21 July 2004 Wednesday 03 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425 Karzai wins 3 warlords' support KABUL, July 20: Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave three powerful warlords new official posts on Tuesday in an apparent bid to bring private militias into the government fold ahead of presidential polls. ... Filipino hostage freed BAGHDAD, July 20: A Filipino truck driver held hostage in Iraq for two weeks was freed unhurt on Tuesday _ a day after Manila withdrew its troops in response to demands from kidnappers who had threatened to behead him. ... Basra official, four doctors killed BAQUBA, July 20: Four Iraqi veterinarians were killed and three wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in the path of their bus on Tuesday, while a senior official in Basra became the latest high- profile murder. ... Iraqi PM tries 'good cop, bad cop' formula BAGHDAD: In three weeks in office, Iraq's Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has made a series of carefully calibrated decisions that may succeed in drawing enemies in from the cold while uniting more Iraqis under the national banner. ... Blair moves to calm Iraq furore: Intelligence agencies to be 'reformed' LONDON, July 20: British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced reforms to government and spy agencies on Tuesday to try to quell a furore over a damning report into flawed intelligence on Iraqi weapons. ... US spending Iraqi billions? HENRY WAXMAN is an awkward customer. For 30 years, this Californian congressman has probed, badgered and embarrassed US administrations of every hue. ... Hezbollah, Israelis clash on Lebanon border EITA AL SHAAB (Lebanon), July 20: Lebanon's Hezbollah guerillas killed two Israeli soldiers and lost one of their own fighters in border clashes on Tuesday, a day after the group accused Israel of killing a top Hezbollah member. ... Qorei agrees to stay on for now RAMALLAH, July 20: The Palestinian cabinet failed on Tuesday to resolve a leadership crisis as Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei agreed to stay on for now but kept a threat to quit "because he has no powers", officials said. ... Sharon's life under threat: official TEL AVIV, July 20: Dozens of Jewish extremists opposed to Ariel Sharon's Gaza pullout plan want to see the prime minister dead and "someone could pull the trigger" on him at any time, an Israeli security chief said on Tuesday. ... Palestinian villagers fear eviction AL QUDS: Palestinian Mahmoud Shehada is preoccupied with one fear: a night-time knock on the door by Israeli soldiers who demand that he leave his home and never return. ... Media - willing accomplice in disinformation campaign So Andrew Gilligan, the BBC reporter who claimed that the government had sexed up the intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, was mostly right. Much of the rest of the media, which took the doctored intelligence at face value, was wrong. ... PA facing crisis, says Annan UNITED NATIONS, July 20: The Palestinian Authority (PA) must reform its security apparatus to tackle prevailing turmoil, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday. ... Singer punished for praising Moore LOS ANGELES, July 20: US singer Linda Ronstadt was booed off the stage and kicked out of a Las Vegas casino after praising polemical filmmaker Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 9/11," the casino said Monday. ... Halliburton under probe over dealings with Iran WASHINGTON, July 20: The embattled US oil services company Halliburton, which until four years ago was headed by Vice President Richard Cheney, is under grand jury investigation for suspected illegal dealings with Iran through a Cayman Islands subsidiary, the firm disclosed. ... HRW calls for UN action in Sudan UNITED NATIONS, July 20: The Sudanese government documents incontrovertibly show that government officials directed recruitment, arming and other support to the ethnic militias known as the Janjaweed ... SA reporter mugged on air JOHANNESBURG, July 20: A South African radio reporter went a little more live than anticipated on Tuesday when he was mugged on air for his cellphone. ...

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