World digest 03/10/06

American to leave Abu Ghraib prison to Iraqis

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The American military said Thursday its new lockup near Baghdad airport to house security prisoners now held at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison should be ready within three months. Once the U.S. moves prisoners to the new prison at Camp Cropper, a process that will take months, Abu Ghraib will be returned to Iraqi prison authorities, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. Widely publicized photographs of prisoner abuse by American military guards and interrogators at Abu Ghraib led to intense global criticism of the U.S. war in Iraq and fueled the insurgency.

Some Sunnis turning against al-Qaida in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Residents reported curious declarations hanging from mosque walls and market stalls recently in Ramadi, the Sunni Muslim insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad. The fliers said Iraqi militants had turned on and were killing foreign al-Qaida fighters, their one-time allies. A local tribal leader and Iraq's Defense Ministry have said followers of militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, have begun fleeing Anbar province and Ramadi, its capital, to cities and mountains near the Iranian border. After the U.S. invasion in 2003, the province became known for violent anti-American sentiments. Relations between residents and the foreign fighters started to sour when the foreigners started killing Iraqis suspected of having links to the Americans or even for holding a government job.

U.N.: Fifth of world lacks clean drinking water

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Mismanagement, limited resources and environmental damage have combined to deny 1.1 billion people access to safe water, a U.N. report said Thursday. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the hardest-hit areas, where ecological degradation, poor water management and a burgeoning population have led to water shortages exacerbating poverty, disease and drought, the report said. Globally, diarrheal diseases and malaria kill around 3.1 million people a year. The U.N. said 1.6 million could be saved if they had safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene.

Tehran police charge women's rights protest

TEHRAN, Iran -- Police armed with batons charged into about 200 mostly female demonstrators demanding equal rights for women in a Tehran park, beating protesters, witnesses said Thursday. The group of mostly women and a few male supporters had assembled at the park to mark International Women's Day. Police told the protesters to disperse because they did not have a permit, said a woman who took part in the demonstration. When the women refused to leave the park, the police charged, she said.

Police raid turf of IRA's alleged chief of staff

DUBLIN, Ireland --More than 300 police backed by British and Irish troops mounted dawn raids Thursday on the home turf of Thomas "Slab" Murphy, reputedly the Irish Republican Army's veteran chief of staff and its most lucrative smuggler. The operation was by far the biggest ever mounted around Murphy's farm and fuel distribution business. Its size underscored the importance officials place on prosecuting Murphy, who for decades has inspired fear and obedience in "bandit country," the IRA's lawless power base along the Northern Ireland border.

Bird flu virus found in another mammal

BERLIN -- A weasel-like animal called a stone marten was infected with the deadly bird flu virus, marking the disease's spread to another mammal species, a German laboratory said Thursday. The sickly animal was found on the north German island of Ruegen, where three cats and dozens of wild birds have been infected with the disease. The rapid spread of the virus in birds throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia has been accompanied by fears it will mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans.

Former teacher takes hostages, surrenders

SABLE-SUR-SARTHE, France -- A former teacher armed with a handgun that fires rubber bullets surrendered peacefully Thursday after taking nearly two dozen people -- mostly students -- hostage in a classroom at his former school in western France, officials said. Nicolas Vilpail, 33, was on medication and apparently under the influence of alcohol during the four hours he held 21 students and two aides captive, authorities said. One of two teacher's aides taken captive said Vilpail's "explanations for doing this were incoherent."

Israel will draw West Bank border, build wall

JERUSALEM -- Israel will determine its border with the West Bank in the absence of negotiations with the Palestinians, and then build a wall and move all settlers to the Israeli side, acting prime minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview published today. On Thursday Olmert said Israel will draw its final borders by 2010, for the first time setting a deadline for what is expected to be a unilateral large-scale West Bank pullback.

-- From wire reports