WORLD BRIEFS

ISRAEL: Mossad methods criticized

Some Israeli security officials said Wednesday they were convinced the Mossad was behind the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai and harshly criticized the spy agency for allegedly stealing the identities of Israeli citizens to carry out the hit. Names released by Dubai matched seven people living in Israel, raising questions about why the agency would endanger its own people as cover for a secret death squad. The spy novel-like mystery surrounding the slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in a luxury hotel near Dubai's airport continued. "Israel never responds, never confirms and never denies," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in the first official comment on the affair.

PAKISTAN: Quizzing Taliban leader

The capture and interrogation of Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar could help unravel the Afghan insurgency, but it's less likely to lead U.S. forces to Osama bin Laden. In nearly two weeks of interrogation in Pakistan, Baradar has provided limited information, U.S. officials said. He has focused on his own fate and not provided details about fellow insurgents or weapons caches. The immediate benefit has been his absence as the Taliban's daily battlefield commander. The growing hope is that he would play the broker in negotiating a cease-fire in Afghanistan.

ARGENTINA: New Falklands clash

Argentina's demand for direct control of shipping from the South American mainland to the Falkland Islands has raised fears about conflict over energy resources in the region. Wednesday, Britain's Foreign Office rejected President Cristina Fernandez's declaration that ships traveling from the mainland to the Falklands would need a license from Argentina.

RUSSIA: 6.8 quake in border area

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck Thursday morning in the region where China, Russia and North Korea meet, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.