DIYARBAKIR (AFP) - Twelve Kurdish rebels and a Turkish soldier were killed yesterday in clashes in eastern Turkey, security sources said. A soldier was also wounded in fighting between the army and rebels from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) near Hozat, in Tunceli province, the sources said. General Yasar Buyukanit, chief of the general staff, said last week that «large-scale» operations had been launched against the PKK with the arrival of spring, when the rebels step up attacks as snow melts in the mountains, facilitating their movement.

KABUL (AP) - Turkey plans to host talks between the presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan, officials said yesterday, hoping to stem a quarrel over the comeback of the Taliban that threatens the US-led anti-terror coalition. An aide to Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he would meet Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf along with Turkish officials at the end of April. He declined to elaborate and asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. A Turkish Foreign Ministry official confirmed that Ankara, which enjoys close ties with both countries, was trying to organize the meeting, but cautioned that it had yet to be finalized. The official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said Turkey proposed the meeting «to try and help both countries overcome certain differences.»

Croatian prosecutors yesterday indicted a former deputy and six others for killing Serb civilians in the eastern town of Osijek during the country's independence war. Branimir Glavas was charged with ordering the 1991 abductions, torture and murder of 10 Serbs who were killed by a special unit formed by co-accused Ivica Krnjak and Gordana Getos Magdic, said the indictment. (AFP)

A Southeast European media watchdog yesterday condemned the bombing on Saturday of the home of a prominent Serbian journalist and government critic and urged Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica to do all he could to prevent further attacks. SEEMO, the Austrian-based network of editors, media executives and journalists, said in statement that it «strongly condemns» the attack on Dejan Anastasijevic, which resulted in damage but no injuries. (AP)

Former French film star and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has appealed to the mayor of Kosovo's capital Pristina to call off a planned roundup of stray dogs. (AFP)