CENTRAL ASIA

MARINES FIGHT AFGHAN INSURGENTS; 25 TOTAL DEAD

KABUL, Afghanistan – American Marines tracked down a band of insurgents in eastern Afghanistan and sparked a battle that left about 23 rebels and two Americans dead, the U.S. military said yesterday, in the latest sign of a revived Taliban-led insurgency. The military said warplanes also joined the five-hour clash with about 25 insurgents on Sunday evening in Laghman, a province of an eastern opium-producing region where American forces have regularly fought with militants. Acting on intelligence about the rebels’ whereabouts, American Marines “located the insurgents and an engagement ensued,” a brief statement from the U.S. military said. “Two U.S. Marines were killed.” A second statement said “two insurgents were confirmed killed and another 21 suspected dead.” The military said the Marines initially came under attack with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades from insurgents who split into two groups, one of which fled to a village and the other to a cave on a nearby ridge. The two Marines died while clearing the cave after A-10 ground attack planes had pounded the rebels holed up inside, the statement said, without elaborating.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

ROME COURT CONVICTS CARDINAL OF POLLUTING ENVIRONMENT

ROME – A Rome court convicted a Vatican cardinal and a top Vatican Radio official yesterday of polluting the environment with electromagnetic waves from a transmission tower, an official from Vatican Radio said. Cardinal Roberto Tucci, former head of Vatican Radio’s management committee, and the Rev. Pasquale Borgomeo, the station’s director general, were sentenced to 10 days in jail, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the station’s program director. The sentences for the two Jesuits were automatically suspended. In Italy, brief jail terms for first offenders are routinely suspended. After 1 1/2 years of trial and 30 minutes of deliberation, Judge Luisa Martone also ordered the two to pay court costs as well as damages in a civil suit linked to the trial. Those damages will be determined later. The Rev. Lombardi said the defense would appeal. “We’re stunned,” the Rev. Lombardi said in a telephone interview. “We contend that our transmission is in line with accords between Italy and the Vatican.”

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

SHARON SAYS ISRAEL WILL DELAY GAZA WITHDRAWAL

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Sharon said yesterday that Israel will delay its evacuation of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank until mid-August. Mr. Sharon told Israel television the evacuation of settlers from the 21 Gaza settlements would be delayed until after a religious mourning period, which ends August 14. Israeli officials have said for weeks that a delay was likely. “The evacuation will be carried out, giving consideration to the mourning period,” Mr. Sharon said. The original date to start the pullout was July 25. Also yesterday, Palestinian Arab terrorists and police exchanged gunfire in the West Bank, defying attempts by the Palestinian Arab leader Mahmoud Abbas to crack down on lawlessness and put peacemaking with Israel on a more solid footing. In Jenin, a militant stronghold, dozens of Palestinian Arab gunmen and police exchanged fire for a second straight day yesterday.

– Associated Press

PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS CLASH WITH ISRAELI POLICE

Jerusalem’s Old City saw its worst violence in years yesterday when Palestinian Arab demonstrators clashed with Israeli police, leaving seven officers injured, including the city’s police chief. Stun grenades were fired at the protesters and mounted police staged a series of charges. Eleven Palestinian Arabs were injured. The trouble began when Palestinian Arabs gathered in the section of the Old City sacred to Muslims, who know it as al Haram al Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary. The exact same spot is also sacred to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount, and the Palestinian Arabs were responding to rumors that right-wing Jews were preparing to stage another demonstration. Last month, right-wing Jews gathered at the Temple Mount to protest at the Israeli government’s plan to withdraw from Gaza later this summer, and more than 500 Palestinian Arabs spent the night there to prepare for a showdown. Israeli police tried to close the area off and fights erupted between them and a group of Palestinian Arabs who were trying to join the 500 already there. Stones were thrown and Ilan Franco, the city police chief, was injured.

– The Daily Telegraph