World briefs 3/3/05

Afghanistan sees first female governor

KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai appointed Afghanistan's first female provincial governor, an official said Wednesday, a step toward reviving women's rights trampled by the former hardline Taliban government. Habiba Sarobi, a former women's minister, becomes governor of central Bamiyan province, Interior Ministry spokesman Latfullah Mashal said.

Israel may hand over greenhouses in pullout

JERUSALEM -- Israel is negotiating to hand over greenhouses in Gaza settlements to Palestinians after its planned withdrawal in the summer, an official said Wednesday, and the military scrapped a contentious plan to dig a deep, wide moat along the Gaza-Egypt border. Yonatan Bassi, head of Israel's Disengagement Authority, told reporters that peppers and tomatoes grown in the greenhouses could help feed the 1.3 million Palestinians packed into the narrow coastal strip. Luxury items such as flowers and strawberries would be exported.

Secret door reveals three mummies in tomb

SAQQARA, Egypt -- Archaeologists uncovered three coffins and a remarkably well-preserved mummy in a 2,500-year old tomb discovered by accident -- after opening a secret door hidden behind a statue in a separate burial chamber, Egypt's chief archaeologist said Wednesday. The Australian team was exploring a much older tomb -- dating back 4,200 years -- belonging to a man believed to have been a tutor to the 6th Dynasty King Pepi II, when they moved a pair of statues and discovered the door, said Zahi Hawass, Egypt's top antiquities official.

U.S. accuses Iran of willful deceit over nukes

VIENNA, Austria -- The United States accused Iran on Wednesday of "cynically" pursuing nuclear weapons, saying Tehran's claims that its aims were peaceful constituted willful deceit and required action by the U.N. Security Council. Jackie Sanders, chief U.S. delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors, also urged North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons program and resume negotiations.

U.N. peacekeepers kill nearly 60 militia in Congo

KINSHASA, Congo -- U.N. peacekeepers in northeastern Congo killed as many as 60 militia members in a vicious gunfight, the greatest number of enemy combatants killed by U.N. troops since the Congo mission was created in 1999, the U.N. said Wednesday. The violence took place on Tuesday near the village of Loga, located about 20 miles north of Bunia, the capital of the violent Ituri province, where nine peacekeepers were killed last week, in a suspected ambush by militia members.