World
The confrontation in Najaf, Iraq, between US forces and radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr appeared over. Sadr ordered his fighters out of the city in exchange for a suspension of American operations there. The deal did not require him to disband his militia or to surrender to Iraqi authorities who seek to try him for the assassination of a rival, however. A US spokes-man said troops would leave the holy city and return to their base on the outskirts once "law and order" were reestablished.
Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri was arrested by British authorities after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in the US on 11 terrorism charges, among them the attempted establishment of a training camp in Oregon. His extradition for trial was being sought, Attorney General Ashcroft anounced a day after warning that terrorists were almost finished with plotting for a new attack on US soil. Meanwhile, in Slovakia, police found two bags containing plastic explosives near the site where a NATO meeting is to open Friday.
Cooperation with UN regulators investigating its nuclear program will cease and Iran will resume enriching uranium if the International Atomic Energy Agency gives in to American pressure, President Mohamad Khatami threatened. But he admitted the IAEA probably won't remove from its agenda next month a discussion of the Iranian case. Iran insists the program is peaceful and designed to produce electricity, but sources close to the IAEA complain that access to certain sites has been denied.
Members of Parliament in Australia appeared all but certain to pass key changes to the nation's marriage and immigration laws, banning same-sex unions and adoption of foreign-born children by homosexuals. But the government announced it would recognize same-sex partners as dependents, meaning they can collect state-paid pensions.
The remains of hundreds more victims of flooding in Haiti have been found, health authorities said, pushing the number of dead along the border with the Dominican Republic to at least 1,950. On the Dominican side an estimated 400 people remained missing.
