Support for Sudan leader

Support for Sudan leader

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Senior leaders of Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah offered international support Friday to Sudan’s president after he was charged with war crimes in Darfur, a sign that the bid to prosecute him could sharply radicalize his regime.

For a third straight day, President Omar al-Bashir’s supporters marched and vowed to defend him against what his government called a “colonial” conspiracy to overthrow him. Hundreds emerged from mosques after Friday prayers, chanting “jihad,” or holy war, and shouting, “With our souls and blood, we will sacrifice ourselves for you, al-Bashir.”

After the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for al-Bashir, Sudan’s government responded by expelling 13 of the largest aid organizations in Darfur.

Car bombing in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A senior police official said a suicide car bomber has killed seven police officers in volatile northwestern Pakistan.

The Saturday morning bombing happened at a road block where police were checking vehicles traveling from Khyber tribal region into Peshawar, the regional capital not far from the Afghan border.

Senior police official Safwat Ghayur said several officers also were wounded when the car carrying the attacker was motioned to stop.

He says it was unclear whether the road block was the target.

Al-Qaida and Taliban militants have staged numerous attacks in northwestern Pakistan, with police a favorite target. Many are believed involved in attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Call for Iraqi reconciliation

BAGHDAD — In an overture to Sunnis, Iraq’s prime minister called on Iraqis on Friday to reconcile with former supporters of Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated regime who have been shunned by the Shiite government that rose to power after the U.S. invasion.

The call by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, made in a speech to leaders of a Shiite tribe, appears aimed at making political inroads in Sunni areas that gave his allies little support in the Jan. 31 provincial elections.

“We should reconcile with those who made mistakes, who are forced and obliged at one time to be on the side of the former regime during a time of hardship in Iraq’s history,” al-Maliki said.

NASA telescope blasts off

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s planet-hunting spacecraft, Kepler, has blasted off aboard a rocket from Cape Canaveral.

The Kepler telescope rocketed into the night sky late Friday on a historic voyage to track down other Earths in a faraway patch of the Milky Way galaxy. The $600 million mission will last at least 31‚Ñ2 years.

Once it’s settled into an orbit around the sun, Kepler will stare nonstop at 100,000 stars. The telescope will watch for any dimming, or winks, in the stellar brightness that might be caused by orbiting planets. It’s the first NASA mission capable of detecting Earth-size planets around stars like our sun.

Franken request refused

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Supreme Court on Friday refused Al Franken’s request to be immediately certified as winner of the U.S. Senate election, saying that step must await a final resolution of the long-running recount trial and possible appeals.

But even as the high court issued its ruling, Franken’s lawyers received a sympathetic hearing in their attempt to throw out Republican Norm Coleman’s legal challenge of Franken’s 225-vote recount margin.

In a 5-0 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Democrat Franken was not entitled to be certified the Senate winner until the legal contest has made its way through the state courts. The justices said state law blocks an election certificate from being issued until then.

Regulators shut down bank

WASHINGTON — Regulators on Friday shut down Freedom Bank of Georgia, marking the 17th failure this year of a federally insured bank, and more are expected to succumb amid a deepening recession.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was appointed receiver of the bank, located in Commerce, Ga. It had about $173 million in assets and $161 million in deposits as of March 4.

The FDIC said the bank’s deposits will be assumed by Northeast Georgia Bank, located in Lavonia, Ga. Its four branches will reopen Monday as offices of Northeast Georgia Bank.

Combined dispatches