Austria

Iran military stockpiles concern U.S. officials

Iran is quietly building a stockpile of thousands of high-tech small arms and other military equipment — from armor-piercing snipers’ rifles to night-vision goggles — through legal weapons deals and a U.N. anti-drug program, according to an internal U.N. document, arms dealers and Western diplomats.

The buying spree is raising Bush administration fears the arms could end up with militants in Iraq. Tehran also is seeking approval for a U.N.-funded satellite network that Iran says it needs to fight drug smugglers, stoking U.S. worries it could be used to spy on Americans in Iraq or Afghanistan — or any U.S. reconnaissance in Iran itself.

Iraq

U.S. discovers tunnel in Iraqi prison

U.S. military guards discovered a 600-foot tunnel — dug with makeshift tools — leading out of the main prison facility for detainees in Iraq before anyone had the opportunity to escape, officials said Friday.

The tunnel at Camp Bucca was 12 to 15 feet deep, as wide as 3 feet and reached beyond the compound fence, said Army Maj. Flora Lee, a spokeswoman at the Army’s Combined Press Information Center in Iraq. She did not know when guards discovered the tunnel.

Camp Bucca holds 6,049 detainees, nearly two-thirds of all those in Iraq, Lee said. Situated near the southern city of Umm Qasr, it is one of three detainee facilities in Iraq.

A bucket cut from a water container and a shovel made of tent material were used to dig the tunnel, Lee said. The opening was under a floorboard of the compound.

Iraq

Insurgent attacks kill 17

Suicide bombs and a street shooting killed at least 17 Iraqis working with U.S. forces, ranging from U.S.-trained special commandos to female workers at a U.S. military base, the American military and Iraqi police said Friday.

In the bloodiest of at least five assaults reported Friday, a bomber detonated a vehicle loaded with explosives late Thursday at a checkpoint near the western city of Ramadi, killing 11 members of an Iraqi police commando force. The attack also killed the bomber and wounded two American soldiers and 11 Iraqi civilians and commandos.

Iraqi forces are bearing the brunt of attacks by guerrillas combating the 2-year-old U.S. military occupation and the Iraqi government-building effort it supports. U.S. forces are pulling back inside their bases in Baghdad and other regions as they try to shift security duties to Iraqi forces.

Cambodia

Bird flu toll nears 50

Vietnam and Cambodia confirmed new bird flu deaths Friday, raising Southeast Asia’s toll to 48 from a disease that has become entrenched in the region’s poultry and created fears of a global pandemic.

The latest deaths were a 26-year-old man from Cambodia’s southern province of Kampot and a 17-year-old woman from Vietnam’s northern Nam Dinh province.

Test results from Phnom Penh’s Pasteur Institute showed that the man died of the severe H5N1 strain, Deputy Agriculture Minister Yim Voeun Tharn said.

In Vietnam, the teenager, who died on Thursday, was one of two new bird flu cases reported Friday. In addition, a 40-year-old woman from Quang Ninh province remained hospitalized in stable condition at Hanoi’s Bach Mai Hospital.

Jerusalem

Israel settlements at issue in policy

The U.S. ambassador on Friday reaffirmed Washington’s support for Israel to retain major West Bank settlements under any Middle East peace deal just days after Israel announced plans to expand a settlement outside Jerusalem, angering Palestinians.

Ambassador Dan Kurtzer said it was unrealistic to expect Israel to withdraw from the entire West Bank. He said he was simply reiterating the policy announced by President Bush last year.

But his comments irritated Palestinians already angry about Israel’s announcement this week that it would add 3,500 housing units to Maaleh Adumim, the largest West Bank settlement.

The construction plans have infuriated the Palestinians, who claim all of the West Bank as part of a future state. The plan is especially contentious because it would separate Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.