Around the World

BOSNIA

Unity at Risk, Envoys Say

Bosnia's fragile peace deal is in danger of collapsing while the United States and the European Union are engaged elsewhere, the U.S. architect of the agreement, Richard C. Holbrooke, and former international administrator Paddy Ashdown warned Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of people were killed before the peace deal brokered by Holbrooke ended Bosnia's 1992-95 war. The country was divided into two fairly autonomous ministates -- one for Christian Orthodox Bosnian Serbs and one shared by Muslim Bosniaks and Roman Catholic Croats. The two are linked by joint institutions.

Now, the envoys say, the Bosnian Serbs, backed by Russia, are trying to weaken those institutions so that the country disintegrates, while Bosniaks and Croats are trying to strengthen them. Russia is "making trouble for the U.S. and E.U. where possible," the envoys wrote in Bosnia's daily newspaper Dnevni Avaz.

U.S. Hostage Rescued Near Kabul

U.S. Special Forces soldiers conducting a daring nighttime operation freed a kidnapped American working for the Army Corps of Engineers -- the first known hostage rescue by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The American, who was abducted in mid-August, had been held in an insurgent stronghold 30 miles west of Kabul. U.S. military officials said several insurgents were killed in last week's mission to free him.

Mass Graves Discovered in Iraq

Iraqi officials reported finding mass graves with remains of 34 people, most believed to have been Iraqi army recruits waylaid three years ago by al-Qaeda in Iraq gunmen as they traveled to a base near the Syrian border. Farmers tipped off authorities last week about the graves, located in the Euphrates River valley 200 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Natural Gas Cartel a Step Closer

Russia, Iran and Qatar made the first serious moves toward forming an OPEC-style cartel on natural gas, raising concerns that Moscow could boost its influence over energy markets from Europe to South Asia.

British Conservative on Defensive

George Osborne, the finance spokesman for Britain's Conservative opposition, denied an assertion by businessman Nathaniel Rothschild that he had illegally sought a donation for his party from Oleg Deripaska, Russia's richest man.

China Warns E.U. on Rights Prize

China has warned the European Union that its relations with the 27-nation bloc will be seriously damaged if jailed Chinese dissident Hu Jia wins the top E.U. human rights prize Thursday. Hu is one of three nominees for the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize.

Chagos Islanders Lose Legal Fight

Britain's highest court dashed the hopes of Chagos Islanders seeking to return to the Indian Ocean homeland they lost in 1971, when the island of Diego Garcia was leased to the United States for an air base. The law lords' ruling that Britain was not obligated to allow a return reversed last year's decision by an appeals court.

Feathered Dinosaur Fossil Found

Archaeologists in China have discovered fossils of a pigeon-size feathered dinosaur they believe to be an ancestor of birds. Its remains were found preserved in a slab of rock in northern China, the researchers wrote in the journal Nature.

From News Services