A Democratic Republic of Congo cabinet minister has warned armed groups of stiff punishment if they join forces with the rebel Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDRL) to fight government against troops. Information minister Lambert Mende said former rebels who join the FDLR to destabilize the country undermine the deal that shields them from criminal prosecution. “Those people who enjoyed the amnesty must be careful because the law of amnesty says that whoever will go with those terrorist will destroy all judicial effects of the amnesty.

United Nations officials say opium cultivation in Burma rose for the third straight year as ethnic rebel groups sell drugs to buy arms. The increase reverses past successes in cutting opium cultivation in Southeast Asia.   The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime - UNODC - said Monday that opium poppy cultivation in Burma rose more than 10 percent in 2009 - the third successive year of growth.   The agency's latest report covering Thailand, Laos and Burma says the area poppies are cultivated on around 31,700 hectares.

The head of West Africa's regional alliance says foreign troops should be sent to Guinea to establish security, following the shooting of the country's military leader.  Talks to resolve Guinea's political crisis resumed Sunday in Burkina Faso. The secretary general of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, says Guinea needs a regional intervention force to prevent further violence. Mohamed Ibn Chambas said the preventative deployment of such a force would ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance and establish a safe environment for the Guinean people.

Police in Italy say a man with a history of mental problems hit Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in the face with a statue Sunday. Mr. Berlusconi was taken to a hospital with a broken nose, two broken teeth, and a cut lip. Italy's ANSA news agency said the prime minister told reporters that he was fine after emergency treatment. But doctors say they want to keep him in the hospital overnight for observation. Mr. Berlusconi was signing autographs and shaking hands after a rally in Milan Sunday. His attacker moved close enough to throw a small statue at the prime minister's face.

The future of Turkey's main Kurdish party hangs in the balance as the country's constitutional court deliberates whether to shut down the Democratic Society Party.  The government has accused the party of supporting terrorism. Turkey's highest court this week began final deliberations on a case seeking to shut down the main Kurdish party on charges of backing the militant Kurdistan Workers Party, a charge the Democratic Society Party has denied. DTP leader Ahmet Turk condemned the case. "Unfortunately this is such a wrong reasoning," he said.  "We are face-to-face with such a wrong lo

U.S. officials say a top al-Qaida leader has been killed in a drone attack in restive northwestern Pakistan. The officials did not identify the person killed, but they said it was not al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.   A U.S. television network, NBC, first reported the drone attack earlier this week.  The exact date of the attack is unclear. Earlier this week, Pakistani officials said a suspected U.S. drone attack killed at least three people in northwestern Pakistan.

Angola's president says the country's first post-war presidential election will likely be delayed for another three years. President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who had previously said the vote would take place in 2009, says he wants his MPLA party to complete the mandate it won in last year's parliamentary elections.   That suggests the presidential vote would take place at the same time or after the next legislative polls in 2012. Mr.

Somali pirates have released a Greek-owned cargo ship and its 24 Ukrainian crew members after seven months in captivity. The director of Greek shipping firm Alloceans Shipping , Spyros Minas, says pirates freed the Ariana Thursday, after the company paid a ransom. In Kiev, Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko also announced the crew's release. The shipping company did not reveal the size of the ransom, but pirates told reporters the amount was more than $2.5 million. Pirates have continued to hijack vessels despite the presence of foreign naval patrols near Somalia. They are st

Officials with the Honduran interim government have confirmed reports that it will allow ousted President Manuel Zelaya to leave the country after spending three months confined at the Brazilian Embassy. Mr. Zelaya is seeking safe passage to leave the embassy and travel to another country without being arrested on corruption charges brought by the interim government. The Mexican government has sent a plane to the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa to pick up Mr.