WORLD BRIEFS

SYRIA: 9 reported killed in ambush

A wave of violence and arrests was reported Sunday as the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross visited Damascus to address issues including caring for the wounded and access to detainees during the government's crackdown on a 5-month-old uprising. Activists reported military operations and sweeping arrests in flash point areas including Idlib near the Turkish border and the eastern city of Deir el-Zour. The state-run news agency reported that nine people were killed in central Syria in an ambush by armed groups. The report, which could not be confirmed, said the victims were six soldiers and three civilians.

PAKISTAN: Help sought on abductees

Interior Minister Rehman Malik called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday to help win freedom for around 30 young Pakistanis held by the Pakistani Taliban. The youths were abducted in Afghanistan four days ago after crossing into Kunar province on a day trip from their border villages in Bajur tribal region. The Pakistani Taliban said it captured them because they belong to a tribe that set up a militia force backed by Pakistani government to fight the militants. The Taliban claimed they have released those under 16 and are holding only young men.

ISRAEL: No apology, Netanyahu says

Facing a deepening crisis in relations with Turkey, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphatically ruled out an apology Sunday for a deadly raid on a Turkish ship leading an aid flotilla to Gaza last year, but said he hoped the dispute between the two countries could be resolved. In his first public remarks since Turkey announced Friday it was expelling Israel's ambassador, Netanyahu expressed "regret for the loss of life" in the naval raid and asserted that Israel did not want to worsen relations, but he gave no ground on the Turkish demand for an apology. Nine Turks were killed in clashes with Israeli commandos.