In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief:

A round-up of today's other stories in brief:

Morocco holds 17 terror suspects

RABAT - Moroccan security forces have arrested 17 radical Islamists on suspicion of belonging to a "terrorist structure" linked to al-Qaeda.

"The 17 members involved in this project have been arrested and will face prosecution," the state news agency said.

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Morocco has been on high security alert since 2003 when suicide bombings killed 45 people in Casablanca, the country's financial capital. - (Reuters)

Bird flu warning system planned

NAIROBI - Experts have begun setting up a bird flu early warning system by mapping routes that are taken by migrating species and places where they rest during their annual travel, United Nations officials said yesterday.

Details of the warning system were announced at an international wildlife conference in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. The exact workings of the system have yet to be ironed out. - (AP)

Priest to face trial in genocide case

BRUSSELS - A Belgian priest detained in Rwanda on genocide charges arrived in Brussels yesterday after a Rwandan court agreed he could be tried in Belgium for his role in the 1994 massacre of 800,000 people.

Fr Guy Theunis, a 60-year-old Catholic missionary, is accused of masterminding killings at a Kigali church and reprinting articles from an extremist publication in a review he published that incited Hutus to kill Tutsis in the central African state.

Thousands of ethnic Tutsis were slaughtered during the bloodshed after seeking sanctuary in churches.

Fr Theunis denies all charges against him.

- (Reuters)

'Old lady killer' may strike again

MEXICO CITY - Police in Mexico City have warned that a serial killer believed to have strangled at least 24 old women in the capital since 2003 is likely to strike again soon.

Police say the murderer, dubbed Mataviejitas ("little old lady killer"), is probably a man dressed as a woman who cons his way into homes by pretending to be a social worker or a nurse.

- (Guardian Service)