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Saudis will let foreigners carry guns

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Foreign residents of Saudi Arabia will be allowed to carry guns, the police minister said after a series of militant bombings, attacks and kidnappings targeting Western workers in the kingdom.

"In principle, a citizen has the right to carry a licensed weapon, and so does the resident. If he senses danger, he can carry a personal weapon as he does in his country," Prince Nayef said.

A Western diplomat told the Associated Press some embassies and foreign companies had asked Saudi authorities to ease rules barring private security guards from carrying weapons.

Under Saudi law, foreigners - even security guards - cannot have weapons, while Saudis must apply for a permit. Nayef's comments suggested foreigners would be allowed to seek permits, though he did not elaborate.

An estimated 8.8-million foreigners work among 17-million Saudis. Most hold low-skill jobs, but many work in the oil, banking and other vital sectors.

NABLUS, West Bank - Israeli soldiers blew open doors with grenades, rummaged through closets and rounded up residents while searching for fugitives and bomb labs in Nablus' old city - the largest army operation in the militant stronghold in more than a year.

Soldiers sealed the old city with cement blocks and barbed wire to lock in militants and imposed a strict curfew. The military said "Operation Full Court Press" would last several days.

Soldiers handed out leaflets explaining that they are looking for seven men, most from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a group with ties to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

UNITED NATIONS - Satellite photos of the Darfur region of western Sudan show destruction in nearly 400 villages, and there have been reports of fighting or threatened attacks in every camp for displaced people, the U.S. aid chief said.

Andrew Natsios, administrator of the Agency for International Development, warned that time is running out to help 2-million Sudanese in desperate need of aid in Darfur. He said his agency's estimate that 350,000 could die of disease and malnutrition over the next nine months "is conservative."

Fighting between Arab militias and African residents has killed thousands of people and forced more than 1-million to flee their homes. International rights groups say the government has backed the Arab fighters in an ethnic cleansing campaign against the African villagers.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to western Sudan next week to meet with relief workers and victims.

BRITISH SAILORS RELEASED: Eight Royal Navy sailors captured by Iran when they strayed into Iranian waters on Monday were freed Thursday.

BBC MAY LAUNCH AL-JAZEERA COMPETITOR: The British Broadcasting Corp. said Thursday it was in talks with the government about launching a 24-hour Arabic-language TV news channel to compete with the Qatar-based satellite station Al-Jazeera. The channel, which would broadcast across the Middle East, would also be available to viewers in Britain and Europe.