In Short

A ROUND-UP of today's other stories in brief

BAGHDAD - Fighting between Iraqi security forces and Shia militiamen last month has driven civilian deaths in the country to their highest level in more than six months, according to government figures.

A total of 923 civilians were killed in March, up 31 per cent from February and the deadliest month since August 2007, according to data compiled by Iraq's interior, defence and health ministries. - (Reuters)

Betancourt release call

PARIS - French president Nicolas Sarkozy has called on Colombia's Farc guerrillas to release hostage Ingrid Betancourt, who he said was in close to death.

"The latest information reaching us regarding Ingrid Betancourt is profoundly worrying," he said in an address broadcast on French radio and television. "Ingrid is in danger of imminent death." - (Reuters)

Withdrawal by British on hold

LONDON - Plans to withdraw 1,500 British troops from Iraq have been put on hold as fighting continues between Iraqi government forces and Shia militias in the southern city of Basra.

Defence secretary Des Browne told MPs yesterday that it was "prudent" to "pause" the planned drawdown of British forces, which had been expected to see troop numbers fall from their current level of about 4,000 to 2,500. - (PA)

'Spiegel' edition ban in Egypt

CAIRO - Egypt has ordered the confiscation of a special edition of the German magazine Der Spiegel about Islam that the government says insults the Muslim prophet Muhammad.

Information minister Anas el-Feki said the decision "comes in the context of defending Islamic values and standing firmly against those who try to insult the prophet, the Islamic faith, and religions generally". - (Reuters)

40 wedding guests drown

BAGWAI - At least 40 members of a wedding party drowned in a river after the dug-out boat in which they they were travelling capsized in the northwest Nigerian state of Kano.

The victims, mostly women and children, were escorting a bride from Bagwai to the remote village of Badau when their boat sank late on Monday. - (Reuters)

Bulgaria tries graft crackdown

SOFIA - Bulgaria's prime minister Sergei Stanishev has given his interior minister 10 days to draft plans to rid his scandal- tainted ministry of corrupt police officers linked to crime bosses.

Bulgaria is under pressure from Brussels to show concrete results in its fight against rampant corruption and organised crime. - (Reuters)

Clerical ruling condemned

RIYADH - A group of more than 100 Arab rights groups and intellectuals have condemned a Saudi religious edict calling for the death of two writers for apostasy, saying "clerics of darkness" were practising intellectual terrorism. - (Reuters)

Turkish workers clash with police

ANKARA - Thousands of workers have clashed with police near Turkey's parliament during angry protests against an International Monetary Fund- backed social security reform that raises the retirement age.

The IMF has made its passage through parliament a condition for releasing loans worth $1.3 billion. - (Reuters)

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times