ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish warplanes bombed Kurdish guerrilla targets in northern Iraq yesterday, killing four Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels in the latest in a series of aerial bombardments this month, military sources said. The air strikes in northern Iraq’s Qandil Mountains started in the morning and continued into the afternoon, said the sources. The militants have killed a number of Turkish soldiers in recent weeks, piling pressure on the government and military to strike back. Turkey’s military said yesterday that it believed 35 PKK rebels had been killed in the recent fighting in southeast Turkey. The military told reporters they had picked up communication between rebels where they referred to the deaths of PKK members in clashes this week on Cudi Mountain in Sirnak, near the border with Iraq.

CETINJE (Reuters) – War is inevitable again one day in the Balkans due to the conditions faced by the Serb minority in Kosovo, the acting head of the Serbian Orthodox Church said. Metropolitan Amfilohije Radovic said Kosovo’s Serbs face hostility from the mainly Muslim ethnic Albanians, who make up about 90 percent of the population. “Amid such injustice, there cannot be peace,” Amfilohije said in an interview late on Thursday at his headquarters in the Monastery of Cetinje in Montenegro. “It will be the root of future conflict, that is as clear as day.” He said he wanted peace but was “realistic.” “There will be some period of peace, but it will be a time that prepares for new conflict, new war, new struggle,” he said.

THE HAGUE (AFP) – Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic will testify to the UN’s Yugoslav war crimes court next month in past ally Momcilo Krajisnik’s appeal against a 27-year prison term. The appeals chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) allowed Krajisnik, in a decision released yesterday, to call Karadzic as a witness. Karadzic is awaiting the start of his own war crimes trial. “The hearing of Mr Karadzic will take place in the course of an evidentiary hearing on November 3 and 5, 2008,” said a court statement. Krajisnik, who met with Karadzic in September to ask him if he could testify, must file a summary by October 27 on the facts on which his former ally will testify.

The Romanian government said it has fired the country’s police chief for misusing public funds by signing contracts for expensive cars. Interior Minister Cristian David said he would cancel the contract signed by Gheorghe Popa this year for 392 Dacia Logans at a price of 58,000 euros ($78,000) each. The price includes 40,000 euros’ ($54,000) worth of additional features, such as GPS and video systems. Popa said yesterday he had been legally advised to sign the contract. (AP)

Austria, Turkey, Japan, Uganda and Mexico have won non-permanent seats on the powerful UN Security Council. Austria and Turkey beat Iceland yesterday in the battle for two European seats on the council. And Iran – a country under UN sanctions – garnered only 32 votes, losing the Asian seat to Japan, which received 158 votes. (AP)

The United States gave Albania $15.7 million (11.7 million euros) yesterday aid to help it tackle corruption and bolster its judiciary. A US Embassy statement said the agreement signed with Albania’s Finance Ministry was aimed at reducing corruption and inefficiency in tax administration, establishing a one-stop agency for business licensing and creating a transparent construction permit system. The two-year program, managed by the US Agency for International Development, will also finance the creation of units in six cities in the tiny Balkan country to investigate corruption. (AP)

Smoking in most indoor public places in Croatia will be banned starting in the coming months. Croatia’s parliament approved a bill yesterday prohibiting smoking in offices, bars, restaurants, schools, hospitals and cafes. The ban has one exemption – psychiatric clinics. The government did not provide a reason why it gave that exemption. The ban will be enforced in schools and hospitals later this month, while restaurants and bars will be given time to adapt until April. About 30 percent of Croatia’s 4.5 million population are believed to be smokers. (AP)