NAIROBI — Somalia’s president vowed on Sunday to use persuasion rather than force to disarm its many militias, saying warlords and businessmen should realise it was in their interests to demobilise the gunmen they control. In a Reuters interview, Abdullahi Yusuf, whose government is beset by wrangling about where it …

WASHINGTON — The US army is planning for the possibility of keeping the current number of soldiers in Iraq — well over 100,000 — for four more years, the army’s top general said. In an Associated Press interview Saturday, Gen. Peter Schoomaker said the army is prepared for the “worst …

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s largest Islamic group vowed Sunday to back none of the 10 candidates for this country’s first presidential election on Sept. 7, including President Hosni Mubarak, but still urged Egyptians to vote in the landmark polls. Speculation has been rife over whether the vastly popular Muslim Brotherhood, …