BAGHDAD, Dec 4: In three separate attacks, three members of Iraq's security forces, including a high-ranking officer, were killed in Baghdad Sunday morning, according to police. Assailants gunned down Lieutenant Colonel Abdel Razzak Abdel Latif, of the police's criminal department, in the neighborhood of Al-Jamiaa, in east Baghdad. A soldier was shot dead as he left his home in Hay al-Amin, in the southeast of the capital, while another was killed in Al-Bayyaa, in southern Baghdad. --AFP. Egyptian's death a big blow to Al-Qaeda: Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: The death in northeastern Pakistan of an Egyptian described as a leading Al-Qaeda operative was a big setback for the terror network, Pakistan's Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said Sunday. "It is a big blow to Al-Qaeda," Sherpao told AFP, adding that operations were continuing to track down Al-Qaeda members in the rugged tribal area of North Waziristan where Hamza Rabia is said to have met his end--AFP. 42 miners trapped for second day in central China BEIJING, Dec 4: Forty-two miners were trapped for a second day Sunday in a flooded mine in central China, as more than 200 rescuers raced against the clock to pump out water to save them, state media said. The miners have been trapped since shortly before midnight late Friday when the Sigou mine suddenly flooded, according to the Xinhua news agency. The mine is located in Shisi township, Xin'an county, Henan province--AFP. Iran's Ahmadinejad compromises on oil minister TEHRAN, Dec 4 (AFP): Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his fourth attempt Sunday to name an oil minister, nominating before parliament the key ministry's current caretaker Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh. The latest candidate appears to be the strongest candidate so far -- having held the post on a temporary basis for the past three months and having served as a deputy oil minister prior to that--AFP. Malaysian police arrest three over weapons heist KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4: Malaysian police said Sunday they had arrested three men including two of their own officers over a weapons heist at a police camp in Terengganu state, and recovered all the stolen arms and ammunition. "We have solved the case," Terengganu police chief Hussin Ismail told AFP from the northeastern state--AFP. Pyongyang demands US troop pullout from South Korea SEOUL, Dec 4 (AFP): North Korea Sunday demanded the United States withdraw its troops from South Korea, in a renewed campaign by the Stalinist state to drive a wedge in the US-South Korean alliance. Some 32,500 US soldiers are stationed here to help South Korean military troops face up to North Korea's 1.2-million-strong army under a mutual defense treaty dating back to the 1950-1953 Korean War--AFP. Six soldiers killed in Sri Lanka blast COLOMBO, Dec 4: At least six soldiers were killed Sunday in a powerful landmine blast in northern Sri Lanka, a military official said. The soldiers were onboard a tractor trailer when it was hit by a landmine in the northern peninsula of Jaffna, 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of the capital Colombo, the military official said. It was the highest number of soldiers killed in a single landmine blast since the government and the rebel Tamil Tigers entered into a truce in February 2002. There had been tension in the Jaffna peninsula after the killing of two Tiger rebels Friday by unidentified gunmen. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have accused the Sri Lankan military of supporting a breakaway faction. The Sri Lankan military denies the charges. --AFP.
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