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NATO allies not keen to give more Afghan troops

By TIMES WIRES
Published February 9, 2007

SPAIN - Defense Secretary Robert Gates ran into resistance Thursday from NATO allies the United States is pressing to bolster alliance forces in time for a spring offensive in Afghanistan, but some countries promised to provide small additions to troops and equipment.

Gates, attending his first gathering of NATO defense ministers, said the United States made no additional commitments for more troops of its own. He recently extended the tour of a brigade in Afghanistan, where the United States has 27,000 troops.

France and Germany have questioned the wisdom of sending more soldiers, while Spain, Italy and Turkey have also been wary.

Cuba deports drug kingpin wanted in U.S.

COLOMBIA - Cuba deported reputed drug kingpin Luis Hernando Gomez Bustamante to Colombia, which plans to extradite him to the United States to face trafficking and money laundering charges, officials said Thursday.

Gomez, an alleged boss of the Norte del Valle cartel known by his alias "Rasguno," had been held in Cuba since his 2004 arrest at Havana's main airport. He fled Colombia after Washington offered a $5-million reward for the capture of that country's top drug traffickers.

Iran warns it will retaliate if struck

IRAN - Iran stepped up its warnings to the United States Thursday, with the nation's supreme leader saying Tehran will strike U.S. interests around the world if his country is attacked. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's words were also likely meant as a show of toughness to rally Iranians, who are increasingly worried about the possibility of U.S. military action as a standoff has intensified.

Grandather saves boy from anaconda's grip

BRAZIL - A 66-year-old Brazilian saved his grandson from the grip of a 16-foot-long anaconda by beating the snake with rocks and a knife, police said Thursday.

"When I saw the snake wrapped around my grandson's neck I thought it was going to kill him," Joaquim Pereira told the Agencia Estado news service. "It was agonizing. I pulled it from one side, but it would come back on the other."

Pereira's 8-year-old grandson, Mateus, was attacked near a creek on his grandfather's ranch in Cosmorama, about 250 miles northwest of Sao Paulo. While the boy was playing with friends, the snake wrapped itself around him, police officer Hudson Augusto said. Anacondas kill by coiling around victims and squeezing until they suffocate.

[Last modified February 9, 2007, 00:33:22]