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Ransom deal struck for Ukraine arms ship

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The owners of a Ukrainian arms ship hijacked off Somalia more than two months ago have agreed to pirates' $20 million ransom demands, an official says.

The Kenya Seafarers Association said Sunday that the MV Faina, which was carrying a cargo of Soviet-era tanks and other munitions to Kenya, will be freed as soon as its owners can work out a payment schedule with the Somali pirates who seized it Sept. 25 in the Gulf of Aden, CNN reported.

"A deal has been reached to free the MV Faina. Talks on how to deliver the ransom money are ongoing," Andrew Mwangura of the association told the U.S. broadcaster.

The ship's hijacking triggered a response from Western nations, including the U.S. Navy, which sent ships to monitor the pirates and make sure its load of weapons didn't end up in the hands of terrorists.

Mwangura told CNN the pirates at first were seeking a $35 million ransom from ship owner Kaalbye Shipping Ukraine, but have since lowered their demand to $20 million.

38 bodies found in Iraq mass grave

BAQUBA, Iraq, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Thirty-eight bodies have been recovered from a mass grave north of Baquba, Iraq, this weekend, officials said.

More bodies could be found as Iraqi police continue to dig out the shallow mass grave in the village of Abu Tomma, a former stronghold of al-Qaida In Iraq, CNN reported Sunday.

The bodies, all of adult men, showed signs of torture, with some blindfolded and some decapitated, officials said. Some appeared to be wearing uniforms of the Iraqi Security Forces, but most are believed to be civilians who were kidnapped while trying to pass phony checkpoints, the broadcaster said.

Officials said it wasn't clear how long the bodies have been in the graves, but some estimated they had been buried at various times during the past two years.

New FBI spy rules worry Arab-Americans

DETROIT, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Arab-Americans in Detroit say they're worried new FBI counter-terrorism powers will end up being used to target innocent U.S. citizens.

In a last-minute rule change before he leaves office, President George Bush amended U.S. Department of Justice guidelines to allow the FBI to use confidential informants to gather intelligence in preliminary probes, interview people without identifying who they are and spy on suspects without first getting clear evidence of wrongdoing, the Detroit Free Press reported Sunday.

That has Arab-American leaders in Detroit, the U.S. city with the biggest concentration of ethnic Arab citizens, concerned that authorities will use racial profiling to spy on Muslims who have no connection to terrorism, infiltrating mosques and snooping into private lives.

"There is anxiety the Middle Eastern community will be targeted," Dearborn, Mich., attorney Nabih Ayad told the Free Press. "There is always a danger in the implementation when you give such discretion in the hands of agents."

The FBI says it needs the rule changes to overcome outdated restrictions and say the new guidelines won't target innocent people, noting the rules state they must be applied in a "reasonable manner that respects liberty and privacy."

Four slain in Tijuana auto junkyard

TIJUANA, Mexico, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Three workers at a Tijuana, Mexico, auto junkyard and a 14-year-old boy who was inside were killed in the latest drug slayings in the border city, police say.

The workers, aged between 35 and 25, and the boy were killed by shotgun blasts Saturday afternoon in violence that appeared to be perpetrated by drug cartels, Baja California officials told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

A total of seven people died Saturday in Tijuana violence, the newspaper said. One incident, however, provided leads for police on who is ordering the slayings, which have claimed 715 lives in the city since Jan. 1.

Authorities said three gunmen fleeing the scene of an attack on a police officer were chased and intercepted by authorities, and one of them, identified as Roberto Castaneda, 42, is a state police investigator. Police told the Union-Tribune that Castaneda confessed to being part of a cell run by Filiberto Parra Ramos, nicknamed "La Perra," who in turn allegedly works for the cartel of Teodoreo Garcia Simental, known as "El Teo."

Authorities told the newspaper that Garcia Simental is one of the drug lords fighting for control of the lucrative Tijuana drug trade.

Officials: Mexican crooks buy Houston guns

HOUSTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- An increasing number of suspected criminals from Mexico are crossing the border to purchase readily available firearms in Houston, officials allege.

U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives official J. Dewey Webb, the special agent in charge the bureau's Houston division, alleged Houston has quickly become an ideal spot for Mexican residents to obtain firearms, the Houston Chronicle said Sunday.

"Our investigations show Houston is the top source for firearms going into Mexico, top source in the country," Webb alleged.

Mexico's ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, agreed that an increased amount of firearms used in his country originated across the border.

"All the weapons the drug syndicates are using in Mexico come across the border from the United States," Sarukhan alleged.

The Chronicle said more than 4,000 people have already died this year from such violence as the Mexican government under President Felipe Calderon has attempted to fight regional crime.

During 2007 alone, a total of 1,131 guns allegedly traced back to Texas sellers were found at the site of shootings in Mexico, The San Antonio Express-News reported.