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Iran halts uranium enrichment, it says

VIENNA - Iran said Monday it has frozen all uranium enrichment programs, weakening a U.S. effort to refer Tehran's suspect nuclear activities to the U.N. Security Council. President Bush said he hoped the statement is true but "there must be verification."

Iran's claim was welcomed by Europe and cautiously endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. atomic watchdog agency. But even if verified by the IAEA, such a freeze falls short of European and U.S. hopes of an Iranian commitment to scrap enrichment ambitions.

Iran has said suspension will be temporary and insists it has the ultimate right to enrich uranium. It dismisses U.S. assertions that it wants to make weapons, saying it is interested only in generating power.

Tehran's announcement of a start to suspension came only after it had already converted a few tons of raw uranium into the gas used as feedstock for enrichment.

Britain - a key negotiator of the Nov. 7 deal that promises Iran technical and political support from the European Union in exchange for the suspension - cautiously welcomed the move while making clear it would watch closely for its implementation.

CARTAGENA, Colombia - Under a security web of warplanes, battleships and 15,000 troops, President Bush on Monday praised Colombia's battle against drugs and Marxist guerrillas and pledged to keep U.S. aid flowing so "this courageous nation can win its war against narcoterrorists."

In a country that is the world's largest producer of cocaine and a major supplier of heroin, Bush said President Alvaro Uribe is achieving results with a massive aerial fumigation program against coca - the main ingredient in cocaine - and an aggressive military buildup against insurgents, who fund themselves through drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion.

"The number of acres under cultivation are down significantly," Bush said, standing with Uribe in shirt sleeves at seaside lecterns. "The number of arrests are up. The number of murders is down. In other words, this man's plan is working."

Bush's pledge reaffirms U.S. commitments to a $3.3-billion, five-year military aid program known as Plan Colombia. Bush said the plan launched in August 2000 enjoys widespread support in Congress and that he would work with lawmakers to keep it funded.

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Fighting near a village in Sudan's crisis-plagued Darfur region killed at least 17 people Monday, while helicopters rescued dozens of workers who escaped into the bush.

State Minister Ahmed Haroon said rebels attacked the strategic North Darfur town of Tawilla early Monday, killing 17 people and destroying the town's hospital. He said an unknown number of people were injured. A statement by an aid organization said government planes also dropped bombs.

But Haroon denied that the government had violated a cease-fire.

During the clashes between rebels and Arab militiamen in Tawilla, African Union peacekeepers airlifted 45 people who had spent several hours hiding in the bush outside Tawilla, U.N. spokesman George Somerwill said.

U.N. HOSTAGES FREED: Three U.N. workers kidnapped in Afghanistan were released late Monday unharmed after more than three weeks in captivity, Afghan officials said today.

BOSNIAN PEACEKEEPING CHANGE: The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Monday to transfer peacekeeping duties in Bosnia from the NATO-led force to the European Union next month. The transfer will mean the withdrawal of more than 1,000 U.S. troops serving in Bosnia.

CHINESE PRESIDENT IN CUBA: Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Fidel Castro Monday for talks focusing on the broadening ties between Cuba and China, which has become the island's third-largest trading partner.

NEW ZEALAND QUAKE: A powerful 7.2 earthquake shook much of New Zealand's South Island on Tuesday, but emergency services said they had no immediate reports of injury or severe damage.