EASTERN EUROPE

EXPLOSION AT POLICE POST KILLS ONE OFFICER, INJURES THREE OTHERS

MAKHACHKALA, Russia – An explosion tore through a police post in the southern Russian region of Dagestan yesterday, killing at least one officer and wounding three others, a regional police spokeswoman said. The blast took place in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, a spokeswoman for the regional Interior Ministry, Marina Riasulova, said.

Dagestan borders Chechnya, where separatist rebels have been fighting Russian forces since 1999, and violence that some believe is connected with the Chechen insurgency is increasing in the republic. Ten police troops died Friday in Makhachkala when their truck was blown up outside a public bathhouse.

Earlier yesterday, engineers defused a powerful explosive device found near a theater in Makhachkala. On Monday, a regional lawmaker was found shot dead in his Mercedes in a western part of the province.

– Associated Press

SOUTHEAST ASIA

SIX GUNMEN STORM SHRINE; ALL DIE IN GUN BATTLE

AYODHYA, India – A suicide bomber blew up a security fence yesterday and gunmen used the breach to storm a Hindu shrine complex at the center of Hindu-Muslim strife, setting off a two-hour gun battle that left all six attackers dead, police said.

An attacker in a jeep blew himself up, with the blast tearing a hole in iron railings surrounding the shrine and allowing the other five attackers to get within 50 yards of the temple’s inner sanctum, police said.

After the gun battle, the bodies of the attackers were sprawled on the grounds, and hundreds of local residents converged on the complex. Three security guards were wounded in the battle, and police said they recovered four AK-47 assault rifles, one carbine rifle, 17 live grenades, and one small rocket launcher from the attackers. The site, about 350 miles east of New Delhi, is claimed by both Hindus and Muslims, and the attack appeared to be religiously motivated, although no claim of responsibility was made and police didn’t blame any group.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL PLANS TO SEND 45,000 TROOPS IN GAZA EVACUATION

JERUSALEM – Israel plans to send 45,000 troops to evacuate 9,000 settlers from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, Israel’s defense minister said yesterday – a massive deployment that reflects concern some resistance to the pullout might be violent.

Prime Minister Sharon insisted yesterday that opposition will not stop the operation. Many settlers are expected to offer passive resistance, but security officials have issued repeated assessments that militant settlers or their backers from outside Gaza might open fire. The main settlers’ council called on its followers to descend on Gaza on July 18, a month before the pullout begins.

– Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

AFGHANISTAN ISSUES RARE REBUFF OF U.S. MILITARY KILLINGS

KABUL, Afghanistan – In a rare rebuff, Afghanistan’s government sharply criticized the U.S. military yesterday for killing up to 17 civilians in an air strike and ordered an immediate inquiry. America called it a “very unfortunate situation” and said it also would investigate.

The air strike in eastern Afghanistan targeted a known terrorist base, America said, but an Afghan government spokesman said the deaths of the civilians, including women and children, could not be justified. It marked unusual criticism from the government of President Karzai, often viewed by critics as an American puppet. America provides security for the president as well as hundreds of millions of dollars a year in aid to Afghanistan. The reprimand also highlighted Afghan government concern that deadly mistakes could erode public support for the American presence here. In the past, Mr. Karzai’s government has expressed interest in long-term American military presence in the region as Afghanistan struggles to recover from nearly a quarter-century of war. U.S. forces, meanwhile, spent an eighth day scouring mountains in Kunar province, searching for the final member of an elite four-man Navy SEAL commando team that went missing June 28.

– Associated Press

NORTH AMERICA

UNITED NATIONS CREATES FUND TO PROMOTE DEMOCRACY

Secretary-General Annan has announced the creation of a fund to promote democratric institutions and practices around the world – an idea first proposed by America.

President Bush suggested the creation of a fund in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly in September. He said it would help countries lay the foundations of democracy by instituting the rule of law, independent courts, a free press, political parties, and trade unions.

– Associated Press

PERSIAN GULF

AHMADINEJAD DENIES HE WAS AMONG HOSTAGE-TAKERS

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s hard-line Revolutionary Guards pledged their loyalty yesterday to the country’s ultraconservative president-elect, who called for an end to accusations that he took Americans hostage and killed a Kurdish opposition leader. The guards’ welcome of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in stark contrast to their threat four years ago to attack supporters of outgoing reformist President Khatemi if they threatened Iran’s Islamic regime.

The show of support from the nation’s most powerful military force came as the president-elect persisted in rejecting claims that he was among radical Iranian students who held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days during the U.S. Embassy takeover in 1979.

– Associated Press