WORLD BRIEFS

IRAN: Sunnis make U.S. terror list

The U.S. State Department named a Sunni militant group in Iran to a U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations Wednesday, a move likely to be welcomed by Tehran just weeks before the resumption of talks over its disputed nuclear program. A department spokesman said adding the Jundallah organization to a terrorist list that contains 46 others - including al-Qaida, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and the Pakistani Taliban - was not intended as a conciliatory gesture. But some experts said the timing could help smooth relations in advance of negotiations over Iran's uranium enrichment program. Talks are expected to resume by the end of the month.

INDIA: 6 rebels killed in Kashmir

Government forces have killed seven suspected Muslim rebels in four gun battles in Indian-controlled Kashmir, police in Srinagar said Wednesday, just days before President Barack Obama visits India. Officials fear the rebels could step up attacks to draw attention to the unrest in the disputed Himalayan region while Obama is visiting. No rebel group has commented on the latest battles, although an umbrella organization of more than a dozen Kashmiri rebel groups recently said it was limiting operations to border areas until after Obama's visit to Mumbai and Delhi, Saturday through Tuesday.

NEW ZEALAND: Clinton cementing ties

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is meeting with officials in Wellington in a bid to fully restore ties that have been irritated by a lingering 25-year-long nuclear dispute. Clinton arrived Thursday and was expected to sign with her counterpart the "Wellington Declaration," a document that will lay out parameters of enhanced U.S.-New Zealand cooperation on counterterrorism, transnational crime and climate change. She will also announce a new strategic dialogue with the South Pacific nation. Despite a long history of friendship, relations have been hampered since 1985 when New Zealand began denying entry to U.S. warships because the Pentagon refused to say whether they carried nuclear weapons.