Lebanon

Hezbollah gains win in Cabinet decision

BEIRUT — The U.S.-backed Cabinet on Wednesday reversed measures against the militant Hezbollah movement that last week set off Lebanon's worst violence since the 1975-90 civil war.

The decision was a major victory for the Iranian-allied Hezbollah and the latest sign that the Shiite militant group appeared to have gained the upper hand in the country's political power struggle after its fighters routed supporters of the government.

Clashes between government supporters and opponents broke out last week after the Cabinet challenged Hezbollah with decisions to sack the airport security chief for alleged ties to the group and to declare the militants' private telephone network illegal.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that amounted to a declaration of war and sent his armed fighters to the streets for the first time since the civil war ended, demanding the government rescind its orders.

Iraq

Al-Maliki takes over anti-insurgency fight

BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki took personal charge Wednesday of a military operation to rout al-Qaida in Iraq in what the U.S. has described as the terror group's last major stronghold, even as a tenuous cease-fire took hold over Baghdad's Sadr City slum.

The campaign in the northern city of Mosul was the third by al-Maliki in two months, as he attempts to stamp out Shiite militants and Sunni extremists across the country.

Also Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed 22 people and wounded 40 in an attack on a funeral tent in a village west of Baghdad, Iraqi police Col. Faisal al-Zubaie said.

Many Sunnis opposed to al-Qaida were at the funeral for Taha Obaid, a school principal who was shot dead Tuesday.

South of the capital, a young girl strapped with explosives killed an Iraqi captain and wounded four soldiers Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS

Spread of Darfur fight elicits warning

The U.N. peacekeeping chief warned Wednesday of an alarming increase in violence in Darfur that has spread to the Sudanese capital and could escalate event further.

Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno urged all actors — the disparate rebel groups and feuding Sudanese and Chadian governments — to "move away from the brink of going into another cycle of violence" and start negotiations to end the Darfur conflict.

—From wire reports