Iran seeks U.S. help to keep al-Qaeda fighters out: Tehran sought

Iran seeks U.S. help to keep al-Qaeda fighters out: Tehran sought
help from Washington on Tuesday to arrest al-Qaeda fighters who
may have fled to Iran from Afghanistan, in a conciliatory gesture
to the United States after days of angry exchanges. Foreign
Minister Kamal Kharrazi strongly denied U.S. charges that Tehran
had helped Taliban and al-Qaeda militants to flee a U.S. military
assault on neighboring Afghanistan. -- Reuters

UN sanctions claim 1.6 million Iraqi lives: More than 1.6 million
Iraqis, including nearly 675,000 children aged under five, have
died from diseases and malnutrition caused by UN sanctions in
force since 1990, Iraq's health ministry said on Tuesday. A total
of "1,629,639 people, including 674,780 children under the age of
five, have died from various diseases such as diarrhea, cardiac
and respiratory problems, as well as malnutrition," by end-2001,
it said in a statement carried by the INA news agency. -- AFP

Lao prime minister meets Chinese president in Beijing: Laotian
Prime Minister Boungnang Vorachit met with Chinese President
Jiang Zemin in Beijing on Tuesday, state media reported. Xinhua
news agency said Boungnang thanked China for its long-term aid to
Laos while Jiang said Sino-Lao relations were growing stronger.
Boungang arrived in China for a five-day visit on Sunday. -- AFP

War of words worsens between Israel and Iran: Israel denied
suggestions by Tehran that it might attack Iran's nuclear power
plant, deepening a war of words on Tuesday before a visit by
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the United States.
Israel's army chief Gen. Shaul Mofaz said on Tuesday Israel is
prepared to handle an Iranian missile attack following a warning
against Israeli aggression by Iran's defense minister, public
radio reported. -- Agencies

Police name suspected kidnappers of U.S. journalist: Pakistani
police on Tuesday named three suspected kidnappers of U.S.
journalist Daniel Pearl, as his newspaper appealed for private
communication from the captors 13 days after his disappearance.
Police said two militants, Mohammad Hashim Qadeer and Mohammad
Bashir, were the "prime suspects so far" believed to have
kidnapped Pearl in this southern city. --AFP

Argentine president announces elections will be held in September
2003: Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde announced on Tuesday
that presidential elections will be held in the crisis-struck
country next September, making it clear he fully intended to run
a strong government until then. --AFP

Malaysia may extradite terrorist suspects to U.S. if proof
sufficient: Malaysia may be forced to extradite any terrorist
suspects it has detained to the United States if there is
sufficient evidence of their involvement in terrorist acts, or
the planning of such action, against the U.S., a news report said
on Tuesday. --DPA