China, Russia back Afghan coalition government

BEIJING, Oct 10 (REUTERS): China and Russia support the formation ofa coalition government in Afghanistan and share a common stance on acampaign against terrorism, Chinese state media said today.

In a series of telephone calls yesterday, Chinese foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan outlined Chinas positions on Afghanistan, terrorism and Islam with counterparts from Russia, Qatar, India and Thailand, they said.

Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov told Tang the international community should support the establishment of "a coalition government with a wide-ranging basis" in Afghanistan, according to the peoples daily.

The communist party newspaper quoted Tang saying an Afghan coalition government which was "able to cooperate with neighbouring countries in a friendly manner" would benefit the Afghan people and regional peace and stability.

Sri Lankan government loses majority before vote COLOMBO, Oct 10 (REYTERS) - Seven members of parliament defected from Sri Lankas ruling coalition today, stripping it of its majority a day before a no-confidence vote and plunging the country into fresh political turmoil.

The defections, which were followed by scuffles in the 225-member house, leave the ruling peoples alliance coalition and its allies with a total of 112 seats.

The speaker does not normally vote, and he is a member of the main opposition United National Party.

"Seven government members have crossed the floor to sit with the opposition," said a senior parliamentary official.

Parliament, which was suspended after a similar defection in July, will take up the no-confidence vote on Thursday if it is neither shut down nor dissolved before that.

The defection coincided with the first anniversary of the parliamentary election the earliest date by which president Chandrika Kumaratunga is allowed to dissolve the assembly.

But a government spokesman on Tuesday ruled out dissolving the assembly "either before or after the no-confidence vote".

"The constitution allows her to suspend parliament for two months, but that is an extreme option," said Kethesh Loganathan, a political analyst at the centre for policy alternatives.

The defectors included four former ministers, three of whom resigned last month saying they could not work with the governments new ally, the Marxist Peoples Liberation Front (JVP), which has agreed to prop up the coalition for a year.

Fire breaks out in Pakistani Army HQs ISLAMABAD, Oct 10 (REUTERS) Fire erupted in Pakistan armys main headquarters today, damaging some buildings, furniture and stationery, an official statement said.

The fire was sparked by a short-circuit in a paper and stationery store in the General Headquarters (GHq) in Islamabads twin city of Rawalpindi, said a statement issued by the armys Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) directorate.

"The wooden structure of a nearby building also caught fire causing damage to office items including furniture," it added.

The fire, which started at 4.00 a.m.

(0430 IST yester), was brought under control by 6:30 a.m.

And all offices in the GHq started work on time an hour later, an army spokesman said.

No one was injured.

US bombers changed targets midflight WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (REUTERS) Some U.S.

bombers conducting raids over Afghanistan were unexpectedly ordered to change targets in the middle of their mission, air force crew members said yesterday.

"It did catch us a little off-guard when we were tasked to retarget all of our weapons on targets that we were not planning on striking when we left,"a B-1 weapons officer identified as morning said.

"The entire process is a really dynamic environment, things are changing very quickly out there, so all of the aircraft flying are capable of retargeting their weapons at a moments notice," he said.

Morning and other crew members from B-1 and B-52 bombers and KC-10 tanker refuelers who participated in raids on Afghanistan spoke to reporters from an undisclosed location in a conference call arranged by the air force.

They were identified only by call signs or nicknames.

Morning said that he flew a mission on the second night of strikes but that bombers who flew on the first night also had their targets changed while in the air.

"The air crew worked together as a team, and we made sure that all of the weapons went where they were supposed to and they were a successful strike," he said.

It was unclear why targets were switched because the fliers would not elaborate and defense officials have refused to discuss so-called operational details.

They were asked whether they were aware that four U.N.

workers were apparently killed by one of the bombing raids and whether that affected them.

"Of course were aware of world events," said Exxon, pilot of a KC-10 tanker, which refuels other planes in midair.

"But does it affect our professional lives? Not a bit.

When were flying, we have a task at hand," he said.

"The air crews are normally very quiet when theyre flying," Exxon said.

"When were up there, were focusing on the task at hand.

And when the job is done and were back on the ground, then well put our citizen hats back on and go about our normal lives." The crew members declined to comment on whether they met any anti-aircraft fire, but they hinted that any opposition they found was relatively weak.

"What we encountered was pretty benign.

We were able to get to our targets and return home safely," said Zeus, a B-52 pilot.

Zeus, who was an American airlines pilot in civilian life, said of the mission, "It became very personal to me." B2, who operates the boom that connects the tanker to the plane being refueled, offered a similar sentiment.

"I think everybody, after the terrorist attacks, everyone was pretty psyched about doing our job." Separately, U.S.

central command officials have requested that Afghanistan be declared a combat zone so military personnel involved in the mission there can receive increased hazard pay, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Florida anthrax cases a wake-up call, Senate told WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (REUTERS) A mystifying pair of anthrax cases in Florida may not be linked to the Sept.

11 attacks on America but should serve as a wake-up call about the threat of bioterrorism, scientific experts told senators yesterday.

While agreeing that the nation had gaps in its readiness against bioterror, the experts said there was no need for the public to panic or stock up on items like gas masks.

They said the risk, though real, was still considered relatively small.

Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts democrat, and Sen.

Bill Frist, a Tennessee republican, the senate last year approved a bill creating a framework for bolstering the nations germ warfare defenses.

11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Kennedy and frist are fine-tuning that system, bringing in ideas from other senators with related legislative proposals and seeking a big boost in funding, to about 1.4 billion dollars for the coming year.

They are working with Tommy Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, who is also seeking a large infusion of emergency funds.

Money would go to train local health workers on how to recognize a potential outbreak swiftly, to plan how to treat a surge of critically ill patients in hospitals with limited bed capacity, to improve communication between federal and local health agencies, to step up vaccine research, to expand food safety inspection and to meet related needs.

"The keys to responding effectively to a bioterrorist attack lie in three key concepts: immediate detection, immediate treatment and immediate containment," said Kennedy, chairman of the senate committee on health, education, labor and pensions.

"Terrorist groups have the resources and the motivation to use germ warfare," said Frist, who serves on the committee.

"It is essential that we take steps immediately to fill the gaps in our nations defense and surveillance system against bioterrorism as well as our public health infrastructure." At a hearing of the senate public health and safety subcommittee, some witnesses said said they suspected that the anthrax cases in Florida were intentional infections, though not necessarily linked to the Sept.

11 attacks or their suspected organizer, Osama bin Laden.

They said the Florida situation undermined the arguments of those who said bioterror was not much of a threat because it was just too hard to carry out.

Michael Osterholm, a bioterror expert at the university of Minnesota, said the Florida incident, no matter who was responsible, should be a wake-up call.

"Someone out there did grow anthrax," he said.

"We cant hide behind the explanation that its just too tough (to develop an anthrax weapon)." "Somebody did something that was criminal," although the extent is not yet known, said Dr.

Mohammad Akhter, executive director of the American public health association.

Donald Henderson, the director of the John Hopkins center for civilan biodefense studies, who was recently named by Thompson to head a special new advisory council on bioterror, said he did not want to jump to any conclusions.

In a long career in epidemiology, he said, he has seen all sorts of strange phenomena that did not turn out to support initial theories about disease outbreaks.

The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into the Florida case.

One man died, and another was exposed to the disease but has not developed it.

Hundreds of others have been tested and given preventive treatment, but so far no one else has become sick.