SOFIA (AP) - Bulgaria’s 485-member strong battalion will stay in Iraq despite the threat posed by the growing insurgency against coalition forces in the Arab country, President Georgi Parvanov said yesterday. Parvanov called an emergency meeting of top military officials to review the explosive situation in Iraq and the security of the Bulgarian soldiers stationed in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. Insurgents killed a Bulgarian civilian truckdriver and wounded three Bulgarian soldiers on Tuesday.

BELGRADE (AP) - Serbia’s new nationalist-led government called yesterday for the dismissal of Boris Tadic, the pro-Western defense minister who has urged the arrest of war crimes suspects. In a statement faxed to The Associated Press, Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus said that “the state interest obliges us to elect a different person for the post of the defense minister” of Serbia-Montenegro, which last year replaced Yugoslavia.

Visa services for Romanians and Bulgarians wishing to travel to Britain will be restored next week, officials said yesterday. The British embassies in Sofia and Bucharest issued statements indicating the resumption of services, which were suspended following claims that applicants from the two Balkan countries were exploiting lax British entry controls. (AP)

The prime ministers of Turkey and Morocco, two countries struck by deadly bombings, met yesterday and discussed cooperation against terrorism and signed a free-trade agreement. Moroccan Premier Driss Jettou is in Ankara for a two-day visit aimed at boosting economic and political ties between the two nations, which were the targets of bombings believed to be tied to the Al Qaeda terror network. (AP)

An earthquake measuring 4.2 points on the Richter scale was recorded in eastern Romania early yesterday, the national seismological laboratory said. There were no reports of damage or casualties in the quake, which occurred deep underground with its epicenter in the Vrancea region, the institute said. (AFP)

Universities across Serbia are crying out in horror at a 70 percent budget cut, many saying they will be unable to pay even basic utility bills and may have to close their doors. The government is said to have earmarked just 283.5 million dinars ($4.90 million) for all faculties in five university cities, compared with 891.2 million dinars last year. (Reuters)