Iraq war hearing

U.S. President George W. Bush would remove needed pressure on the Iraqi Government if he decides to halt the drawdown of U.S. troops, a leading Democrat said Tuesday at the outset of a series of congressional hearings on the prospects for fully stabilizing Iraq and further reducing the U.S. military commitment.

"An announcement of an open-ended pause in troop reductions, starting in July, would simply send the wrong message to the Iraqi leaders," said Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Al-Sadr threatens to end cease-fire

SHIITE cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened Tuesday to lift a seven-month freeze on his Mahdi Army militia if the Iraqi Government does not halt attacks on his followers or set a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal.

The statement came from his office hours before the top two U.S. officials in Iraq — Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker — planned to brief Congress on the situation in Iraq and prospects for drawing down American troops.

Iran begins installing more centrifuges

IRAN has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, state television quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying Tuesday.

The U.S. immediately criticized the announcement as an example of Iran's continued defiance of international demands that it suspend uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a weapon.

17 Afghan road workers killed

AFGHAN Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary says insurgents attacked the road construction crew Tuesday morning in Zabul province. Sixteen other workers have been wounded.

Bashary says Afghan and international security forces killed seven militants and wounded 12 in an ensuing firefight.