Syria, Iran join hand to beat West's war designs

After the reported buildup, top US military officer, General Martin Dempsey, said any intervention in Syria would be "very difficult" and that it was "premature" to arm the unrest-swept country s opposition movement. And China s influential People s Daily warned any Western support for Syria s rebels would lead a "large-scale civil war." Two warships from Iran, a key backer of the Syrian regime, docked at the port of Tartus, Tehran s state television reported on Monday, adding that their crew would train Syrian sailors. Iran s navy chief, Admiral Habibollah Sayari, said on Saturday that the ships, a destroyer and supply vessel, had passed through the Suez Canal to show the Islamic republic s military "might." In Damascus, regime forces remained on alert after two days of large and unexpected protests, and after a call for a "day of defiance" was observed in restive neighbourhoods, according to activists. Meanwhile, the Syrian authorities freed blogger Razan Ghazzawi, symbol of an 11-month uprising, and six other female activists arrested last week, human rights lawyer Anwar Buni said. The women were released on Saturday, but were ordered to report to police daily in order to continue their questioning, he said. They were part of a group of 14 activists people arrested Thursday in a raid on the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, a group headed by rights activist Mazen Darwish.

Attacks, clashes increase on Sudan-S.Sudan border

A rebel spokesman says Sudan s military is carrying out a bombing campaign intended to shut down the main route for refugees fleeing violence in the country s south. Arnu Loddi, a spokesman for the Sudan People s Liberation Movement-North, a rebel group inside Sudan, said Monday that attacks by the Sudanese Armed Forces have been focused along the road leading out of Southern Kordofan, Sudan, into Yida, South Sudan. A Sudanese military spokesman did not immediately answer calls seeking comment about the reports. More than 20,000 refugees already have fled to a camp in Yida to escape the violence, and the United Nations worries that hundreds of thousands more could be on the way.

Afghan police kill 2 Albanian army officers

The firing killed two Albanian soldiers and lead to the arrest of 11 Afghan policemen, Albania s Defense Ministry said. They were the first Albanian soldiers to die in Afghanistan, it said. The shooting occurred in the village of Robat, in the southern district of Spin Boldak near the Pakistani border, Kandahar police chief Abdul Raziq said. The troops had gone there for a meeting about opening two schools and a health center, the Albanian defense ministry said. According to the ministry s statement, Afghan police opened fire with five assault rifles and one light automatic machine gun. Two Albanians, a captain and a corporal, died of their wounds in a hospital in the southern city of Kandahar. Another international soldier was wounded in the incident, the ministry said. There was no immediate information on that soldier s nationality. "The group on duty arrested 11 Afghan policemen who opened fire," the Albanian ministry said in a statement. Albania has 265 troops in Afghanistan.