SARAJEVO/WASHINGTON (AP) – The USA has cut aid to the main Bosnian Serb political party because Washington believes it is blocking reforms aimed at putting Bosnia on a smooth path toward EU membership, officials said yesterday. The US Embassy announced in a statement that Washington was cutting assistance to the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, led by Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik. Dodik’s party dominates the Bosnian Serb mini-state’s parliament, which also recently declared it will consider a referendum to secede from Bosnia if more countries recognize Kosovo’s independence. Earlier yesterday, a senior US official in Washington warned leaders in Bosnia not to exploit tensions over Kosovo’s declaration of independence to press for further divisions of their country.

ANKARA (Reuters) – Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will visit Ankara on Friday, his first visit as head of state, an official at Turkey’s presidential palace said yesterday. The visit comes one week after Turkish troops withdrew from northern Iraq after a major eight-day ground offensive against Kurdish PKK rebels who use the mountainous region as a base from which to stage attacks on Turkey. “President Talabani will make a three-day official visit to Turkey starting on Friday,” the official told Reuters. No further details were immediately available.

Serbian authorities arrested a man suspected of setting fire to the US Embassy during riots against Kosovo’s independence, a court official said yesterday. The man, identified as Milan Z, is suspected of arson and theft in the February 21 attack on the embassy, Belgrade District Court spokeswoman Ivana Ramic said. The suspect was interrogated by an investigative judge, Ramic said, and he was ordered to remain in custody for at least month until a preliminary probe is concluded. If he is formally charged and found guilty, he faces up to 12 years in jail, she added. (AP)

Bulgarian doctors identified a ninth body yesterday after a fire last week swept through two sleeping carriages on a train in the worst railway incident in the Balkan country since 1992, officials said. The incident, which was initially reported to have killed eight people, provoked a heated debate about safety standards at state railway company BDZ and prompted calls for the transport minister to resign. (Reuters)

Military and police officials searched a rugged area in northern Albania yesterday after residents reported seeing a helicopter crash. The Defense Ministry said none of its aircraft were missing, adding that NATO’s force in neighboring Kosovo, and any of its member countries, also were not involved. After initially reporting the incident as a helicopter crash, the ministry later described the alleged crash as “unofficial and unconfirmed.” (AP)