Taliban deploying fighters against US

KOTKAI - Pakistan's top Taliban leader said yesterday that he is sending fighters to battle US troops in Afghanistan even as he seeks peace with the Pakistani government. The remarks by Baitullah Mehsud could fuel Western concerns that militants were using peace talks with Pakistan's new civilian rulers to step up attacks elsewhere. Mehsud is based in South Waziristan, regarded as a base for militants fighting in Afghanistan. (AP)

BOGOTA - At least six people were killed when a shallow, 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit Colombia yesterday, destroying homes and shaking buildings in Bogota, where panicked residents fled into the streets. Three people, including a baby, were killed when an avalanche crushed their car, and three more died in landslides. The quake blocked a highway out of the capital and flattened 10 houses and a church. (Reuters)

JERUSALEM - A US professor known for his criticism of Israel has been blocked from entering the country, officials said yesterday. Norman Finkelstein, who was turned back from Ben-Gurion Airport on Friday, is suspected of contacts with groups hostile to Israel, including Hezbollah. A former teacher at DePaul University, Finkelstein has accused Jews of exploiting the legacy of the Holocaust for political and financial gain. (AP)