Pakistan

Four dead in blast at Shiite mosque

A suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque Sunday in Lahore killed four people, including two security guards who lost their lives confronting the attacker and preventing a far greater number of deaths.

About 70 to 80 people were inside the mosque for Sunday evening prayers when a man carrying a briefcase tried to enter but was blocked by the security guards, officials said. A bomb in the briefcase exploded after a scuffle, during which one of the guards opened fire.

“Our two security guards were martyred, and the suicide bomber was killed,” said witness Sajjad Bhutta. The other dead man was a passer-by.

Punjab Province Law Minister Raja Basharat Illahi said four people, including the bomber, were killed at the Husainia Hall mosque during prayers. Eight others were wounded.

Haiti

U.N. peacekeepers shot during mission

Two U.N. peacekeepers were wounded in shootouts with supporters of Haiti’s ousted president in the capital and storm survivors in flood-ravaged Gonaives, the first casualties of the 4-month-old U.N. mission, officials said Sunday.

Relief workers from Doctors of the World also came under attack in Gonaives, and the French group said it was evacuating its staff of seven until security improved.

Outside a memorial Mass for flood victims of Tropical Storm Jeanne, an Argentine soldier was shot in the arm Saturday night after protesters shouted abuse at visiting leaders of Haiti’s U.S.-backed government, accusing them of not doing enough to help.

Heavy gunfire erupted in Port-au-Prince on Saturday as about 150 Brazilian troops in armored vehicles and 150 Haitian police in trucks rolled into the volatile slum of Bel Air, where a Brazilian soldier was shot in the foot.

Gaza Strip

Israeli missile strikes kill two, wound eight

An Israeli aircraft fired a missile at Palestinian gunmen in the Jebaliya refugee camp after nightfall Sunday, killing one and wounding seven, in the second airstrike of the day.

Palestinian security officials said the target of the missile strike was a group of gunmen organizing to attack Israeli forces. They identified the dead man as a 20-year-old activist of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a violent group with ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement.

Israeli military sources said the second airstrike was aimed at Palestinians planting a bomb.

Large numbers of Israeli troops and tanks have been operating in northern Gaza for nearly two weeks, trying to stop militants from firing rockets at nearby Israeli towns.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has pledged to withdraw from Gaza next year, but he faces resistance from the far-right opposition and from some within his own party.

Somalia

Former army officer elected president

Members of Somalia’s transitional parliament on Sunday elected a former army colonel as interim president, the final stage of a peace plan meant to end 13 years of civil war in the Horn of Africa nation.

Col. Abdullahi Yusuf won with 189 votes in a third round of voting, Shariif Hassan Sheikh Aden told the 275-member transitional parliament and regional foreign affairs ministers, who observed the vote.

Former Finance Minister Abdullahi Addow garnered 79 votes in the last round, which narrowed the race to two candidates after none of the original 28 won a majority, said Aden, the parliament speaker.

The vote was held in Kenya because of a lack of security in Somalia, where the country is divided into fiefdoms controlled by warlords. Thousands of people have been killed in the war.