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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pro-Taliban cleric arrested

From Wire Reports

ISLAMABAD – Police arrested an influential pro-Taliban cleric on Sunday who had brokered a failed peace deal in northern Pakistan’s troubled Swat Valley, an indication the government will no longer negotiate with militants.

Authorities accused Sufi Muhammad, father-in-law of Swat’s notorious Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah, of encouraging violence and terrorism.

The Taliban were already on the run from the army and so the arrest was unlikely to have any significant impact on them, said Mahmood Shah, a former security chief in the tribal region.

U.S. soldier killed by insurgent fire

KABUL – An American service member was fatally wounded by insurgent fire in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Sunday, bringing to at least 39 the number of U.S. troops killed this month in the country.

Officials released no other details about the Saturday battle, which was reported by the NATO command. A U.S. military spokesman, Navy reservist Lt. j.g. Tommy Groves, would only confirm that the service member was American.

Also Sunday, one of President Hamid Karzai’s vice presidential running mates, Mohammad Qasim Fahim, escaped injury when his convoy came under fire in northern Afghanistan, officials said.

Sarkozy collapses while exercising

PARIS – President Nicolas Sarkozy of France collapsed while jogging Sunday afternoon and was rushed to a military hospital for tests. His office described the incident as a minor fainting spell and said he never lost consciousness.

Sarkozy, 54, fell victim to what officials qualified as a “vasovagal episode” as he ran in 84-degree summer weather on the grounds of the Lanterne hunting lodge, a presidential retreat near the Versailles Palace west of Paris. He was flown by helicopter to Val de Grace military hospital in the capital, where he was said to be awake and talking with his doctors.

Sarkozy’s office said neurological tests administered at Val de Grace were normal but that the president would be hospitalized overnight for further monitoring of his heart.