Iraq Eight Chinese hostages held by insurgents in Iraq have been freed, the Al-Arabiya television station said, citing a statement by their captors. Iraq Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq vowed to fan the flames of civil war and 15 people were killed and scores wounded in a car-bomb attack on a Shiite mosque while celebrating a major Muslim holiday in Baghdad. Iraq Iraqi interim Defense Minister Hazem al-Shaalan said the Baghdad government would shortly arrest prominent Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi for allegedly seeking to tarnish his and his ministry's reputation. Mideast The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a Palestinian armed group linked to the mainstream Fatah faction, said it was ready to agree a "mutual and conditional" ceasefire with Israel. Asia Peace broker Norway was to make a fresh bid to reboot Sri Lanka's stalled peace process amid growing pressure on the government and Tamil Tiger rebels to resume talks in the wake of the tsunami disaster. Asia The Indonesian government will consider anything except independence for tsunami-hit Aceh province as it tries to broker a peace with separatist rebels, a senior minister said. Asia More than 150 nations pledged to build early warning systems and make disaster preparation a budget priority in the wake of the Asian tsunamis, with the United Nations vowing to halve the deaths due to nature in a decade. Vietnam Bird flu has claimed two more victims in Vietnam, alarming authorities and international experts as the toll from the disease mounted with five deaths announced in the past four days. Maldives Maldivian reformists made allegations of irregularities as voting was underway in the first post-tsunami election that is seen as a key popularity test for Asia's longest serving leader.