Iraq At least 33 people were killed in four car bomb attacks and clashes in a restive town north of Baghdad, as an imminent showdown loomed in Fallujah, another Sunni rebel bastion in Iraq. Mideast Prime minister Ahmed Qorei met in Gaza City with leaders of the main Palestinian armed factions and security officials in a bid to prevent any outbreak of violence after the death of Yasser Arafat. Iraq-Britain An Internet site has published a statement attributed to the group of Iraq's most-wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claiming a suicide bombing that killed three members of Britain's Black Watch regiment. ICoast Ivory Coast's rebel New Forces warned they would launch an assault if loyalist forces cross into a UN-patrolled buffer zone, after two days of government air strikes on their positions in northern parts of the country. ICoast The African Union condemned air strikes carried out by Ivory Coast government forces on rebel targets, accusing the government of breaking existing peace agreements. India Fifteen people were killed in Indian Kashmir as fresh violence erupted during a visit to the insurgency-hit region by India's home minister, officials said. Afghanistan-UN The fate of three UN officials abducted in Afghanistan continued to hang in the balance after their kidnappers set a fifth deadline for their execution. Iran China said that it opposed US efforts to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear programme. Thailand-south-unrest BANGKOK: Thailand's premier has cancelled his trip to the APEC summit in Chile this month amid continuing violence after 87 Muslim protestors died in the country's strife-hit south, officials said.