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Berlusconi mulls pullout in Afghanistan

ROME, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says his country's troops should leave Afghanistan quickly after six Italian soldiers died in a bombing in Kabul.

Berlusconi offered no schedule for a pullout of Italy's 2,800 troops, saying any withdrawal of Italian forces would be coordinated with allies, CNN reported Friday.

"We are all convinced that the best thing for all of them is to leave soon, to no longer have a presence there," the prime minister said Thursday while in Brussels, where NATO headquarters is located.

A car bomb killed six Italian paratroopers in Kabul Thursday. NATO reported 10 Afghan civilians also were killed in the blast.

Berlusconi clarified his comments Friday in Rome, saying a "transition strategy," not an exit strategy was needed in Afghanistan so that the Afghan government could assume more responsibility for the country's security, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The goal of a transition strategy was to boost the Afghan government's "ability to guarantee security in the country" so NATO forces could begin reducing its military presence in the country.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the time has come for a shift in the NATO mission so responsibility could be placed on the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, ANSA said.

"It is time to ask, not just to give," Frattini said. "It is time to ask those who govern Afghanistan: 'What is your strategy for the first 100 days? What are your objectives for the first six months? It is time to set deadlines."

Suicide bomb kills at least 25 in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A suicide car bomber set off a huge explosion Friday in Pakistan's violence-plagued northwest region, killing at least 25 people, police said.

One report said at least 36 others were injured.

A police official said the bomb contained more than 300 pounds of explosives.

Pakistan's Dawn English language newspaper quoted police and witnesses as saying the blast, around 11 a.m., was set off in the town of Kohat and also brought down nearby shops and other structures.

Police officials said car was parked in front of a restaurant and that the number of casualties might rise because of the presence of a large number of people in the busy area.

An official said parts of human bodies were spread over a wide area.

Kohat, about 120 miles southwest of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, is a garrison town near the Pashtun tribal belt, close to the border with Afghanistan, where militants seek sanctuary.

The attack site is mostly inhabited by the minority Shiites, who have been victims of sectarian violence in predominantly Sunni Pakistan, Dawn reported. The Taliban militants belong to the Sunni community.

The entire region has been the scene of intense fighting for months between the Pakistani military and Taliban insurgents, with the military claiming significant gains lately with last month's death of Baitullah Mehsud, the chief of Pakistani Taliban.

The New York Times, quoting a police commander, said the explosion also injured 36 people and knocked down a two-story hotel and a number of shops in the Kacha Pakha bazaar area of the town.

Election limbo concerns U.S.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Afghanistan's election crisis could leave that country without a leader for a long time, a prospect raising concern in the United States, a U.S. official said.

If the process goes into a runoff, it may not be completed before next spring, and the onset of harsh winter would further complicate U.S. President Barack Obama's Afghan policies, The New York Times reported.

With the elections marred by mounting complaints of voter fraud, which must be resolved before the winner is certified by the U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission, all suspicious votes will likely be tossed out.

If that happens, President Hamid Karzai, the winner based on uncertified results, could be forced into a runoff against his nearest rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.

The Times report said U.S. officials are worried a runoff cannot be held before the November start of winter.

But a delay until next spring would come at a time when the Obama administration confronts escalating Taliban violence in Afghanistan and rising skepticism at home about committing more U.S. troops in that country, the report said.

"We are well aware that we have 12 to 18 months to start to show progress," a senior administration official told The Times. "The clock starts to run out after that."

"There is an exquisite dilemma here," Bruce Riedel at the Brookings Institution told The Times. He said a runoff would be preferable to a discredited first-round Karzai win, but if the vote is put off until next spring, the administration would have to deal with interim leaders who would be much less helpful in promoting U.S. priorities.

Ahmadinejad again questions Holocaust

TEHRAN, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Crowds that included supporters of Iran's opposition movement gathered in Tehran Friday to march in the country's annual pro-Palestinian parade, witnesses said.

Before prayer services, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the world has the responsibility of confronting Israel to ensure peace, calling such action a "humanitarian principle," the state-supported Press TV reported.

The Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, rally supporting Palestinians is observed on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Ahmadinejad again questioned whether the Holocaust occurred and urged other countries to stand up to Israel.

"If the Holocaust, as you claim, is true, why don't you allow a probe into the issue?" he said while pledging Iran's support for Palestine.

In the Quds Day marches, pro- and anti-regime marchers faced off near Tehran University, witnesses told CNN. Many opposition supporters held up the "V for victory" sign with their fingers painted green, the color adopted by opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi.

Security forces blocked off the streets from Revolution Square to Tehran University. Witnesses said the rallies, while heated sometimes, did not escalate to the level of the violence after the June 12 election, in which Ahmadinejad was declared the winner. Opposition leaders said the vote had been rigged.

Miami-Boston flight halted by bomb threat

MIAMI, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- An American Airlines flight from Miami to Boston made an emergency return after a written bomb threat was found in a bathroom, officials said.

American Airlines Flight 1640 had taken off from Miami International Airport Thursday about 45 minutes before the note was found, the Transportation Security Administration told CNN.

The plane returned to Miami and the 168 passengers and six crew members were evacuated. Federal authorities said no suspicious items were found. The flight was rescheduled for a later departure.