MIDDLE EAST

IRAQ OFFICIAL KIDNAPPED; FIVE AMERICANS KILLED

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Gunmen kidnapped a senior Interior Ministry official in the heart of the Iraqi capital yesterday, and the American military reported that five more American soldiers had been killed.

The latest violence came as Iraqi politicians intensified talks to try to meet a Monday deadline for finalizing a constitution.

The chief of the administrative affairs office in the Interior Ministry, Brigadier General Khudayer Abbas, was dragged from his car on Andalus Square and spirited away in another vehicle, according to police Major Abbas Mohammed Salman. The Interior Ministry supervises police and elite paramilitary units that are at the forefront of the fight against insurgents.

Four American soldiers were killed shortly before midnight Tuesday when insurgents attacked their 10-member patrol as it investigated explosions near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad. A fifth American soldier assigned to the 2nd Marine Division was killed Tuesday by small-arms fire near Habaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad.

Late yesterday, five Iraqi soldiers were killed and two were wounded when insurgents attacked a checkpoint about 12 miles south of Beiji, police said. Gunmen also killed police Captain Mahmoud Hassan in Baghdad’s western Bayaa district, police said.

Elsewhere, five American soldiers were slightly injured when a car bomb exploded in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliyah. Four civilians and three police were killed, according to First Lieutenant Thair Mahmoud.

– Associated Press

TWO AL QAEDA SUSPECTS DETAINED

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish police detained two Syrians on suspicion of links to Al Qaeda, including one believed to be a go-between for the terrorist network and a Turkish cell that carried out deadly 2003 bombings in Istanbul.

News of the detentions came after more than 5,000 Israelis on five cruise ships were diverted from Turkish ports to Cyprus in recent days amid intelligence that a terror attack was imminent.

Police confirmed that one Syrian citizen who was detained was suspected of having facilitated communication between Al Qaeda and Turkish extremists responsible for the 2003 bombings of two synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank. The attacks killed about 60 people. The suspect also was believed to have helped the bombing masterminds flee the country and to have remained in contact with Al Qaeda operatives who are planning future attacks, Turkish police officials added.

– Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

AMERICAN SOLDIER KILLED BY ROADSIDE BOMB

KABUL, Afghanistan – An American service member was killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan, the military said yesterday, raising to five the number of Americans killed in less than a week as violence escalates ahead of next month’s parliamentary elections.

Elsewhere, an Afghan villager claimed a woman and child had died in a coalition airstrike during fighting earlier in the week.

The bomb exploded Tuesday near a vehicle in eastern Ghazni province where an American unit was conducting operations to “disrupt enemy activity in the region,” the military said. Two American troops were evacuated to the main American base at Bagram, north of Kabul. One died shortly after arrival while the other was in stable condition.

An American military spokeswoman Lieutenant Cindy Moore said Afghan and international forces will step up patrols to root out Taliban rebels and their allies in the coming weeks. Afghan, American, and NATO-led forces also are expected to deploy additional troops to provide security for next month’s legislative election.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

BRITISH POLICE WARN OF ATTACK ON FINANCIAL DISTRICT

LONDON – The police chief for London’s financial district warned yesterday that terrorists will likely strike the British capital’s biggest business hub, where they have already surveyed targets in the area.

The warning came as police said they have charged another man under anti-terror laws in the botched bombings against London’s transit system on July 21.

Abdul Sharif, 28, of South London, was charged with withholding information that could have helped police apprehend bombing suspect Osman Hussain. Mr. Sharif has been in custody since his arrest August 1. Mr. Hussain, also known as Hamdi Issac, fled Britain after the failed bomb attacks and is being held in Rome on international terrorism charges.

Nearly five weeks after four suicide bombers attacked London on July 7, killing themselves and 52 other people, police chief James Hart said there was no specific intelligence about a forthcoming attack but insisted the financial district was at risk.

– Associated Press

SOUTH AMERICA

PINOCHET’S WIFE, SON CHARGED AS ACCOMPLICES

SANTIAGO, Chile – General Augusto Pinochet’s wife and younger son were arrested yesterday and charged as accomplices in a tax evasion case linked to an investigation into the former dictator’s multimillion-dollar fortune overseas.

Lucia Hiriart, 82, and Marco Antonio Pinochet, who is in his 50s, were charged after being questioned by Judge Sergio Munoz, whose probe into the former dictator’s overseas holdings was sparked by an American Senate investigation. Ms. Hiriart, who doctors say suffers from severe headaches and high blood pressure, was being held at the Santiago Military Hospital, while her son will be detained in a prison for white-collar criminals.

The Pinochet family’s lawyer, Pablo Rodriguez, said Ms. Hiriart had nothing to do with her husband’s finances and he would appeal the charges. General Pinochet, who ruled Chile between 1973-90, had been stripped of his immunity in the bank-accounts case by an appeals court. Mr. Munoz, however, has yet to indict him, apparently because an appeal on the immunity issue is pending before the Supreme Court.

The case is one of several against General Pinochet. Most recently, he was charged in the 1975 killing of dissidents in a case known as Operation Colombo.

– Associated Press

WEST AFRICA

FORMER DICTATOR WINS GUINEA-BISSAU PRESIDENTIAL RUNOFF

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau – A former Guinea-Bissau dictator was confirmed the official winner Wednesday of this African nation’s presidential runoff, according to final election results. Joao Bernardo “Nino” Vieira had appeared sure of victory since last month, when the West African country’s national electoral commission said provisional results had given him the edge over rival Malam Bacai Sanha. The commission said that Vieira won 52% of the vote, compared with 48% for Mr. Sanha. Mr. Sanha said the ballot was marred by fraud and vowed to challenge the results with an appeal to the supreme court.

– Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

HELICOPTER CRASH KILLS 14, TWO AMERICANS

TALLINN, Estonia – A helicopter carrying 14 people, including two Americans, crashed in the Baltic Sea off the Estonian coast yesterday. All aboard were believed killed.

The American-made Sikorsky S-76 helicopter, operated by Finnish firm Copterline, was on a commercial flight from the Estonian capital, Tallinn, to Helsinki, Finland, when it went down in strong winds shortly after takeoff about three miles off the coast, officials said.

Pictures from an unmanned underwater robot sent to the wreckage on the seabed, some 160 feet underwater, showed bodies inside, rescue spokesman Aivar Murikse said. Divers would try to recover the bodies later yesterday or early today, depending on the weather, he said.

– Associated Press

SOUTHEAST ASIA

NOXIOUS HAZE RESPONSIBLE FOR CLOSED SCHOOLS, CANCELED FLIGHTS

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A noxious haze blamed on forest fires in Indonesia reached dangerous levels in Kuala Lumpur and nearby areas yesterday, closing schools, halting some flights, and keeping residents indoors.

Environment Minister Adenan Satem said the haze, which appeared last week, is concentrated over the Klang Valley – site of Malaysia’s main city, Kuala Lumpur, the administrative capital, and a sprawling residential area. He said he was going to Indonesia for talks with officials in hopes of finding a solution.

Flights at the Subang airport near Kuala Lumpur, used primarily by charter and private aircraft, were suspended after visibility plunged to less than 1,300 feet, a senior operations manager for Malaysia Airports, Daud Hosnan, said. Visibility was better at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and no flights were affected. Hospitals reported a spike in respiratory and eye ailments from the dust and smoke. The Kuala Lumpur Education Department said schools would be closed today and tomorrow because students were having breathing problems, the Star newspaper reported.

– Associated Press