■TURKEY
Warships save vessel
Turkish and Danish warships intercepted an attack by pirates on a Vietnamese cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, the Turkish army chief of staff said yesterday. Two Turkish helicopters helped repel Sunday’s attack off Yemen’s southern coast after the Vietnamese boat issued a distress signal, an army statement said.
■SAUDI ARABIA
Iran urged not to interfere
Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat on Sunday urged Iran to stay out of internal Arab disputes, in particular in Lebanon and among the Palestinians. Iran’s foreign minister made a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia amid rising tensions between the Islamic republic and the Arab world. Manouchehr Mottaki was met by his Saudi counterpart, Prince Saud al-Faisal, at Riyadh Air Force base and met later with the Saudi monarch. The visit comes after Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria held a mini-summit in Riyadh last week to patch up their differences, which largely revolve around the role of Iran in the region. Iran supports Islamist movements Hamas and Hezbollah and is often at odds with US-allied Arab regimes in the region. Arab nations such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia are also wary of Iran’s nuclear program. At a news conference on Sunday, al-Faisal called for “mutual respect” between his nation and Iran. “Although we appreciate the Iranian concern in Arab issues, from our point of view, this should be conducted through the legitimate Arab doorways,” he said.
■SOMALIA
Gunmen kidnap aid workers
Gunmen kidnapped four humanitarian workers, one thought to be foreign, in southern Somalia yesterday, a humanitarian source said, in the latest attack on aid workers. “The aid workers were in transit in Wajid, where they spent the night on the way from Puntland. They were taken early on Monday morning,” a UN worker, who declined to be named, said. He said some worked for the UN World Food Program.
■IRAN
Group claims harassment
An opposition movement says Iraqi troops have been preventing food and fuel from entering its camp north of Baghdad for the past four days. A statement by the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran said the move against Camp Ashraf is part of a pattern of harassment that has escalated under pressure from Tehran. The Iranian government considers the People’s Mujahedeen a terrorist group and has insisted that they leave Iraq. The government has assured the US that none of the estimated 4,000 residents of the camp would be forced to return to Iran.
■PHILIPPINES
Kidnappers’ leader wounded
Fighting erupted yesterday between troops and Muslim militants holding captive three international Red Cross staff on a southern island, wounding the leader of the kidnappers, the military said. The fighting erupted when the rebels tried to break through a cordon of soldiers on Jolo island, 1,000km south of Manila. The cordon was set up to prevent the guerrillas from spiriting their hostages out of Jolo. Lieutenant Colonel Edgard Arevalo, a navy spokesman, said Abu Sayyaf Commander Albader Parad was hit by a sniper when the group tried to move out. The fighting was ongoing, said Lieutenant Nelson Allaga, a regional military chief. A military source said the hostages, staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross, were spotted when the firefight broke out. “The hostages were seen and were not harmed,” the source said.
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