Military

WAR ON TERRORISM

¨         Saudi Arabia has in custody and is interrogating 16 suspected al Qaeda fighters turned over to the kingdom by Iran after they fled Afghanistan for the Islamic republic, the Saudi foreign minister said on Sunday. "Yes, we have been handed these 16 members, and they are being interrogated," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud  al-Faisal told ABC's "This Week." The kingdom's foreign policy adviser, Adel Al-Jubeir, told CNN's "Late Edition" the suspects were being questioned but it was "too early yet to tell" whether the investigation would turn up any connections to the Sept. 11 attacks on America. Saud first told The Washington Post in an interview published on Sunday that Saudi officials traveled to Iran in May to question the detained fighters from al Qaeda. "Iran has not only cooperated with Saudi Arabia in this conflict in Afghanistan but cooperated extensively with the United States," Saud added. The newspaper said Saud also suggested Iran had worked directly with the United States to combat al Qaeda, but declined to give details. (Reuters 111939 GMT Aug 02)

AFGHANISTAN

¨         Police in eastern Afghanistan seized weapons and explosives in two early morning raids on Sunday following a deadly explosion here that killed at least 11 people and injured about 90. At least 80 percent of the village near the site of the Friday explosion was destroyed in the blast. UN agencies on Sunday were evaluating what aid was needed, Manoel de Almeida e Silva, UN spokesman in Kabul, said. (AP 111515 Aug 02)

BALKANS

¨         UN police on Sunday arrested a well-known former Kosovo Albanian guerrilla commander, the latest of several detentions of ex-rebels this year, a spokesman for KFOR said. Rustem "Remi" Mustafa was a regional commander of the now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army. KFOR spokesman Drew Anderson earlier said "Remi" was arrested in Pristina. He said the peacekeepers had provided support during the operation but he could not give details on why "Remi" was arrested. In a separate statement, UNMIK said a suspect whom it did not name had been arrested on suspicion of murder, torture and illegal detention. It said an international prosecutor in Kosovo had requested the arrest. (Reuters 112122 GMT Aug 02)

¨         A politician who long opposed former Yugoslav President Milosevic only to form a brief alliance with the former dictator will run in Serbia's upcoming presidential elections, his party said Saturday. The Serbian Renewal Movement said it had nominated its leader, Vuk Draskovic, as the party's candidate for the presidency. (AP 101713 Aug 02)

¨         A Macedonian (sic) police officer was slightly injured when gunmen opened fire on a police patrol near a village in central Macedonia (sic), a government spokesman said Saturday. The officer was injured late Friday near the village of Kondovo, just outside the capital, Skopje. The spokesman said the alleged new insurgency group - the Army of the Republic of Ilirida, or ARI - carried out the attack. (AP 101431 Aug 02)

¨         About 3,000 Serbs took to the streets of Kosovska Mitrovica on Friday to protest attempts by UN police to arrest hard-line Serb leader, Milan Ivanovic. At the rally, another Serb leader from Kosovska Mitrovica, Marko Jaksic, demanded that UN police do more to protect Serb interests in Kosovo. (AP 091746 Aug 02)

IRAQ

¨         Chancellor Schroeder on Friday ruled out German participation in any attack on Iraq, arguing that such an assault cannot be considered part of the fight against international terrorism that has already stretched the German military to its limit. Schroeder said a policy of containment and continued pressure on Saddam Hussein was the best way to achieve a return of weapons inspectors to Iraq, adding that the United States had accepted Germany's refusal to back military action. "On military intervention, we should hold back," Schroeder said on German television. "Germany will not take part." "After America, we have the largest number of troops deployed internationally. More than any other European country. The limit of what can meaningfully be asked of us has been reached and that had to be made clear." Chancellor Schroeder said Germany's allies are aware of Berlin's position, even though no formal consultations about a possible attack on Iraq have take place. (AP 091750 Aug 02)

¨         Iraq's President Saddam Hussein has promised a British parliamentarian that he will give weapons inspectors access to his country, a British Sunday newspaper said, but the British government dismissed the reported offer. The Mail on Sunday said George Galloway, a member of parliament from Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party who also writes a column for the weekly's Scottish edition, had met the Iraqi leader at a secret underground bunker near Baghdad. Saddam announced "he would implement all UN resolutions on Iraq and admit weapons inspectors without hindrance," the paper said, although it did not quote the pledge directly. It said Saddam had asked for better ties with Britain. Commenting on the reported offer, a British Foreign Office spokesman said: "This changes nothing. Saddam Hussein knows clearly what he has to do and that is comply with UN Security Council resolutions. The ball is in his court." (Reuters 111937 GMT Aug 02)

¨         If the United States decides to attack Iraq, it is likely to do so from its fast-expanding military base (Al Udeid airbase) deep within the desert of the tiny Gulf state of Qatar, diplomats and analysts said on Sunday. Commander of U.S. Central Command Tommy Franks has said the base was being developed for "times of crisis." On Sunday, U.S. Congressman David Hobson, chairman of the House of Representatives military construction sub-committee, visited the base, heightening speculation it could play a central role for U.S. military activity in the region. (Reuters 111546 GMT Aug 02)