JERUSALEM

Israel to begin removing section of West Bank barrier

Israel will take down a section of the West Bank separation barrier that had isolated a Palestinian town, an official said Friday, days before world court hearings on the legality of the wall.

The removal of the six-mile section appears intended to help defuse criticism over the route of the barrier, which at times veers several miles into the West Bank and disrupts the lives of thousands of Palestinians.

Workers will begin Sunday to remove the section that cuts off the town of Baka al-Sharkia from the rest of the West Bank, a security official said on condition of anonymity.

The International Court of Justice, in The Hague, Netherlands, begins hearings Monday. Israel has come under growing pressure — including domestic legal challenges — to reroute the barrier.

Austria

U.N. agency: Libya converted small amount of plutonium

Supplied by the worldwide black market, Libya processed a small amount of plutonium in a nuclear weapons program that remained undetected for 20 years until Tripoli went public with its efforts, the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Friday.

Citing a confidential report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, diplomats said Libya separated grams of the substance, much less than the nearly 7 pounds required to make a nuclear bomb.

Still, the revelation appeared to reflect a nuclear arms program that was substantially more advanced than the agency initially estimated.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei prepared the 10-page report ahead of an agency board of governors’ meeting next month.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

U.S. freezes bank accounts of large Saudi charity

The Treasury Department ordered banks this week to freeze the accounts of the Oregon and Missouri branches of a large Saudi charity that U.S. officials say has been used to finance the al-Qaida terrorist network around the world.

FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents searched a home in Ashland, Ore., that is the U.S. headquarters for the charity, the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation. The search is part of an investigation into allegations that the Oregon branch was involved in money laundering and income tax and currency-reporting violations.

Over the past two years, U.S. and Saudi authorities have intensified a joint crackdown on al-Haramain offices around the globe after concluding that they had funneled money, personnel and equipment to al-Qaida.

TOKYO

Japan raises security alert against possible terrorism

Japan intensified security at airports, nuclear plants and government facilities Friday as a precaution against a possible terror attack, a National Police Agency official said.

The National Police Agency official refused to discuss whether the government had new information about a possible terror strike.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said police armed with automatic rifles would guard Tokyo and Kansai international airports and nuclear facilities.