FORMER Iranian president Mohammed Khatami said he may pull out of June’s presidential race to avoid splitting the vote if another reformist candidate can pose a stronger challenge to the country’s hard-line establishment.

PEACE and a whiff of controversy broke out yesterday as a remarkable collection of world leaders and royalty rubbed shoulders at John Paul’s funeral, with only an alphabetical seating plan to divide heads of state whose relations could be frosty or even non-existent.

IRANIAN writer Shirin Ebadi, a female human rights and democracy activist, was awarded the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize yesterday.

Action against Afghanistan is backed by an international alliance the like of which has never been seen.