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60 die in Iraq violence

BAGHDAD, March 23 (UPI) -- Firefights, bombings, and mortar and rocket attacks Sunday left at least 60 people dead across wide swaths of Iraq.

The carnage hit both Shiite and Sunni communities in central and northern sections of the country, the Los Angeles Times reported. Baghdad's fortified Green Zone was hit by mortar and rocket fire but there were no immediate reports of casualties there, the newspaper said.

The deadliest incident involved a suicide bomber who detonated an explosives-packed tanker outside an Iraqi army base in Mosul, killing at least 12 Iraqi soldiers and wounding 30 other people, said Brig. Gen. Mohammed Ahmed.

A second car bomber hit an Iraqi army checkpoint in Mosul, killing one officer and injuring 10 others, police said.

Police in Zafaraniya said insurgents in three cars shot commuters waiting to board minibuses, killing seven people and injuring 16 others, the Times said.

Another suicide bomber in Shula district killed seven people and injured 12 more as they waited in line to buy gasoline.

In Baghdad, meanwhile, police found the bodies of six people killed execution-style.

Other attacks left two police officers dead and two injured in Diyala province, four soldiers died in a roadside blast south of Kirkuk and U.S-led forces reported killing at least 12 suspected insurgents in a firefight east of Baqubah, the Times reported.

Peres: Israel won't make deal with Syria

JERUSALEM, March 23 (UPI) -- Israel does not expect to reach an agreement with Syria about returning the Golan Heights, Israeli President Shimon Peres said Sunday.

"If the Golan is given back, it will boost Iran's influence in Lebanon and the territory will effectively be under Iranian-Syrian control," Peres said.

Vice President Dick Cheney cited U.S. concerns about Damascus giving arms to Hezbollah, The Jerusalem Post reported. Cheney met with Peres Sunday as part of is 10-day tour of the Mideast.

Cheney reportedly also said he believed Syrian President Bashar Assad was uninterested in conducting talks with Israel.

Peres told Cheney that Europe and the United States seemed to be paying little attention to the creation of ballistic missiles in Iran, the Post reported.

"Iran's only intentions of developing ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads are to destroy Israel and threaten the entire world," Pares said.

Cheney reportedly stressed that the United States planned to do its best to handle nuclear threats from Iran.

Taiwan president-elect wants China ties

TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 23 (UPI) -- President-elect Ma Ying-jeou said Sunday Taiwan can achieve a peace agreement with China by backing off independence claims.

"The idea is to shelve the issue," he told The Washington Post in an interview.

Ma won 58 percent of the vote in Saturday's election. He was the candidate of the Kuomintang, the Nationalist party of Chiang Kai-shek, and is the son of one of Chiang's followers.

Taiwan and China have increasingly close economic ties, while China continues to claim the island as a breakaway region. Ma said he hopes to get agreements to strengthen the relationship.

At a news conference, Ma said he recognizes that how much he is able to accomplish depends on "the other side's good will."

Both the ruling Chinese Communist Party and the KMT have a one-China ideology, although they disagree about who should govern that one China.

4 die, 1 missing as fishing boat sinks

DUTCH HARBOR, Alaska, March 23 (UPI) -- Four crew members died and a fifth was missing Sunday when their fishing boat sank off the coast of Alaska, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard officials said 42 other crew members of the Alaska Ranger were rescued by two helicopters, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The survivors were being taken to Dutch Harbor.

"Four crew members were reported deceased, and one is still missing," Coast Guard Lt. Eric Eggan told CBC News from Juneau Sunday afternoon.

The vessel, operating in 6-8-foot seas and 30 mph winds, began taking in water about 3 a.m., the CBC reported.

The flooding began after crew members lost control of the ship's rudder about 120 miles off the Alaskan coast and an immediate evacuation to life rafts began, the Coast Guard said.

The Seattle Times reported the vessel is owned by the Fishing Company of Alaska, which operates out of Seattle. Another one of the company's boats was dispatched to help in the rescue efforts, the newspaper added.