World Briefs

WASHINGTON – Federal health officials on Thursday ordered dozens of imported foods from China held at the border as possible health risks. Most are ethnic treats, including snacks, drinks and chocolates.

It's unusual for the Food and Drug Administration to put such a broad hold on goods from an entire country, not just a few rogue manufacturers. The order, which covers products made with milk, is a precaution to keep out foods contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine, which can cause serious kidney problems.

"Most of the products we are talking about are finished products like cookies, cakes and candies. The impact will be for various ethnic communities looking for specific products."said Steve Solomon, a senior FDA enforcement official.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Armed men kidnapped an Iranian diplomat Thursday in Pakistan's northwest, a day after the slaying of an American aid worker — heightening fears that Islamic militants are hunting down foreigners.

The Iranian and his Pakistani bodyguard were driving over a narrow bridge in Peshawar when two gunmen blocked their way with a car and opened fire, said a police investigator who cited a witness. The attackers killed the guard and fled with the diplomat.

On Wednesday, gunmen shot and killed American aid worker Stephen Vance as he was traveling to work in Peshawar, a vital city for both the government and aid agencies where security has dramatically crumbled.

In the 1980s, Peshawar was a hub for U.S.-backed guerrillas fighting Soviet troops in neighboring Afghanistan, some of whom went on to form the Taliban.

BAGHDAD – Iraq aims to triple oil exports to six million barrels a day in 10 years, earmarking two billion dollars to start increasing capacity, Finance Minister Baqer Jabr Solagh told AFP.

"We are allocating about two billion dollars to the oil ministry in the 2009 budget in order to start increasing capacity in this sector," Solagh said in an interview on Wednesday.

"From my view, we need to increase our exports at least to what they were in the 1980s, when we exported 3.4 million barrels a day," he said.

"The ministry of oil has a plan, and the minister came to the cabinet and... said they will increase (exports) to six million barrels per day in 10 years."

Current production stands at some 2.4 million bpd, of which two million are exported.

Solagh pointed out that the oil industry's infrastructure and technology are woefully inadequate, however, and that the aid of foreign companies will be necessary.

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