Iraq Iraq said the battle to retake the Sunni rebel bastion of Fallujah was over, with more than 1,000 insurgents killed, but that the country's most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had fled. Iraq US troops were preventing a Red Crescent convoy of emergency aid from reaching helpless residents inside Fallujah after allowing it as far as the main hospital, a spokeswoman said. Iraq Iraqi security forces are massing in the northern city of Mosul and will make a move "in the next day or so" to restore order, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said. Mideast Palestinians began preparing for an election before January 9 to choose a successor to Yasser Arafat as sombre prayers were said at the graveside of the leader who spearheaded their fight for an independent homeland. Thailand Five blasts struck Thailand's Muslim-majority south within 24 hours, killing a Buddhist man and wounding 29 people. Ivory Coast Hundreds of frightened Europeans were still fleeing troubled Ivory Coast as an uneasy calm returned to the west African country a week after angry mobs went on a rampage targeting foreigners. South Africa South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has been mandated by the African Union to try to resolve the crisis in Ivory Coast, said he will not attend an emergency summit in Nigeria on the west African state. Iran The UN atomic energy agency has postponed until Monday the release of a report on Iran's nuclear program as EU officials pursue attempts to persuade Iran to suspend uranium enrichment and avoid possible UN sanctions. Spain Batasuna, the banned political mouthpiece of armed Basque separatist group ETA, is to appeal for an end to armed conflict in the northern Spanish region on Sunday, the Euskadi Basque <a href="http://www.rmf.fm" target="_blank">radio</a> station reported. India Four women and a 12-year-old girl died and at least 10 people were injured in a stampede at the Indian capital's main railway station as thousands tried to board a train.