LONDON – Lawyers for five Iraqis have accused British soldiers of mass executions and torture and called for a police investigation into an “atrocious episode” in British army history.

Embattled Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said in a column published on Friday that he was ready to work with the newly elected parliament to fight terrorism and build a stable democratic government to promote long-term economic growth.

BRUSSELS – The European Commission said on Friday it was awaiting responses from Poland and Romania to charges that they hosted CIA prisons where al Qaeda suspects were questioned and guards used methods akin to torture.

ISLAMABAD – A roadside bomb ripped through a vehicle carrying a wedding party in Pakistan’s northwestern valley of Swat on Friday, killing 13 people, officials said.

The parliament of the Serb Republic adopted a resolution late on Thursday branding Kosovo’s declaration of independence an illegal act that violated Serbia’s territorial integrity.

FALLUJA, Iraq – A suicide bomber killed six policemen and wounded nine on Friday when he detonated a vest packed with explosives outside a mosque in Falluja, a mainly Sunni Arab city west of Baghdad, police said.

 A U.S. Marine was killed in a battle with gunmen in western Iraq’s Anbar province, on Thursday, the U.S. military said on Friday.

ZAGREB – Croatian police have arrested 44 people who burned the Serbian flag in Zagreb’s main square after Serb protesters attacked the Croatian embassy in Belgrade during a rally against Kosovo’s independence.

BAGHDAD – Powerful Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr extended his Mehdi Army militia ceasefire by around six months on Friday, according to a statement read out on his behalf in a mosque in Baghdad.

The leaders of Pakistan’s two main parties are trying to forge a coalition government following their resounding election victory over allies of President Pervez Musharraf.