More than 30,000 police, paramilitary and army troops were deployed and mobile networks were shut down to prevent violence.

Independent observers said voter turnout was low for the polls, which were boycotted by the opposition Awami League.

Full results are expected by Friday morning, with victory for the ruling four-party coalition expected in all three cities. 

Schools and businesses were closed and most transport ordered off the roads in the capital, Dhaka and the cities of Khulna and Rajshahi, where the voting took place.

Low-key campaign

These were the first elections in Bangladesh since the overwhelming victory for the ruling four-party alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) last year. 

Observers estimate that only 25 percent voted in Dhaka

By Bangladeshi standards it was a low-key campaign, mostly because of the Awami League boycott. 

The Awami League had complained that certain members of the Election Commission responsible for overseeing the vote were not impartial. 

The independent Fair Election Monitoring Alliance estimated that only 25 percent of the voters in Dhaka cast their votes. 

Although smaller opposition parties and independent candidates contested the polls, the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is under no threat.

Political analysts said whatever the turnout, the coalition will take the maximum number of seats for mayors and councillors in the three cities. 

Extravagant pledges

The campaign was made more colourful by the extravagant pledges made by more than 1,500 candidates who are running. 

Soldiers have been deployed for security

They pledged to take drastic steps to rid urban areas of traffic jams, pollution, corruption and mosquitoes.

But in reality the local authorities in Bangladesh have little power and almost no money. 

The four-party alliance candidate expected to be the new mayor in Dhaka, Sadeque Hussain Khoka, has appealed to the government to give the city corporations more power.

He says more power is needed for them to take steps to improve law and order and provide more reliable water and electricity supplies. 

Relative calm

But the central government is unlikely to relinquish control of the police and has its own plans as to how the infrastructure should be improved. 

Concern was also expressed in the media over the number of candidates with criminal records contesting the polls. 

They were said to be running only because once they become members of public authorities it will be harder for the police to bring charges against them. 

But the campaign was relatively violence-free with only two people killed up until Wednesday. 

The rebels struck near Tiaret, about 340km (210 miles) west of Algiers, attacking farming families who were moving their herds to summer pastures, officials said.

The victims were killed in their sleep.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which happened in a region where Algeria's main rebel organisation - the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) - is active.

Three shepherds were killed in a nearby area on Sunday.

Attacks have mounted in recent weeks since President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced a parliamentary election would be held on 30 May.

The GIA appointed a new national leader in March to replace Antar Zouabri, killed this year by the security forces.

His successor, Rachid Abou Tourab, has pledged to step up action to bring about a radical Islamic state.

The GIA rejected an offer from the secular government in 1999 to enter a reconciliation programme aimed at ending the civil war.

In the wake of the shock success of the far-right in France, politicians will be fighting for every single vote ahead of the 2 May poll.

About 6,000 seats in more than 150 local authorities are up for grabs - many of them in the UK's biggest cities.

Mr Blair is going to Birmingham

Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith is taking his party's campaign to Sale, in north west England before heading to Halifax and Leeds in Yorkshire.

And Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy kicked off his day's campaigning in Milton Keynes before going on to Oxford.

Uphill struggle?

Labour has the most to lose in the elections - a fact acknowledged by chairman Charles Clarke at the launch of Labour's campaign earlier this month.

Mr Duncan Smith is hoping to revive his party's fortunes

"These are less and less a verdict on government in power and more and more focused on local issues and we believe that will continue to be the case," Mr Clarke said. 

Mr Duncan Smith, however, hopes that the local elections will provide the springboard to recovery the Tories need after two disastrous general election results.

They will be focusing on decentralising power down to the local level for councils, schools and health authorities. 

The Tory leader has accused Labour of centralising decision making and he is hoping to make up ground by appealing to the "most vulnerable" in society.

At the Lib Dems' campaign launch a week ago, Mr Kennedy said his party hoped to make gains off both the Conservatives and Labour.

National Front

They believe that local councils should be set free to provide quality public services that meet the needs of local people. 

Charles Kennedy hopes to score of both seats his main rivals

All the political parties have expressed alarm of the outcome of the first round of the French presidential elections which saw National Front lead Jean-Marie Le Pen beating prime minister Lionel Jospin into third place and out of the contest.

The limited success of the far-right during the UK's last general election coupled with a seemingly irreversible trend of low turnouts by voters will see all the mainstream political parties redoubling their efforts in the coming week.

General Dragoljub Ojdanic, who is accused of war crimes in Kosovo, is the first of 23 people ordered to surrender last week by the Yugoslav Government to give himself up. 

As a chief of staff, I have nothing to feel ashamed of and my conscience is clean

General Ojdanic

He has publicly denied that troops under his command committed atrocities. He said he felt "like any other hero," as he boarded the flight to Belgrade accompanied by his wife and lawyer. 

General Ojdanic was indicted along with former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who was extradited against his will last June.

Voluntary surrender

General Ojdanic joins 40 other suspects held at the special UN unit in Scheveningen, near the tribunal. His wife wept as he was taken into custody and driven away in an unmarked van. 

He told journalists at Belgrade airport he hoped for the best because he had done nothing wrong.

Ojdanic decided to surrender after a new law allowing extraditions was passed

"As a chief of staff, I have nothing to feel ashamed of and my conscience is clean," said General Ojdanic who served four decades in the army. 

He said it was out of respect for the law that he was now prepared to surrender to The Hague to face charges. 

He may appear in court as soon as Friday.

 He said he hoped he might be released pending trial, as other suspects who have surrendered voluntarily have been.

Accused with Milosevic

The government demanded the surrender of 23 suspects, after parliament passed a law agreeing to hand over those already named in indictments by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Vlajko Stojiljkovic, the interior minister under Mr Milosevic who is also named in the indictment, shot himself in the head after the law was passed and died several days later.

The fifth person named in the indictment, Serbian President Milan Milutinovic, has political immunity from prosecution until his mandate runs out at the end of the year.

 They are accused of having "planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in a campaign of terror and violence directed at Kosovo Albanian civilians living in Kosovo".

Karadzic 'regrets'

But two of the most wanted men on the government list - Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief Ratko Mladic - have not given themselves up.

Mr Karadzic sent a caustic letter to a Serbian law professor expressing his "regrets" for being "unable to turn myself in to the tribunal."

"Not only is this tribunal illegally established, but it is also a source of shame for a decent part of the West, which now backs it," he wrote in the letter, published in a Yugoslav weekly.

The government on Wednesday issued indictments and arrest warrants for the remaining 17 suspects who have not yet come forward.

The suspects are accused of taking part in war campaigns spearheaded by Slobodan Milosevic, who is now on trial at The Hague for war crimes, including genocide, in Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia. 

Yugoslavia hopes compliance with the war crimes tribunal will end a freeze on economic aid imposed by the US and open up access to international loans.

Legislators have called on her to shun the ceremony in the fledgling territory, which broke free from Indonesia's often brutal rule after 24 years.

East Timorese leaders have said Megawati's attendance at the celebrations would be an "eloquent" sign of how far relations have improved since Jakarta-backed militias went on the rampage after the independence vote.

Symbolic

Indonesia's Chief Security Minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, told reporters: "President Megawati is planning to attend providing there are no extraordinary things from today until May 20 which could change the plan.

"Megawati's presence would be political symbol from Indonesia. Indonesia is certain that Indonesia needs good relations with East Timor."

The speakers of the lower and upper houses, Akbar Tandjung and Amien Rais, have both said Megawati should not go.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will declare East Timor independent in a lavish fireworks ceremony as the clock strikes from midnight into the first minute of 20 May.

The territory's President-elect, Xanana Gusmao, has said he will personally guarantee Megawati's safety if she attends. 

The move came as the UN special envoy to Burma had new talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the compound where she is under house arrest.

Razali Ismail's car was seen entering and emerging two hours later, and some sources say he had dinner with the National League of Democracy leader.

Earlier Mr Razali had talks with other NLD officials and he is expected to meet the leader of the ruling junta, Senior General Than Shwe, on Friday.

The 53-member Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution in Geneva on Thursday which accused Rangoon of "a continuing pattern of gross and systematic violations of human rights".

Its charges against Burma included:

• Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
• Enforced disappearances, rape, torture, inhuman treatment, forced labour, including the use of children
• Forced relocation and denial of freedom of assembly, association, expression, religion and movement 
• The lack of an independent judiciary
• Delaying the process of national reconciliation and democratisation 

Some doubt the junta's sincerity in wanting talks

Mr Razali said after the earlier meeting at NLD headquarters that he could not promise when there would be any positive developments, but remained "hopeful".

The NLD's Secretary, U Lwin, said the talks with the envoy had been useful but he cautioned against over-optimism.

"He said there will surely be a new development very soon but said we have to go step by step," said U Lwin.

Little to show

The junta has refused to give up power despite a landslide election victory by the NLD in 1990.

The BBC's Larry Jagan reports from Rangoon that diplomats in the city believe it unlikely the military will free Aung San Suu Kyi unconditionally.

Diplomats say the NLD has been seriously weakened by Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest

Mr Razali already had one meeting this week with Aung San Suu Kyi and he also had talks with the junta's influential chief of military intelligence, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt.

The talks process has to date resulted in the release of about 250 political prisoners, but little else.

Mr Razali has hinted he might resign if he leaves the country empty-handed this time. 

Things are getting better... There is much less despair in the air.

Olusegun Obasanjo

Mr Obasanjo came to power in 1999, in elections that put an end to 15 years of military rule.

He at first won support for his tough stand against corruption, but more recently his government has been criticised for its human rights record, and for its handling of the economy. 

But as he launched his campaign at a rally in the capital, Abuja, Mr Obasanjo said his critics were wrong.

Dark days

He said the nation was "in despair" when he took over.

Announcing his intention to run again, he said: "things are getting better". There are more cars on the roads, more aircraft in the skies, the country's ports are busier, there are more jobs and "living conditions continue to improve."

Nigerians queued to vote in the last election

Mr Obasanjo said he would once again seek the nomination of the People's Democratic Party.

The BBC's Dan Isaacs in Lagos says that despite the perceived failing of the government to improve living standards or tackle violence, few in Nigeria would welcome a return to the dark days of military rule.

If the elections due next year pass off peacefully, Mr Obasanjo will be the first civilian leader of Nigeria to conduct a successful vote since independence in the 1960s. 

Our correspondent says that ironically, military governments in Nigeria have proved better at organising elections than civilians.

The last attempt almost two decades ago was deeply flawed and swiftly followed by a military coup. 

Mr Obasanjo had a previous stint as military ruler in the 1970s.

Power base

Although a Christian southerner, he has had significant support amongst northern Muslims, an achievement which won him the presidency three years ago.

Up to 10,000 people have died in Nigerian clashes

In the past two years, the adoption of Sharia law by most northern states has led to violent clashes between Christians and Muslims.

Meanwhile another former Nigerian military ruler has announced that he plans to seek the backing of a political party.

Muhammadu Buhari has said that he intends to register with the opposition All People's Party - a step towards standing in next year's presidential election.

The accused are acting in an intimidating, abusive manner

Chief Prosecutor Raja Qureshi

Chief Prosecutor Raja Qureshi said he petitioned the High Court in the southern city of Karachi on Thursday to remove Judge Abdul Ghafoor Memon.

Mr Qureshi said he felt the judge was unable or unwilling to stop the defendants from making threatening gestures to himself and his witnesses.

All four defendants, including chief suspect Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping and terrorism.

The trial was suspended on Thursday because the defence team observed a one-day lawyers' strike in protest at President Pervez Musharraf's national referendum to extend his presidency by five years.

'Intimidating'

Judge Memon is already the second judge in the trial, having replaced Arshad Noor Khan, who was removed after defence arguments that he was not impartial.

Speaking to reporters outside the makeshift courtroom at Karachi's Central Jail, Mr Qureshi told reporters a decision on replacing the judge would be made on Friday.

Judge Memon is already the second judge in the trial

"The accused are acting in an intimidating, abusive manner and are beyond the control of the presiding judge," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

Mr Qureshi said on Wednesday that he feared for his life after defendants made "threatening gestures".

The trial has been hearing from the last people to see Mr Pearl disappeared in Karachi in January while researching Muslim extremism.

A video was later sent to US diplomats showing him being killed, but his body has yet to be found.

Two police officers have also testified that they heard Omar Sheikh admit his role in the kidnapping.

The previous judge was also present at the pre-trial hearing when Omar Sheikh made the comments, not under oath, which he later retracted.

The judge was replaced after the defence argued that the fact he had heard the comments had effectively made him a witness.

Lawyers' strike

According to AP, Mr Qureshi said he had five unidentified witnesses ready to testify, but they would have to wait until proceedings resumed on Friday after the one-day lawyers' stoppage. 

Lawyers say the referendum is illegal

Reports said dozens of lawyers were arrested at a rally in Karachi held in protest at plans by General Musharraf to extend his presidency by another five years by holding a referendum, due on 30 April.

Opposition parties and lawyers' association have declared the vote unconstitutional and illegal.

Pakistan's Supreme Court has begun hearings to decide whether a planned referendum to extend President Pervez Musharraf's term of office is legal. 

The opposition Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) is holding an all-party conference in Lahore on Friday to formalise its strategy against the referendum.

Hundreds of police swept into Chater Garden where about 100 migrants and their families have been camping in defiance of a deportation order against them.

Ms Ip called on the migrants to voice their claims 'calmly'

Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa ordered the police action after hundreds of people trapped the security chief in her car for an hour on Wednesday night.

In the raid on the park, some people were bundled into police vans, while others, mainly elderly men and women, were led away by the arm.

"Heaven will punish you," yelled the Father Franco Mella, a Roman Catholic priest who has been helping the migrants.

A senior police officer said three women who had overstayed their visas were arrested and would be deported.

The raid followed a stand-off the previous evening around Security Secretary Regina Ip's car.

Police eventually cleared the 200 or so furious demonstrators from the car, and arrested eight of them.

On Thursday Mr Tung said the protesters' actions were unacceptable and said police would take "further action".

"Everyone has to follow the law," he said. "I strongly condemn what happened last night."

Ordered out

The authorities began in recent weeks to deport thousands of children of Hong Kong residents, after they lost a long-running court battle in January. 

The standoff by the car and the park raid are the most explosive incidents since the authorities set a 31 March deadline for more than 4,000 Chinese migrants to voluntarily leave Hong Kong.

Most of them ignored the deadline and now face deportation.

Earlier this week a man with the mental age of a child was deported to mainland China despite the fact he had no-one to care for him there. 

Ms Ip on Thursday said the deportations would continue.

"Those who are illegally here... we'll maintain our firm action to repatriate them and we hope to be able to repatriate more, the sooner the better," she said.

The Palestinian Authority said the men were sentenced to between one year and 18 years for murdering Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi last October.

There were also signs of a possible breakthrough in the three-week stand-off at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, as nine Palestinians gave themselves up.

The four men accused of assassinating Zeevi were convicted and sentenced after a lightening trial in a makeshift Palestinian court in Mr Arafat's besieged headquarters.

Security officers acted as judges and lawyers.

The men had been in custody at the compound where Mr Arafat has been confined to his offices since Israeli forces ringed the complex on 29 March.

Israel has indicated that if the men are handed over, it might lift its siege.

Arafat 'test'

Mr Sharon said despite the trial the men "will anyway be brought to trial in Israel".

Israel says Arafat might be allowed to go to Gaza

But the prime minister said he would not allow Mr Arafat to take any of the wanted men confined with him in his headquarters and he was sure the Palestinian leader would fail the test.

"With Arafat, no one will be able to make peace," said Mr Sharon.

The governor of Ramallah, Mustafa Issa, a close aide to Mr Arafat, was allowed out of the compound on Thursday - the first senior Palestinian to leave the complex since Israeli troops surrounded it.

Palestinian officials said Mr Issa was released to try to reorganise the administration of the city, which had broken down after the Israeli incursion.

Church surrender

In Bethlehem, nine Palestinians, aged 14 to 20, emerged from the Church of the Nativity and were taken into custody by Israel.

Talks are continuing to end the church siege

The group also brought out the decomposing bodies of two Palestinians, who had died in the church early on in the siege.

One of the men who left the church, Yusuf Abu Srour, spoke of a shortage of food inside the holy site but said he had not been held against his will.

A fourth round of talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to end the stand-off broke up on Thursday night without agreement.

Reporting from Bethlehem, the BBC's Richard Miron says the main sticking point is the fate of an estimated 30 Palestinian gunmen, who are part of about 200 Palestinians inside the church.

Israeli army spokesman Captain Jacob Dallal said none of the wanted gunmen were among the men who left the church.

Militants 'wiped out'

A senior Israeli military officer, Major General Giora Eiland, told the Associated Press news agency that Israel had wiped out "almost the entire leadership" in the West Bank of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade since it began its offensive last month. 

In continuing violence on Thursday, at least one Palestinian was killed when Israeli troops briefly entered the West Bank city of Hebron, while the Israeli army shot dead a Palestinian policeman at an Israeli checkpoint nearby.

Four Palestinians were shot dead in the Gaza Strip when they tried to infiltrate the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom, the Israeli military said.

The bishops still want to be the umpires - but this is not a ball game, these are real crimes, and abuse charges need to be handled by police and prosecutors

David Clohessy

Changes proposed by American cardinals in Rome did not go far enough, according to a victims' advocate who was himself molested as a child.

David Clohessy, director of the Chicago-based Survivor Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap), told the BBC there were problems not only with the abusers themselves, but with their superiors who moved them around to hide the crimes.

Pope John Paul II, who summoned the cardinals to discuss the sex-abuse scandal, said he was "heartbroken" by the spiralling number of cases in the Church in America. 

After meeting the Pope, US cardinals appeared to be moving towards a policy of sacking offending priests, but a final decision will not be taken until a meeting in June.

'Nothing new'

Mr Clohessy said the current approach would not ease the crisis that has hit dioceses across the US including those in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco.

The Pope said child abuse was an appalling sin

Victims said they had heard nothing new after the two-day meeting in Rome and feared the June meeting would provoke little action.

"The bishops still want to be the umpires," Mr Clohessy said.

"But this is not a ball game, these are real crimes, and abuse charges need to be handled by professionals, which in this case are police and prosecutors."

Problems 'won't disappear'

Abuse victims now fear was that too many clergy and laity will assume the matter is being addressed and simply hope that the problem would go away.

"It won't - it's a deeply seated, a deeply rooted problem that's very widespread in the Church," Mr Clohessy said.

Victims watched US cardinals explaining their position after the meeting with the Pope at a press conference carried on television.

Phil Saviano - who was abused by a priest in the Boston area and who formed a support network to help others - said he was upset that only three churchmen bothered to appear before the cameras. 

The Archbishop of Boston, Bernard Law, is one leader who moved priests rather than reveal their abuse

The cardinals who were summoned to Rome issued a letter to priests after their two-day meeting with top Roman Catholic officials expressing regret that the sex-abuse crisis had not been prevented.

They said the whole Church was affected by the scandal, particularly the victims but also the majority of American priests who had done nothing wrong.

It will not be clear, however, what action will be taken against paedophile priests until the cardinals' meeting in Texas in June.

Bishop Wilton Gregory, who heads the United States Episcopal Conference, said there was a "growing consensus" in the Church that simply reassigning offending priests was "not an option". 

But there remains division about whether to deal only with repeat offenders or to adopt a "zero-tolerance" policy whereby priests could be sacked after their first misdemeanour.

Under the measure, savers who mount successful legal challenges against existing restrictions on withdrawals will be prevented from claiming their money until the government has had a chance to appeal.

The move gives the beleaguered Argentine government some breathing space as it battles to contain a run on the banks which could trigger a total financial meltdown.

The Argentine central bank closed all banks for an indefinite period late last week in an effort to halt a flood of panic withdrawals.

Under pressure

Banks were expected to reopen on Friday, but may now remain closed until next week, according to sources at the Argentine central bank.

After four years of recession, Argentina is burdened by a $141bn debt mountain, a banking and financial system in disarray, and a poverty-stricken people hit by soaring unemployment. 

President Duhalde may alienate the IMF

The Argentine government is attempting to convince the International Monetary Fund to resume lending, cut off in December when the country defaulted on its debt repayments.

But the IMF has said it will only agree to further loans if the Argentine government pushes through an austerity package that is likely to prove highly unpopular with voters.

The country's most recent pleas last weekend were met with further demands from the international lender, exacerbating tensions between the two sides.

"The relationship with the IMF will see changes," Anibal Fernandez, chief of staff to Argentine President Eduardo Duhalde, said in a radio interview.

Partial success

Mr Duhalde's government has gone some way towards meeting IMF demands.

On Wednesday, he clinched a landmark agreement with the country's powerful provincial governors to undertake belt-tightening reforms demanded by the IMF.

The deal, which is expected to reduce public spending, won plaudits from US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.

"This is a welcome expression of a spirit of national cooperation," Mr O'Neill said.

But a push to rescue the country's banking system by converting 60% of bank deposits into government bonds - in effect forcing savers to lend to the government - failed earlier this week, leading to the resignation of economy minister Jorge Remes Lenicov.

A successor to Mr Lemicov is expected to be appointed over the weekend.

I think the Federal Security Service is at a loss as to where he [Khattab] may be and is trying to trick him out onto the open

Chechen rebel spokesman

Khattab has been high on Moscow's wanted list in Chechnya since the start of the current Chechen war in 1999. The US also believes Khattab may have links to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. 

However, Mairbek Vachagayev, spokesmen for the Chechen rebel leader, Aslan Maskhadov, said Khattab was still alive and dismissed the Russian announcement as a propaganda trick. 

"I think the Federal Security Service is at a loss as to where he may be and is trying to trick him out into the open," Mr Vachagayev told Ekho Moskvy radio. 

Elusive rebels

This is not the first time that Moscow has claimed to have eliminated him, but the FSB's spokesman, Alexander Zdanovich, said that documentary evidence for Khattab's death would be produced soon. 

If Khattab has been killed, it will be one of the most significant breakthroughs yet for the Russians. 

Russian soldiers continue to be wounded and killed, three years on

But, nearly three years after Russian troops were sent back into the rebel republic where they had suffered an embarrassing defeat in 1996, soldiers are still dying. 

On the ground, Russian commanders know that, despite heavy losses, the Chechen rebels are still strong. 

One of the main reasons for this is that very few of their leaders have been eliminated or captured. 

The Americans too, will be very interested to see Moscow's evidence of Khattab's death, as they believe he may have had direct links with al-Qaeda. 

Taking out such an important figure would help Moscow to justify its operation in Chechnya as being part of the international fight against terrorism. 

He delivered the message during an informal summit at the president's Texas ranch.

Ariel Sharon a man of peace? I don't even think Ariel Sharon believes that

Saudi Prince Saud

After the meeting, President Bush repeated his call on Israel to complete its withdrawal from the West Bank.

"Israel must finish its withdrawal, including resolution of standoffs in Ramallah and Bethlehem, in a non-violent way," Mr Bush told reporters after the meeting. 

Palestinians, in turn, must "do more to stop terror," he said.

Complex relationship

Saudi Arabia is a traditional ally of the US but relations have been strained since the 11 September hijacks committed by mostly Saudi nationals.

The US has also wanted a clear denouncement from Riyadh of Palestinian suicide bombings, and the Saudis have been frustrated by American reluctance to take a firmer line with Israel. 

Saudi leaders have also opposed possible American strikes against Iraq, a country which Mr Bush has branded "part of an axis of evil". 

Adel al-Jubeir, a senior adviser to the crown prince, told reporters that the Saudi leader had warned President Bush of the anger in the Arab world at US support for Israel. 

He said the crown prince also warned the president of the danger that the continuing violence in the Middle East poses for America's interests in the Arab and Muslim world. 

He said the crown prince had asked Mr Bush to do more to restrain Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. 

Support for Saddam

On Iraq, the Saudi leader again opposed military action to get rid of President Saddam Hussein, saying it would not be in the interests of the region or the US. 

Our correspondent says that Mr al-Jubeir was careful, however, to play down talk of a rift in US-Saudi relations, describing their friendship as unbreakable. 

He also ruled out any suggestion of oil being used as a weapon. 

But he warned that if Mr Sharon was allowed to carry on unchecked, as he put it, the whole region would go over cliff. 

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal is warning of tough words

Mr Bush has only used his private home to entertain two other leaders since he came to power - Britain's Tony Blair and Russia's Vladimir Putin. 

The Saudi delegation, which arrived in a five-vehicle motorcade, was greeted by Mr Bush, who wore a dark suit, silver belt buckle and cowboy boots. 

White House and Saudi officials said that the two leaders spent much of their session alone, one-to-one, and then set out in Mr Bush's pickup truck for a tour of the ranch before lunch. 

The Saudi delegation left nearly five hours later - two hours longer than had been planned. 

Before the meeting, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said there was "no good terrorism" but Arabs could understand the acts of suicide bombers.

Peace plan stalled

"There is a difference between a terrorist act such as 11 September and a suicide operation carried out by a young woman or man for whom all avenues to a dignified life have been blocked," he said.

He also dismissed Israel's attempts to compare its "fight against terrorism" to that waged by the US in the wake of the attacks on New York and Washington.

Prince Saud ridiculed Mr Bush's description of Mr Sharon as "a man of peace".

"Ariel Sharon a man of peace? I don't even think Ariel Sharon believes that," he told US television.

The Saudis have said that they will not push Prince Abdullah's peace plan for the Middle East, seen by Mr Bush as "a new portal" to peace, until Israel has left all the West Bank towns it has occupied and lifted the siege on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

This is not true, there is no new development

Pakistan foreign ministry official

The statement followed a report in the Washington Post on Thursday which said that covert US military units using aerial support and four Pakistani bases were working along the Pakistani frontier in recent weeks.

The paper said Islamabad had asked Washington to keep the mission a secret.

Denying the report a Pakistan foreign ministry official told AFP news agency, "we agreed to intelligence sharing with the US authorities but that does not mean Pakistani agencies would operate under the guidance of any foreign advisers".

Deal

Another American daily, the New York Times, on Wednesday said Washington had reached an agreement with Islamabad to send US advisers into tribal areas with Pakistani troops.

Pakistan denies joint combat operations

It said the deal followed the arrest of a senior al-Qaeda leader, Abu Zubaydah, during a raid in the Pakistani city of Faisalabad last month.

It said several documents were also seized during the raid which indicated that Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters were regrouping in the tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

However, the Pakistani spokesman said there had been no operations involving foreign personnel on Pakistani soil.

"There is no operation going on anywhere in which foreign officials would be advising Pakistanis", he said.

Islamabad has offered its full support to the US-led war in Afghanistan, but has refused to allow foreign troops to launch combat operations from its territory.

A bomb disposal team was called in to deal with the object and an accommodation block near the south gate of the Faslane base was cordoned off.

The object was discovered beneath an accommodation block at the base near Glasgow.

The Fleet Northern Diving Group's bomb disposal team, which is based there, was called in and the main road to the base closed. 

'No explosives'

Up to 30 crew members were in the block at the time of the discovery.

A spokeswoman for the base said: "We can confirm that a suspect object was found under one of the accommodation blocks at the base.

"It was blown up manually, without the use of robots, and was found not to contain explosives."

Strathclyde Police said the main road leading to the base had reopened.

Justice and interior ministers meeting in Luxembourg condemned "all forms of intolerance which take as their pretext the conflicts and acts of violence in the Middle East and are aimed at persons of the Muslim, Jewish or any other faith".

The statement comes after a spate of attacks on Jewish targets in France and Belgium in which several synagogues were firebombed.

At a time of acute international tension it is vital to preserve the spirit of harmony, entente and inter-cultural respect within our societies

European Union statement

They coincided with a surge in anti-Israeli feeling, particularly amongst the Muslim community, over the military campaign against Palestinians in the West Bank.

The meeting condemned the attacks and called for closer co-operation between EU police forces.

"At a time of acute international tension, especially in the Middle East, it is vital to preserve the spirit of harmony, entente and inter-cultural respect within our societies," a statement said.
 
 

It also urged the European Commission to propose steps to "raise public awareness of what is at stake".

Asylum move

Thursday's meeting was scheduled before French far-right presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen visited Brussels on Wednesday.

Mr Le Pen, who faces incumbent Jacques Chirac in the presidential run-off on 5 May, was heckled by deputies in the European Parliament who held up signs saying "no".

European Parliament deputies booed Le Pen

The National Front leader has in the past described the genocide of Jews in the Holocaust as a detail of history.

But the Luxembourg talks were based on a declaration made earlier in April by France, Britain, Germany, Spain and Belgium.

The ministers also took the first steps towards setting up a co-ordinated EU asylum policy.

They agreed to establish the same reception standards across all 15 states in an attempt to stamp out "asylum shopping" - applying for refugee status in the individual European countries with the best perks for asylum seekers.

They aim to have the same minimum standards of housing, education and health for asylum seekers across Europe.

They also pledged to speed up the application procedure.

The common policy should be in place by 2004.