.

AFP, Washington

The White House on Sunday dismissed Al-Qaeda threats to attack President George W. Bush during his Middle East trip, saying the radical Islamist group offers "nothing but death and violence."

"Al-Qaeda offers nothing but death and violence," said Gordon Johndroe, White House national security spokesman, who told AFP that the president's visit this week seeks to "offer the ideology of hope" to "people who seek a better life."

In a message posted online on Sunday, an American member of Al-Qaeda urged Islamist militants to target Bush "with bombs" during his trip to the Middle East starting Tuesday.

Bush should be welcomed "not with flowers and applause, but with bombs and car bombs," said Al-Qaeda operative Adam Gadahn, a convert to Islam who has been indicted for treason by a US jury.

He also reportedly tore up his passport on the video, which drew a scornful reaction from the White House.

"I would note that this guy is wanted for treason and does not need his passport," Johndroe said.

The video message is the first Al-Qaeda warning of 2008, and follows a message from the network's chief Osama bin Laden on December 30 in which he warned Muslims against supporting Iraq's US-backed government and promised the "liberation of Palestine."

The bulk of the 50-minute tape attributed to Gadahn is in English, although the call to bomb the US president is made in Arabic.

AFP, Nairobi

Some 486 people have died in the explosion of violence following Kenya's disputed presidential election, a government official said Monday.

Earlier estimates said some 300 people had died.

The latest figures came as Kenya's embattled government urged the opposition to call off planned protest rallies Tuesday, which have raised fears of renewed bloodletting. Meanwhile, a U.S. envoy embarked on a final round of talks to help resolve the deadly dispute over the elections.

The death toll was compiled by a special committee of humanitarian services set up by the government which extensively toured areas most affected by the riots and protests that followed the announcement that incumbent President Mwai Kibaki had narrowly won the Dec. 27 vote.

A statement from the permanent secretary to the Ministry of Special Programs, Rachel Arunga, put the toll at 486 dead with some 255,000 people displaced from their homes.

U.S. envoy Jendayi Frazer was to meet again Monday with Kenya's opposition leader, who has signaled he is willing to share power with the government he accuses of rigging elections but at the same time called for mass rallies - a move that threatens renewed bloodletting.

Frazer, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, has won an offer from embattled President Mwai Kibaki to form a coalition government and a concession from opposition leader Raila Odinga that he would negotiate without preconditions.

Frazer planned to meet Odinga Monday morning, the last day of a three-day mission, U.S. Embassy spokesman T.J. Dowling told The Associated Press.

AFP, Tehran

Iran on Sunday awoke to heavy overnight snowfalls which forced schools to shut, blocked major roads and led to the cancellation of domestic flights, state media reported.

Primary and secondary schools were closed for the day in Tehran and most cities in the north of the country, state television said.

The authorities ordered all government offices closed on Monday and Tuesday, the official IRNA news agency said.

State airline Iran Air cancelled all of its morning domestic flights from Mehrabad airport in the centre of Tehran, while roads in the northwest of the country were closed to traffic.

Meanwhile international flights, which now run exclusively from Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKIA) several kilometres (miles) south of the capital, were delayed, state media reported.

Tehran and several other cities in the north and centre of Iran lie at altitudes of more than 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) above sea level and are regularly hit by heavy falls of snow in winter.

State television said that the snowfalls would continue in the coming days.

A spate of cold weather has already created problems in Iran with around a dozen towns suffering gas cuts last week because of a surge in demand, a shortage compounded by a cut in exports from Turkmenistan.

The authorities have urged the public to reduce their notoriously profligate consumption of gas to ensure there are no further cuts amid plunging temperatures.