PROKUPLJE, Serbia - Opposition leaders took their campaign to oust Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to one of his strongholds and were greeted by gunshots by his local party leader.

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan‘s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif briefed top military and cabinet officials on a controversial plan agreed in Washington to get Moslem militant fighters to withdraw from Indian Kashmir.

BOGOTA - As many as 78 people were feared dead in heavy fighting that erupted in mountains on the edge of Bogota as hundreds of Marxist rebels prepared to stage a spectacular attack on the capital, the Colombian army said.

UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations disputed Iraqi charges that a U.N. mine clearance expert was actually a spy trying to start a locust plague in an effort to sabotage Iraqi agriculture.

WASHINGTON - The United States showed little concern over militants who have vowed to fight on in Kashmir and expressed confidence Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will honor a pledge to withdraw the guerrillas.

KIEV - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will try to persuade Ukraine‘s leaders to scrap two new nuclear power stations due to replace disaster-hit Chernobyl which the West is hoping to have shut down next year.

LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair has dismissed reports of a rift with deputy John Prescott and denied allegations that some of his advisers were undermining Prescott‘s policies.

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina asked Washington and NATO headquarters in Brussels for approval to join the alliance as an associate member.

ALGIERS - African foreign ministers began preparations for the final OAU summit of the century with a cautious welcome for peace deals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone.

LIMA - The Peruvian legislature has approved a law withdrawing Peru from the jurisdiction of a top human rights court despite criticism the move could severely limit the appeals process for people jailed on treason charges.

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said after talks with Ehud Barak on Friday he had high hopes that Israel‘s new prime minister would achieve progress towards Middle East peace process.

TEHRAN - Iran‘s powerful intelligence ministry on Thursday withdrew a complaint against a leading moderate newspaper, raising hopes that the banned daily would be allowed to reappear.