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Cheney meets with Afghan president

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 20 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney restated a U.S. commitment to Afghanistan Thursday and said he envisioned that country enjoying peace and freedom.

"The commitment of the United States is firm and unshakable," Cheney said during a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai during the unannounced visit to Kabul. "Our goal is a country that grows in justice and prosperity. That vision of freedom and peace will become a reality, I have no doubt of this."

He noted reconstruction efforts in several areas, adding, "The progress of this nation is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that there is a war going on."

Karzai thanked the United States for its assistance in training the Afghan army. He said he anticipated international military support would be needed for some time to come.

"Afghanistan will need for a long time support from the international community in the rebuilding exercise here in Afghanistan, and in strengthening of the Afghan security institutions," he said, even though the country's army has advanced through the years. "Our security institutions are stronger, we are able to take more and more responsibility for the provision of security to our population around the country."

Al-Qaida a tougher spy target than Kremlin

WASHINGTON, March 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. government has found it extremely difficult to penetrate the al-Qaida movement, reports say, and some experts think it now may be impossible.

One major reason, The Washington Post said, was the failure to properly address religious motivations of Islamist radicals.

Certainly, it's a different business than the Cold War where a suitcase full of money sometimes did the trick, observers say.

Al-Qaida has tightened its internal security at the top since Sept. 11, 2001, with greater emphasis on personal and tribal loyalties.

"I think you cannot penetrate such a movement now," said Alain Chouet, former chief of the security intelligence service of France's foreign spy agency. He said it might be too late for Western intelligence agencies, having missed earlier chances.

Poll: 59 percent call Iraq war mistake

PRNCETON, N.J., March 20 (UPI) -- Five years into the Iraq war, 59 percent of Americans say it was "a mistake," a Gallup poll indicates.

Fifty-four percent of those contacted said history will remember the conflict as a failure while 42 percent said they think it was a success.

Public opinion, however, indicates 67 percent of those polled think Iraq, despite its many problems, will be better off in the long run than it was before the invasion.

But, 53 percent said the Bush administration deliberately misled Americans over weapons of mass destruction, Forty-two percent disagree.

The survey queried 2,021 adults Feb. 21-24. Pollsters say they are 95 percent confident the error margin was no more than 3 percentage points.

Kuwait dissolves parliament

KUWAIT CITY, March 20 (UPI) -- Kuwaiti Emir Sheik Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah has dissolved parliament following the resignation of his entire Cabinet.

The Financial Times reported the government has been at a standstill because the Cabinet and National Assembly have been unable to agree on development projects to be funded through petrodollars.

The entire Cabinet resigned in protest Monday and the parliament was dissolved Wednesday. New elections are expected in May.

A special irritant has been a lack of agreement over more foreign participation in the oil sector. The Kuwait Petroleum Corp. said it hoped to increase its oil production from around 2.6 million barrels per day to 3 million by 2010. But that would mean greater input from foreign companies that have more expertise in handling heavy oil.

"This is the year we will either make or break (Project Kuwait) because we cannot tolerate delays in decision-making any longer and we will have to rethink our upstream strategy," Hashim el-Rifaai, managing director of the Oil Development Co., told the newspaper.

Dalai Lama would go to China for Tibet

BEIJING, March 20 (UPI) -- The Dalai Lama said Thursday he would go to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao if China is interested in talks on Tibet.

Meanwhile, Tibet's government-in-exile Thursday accused China of spreading "lies" regarding the protest as Chinese state media said police shot four demonstrators in "self defense," the Financial Times reported. The exiled Tibetan government also urged pro-Tibet demonstrators to adhere to non-violent confrontations.

Before offering to travel to China, the Dalai Lama called on world leaders to lobby China for talks on Tibet but admitted it may not be practical until protests died down, the Voice of America reported. Peaceful protests in Lhasa by Buddhist monks in Tibet turned violence last week, prompting a crackdown by Chinese authorities.

China's official news agency, Xinhua, said Chinese police wounded four rioters in Aba in Sichuan province, marking the first time the government acknowledged shooting protesters.

Chinese media reported Tibetan monks started the deadly riots. The Tibetan government claimed violent protests were Chinese agents operating in Tibet, the Times said.

The government-in-exile expressed concern "that miscreants and Chinese agents may create problems between us and the police, us and our hosts and within our community."

Hawaii volcano explosion hurls boulders

HILO, Hawaii, March 20 (UPI) -- A blast caused by natural gas pressure in Kilauea's Halemaumau Crater prompted the closure of parts of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

The explosion, which released no lava but hurled boulders across 75 acres, was comparable to a 3.7 earthquake, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory head Jim Kauahikaua said it is possible an area up to 100 feet in width caved in and blocked pressure-release vents, leading to the Wednesday explosion.

A 65- to 100-foot crater was left where the rocks blew apart and surrounding areas were covered in rocks and dust from the blast, Kauahikaua said.

The last time Halemaumau exploded was in 1924 when debris flew up to 2 miles above the crater.