World briefs 3/11/06

First Iraq parliament called to session March 19

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- President Jalal Talabani issued a decree Friday that orders Iraq's new parliament to hold its first session on March 19, his chief of staff said. "The president of the republic has called for parliament to hold its first session on March 19," spokesman Kamran al-Karadaghi said. There still was no resolution of the bitter dispute over a new term for Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, prompting Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdish region of Iraq, to issue a statement saying the country was in political "crisis."

Court convicts nine Muslims in Netherlands

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- A court convicted nine Muslims on Friday of belonging to a terrorist group because they incited hatred for non-Muslims. Among the defendants was Mohammed Bouyeri, the convicted killer of filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Bouyeri was found to be a leader of the group, but the judges said he could not be punished further. The group's goal was "stirring up, and or inciting hatred, and or threatening" non-Muslims, the judges said.

Shiite cleric includes U.S. in 'Triad of Evil'

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who wields growing political influence and whose militia has clashed with U.S. forces, described the United States, Israel and Britain as a "Triad of Evil" in a television interview Friday. The Triad of Evil reference was an obvious play on the words President Bush used when he labeled Iraq, Iran and North Korea the "axis of evil."

Asian bird flu death toll reaches 91

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia, which has come under fire for its attempts to prevent the spread of bird flu, confirmed its 22nd human fatality from the disease Friday, bringing the death toll in Asia to 91. H5N1 has killed or forced the culling of more than 140 million chickens and ducks across Asia since 2003, and has recently spread to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. At least 96 people have died from the disease worldwide, two-thirds of them in Indonesia and Vietnam, according to WHO.

-- From wire reports