OPEC oil ministers today joined in supporting a cut in output toward production target levels early next year in a bid by the organisation’s 11 member states to stave off further falls in the world price while trying to avoid a new frenzy of buying.

Iraqi Governing Council members accused American officials of pressuring them to accept Washington’s choice for the country’s new president, delaying the announcement of a new government to take power on June 30.

The former Iraqi editor of an American-funded newspaper said today his driver and bodyguard were abducted and murdered, hours after police warned him of a possible kidnapping plot.