AFGHANISTAN

Sensing unrest outside a packed stadium, Afghanistan's president cut short a speech as police fired into the air in an attempt to restrain a crowd trying to enter, officials said.

Shortly after being rushed off the podium, President Hamid Karzai said security in Afghanistan was deteriorating and renewed a call for negotiations with Taliban militants.

In southern Afghanistan, meanwhile, two British soldiers and more than 30 Taliban fighters were killed in separate incidents, British and U.S. military officials said.

More than 7,000 people have been killed in the last 19 months in Afghanistan.

Pro-Taliban militants today freed more than 260 Pakistani troops who were captured nearly two weeks ago in a restive tribal region near the border with Afghanistan, security officials and a militant said.

The soldiers were handed over to members of a tribal council in Ladha, in the South Waziristan tribal area, where they had been captured by militants Aug. 30, a local intelligence official said. Pakistan's army spokesman said he could not immediately confirm the releases.

It was not clear whether there were any conditions to the soldiers' release. Militants had earlier demanded that authorities withdraw the military from the area and free more than a dozen of their comrades.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he is ready to resign if parliament fails to extend a refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan.

The renewal of the legislation allowing the refueling mission is expected to be one of the main topics of debate in an extraordinary session of parliament that convenes today.

"I would not cling to my job as prime minister," Abe said at a news conference in Sydney, Australia, site of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

A British couple named as suspects in the disappearance of their 4-year-old daughter have returned to England, days after being grilled by Portuguese police about new forensic evidence authorities believe ties them to the case.

Kate and Gerry McCann flew from southern Portugal with their 2-year-old twins. On the airport tarmac in central England, Gerry McCann denied being involved in the disappearance of his 4-year-old daughter, Madeleine.

"While it is heartbreaking to return to the U.K. without Madeleine, it does not mean we are giving up the search for her," he said.

On Friday, Portuguese police named the McCanns as suspects in Madeleine's May 3 disappearance.

Rock-throwing protesters clashed with police backed by water cannons and tear gas during a march paying tribute to victims of the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

The government said 147 people were detained and a police officer was injured in the annual march marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 1973, putsch that brought Pinochet to power.

It was the first coup-anniversary protest since the former strongman died in December at 91.

From Times Wire Reports