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Violence across Iraq kills at least 46

Reuters, Baghdad

At least 46 people were killed in a surge in violence across Iraq on Tuesday, including a roadside bomb attack on a bus carrying mourners and day-long clashes between gunmen and U.S. and Iraqi security forces.

Violence had fallen across Iraq by 60 percent since last June, but Tuesday's attacks underlined how fragile the security gains are. In the southern city of Kut, members of anti-U.S. Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army fought U.S. special forces and Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. warplanes in clashes in which 14 people died, security officials said.

Police at the general hospital in Nassiriya, 375 km (235 miles) south of Baghdad, said the casualties from the roadside bomb attack on a bus included women and children. Survivors said the bomb appeared to target a passing U.S. military convoy.

Police said the bus was carrying members of a family returning from mourning rites for a dead relative in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf when it was hit about 60 km (40 miles) south of Nassiriya.

"There was blood and human flesh in the bus and on the floor. Shoes of men, women and children were everywhere," bus driver Zaji Abdul Hussein told Reuters.

Rahman Shaker, 60, covered in blood after carrying his badly wounded wife from the wreckage, said a U.S. convoy had just passed on the other side of the road when the bomb went off.

"I saw my wife covered in blood and took her out of the bus," Shaker said. "There were bodies covered in bloody blankets, and people screaming."

In Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Mehdi Army gunmen fought Iraqi security forces and U.S. special forces despite Sadr having renewed a six-month ceasefire last month. The cleric issued a statement at the weekend, however, saying they could defend themselves if attacked.

The commander of a quick reaction force in Kut, Lieutenant- Colonel Majid al-Amara, said the fighting was triggered by an attempt to arrest a Mehdi Army leader. He said 14 people were killed, including four gunmen, three children and a policemen.

The U.S. military gave a different account in a statement late on Tuesday. It said special forces had come to the aid of an Iraqi security patrol and come under attack by a large number of "suspected criminal militia fighters."

"The U.S. SF (special forces) returned fire, killing several enemy fighter and destroying two vehicles carrying machineguns," it said, adding a warplane had also destroyed a van suspected of transporting weapons and explosives. Much of the fighting was reported to have died down by nightfall although sporadic shooting could still be heard.

Mehdi Army fighters have chafed at the extension of the ceasefire, complaining that it leaves them open to attack by U.S. forces and rival Shi'ite factions. The U.S. military says it only targets militiamen who are ignoring the ceasefire.

33 killed in fresh Sri Lankan fighting

Reuters, Colombo

Sri Lankan troops killed 32 Tamil Tiger rebels in a series of clashes in the island's north, the military said on Wednesday.

One soldier was also killed and three others wounded in eight confrontations on Tuesday, said a military spokesman who asked not to be identified in line with government policy.

The military said they had also captured a rebel held area and destroyed Tamil Tiger bunkers along a 'border' that separates rebel-held from government territory in the northwestern district of Mannar.

The military has moved to capture areas in Mannar as part of a wider strategy to gradually retake the Tigers' northern stronghold.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who want to create an independent state in north and east Sri Lanka, were not immediately available for comment on the latest fighting.

Pro rebel Web site www.tamilnet.com said 60 soldiers had been killed in heavy fighting on Sunday and Monday in Mannar.

The military denied the rebel claim.

The government and rebels trade death toll claims that are rarely possible to independently verify. An estimated 70,000 people have died since the civil war began in 1983.

AFP report adds: A pro-government militia of Tamil Tiger defectors has swept to victory in the first local elections in Sri Lanka's restive east in 14 years, official results showed Tuesday.

The armed Tamil People's Liberation Party (TMVP), which broke away from the main separatist movement, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, won 72 of the 101 council seats in Monday's vote in the district of Batticaloa.

The government-backed TMVP had been widely expected to win the vote as it had been calling the shots in the troubled region since security forces drove out the main Tamil Tiger rebels eight months ago.

Colombo plans to use Monday's polls here as a curtain-raiser for a larger provincial council election later in the year to allow Tamils, who are in the minority nationally but a majority in Batticaloa, to have greater autonomy.

"This peaceful election underlines the aim of the government to create an environment in which all our people could live in freedom and harmony," Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said in a statement.

New Israeli settlement draws int'l comdemnation

Xinhua, Tel Aviv

Israel's decision on Sunday to approve a plan for a new settlement in Jerusalem has aroused a chorus of world criticism and warnings it could block the faltering peace talks.

In a statement issued by his spokesperosn on Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern over the Israeli government's approval of a resumption of the construction of 750 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Givat Ze'ev.

"Any settlement expansion is contrary to Israel's obligations under the Road Map and to international law," the statement said.

"The secretary-general calls on the government of Israel to halt settlement expansion and reiterates that the fulfillment of Road Map obligations by both parties is an important measure underpinning the political process between them," it said.

For the initial stage of the project known as Agan Ha'ayalot, contractors were given permission to begin work on 330 units and to complete 200 units on which work had already begun before the project was frozen in 2000, according to the Construction and Housing Ministry. But the intention, the ministry's spokesman said, was to allow for the completion of all 750 units.

The Bush administration said the plan does not help the progress of U.S.-backed peace talks.

Four killed in Pak blasts

AFP, Peshawar

Two policemen were killed as they tried to defuse a roadside bomb in troubled northwestern Pakistan, while two Islamic militants died in a blast at their house, officials said.

The incidents occurred in the picturesque Swat Valley, a former tourist spot where security forces have been battling Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants led by a radical cleric since late last year. A police patrol spotted the roadside bomb planted near Charbagh village on the main road through the valley, local police officer Jan Bahadur said.

"A police bomb disposal unit was trying to defuse it when it exploded, killing two officials and wounding two others," Bahadur told AFP.

The police official added that two militants were killed overnight in an explosion in their house in Kabal district in the Swat region.

UN expert raps US for barring prison access in Iraq

AFP, Geneva

The top United Nations expert on torture on Tuesday chided Washington for refusing to grant him access to prisoners held by US troops in Iraq while stating that he hoped to visit Baghdad this year. "I'm a little bit astonished that the US government is not willing to grant me access", UN special rapporteur on torture Manfred Nowak told reporters. The US refusal is in contrast to the Iraqi authorities and British troops who still have a small presence in the south of the country around Basra, Nowak said. Washington maintains that Iraq is an armed conflict situation where human rights law is not applicable, a view hotly disputed by the UN expert. "Human rights apply both in times of peace and armed conflict," he said. The US came under worldwide criticism after leaked photos showed soldiers abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib detention facility in Baghdad in 2003. Photos showed naked and hooded prisoners beaten bloody and being made to commit humiliating acts such simulating homosexual sex. Soldiers posed proudly with battered corpses and nude, injured prisoners.

US commander of Middle East forces steps down

AFP, Washington

The commander of US forces in the Middle East, Admiral William Fallon, is stepping down because reports that he differed with President George W. Bush over Iran had become "a distraction."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Tuesday that he had accepted Fallon's resignation "with reluctance and regret," saying there was a "misperception" that the admiral was at odds with the administration over Iran. In a statement, Bush praised the admiral for his more than 40 years of service but made no mention of an article in Esquire magazine that prompted Fallon to step down. Fallon "served this country with honor, determination and commitment," Bush said.

But the sudden departure of the head of the US Central Command drew an avalanche of criticism from top Democrats who suggested that he had been forced out because of his candor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called it "yet another example that independence and the frank, open airing of experts' views are not welcomed in this administration."