Riot police in Zimbabwe today raided the headquarters of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), arresting dozens of supporters, a spokesman claimed.

The Sri Lankan government today asked parliament to extend an emergency rule decree imposed after the assassination of the country’s foreign minister by suspected Tamil rebels, as European peace monitors held talks with guerrilla leaders.

Warlords controlling thousands of militia fighters in the Somali capital will begin pulling their troops out of Mogadishu by the end of the week in an effort to beef up security there, four key warlords said today.

Iraqi security forces, backed by US military, swept into a town south of Baghdad at dawn today after reports Sunni militants had kidnapped as many as 100 Shiites.

Iraqi security forces backed by US troops had the town of Madain surrounded after reports Sunni militants kidnapped as many as 100 Shiite residents, but there were growing indications the incident had been grossly exaggerated, perhaps an outgrowth of a tribal dispute or political manoeuvring.

Kenyan authorities have arrested more than two dozen suspects wanted for two al-Qaida attacks, including some on the FBI’s most wanted list, a senior government official said.

Security officials and diplomats in the Gulf, the Far East and East Africa were tonight trying to piece together the strands of intelligence pointing to imminent major al-Qaida terror attacks.