Drawing from its experience in Iraq, the US military has developed a plan that calls for recruiting Pakistani tribal leaders to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban, The New York Times reported on its web site.
   The United States has used this tactic in Anbar province in Iraq, where the military has been able to enlist some local Sunni tribal leaders to back it in combating al-Qaeda in Iraq and other foreign fighters.
   Citing unnamed US military officials, the newspaper said Sunday the plan had been outlined in a strategy paper prepared by the staff the Special Operations Command, but has not been formally approved by the command’s leaders.
   However some elements of the strategy, The Times said, have already been given the green light in principle by the Pentagon and its Pakistani partners.
   These include a 350-million-dollar proposal to train and equip the Pakistani Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force that currently has about 85,000 members coming mostly from border tribes.
   The report came amid unrest in Swat, a scenic northwestern valley, where pro-Taliban cleric Maulana Fazlullah is leading a campaign for the imposition of harsh Sharia law in the valley.
   Fazlullah is nicknamed ‘Mullah Radio’ because he runs a pirate FM radio station that calls for a holy war on government forces.
   Up to 500 Islamist fighters were believed to be holed up in the Swat valley, led by a ‘hardcore’ of 50 mostly foreign militants, especially Uzbeks, according to the Pakistani military.
   Insurgent advances in and around Swat have embarrassed the government of president Pervez Musharraf, who cited growing Islamic militancy as one of the key reasons for imposing emergency rule two weeks ago.
   He has since ordered the regular army – rather than the locally recruited paramilitary forces – to take the lead in tackling the unrest.
   In light of these developments, The Times said, some US counterterrorism experts are wondering if Anbar-style partnerships can be forged without a significant US military presence on the ground in Pakistan.
   It is also unclear whether the Pakistani tribes would be willing to offer enough cooperation, the report said.
   Meanwhile, Pakistani soldiers and helicopter gunships enforced a security lockdown Monday in a tribal area where nearly 100 people have died in three days of bloody sectarian clashes, residents said.
   Streets were deserted and shops, schools and offices closed down under an indefinite curfew after a weekend of violence that saw rival Sunni and Shia Muslim tribesmen shooting at each other from across rooftops.
   The scale of the unrest has exposed the deep tribal and religious tensions in this mountainous region bordering Afghanistan, where guns and weaponry – including rocket-launchers and mortars – are in plentiful supply.
   People in Parachinar, the main town in Kurram district where the fighting was concentrated, faced shortages of electricity and drinking water supplies after wires were badly damaged in the shelling.
   ‘The whole of the city looks like a desert,’ one resident said.
   ‘Everywhere is closed, the bazaar is closed – only the army is moving on the streets.’
   The final death toll may exceed 100 as dead bodies were still lying in some houses and people could not emerge because of the curfew, a security official said.

European Union foreign ministers on Monday formally adopted fresh sanctions against Myanmar’s military regime, while pressing for ‘an inclusive process of national reconciliation.’
   The new sanctions, adopted by the foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, included an embargo on the import of timber, gems and metals from Myanmar.
   The measures also extended the list of Myanmar leaders and their relatives subject to a travel ban and assets freeze ‘in view of the seriousness of the current situation in the country,’ the ministers said in a statement.
   The ban prohibits the import into the European Union of all timber products as well as metals and minerals and precious and semi-precious stones.
   All new EU investment in Myanmar companies involved in these industries is also banned.
   The EU ‘underlines its call for an end to the continuing arrests, the release of those detained in recent protests and all other political prisoners, as well as the early launch of a credible, comprehensive and inclusive process of national cooperation,’ the ministers said.
   The EU already has broad sanctions in place against Myanmar’s leadership and their families, with 375 people on a visa-ban, asset-freeze list.
   The ministers urged the regime to ‘seize this opportunity to enter into a meaningful dialogue leading to stability, prosperity and democracy in Myanmar.’
   In particular the EU called for all restrictions on detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi ‘to be lifted so that she can play a full part in the process of national reconciliation’.
   The Nobel peace prize winner left her home for about one hour on Monday to travel to a military facility used for government meetings, witnesses in the main city Yangon said.
   A Myanmar government official said she met with a junta officer. The meeting came as regional leaders gathered in Singapore for the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was preparing to confront Myanmar’s junta over its crackdown on peaceful protests in September.
   The EU foreign ministers warned that further sanctions were possible against the regime. ‘Relevant bodies are taking forward work to elaborate further restrictive measures,’ they said.
   However the ministers from the 27 EU member states stressed that Europe ‘stands ready to review the restrictive measures, to engage with Myanmar in its development and to find new areas of cooperation, should the situation improve.’

Parliament was adjourned on Monday and Maoist rebels enforced a two-day strike in remote rural strongholds, as protests mounted over the killing of villagers in a land row in the east this month.
   Opposition lawmakers from the Bharatiya Janata Party disrupted both houses of parliament after demanding a debate over the violence in the Nandigram area, which has been blamed on the communist government of West Bengal.
   The speaker of the lower house refused to suspend question hour for a debate but was forced to adjourn proceedings as communist and BJP lawmakers stood and shouted slogans at each other across the floor of the house.
   ‘If all of you speak together how can I listen?,’ speaker Somnath Chatterjee said, before admitting defeat and adjourning proceedings.
   The communists, who are allies of India’s central coalition government, lost control of Nandigram earlier this year after trying, unsuccessfully, to turf villagers off their land to make way for a chemicals complex.
   Local opposition parties and Maoist rebels moved in, and the area became a no-go zone for communists and police alike.
   This month, communist party cadres forced their way back in. At least six villagers were killed in the violence, bringing the death toll to at least 34 killed so far this year. Several women have alleged they were raped by communist cadres.

Rescuers battled against heat and debris nearly 1,000 metres underground on Monday as 28 Ukrainian miners remained missing after a coal mine explosion that left 72 dead.
   The latest toll was announced in a press release by the administration of the Donetsk region, in the industrial heartland of the former Soviet republic.
   In Donetsk deputy prime minister Andri Klyuev told journalists that rescuers had been forced to temporarily suspend work after the heat in the mine, one of Ukraine’s largest, became too intense.
   Earlier the fire that blazed throughout most of Sunday at the site of the methane gas blast was thought to have been localised.
   Twenty-eight mine employees were hospitalised due to injuries, mainly connected to methane inhalation.
   The president, Viktor Yushchenko, was due to visit Donetsk, which was struggling on Monday to come to terms with the latest mining disaster to strike the region in eastern Ukraine.
   Flags on official buildings flew in Donetsk at half mast and three days of mourning had been declared, while newspapers voiced despair at the latest tragedy.
   ‘Every million tonne of Ukrainian coal costs two to three miners’ lives,’ declared the Gazeta Po-Kievski newspaper in an article headlined ‘the Zasyadko Cemetery.’
   The explosion occurred early on Sunday deep underground at the Zasyadko mine, which has a long history of such disasters.
   On Monday a small group of relatives remained at the mine’s headquarters tearfully waiting for news of loved ones.
   ‘Leave me in peace,’ pleaded one woman when approached by journalists.
   Many relatives were overcome by emotion as officials emerged to read out the latest names of the dead on Sunday.
   Several voiced disgust at the hazardous conditions the miners were subjected to for meagre salaries, but said there was little alternative employment.
   It took most of Sunday to localise the fire that swept through the mine after the blast, while work was hampered by collapsed construction material.
   The Ukrainian Kommersant newspaper said the explosion appeared to have been sparked by work to bore out a shaft that was intended to clear gas from the area concerned.
   President Yushchenko said in a statement before his visit: ‘I am grieving with all of Ukraine.’

Royal family and friends gathered in Westminster Abbey on Monday to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s diamond wedding anniversary, in the church where they wed 60 years ago.
   After the thanksgiving service the couple, whose marriage is the longest in English royal history, were set to fly to Malta for the anniversary itself Tuesday, to relive their newlywed days on the Mediterranean island.
   A 2,000-strong congregation including the prime minister, Gordon Brown, and former premiers Margaret Thatcher and John Major were invited to the service, alongside religious and military chiefs and 30 royal family members.
   ‘A glittering celebration for the Queen,’ headlined the Daily Telegraph over a front-page picture of the 81-year-old monarch. The service was to be broadcast live on British television from 1130 GMT.
   The queen’s grandson Prince William, second in line to the throne, was to give a reading. In contrast to the anti-German sentiment of 1947, some of Prince Philip’s German relations have been invited this time.
   Following the ceremony, the couple were to unveil a new panoramic panel in Parliament Square over the road, showing key local landmarks. he said.

Lebanon’s rival political factions on Monday remained deadlocked on finding a consensus presidential candidate despite intense international pressure and a looming deadline for a vote.
   The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, in Beirut for his sixth visit in as many months to nudge the feuding sides to agree, angrily denounced an unnamed party for blocking a deal.
   ‘The one responsible for blocking a process that was agreed upon by all parties bears responsibility for destabilising Lebanon and for regional consequences,’ he said after meeting parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri.
   He was stunned that the Western-backed majority and Hezbollah-led opposition were still at loggerheads over who should replace incumbent Emile Lahoud by a Friday deadline given that they had agreed to work from a list of names submitted by Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, head of the Maronite Christian church.
   ‘I am surprised, France is surprised, that something is stuck, something is blocked, something is derailed,’ he said. ‘Everyone had given their agreement.’
   The leading An-Nahar newspaper said Kouchner’s visit was a clear sign ‘of a total blockage in negotiations... and efforts – both internal and external – to reach a compromise ...
   ‘This is an ultimate attempt to prevent the French initiative from failing,’ the paper said.
   Political officials and analysts speculated that a last-chance parliamentary session on Wednesday for MPs to elect a successor to Lahoud may be postponed, prompting fears of civil unrest and the formation of two parallel governments.
   Three other sessions in the past two months have already been cancelled for lack of agreement on a consensus candidate.
   Many predict that a deal would likely be struck at the 11th-hour, as is often the case in Lebanese politics.
   ‘I remain guardedly optimistic that a compromise will be found,’ Paul Salem, head of the Carnegie Middle East Centre, said.

A suicide attack outside the office of the governor of Afghanistan’s southwestern Nimroz province on Monday killed one of his adult sons and six of his bodyguards, the governor said.
   The blast happened at the gate of the provincial headquarters in Zaranj city soon after the governor entered. Nimroz is a relatively peaceful province sharing a long border with Iran.
   ‘Just as I got into my office today (Monday), there was a suicide attack outside the compound. Apparently I was the target of the suicide attacker,’ governor Ghulam Dastageer said.
   ‘Six of my bodyguards and my son were martyred in the suicide attack,’ he added. ‘Fourteen other people, including police and civilians, were wounded.’

India’s government said Monday it was confident of moving ahead with a controversial nuclear deal with the United States, days after leftist allies opposing the pact softened their stance.
   Last week the government struck a compromise with its left-wing allies allowing it to move a step closer to implementing the accord – the negotiation of an international safeguards agreement for its civilian reactors.
   Leftist parties had previously refused to allow these talks to go ahead and threatened to bring down the Congress party-led government.
   ‘We will be talking to the International Atomic Energy Agency very soon,’ foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters Monday.
   ‘The issue is to go out and do an India-specific safeguards agreement and that is what we are going to do and we will do it,’ he said, brushing off concerns that the deal could still be vetoed later on.

Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan was arrested Monday by Cambodia’s UN-backed genocide tribunal, becoming the latest member of the former regime to face justice.
   The 76-year-old, who acted as the regime’s head of state, will be interviewed by tribunal judges later in the day and is expected to be charged afterwards.
   ‘He has been arrested and brought to the tribunal,’ spokesman Reach Sambath said.
   ‘The court is fulfilling its duties smoothly,’ he added.
   Khieu Samphan is the last of five top regime cadres currently under investigation by the tribunal to be detained.
   Last week two former Khmer Rouge ministers, Ieng Sary and his wife, Ieng Thirith, were arrested by the court and charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity for their alleged role in Cambodia’s 1970s genocide.
   Regime ideologue Nuon Chea and prison chief Duch were arrested earlier this year and also charged with crimes against humanity.