Barzani re-elected as Iraqi Kurd president

ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) – Massud Barzani was re-elected president of Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan and the two main Kurdish parties, which ran on a joint parliamentary list, won 57 percent of the vote in weekend elections, official results showed on Wednesday.

Barzani, who had been widely expected to win, secured 69.57 percent of the popular vote in Saturday's poll.

The joint Kurdistania list, comprising Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union Kurdistan (PUK) of Jalal Talabani, meanwhile, won 57 percent of the legislative vote.

According to the results a key opposition grouping called Change won 23.57 percent of parliamentary votes, faring much better than expected.

Change, largely made up of PUK defectors, and a leftist-Islamist list called Services and Reform have condemned what they have called voter fraud in the elections, insisting they made bigger breakthroughs than preliminary results showed.

Services and Reform won 12.8 percent of the parliamentary vote, according to Wednesday's results.

Nearly 80 percent of the autonomous Kurdish region's 2.5 million voters took part in what poll officials trumpeted as a transparent election.

The vote was held at a key time in Iraq's transition as regional leaders remain locked in a bitter dispute with Baghdad over land and oil, while local voters also voiced increasing concern over corruption.

Iraq police clash anew with Iran rebel camp residents

by Ali Al-Tuwaijri

KHALES, Iraq (AFP) – Clashes flared for a second day on Wednesday between Iraqi security forces and residents of a camp housing Iran's main exiled opposition, a day after violence left two policemen dead.

More than 400 people were also wounded after Iraqi soldiers stormed the camp on Tuesday, sparking unrest that prompted the deployment of riot police to quell resistance from Camp Ashraf's residents.

"Fighting resumed when Iraqi police established a police station and hoisted the Iraqi flag," police Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim al-Karawi said, adding that Iraqi security forces now controlled about 75 percent of the camp.

The opposition People's Mujahedeen said seven residents of the camp, in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, were killed but there was no independent confirmation of those deaths.

Doctor Abdullah al-Timimi from the main hospital in the nearby town of Khales said the two policemen died on Wednesday from injuries sustained the previous day.

One had suffered internal bleeding following a blow to the head. The other had been stabbed in the neck, he said.

The Iraqi defense ministry was unapologetic about the raid against the camp, saying it was justified under a November security agreement with Washington.

"It's our territory and it's our right to enter, to impose Iraqi law on everybody," defense ministry spokesman General Mohammed Askari told Al-Arabiya television.

"They (camp residents) have to submit to the law, and to Iraqi sovereignty. The SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) authorizes us to do what we did."

Under the pact, Iraqi security forces took over responsibility for the camp three months ago from US forces, which had disarmed the 3,500 or so residents following the 2003 invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement that Baghdad had "no intention to enter a fight with any of the members of the camp, but it (the government) will apply the law vehemently."

He insisted, though, that the government "will not force anyone to leave Iraq against his will" after a Mujahedeen spokesman expressed concern that camp residents who were arrested would be handed over to Tehran.

A police official earlier said 300 camp residents, 25 of them women, had been wounded along with around 110 security force personnel. More than 50 camp residents were detained.

The Mujahedeen said seven camp residents were killed and 385 wounded.

Karawi said negotiations between Diyala provincial police chief General Abdul Hussein al-Shamari and the Mujahedeen, which began on Tuesday evening, have stalled.

A US administration official said that Washington -- which still blacklists the Mujahedeen as a terrorist organization -- had received assurances that camp residents would be treated in a "humane" manner.

The storming of the camp coincided with a visit to Iraq by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates but the top US commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, said the US military had no advance warning.

Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani welcomed the seizure of the camp, describing the action as "praiseworthy" albeit "rather late".

Leading Iranian MP Hossein Sobhani-Nia called for camp residents to be handed over to Tehran.

The head of the exiled National Council of Resistance of Iran, which includes the Mujahedeen, condemned the raid and accused Baghdad of doing Tehran's bidding.

"This aggression is a flagrant violation of international conventions and the assurances given by the Iraqi government to the United States about the protection of the residents of Ashraf," Maryam Rajavi said in a statement.

She charged that Iran had put pressure on the Iraqi authorities to carry out the raid in a bid to distract attention from the deadly unrest inside Iran sparked by last month's hotly disputed presidential election.

The People's Mujahedeen was founded in 1965 in opposition to the shah and has subsequently fought to oust the clerical regime which took power in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The group set up Camp Ashraf in the 1980s -- when Saddam was at war with the Islamic republic -- as a base to operate against the Iranian government.

Gates: Some US troops may be leaving Iraq early

By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT – The United States is considering speeding up its withdrawal from Iraq because of the sustained drop in violence there, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday following discussions with his top commanders in the war.

"I think there's at least some chance of a modest acceleration," this year, Gates said.

It was the first suggestion that the Obama administration might rethink its difficult choice to leave a heavy fighting force in Iraq long past the election of an American president who opposed the war.

Gates said the consideration came because the situation is "better than expected."

Perhaps one of the current 14 combat units could come home early, Gates said, which would mean a cut of roughly 5,000 people.

Continued bad blood between Iraq's Arab-led central government and the self-ruled Kurdish region in the north represents the major wild card to a faster pullout, Gates spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

Concern is growing that North-South tensions over land and resources could become a shooting war once U.S. forces leave. Gates spent much of his two-day visit in Iraq warning both sides that U.S. forces will not be around to keep the peace forever, and he offered U.S. help to mediate.

"These are some fundamental issues, and I think it's important that both the government in Baghdad and the Kurds have pursued them through political means" so far, Gates told reporters after meeting Kurdish President Massoud Barzani in Irbil, capital of the Kurdish self-rule area.

Gates said he told his hosts all sides had spent "too much in blood and treasure" since the 2003 U.S. invasion to risk losing it now.

The United States has about 130,000 forces in Iraq, with current plans calling for most combat forces — or more than 100,000 troops — to remain in the country until after Iraqi national elections in January.

Gates gave no other specifics, and stressed that the idea is preliminary and tied to continued good news in Iraq.

"It depends on circumstances; it may or may not happen," he said.

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, raised the possibility during Gates' two-day trip to Iraq. If Odierno follows up with a formal recommendation, it would come sometime this fall.

It was largely because of Odierno's worry that the coming Iraqi election would trigger a rebound in violence that President Barack Obama decided on a very slow withdrawal. The decision, announced in February, disappointed many anti-war Democrats.

Under the current plan, the United States would draw down from 14 brigades to 12 this year. After the January election, the withdrawal pace would quicken, leaving about 50,000 forces in Iraq by September, 2010.

Violence is at an ebb in Iraq, and Odierno said Tuesday that he has been pleasantly surprised at how few problems have arisen following a June 30 handover of control of Iraqi cities.

American military commanders say friction between Arabs and Kurds in northern Iraq is the greatest threat to security in the country, overtaking the old Sunni-Shiite divide that threatened to push Iraq into civil war three years ago.

The relatively affluent, peaceful Kurdish North is feuding with al-Maliki's government over its borders and resources. Gates met with Barzani, who claimed victory in a re-election vote last weekend that also saw large gains by an opposition slate, in Irbil, seat of the regional government.

Morrell said the U.S. military has advisers already serving as go-betweens for the Kurdish militia and Iraq's armed forces.

Gates told Barzani that the U.S. backs a set of United Nations recommendations to resolve some of the major disputes. Morrell would not characterize Barzani's response, except to say that Gates left the meeting "with the sense, just as he did in Baghdad, that the Kurds very much want to take advantage of our presence."

Odierno identified the tension in northern Iraq as the "No. 1 driver of instability."

"Many insurgent groups are trying to exploit the tensions," Odierno told reporters Tuesday. "We're watching very carefully to see that this doesn't escalate."

So far, American intermediaries are helping keep a lid on things, Odierno said.

The Kurds have been locked in a dispute with Baghdad over control of oil resources and a fault line of contested territory in northern Iraq, particularly the flash-point city of Kirkuk. The disagreements have stalled a national oil law considered vital to encouraging foreign investment. U.S. officials have warned that Arab-Kurdish tensions could erupt into a new front in the Iraq conflict and jeopardize security gains elsewhere.

Kurdish leaders say they are committed to staying in a unified Iraq, particularly since an independence push could alienate neighboring Iran, Syria and Turkey, which have their own Kurdish minorities. But Iraqi Kurdish politicians must answer to the strong nationalist sentiment among Kurds.

Reformist candidates did better than expected against two established Kurdish political parties in weekend elections, adding to the uncertainty. The reformist slate, called Change, tapped into widespread frustration over alleged corruption and intimidation by the longtime ruling establishment.

Iran's first trials of protesters to begin

By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer

CAIRO – Iran on Wednesday announced that the first trials of postelection protesters will begin this weekend, as anger grew even among some government supporters over abuse of those detained in the more than 6-week-old crackdown.

Accounts emerged from released prisoners about beatings and brutality during their detention. One told of being crammed with 200 other protesters in a pitch-black cell as guards waded in, beating them. Another said he and other detainees were forced to lick toilet bowls.

In recent days, there have been several deaths of young activists in prison — including the son of a prominent conservative. The announcement of trials is likely to anger the opposition, which says that detainees are being tortured into making false confessions to be used against them in court.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi is to lead a ceremony on Thursday for those who have died in the postelection crackdown — and the memorial could turn into a new confrontation between protesters and security forces. It is timed to coincide with the passing of 40 days since the death of Nada Agha Soltan, a young woman who was shot to death during a protest. Video of her dying moments made her an icon to the protest movement.

Mousavi and fellow pro-reform leader Mahdi Karroubi will hold the ceremony in Behesht-e Zahra — the large cemetery on Tehran's southern outskirts where some slain protesters have been buried — after authorities rejected his request to hold it at Tehran's main Mosalla mosque, Karroubi's Web site reported.

Hundreds were arrested in the crackdown against protests by hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters, who claim that the June 12 presidential election was fraudulent and that Mousavi — not hard-line incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — was the victor. Among those detained were young protesters, but also senior pro-reform politicians and prominent rights activists.

The state news agency IRNA said Wednesday that indictments had been issued against "around 20" detainees involved in "planning and carrying out sabotage" and that trials will begin on Saturday. Among the defendants are some who had contact with the Mujahedeen-e Khalq — a dissident group of Iranian exiles — and members of the Bahai faith, who are often targeted by the Iranian government, IRNA said.

They will face charges including connections to terrorist groups, planting bombs, carrying weapons and grenades, intentional attack on the police and Basij, attacking security and university facilities, "sending images to the media of the enemy" ... and damaging public property, IRNA said.

The report said this was the "first phase" of trials, and that in later phases the defendants would be "those who ordered the post election unrest," an apparent reference to opposition politicians.

On Tuesday, 140 postelection detainees were released from Tehran's Evin prison in an attempt by Iran's leadership to try to ease the uproar over prisoners. At the same time, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the closure of Kahrizak prison, a facility on the capital's southern edges where several detainees were reported to have died from abuse.

But even some in the conservative camp that backs Khamenei and Ahmadinejad said that was not enough and that those behind the abuse should be punished.

"Some died after detention due to beating. Officials said two victims died due to meningitis.It should be reviewed and oppressors should be identified and prosecuted," Ahmad Tavakkoli, a prominent conservative lawmaker, said, according to the opposition Web site Mowjcamp.

Tavakkoli said "individuals without permits" had attacked university dorms and homes — a reference to plainclothes attackers believed to be connected to the Basij militia. "They and their organizers and supporters should be identified," he said.

Accounts from released prisoners appeared on opposition Web sites this week, describing beatings and other abuse at the hands of guards and interrogators.

One told of being held at Kahrizak since his arrest in a July 9 protest, saying, "We were at least 200 people in one room, and everyone was getting beatings with sticks." He wrote that at one point the guards turned out the lights and beat the prisoners for a half hour. The protester, who said he was released on Monday, listed the names of six prisoners he believed had died during the assaults.

As in other prisoner accounts, he wrote anonymously because he had been told not to speak of his detention. His and the other accounts could not be independently confirmed.

Another released prisoner said he was taken to a police station and beaten, and then he and others were forced to lie down in a bathroom, tied their legs up behind their backs and forced them to lick a toilet.

The opposition has been complaining for weeks about abuse in prisons, saying that many are being held in secret locations by the elite Revolutionary Guards, Basij or other unknown bodies. But authorities began paying attention after the son of Abdolhossein Rouhalamini, a prominent conservative, was killed in prison, reportedly at Kahrizak.

A powerful conservative lawmaker, Ali Mottahari, said closing Kahrizak was not enough and that "those responsible for detahs in prison like that of the late Rouhalamini must be identified." He said those involved in abuse at Kahrizak could now be at other facilities.

He reprimanded government officials, asking, "Why did things reach a point that the supreme leader had to get involved? If they had followed their own positions on human rights, the supreme leader's entry wouldn't be necessary."

Several of the top clerics in Shia Islam — the "marajeh-e-taghlid," or "objects of emulation" — have also issued statements in recent days condemning abuses of prisoners.

Nigerian troops battle Islamic militants in north

By BASHIR ADIGUN, Associated Press Writer

ABUJA, Nigeria – Troops exchanged fire with Islamic militants in northern Nigeria on Wednesday, fighting that prompted many people to flee their homes, a witness said.

The report came a day after President Umaru Yar'Adua insisted the military had the situation under control.

Olugbenga Akinbule, a local journalist, said he saw fighting Wednesday morning outside the suspected hideout of a radical Muslim leader accused of orchestrating three days of violence in Africa's most populous nation. He also said more people in the city of Maiduguri were fleeing, in addition to 3,000 people he said Tuesday had been displaced.

The military had surrounded the Islamic camp on Tuesday. Government officials did not answer calls seeking information on Wednesday.

Islamic militants attacked a police station in northern Nigeria on Sunday, sparking the worst violence Nigeria has seen in months and leaving at least 55 people dead over the next few days, according to police.

Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, has been the epicenter of the dayslong violence. Authorities imposed curfews Tuesday night and security forces poured onto the streets to quell a wave of militant attacks against police.

"This situation is being brought under control," Yar'Adua told reporters Tuesday as he appealed for calm.

Nigeria's 140 million people are nearly evenly divided between Christians, who predominate in the south, and primarily northern-based Muslims. Shariah was implemented in 12 northern states after Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 following years of oppressive military regimes. More than 10,000 Nigerians have died in sectarian violence since then.

The militants oppose western education and seek a harsh interpretation of Islamic Shariah law in northern Nigeria.

Late Tuesday, the army sent armored vehicles to a residential district in Maiduguri that is believed to be a stronghold of an Islamic sect behind the violence. Officers said militant leader Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf was thought to be holed up in one of the houses.

As army vehicles approached and opened fire, sect members fired back, soldiers said. An Associated Press reporter in the area saw smoke billowing above the homes.

The radical sect behind the latest violence is known by several different names, including Al-Sunna wal Jamma, or "Followers of Mohammed's Teachings" in Arabic, and "Boko Haram," which means "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa dialect.

Some Nigerian officials have referred to the militants as Taliban, although the group has no known affiliation with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

Taliban's Constitution

KABUL — Laying down a code of conduct for its fighters, the Afghan Taliban has issued a book restricting the use of suicide bombings and guiding fighters on how to act on hostages and win hearts and minds of the Afghan people.

"A brave son of Islam should not be used for lower and useless targets," says the book obtained by the Doha-based Aljazeera television on Monday, July 27.

The book, "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Rules for Mujahideen", says that Taliban fighters should avoid civilian casualties while launching attacks.

"The utmost effort should be made to avoid civilian casualties."

The suicide bombings are one of the most effective means the Taliban fighters are using against the US-led foreign troops.

On Saturday, seven suicide bombers tried to storm the eastern city of Khost, killing one civilian and wounding several others.

"Governors, district chiefs and line commanders and every member of the Mujahideen must do their best to avoid civilian deaths, civilian injuries and damage to civilian property," says the book.

"Great care must be taken."

The Taliban was ousted by the US following the 9/11 attacks to topple the group and its ally Al-Qaeda.

Since then, Taliban has been engaged in a protracted guerilla war against the US-led foreign troops, which left thousands of people dead.

Captives

The 13-chapter book also sets rules for Taliban fighters on how to deal with the West-backed Afghan government.

"Every Muslim can invite anyone working for the slave government in Kabul to leave their job, and cut their relationship with this corrupt administration," it says.

"If the person accepts, then with the permission of the provincial and district leadership, a guarantee of safety can be given."

The guideline gives Taliban leader Mullah Omar the full authority to decide on the fate of its captives.

"Whenever any official, soldier, contractor or worker of the slave government is captured, these prisoners cannot be attacked or harmed," says the book.

"The decision on whether to seek a prisoner exchange, or to release the prisoner, with a strong guarantee, will be made by the provincial leader.

"Releasing prisoners in exchange for money is strictly prohibited.

"If the prisoner is a director, commander or district chief or higher, the decision on whether to harm, kill, release or forgive them is only made by the Imam or deputy Imam."

On captured foreign troops, the book says the Taliban leader or his deputy has the full authority to decide on his fate.

"If a military infidel is captured, the decision on whether to kill, release or exchange the hostage is only to be made by the Imam or deputy Imam."

Taliban is holding hostage a US soldier, who was captured earlier this month.

Unity

The Taliban book also bans the formation of new armed groups in the central Asian Muslim country.

"Creating a new mujahideen group or battalion is forbidden," says the book.

"If unofficial groups or irregular battalions refuse to join the formal structure they should be disbanded.

"If a governor or leader has in the past had a unit or active group in another province, they should bring it to the attention of the leader of that province. That leader should then take over command of the group."

Taliban commanders have so far had a fair degree of autonomy, often deciding what operations to conduct and how to run the territory that they control.

The book also urges Taliban fighters to seek to win the hearts and minds of the local Afghan population.

"The Mujahideen have to behave well and show proper treatment to the nation, in order to bring the hearts of civilian Muslims closer to them.

"The mujahideen must avoid discrimination based on tribal roots, language or their geographic background."

Israel stopped NC jihad suspect's family in 2007

By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. – Israel denied entry two years ago to members of a North Carolina family that includes three men accused of plotting to execute terror attacks in foreign countries, an official said Wednesday.

Daniel Boyd, 39, spent three years traveling to the Middle East, secretly buying guns, and leading a group of men planning to kidnap, kill and maim people abroad, according to charges in an indictment released Monday. His family's travels caught the attention of authorities in Israel two years ago, when they denied members of his family entry to the country, an Israeli security official told The Associated Press.

Boyd was arrested Monday along with six others — including two sons — accused of being the ringleader of the group involved in three years of nefarious international travel, gun buys and military-style training trips. Authorities claim the group, including an eighth suspect believed to be in Pakistan, were gearing up for a "violent jihad," though prosecutors haven't detailed any specific targets or timeframe. If convicted, the men could face life in prison.

Boyd's wife, Sabrina, told a Raleigh newspaper that he and one of his sons, who is also charged in the North Carolina indictment, were denied entry to Israel in 2007 and detained for two days, but she denied a malevolent motive for their trip.

An Israeli security official confirmed that members of the Boyd family were denied entry to Israel in 2007. He declined to say why they were stopped or provide further details. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not officially made public.

Israeli police and the Interior Ministry, the office in charge of immigration, would not comment.

The U.S. indictment said Boyd and the two sons who were charged — Zakariya, 20, and Dylan, 22 — traveled to Israel in July 2007 to meet with two of the other defendants but returned home "having failed in their attempt at violent jihad."

Sabrina Boyd urged the public not to rush to judgment.

"We have the right to justice, and we believe that justice will prevail," she said in a statement. "We are decent people who care about other human beings."

In an interview with the News & Observer of Raleigh, Boyd said her husband and sons' trips abroad were pilgrimages, also denying allegations that a 2006 trip was for nefarious purposes. She told the newspaper on Tuesday that her husband took another son named Noah, who's not named in the indictment, to see Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem that year.

"The point of a pilgrimage is to see the Al-Aksa mosque, the Dome of the Rock, to hear the call to prayer and to make a prayer," she said.

In 2007, Daniel and Zakariya Boyd were denied entry to Israel at the airport in Tel Aviv, detained for two days, then flown to France, she said. The newspaper didn't say whether Israeli authorities gave the men a reason for denying them entry.

Prosecutors said Boyd received terrorist training years ago in Pakistan and brought the teachings back to North Carolina, recruiting followers willing to die as martyrs waging jihad — the Arabic word for holy war.

Frustrated by Raleigh-area mosques that he saw as too moderate, Boyd started breaking away this year to hold prayers in his home, prosecutors said. In the last two months, he took two group members to private property in north-central North Carolina to practice military tactics and use weapons.

"It's clear from the indictment that the overt acts in the conspiracy were escalating," U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding said.

Boyd's wife told the newspaper she knew nothing about the training site cited by prosecutors, and she said the family had firearms because they enjoyed hunting and shooting.

Boyd's neighbors also defended the drywall contractor.

"If he's a terrorist, he's the nicest terrorist I ever met in my life. I don't think he is," said Charles Casale, 46, a neighbor in Willow Spring.

Twenty-year-old Jeremy Kuhn, said the family seemed closer and more loving than any of the other nearby households.

"If it turns out they were terrorists, I will be the most shocked person in the world," he said.

The other four men arrested range in age from 21 to 33. Only one is not a U.S. citizen, but he is a legal resident.

An attorney who met with one of the defendants, Ziyad Yaghi, 21, said Yaghi was disappointed.

"Our concern is that people are rushing to a judgment and there's no evidence that anyone's been shown," attorney Robert Nunley said.

Public defenders assigned to Boyd did not return messages seeking comment, and there were no attorneys for the other men listed in court records. They are expected to appear in court Thursday for a detention hearing, facing charges of providing material support to terrorism; conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad, and firearms counts.

Authorities believe the eighth suspect is in Pakistan, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity. A second law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspect was Jude Kenan Mohammad, 20. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the investigation.

Authorities believe Boyd's roots in terrorism run deep. When he was in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1989 through 1992, he had military-style training in terrorist camps and fought the Soviets, who were ending their occupation of Afghanistan, according to the indictment.

Car bomb explodes in Spain, dozens injured

By ISRAEL LOPEZ, Associated Press Writer

BURGOS, Spain – A powerful car bomb exploded early Wednesday outside a barracks housing police officers and their families in this northern Spanish city, slightly injuring 46 people and causing major damage in the area. The attack was blamed on Basque separatist group ETA.

Most of the injuries from the blast were from flying glass, and 38 of the wounded were treated in hospitals, regional ministry representative Miguel Alejo said. Many of the injured were Civil Guard police officers and family members.

The bomb detonated around 4:00 a.m. (0200 GMT, 10 p.m. EDT Tuesday) and left a crater that had filled with water from broken underground pipes, Alejo said.

"The car used to cause the explosion has been displaced some 70 meters (230 feet) so that gives you an idea of the power of the blast," he said.

Police and emergency services did not receive any warning that a bomb had been planted, but the explosion had the hallmarks of an ETA attack, Alejo said. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building at the time.

Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba was rushing to the scene, his office said.

ETA, which has killed more than 825 people since it launched a campaign in 1968 for an independent homeland in Basque region of northern Spain, typically phones in warnings that a bomb is about to explode giving time to authorities to evacuate the area.

The last attack blamed on the group was July 10 when a bomb exploded outside an office of the Spanish prime minister's party in the Basque town of Durango, causing significant damage but no injuries.

The group's last fatal attack took place June 19, when a bomb attached to the underside of a car killed a Spanish police detective whose job was to investigate ETA.

Television images Wednesday showed considerable damage to a 14-story barracks building in Burgos and many residential dwellings around it with windows and some walls blown in by the power of the explosion.

It is common for members of the paramilitary Civil Guard police force to live in barracks with their spouses and children.

The force is chiefly in charge of policing rural areas and guarding official buildings.

In an attack on May 14, 2008, ETA killed a Civil Guard officer in a car bombing outside a barracks in the Basque town of Legutiano. There were 29 people in the building at the time.

Burgos is an important regional capital and contains a historic city center with important tourist attractions.

ETA, whose name is a Basque-language acronym for Basque Homeland and Freedom, had declared what it called a permanent cease-fire in 2006, but reverted to violence within months after peace talks with the Spanish government went nowhere.

Dozens of alleged members of the organization have been arrested in recent years in Spain and France including several of its supposed leaders.

Uighur leader says 10,000 went missing in one night

By Chisa Fujioka

TOKYO (Reuters) – Nearly 10,000 Uighurs involved in deadly riots in China's northwestern Xinjiang region went missing in one night, exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer said Wednesday, calling for an international investigation.

Kadeer's visit to Tokyo was condemned by China. The vice foreign minister summoned the Japanese ambassador in Beijing to express China "strong dissatisfaction" and to "demand the Japanese government take effective action to stop her anti-China, splittist activities in Japan," the Foreign Ministry said.

In Xinjiang's worst ethnic violence in decades, Uighurs on July 5 attacked Han Chinese in the regional capital of Urumqi after police tried to break up a protest against fatal attacks on Uighur workers at a factory in south China.

Han Chinese in Urumqi launched revenge attacks later that week.

"The nearly 10,000 (Uighur) people who were at the protest, they disappeared from Urumqi in one night," Kadeer told a news conference in Tokyo through an interpreter. "If they are dead, where are their bodies? If they are detained, where are they?"

She called on the international community to send an independent investigative team to Urumqi to uncover details of what had taken place.

The official death toll from the riots stands at 197, most of whom were Han Chinese who form the majority of China's 1.3 billion population. Almost all the others were Uighurs, a Muslim people native to Xinjiang and culturally tied to Central Asia and Turkey.

More than 1,000 people were detained in the immediate aftermath of the riots, and over 200 more in recent days, state media said. None has been publicly charged.

China has accused Kadeer, who lives in exile in Washington, of triggering the riots and of spreading misinformation. It took great glee in pointing out that pictures she said were taken in Urumqi actually came from an unrelated incident in another part of the country.

Kadeer, who rejects the Chinese accusations, said she thought the death toll was much higher after learning that there was random gunfire one night when electricity in the city was shut down.

In a measure of continued nervousness and lack of information in Urumqi, the city government was forced to deny rumors sweeping the Han population that Uighurs were kidnapping Han to exchange them for detained Uighurs, a Chinese newspaper said.

Beijing does not want to lose its grip on Xinjiang. The vast territory borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.

Water pollution sickens thousands in north China

BEIJING – Contaminated drinking water has sickened more than 2,600 people in northern China, including 59 who were hospitalized with fevers, diarrhea, stomach aches and vomiting, state media reported Wednesday.

Heavy rains caused contaminants to seep into a water supply in Chifeng city in Inner Mongolia, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, without saying what the contaminants were.

Residents began reporting diarrhea and vomiting over the weekend and were treated at the local hospital, Xinhua reported. The contaminated well provided water for 58,000 of the city's 4.5 million residents, it said.

Calls to the Chifeng city government office rang unanswered Wednesday.

Although the government has taken measures to control water pollution, problems such as acid rain — caused by industrial pollution in the atmosphere — remain prevalent in many Chinese cities. Raw tap water is unsafe to drink, and most Chinese have to boil it before drinking.

Despite the recent heavy rains in Chifeng, parts of China's wheat-growing northern regions are suffering their worst drought in five decades.

Xinhua also reported Wednesday that Beijing municipality will spend $22 million to plant 13,000 acres (5,260 hectares) of trees to protect two of its largest drinking water reservoirs.

Ireland to take 2 Guantanamo inmates

DUBLIN – Irish Justice Minister Dermot Ahern says his country will resettle two inmates being freed soon from the Guantanamo prison camp in Cuba.

Ahern's announcement came after a meeting Wednesday with new U.S. Ambassador Dan Rooney, and six months after President Barack Obama asked European countries to help find new homes for released inmates. So far, few countries have agreed to take ex-Guantanamo prisoners who cannot return safely to their homelands.

Ahern says Irish officials visited Washington and Guantanamo last week and identified two inmates who could be resettled in Ireland within the next two months. He says the men's identities, travel details and locations of new residences will be kept secret.