Washington, D.C.

House leader says raises fair

House Majority Leader Dick Armey on Sunday defended new pay raises for Congress, saying lawmakers work hard and deserve more money.

House members cleared the way last week for a 3.3 percent cost-of-living increase. If the raise of about $5,000 a year goes into effect in January, it would be the fourth in four years and boost annual salaries of rank-and-file members of Congress to about $155,000.

Armey, who is retiring after this year, said the formula gave members of Congress smaller cost-of-living increases than government workers. Raises go into effect automatically unless lawmakers vote to block them.

Taiwan

China urged to set talks

Taiwan’s president voiced impatience with Beijing’s refusal to answer his calls for top-level talks to improve relations and said Sunday the island might “walk down our own Taiwanese road,” an apparent high-stakes threat to formally declare independence from the Chinese mainland.

At the same time President Chen Shui-bian made one of his strongest appeals yet to Chinese leaders to open meetings on healing the split that began 53 years ago when Communist forces took over the mainland and Taiwan began resisting Beijing’s rule.

“We’ll use good will and sincerity to knock on the door and use confidence and action to open the door,” he said. “We hope the other side can respond positively so we can jointly open a new era of relations across the Taiwan Strait.”

Pakistan

Islamic extremists warn of new attacks on Americans

A former Taliban commander says Islamic militants led by al-Qaida want to strike quickly against American interests in Pakistan in retaliation for the death sentence in the Daniel Pearl murder case and the ongoing crackdown on Muslim extremists.

Fazul Rabi Said-Rahman, once the top Taliban military commander in eastern Afghanistan, said it was important to the militants to act quickly because Pakistani security forces were stepping up pressure on Taliban and al-Qaida members who fled the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan.

In Peshawar, Said-Rahman predicted the attack would be carried out by Pakistani militants at the instructions of al-Qaida operatives. He would not discuss details except to say the attack would be carried out in a Pakistani city.