Taliban has gone, terrorism remains, says Karzai: Afghan

Taliban has gone, terrorism remains, says Karzai: Afghan
President Hamid Karzai on Monday blamed a suicide car bomb attack
that killed four German peacekeepers in Kabul on foreign
terrorists, adding that the ousted Taliban regime was finished as
an organization. Addressing a news conference, Karzai pointed to
the Pakistan-Afghan border as the main threat to security in
Afghanistan, where attacks on peacekeepers, aid agencies and
civilians have increased noticeably in recent months. "I am not
worried about the resurgence of the Taliban," the 45-year-old
said at the presidential palace in Kabul. "The Taliban movement
as a movement is finished, is gone." -- Reuters

Zimbabwe police arrest second opposition leader: Zimbabwe police
arrested a second key opposition leader on Monday on fresh
treason charges in connection with protests against President
Robert Mugabe last week, police said. Welshman Ncube, Secretary
General of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was picked
up by police earlier on Monday, said police spokesman Andrew
Phiri. "We can confirm that we arrested him this morning. We are
questioning him on two counts. One of contempt of court and the
other of treason," Phiri said. -- Reuters

NASA again delays Mars probe launch in Florida: Bad weather
forced NASA to postpone the launch of a Mars robot on Monday,
delaying a mission to determine if life ever existed on the red
planet. NASA managers decided thunderstorms headed toward the
Cape Canaveral, Florida launch site were likely to interfere with
the launch scheduled for 2:02 p.m. EDT (1:02 a.m. Tuesday in
Jakarta). They rescheduled liftoff for 1:58 p.m. EDT Tuesday
(12:58 a.m. Wednesday Jakarta time). The Mars Expedition Rover,
which is about the size of a lawn mower, is the first of two
probes to be launched this month on an international mission to
find water on Earth's neighbor and to determine if it was there
long enough to support life. --Reuters

Former Iraq exiles meet as U.S. woos alternative leaders:
A group of one-time Iraqi exiles gathered on Monday in the
Kurdish north to discuss the country's political future and their
fears they were losing influence with the U.S. occupiers. Their
talks came as Paul Bremer, the American overseer for Iraq,
stepped up his efforts to woo tribal and religious leaders while
moving ahead with plans for an interim administration. Most of
the formerly exiled politicians on a seven-member leadership
council huddled on the sidelines of an anniversary session in
Arbil, Iraq of the Kurdish regional parliament also attended by
British and U.S. officials. --AFP