In Brief

* NUCLEAR STANDOFF – North Korea will not return to nuclear disarmament talks despite having met with US officials to discuss allegations of illegal financial activities, a Pyongyang diplomat was quoted as saying.

* MOFAZ WARNS – Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz warned that Hamas’s Palestinian prime minister-designate Ismail Haniya would not be immune from assassination if the radical Islamists carried out attacks. * PLEA FOR RELEASE – Two Canadians and a Briton working for a Christian peace group kidnapped in Iraq three months ago issued a new plea for their release in a video broadcast on Al-Jazeera, the first news of the men since late January.* IRAN WARNED – US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Iran of sending Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces into Iraq, and warned Tehran it was “an error in judgement”.* POLITICAL DEADLOCK – Iraq was plunged into political deadlock as the dominant Shi’ites opposed efforts by President Jalal Talabani to convene parliament for Sunday, amid bickering over who should lead the next government.* HUNT FOR CLERICS – Pakistani troops searched for two pro-Taliban clerics in its border region with Afghanistan, sparking calls calls from Kabul to halt cross-border raids.* DARFUR ON EDGE – The main rebel group in Sudan’s war-torn western region of Darfur warned the security situation there was deteriorating rapidly and called for the immediate deployment of an international force to protect civilians.* MOUSSAOUI TRIAL – A US prosecutor held a courtroom in thrall, with a chilling minute-by-minute rundown of the September 11 attacks, on the second day of al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui’s death penalty trial.- Nampa-AFP* PLEA FOR RELEASE – Two Canadians and a Briton working for a Christian peace group kidnapped in Iraq three months ago issued a new plea for their release in a video broadcast on Al-Jazeera, the first news of the men since late January.* IRAN WARNED – US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Iran of sending Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces into Iraq, and warned Tehran it was “an error in judgement”.* POLITICAL DEADLOCK – Iraq was plunged into political deadlock as the dominant Shi’ites opposed efforts by President Jalal Talabani to convene parliament for Sunday, amid bickering over who should lead the next government.* HUNT FOR CLERICS – Pakistani troops searched for two pro-Taliban clerics in its border region with Afghanistan, sparking calls calls from Kabul to halt cross-border raids.* DARFUR ON EDGE – The main rebel group in Sudan’s war-torn western region of Darfur warned the security situation there was deteriorating rapidly and called for the immediate deployment of an international force to protect civilians.* MOUSSAOUI TRIAL – A US prosecutor held a courtroom in thrall, with a chilling minute-by-minute rundown of the September 11 attacks, on the second day of al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui’s death penalty trial.- Nampa-AFP