World datelines

Chad: Truce reached

N'DJAMENA — Darfur's most powerful rebel group has initialed a truce with the Sudanese government, officials said Saturday, marking the rebel group's return to peace talks aimed at ending the Darfur conflict.

The truce between the rebel Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudanese government takes effect immediately, said Idriss Deby, Chad's president. Justice and Equality Movement spokesman Ahmed Hussein said the deal initialed Saturday was a framework agreement to guide future peace negotiations, including talks on a permanent cease-fire.

Iran: BBC arm of CIA?

TEHRAN — Iran's police chief on Saturday accused the Voice of America and the BBC of being the arms of U.S. and British intelligence agencies, and warned of severe repercussions for journalists and activists caught having contacts with them, state media reported.

Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, whose police forces have played a key role in the government crackdown on protesters since Iran's disputed presidential election, was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying opposition activists have cooperated with the BBC and the Voice of America "with the aim of weakening and overthrowing the (ruling) system."

Iraq: Elections boycott

BAGHDAD — A leading Sunni party announced Saturday that it will boycott Iraq's upcoming elections because its leader was barred from participating, casting into doubt the inclusiveness of a vote that the U.S. military hopes will finally stabilize the country enough for its troops to go home.

The Iraqi National Dialogue Front, whose leader, Saleh Mutlak, has been forbidden to run because of his alleged expressions of sympathy for Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, cited what it called "Iranian interference" for its decision not to participate in the March 7 parliamentary elections.

Mexico: Bodies found

ACAPULCO — Police found the bound bodies of two men on a highway just outside Mexico's Pacific coast resort of Acapulco on Saturday.

The Public Safety Department in the southern state of Guerrero said the two men had been shot in the head and a handwritten message was left near the bodies. The body of a third man was found in Ciudad Altamirano, an inland city in Guerrero near the border with neighboring Michoacan state.

Morocco: Mosque deaths