Tel Aviv - Legislators of the opposition Likud party asked Israel's attorney-general Friday to examine whether interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as the head of a transitional government has the authority to continue peace negotiations with Syria.

Likud legislator Yuval Steinitz said Olmert, by conducting talks with Syria as an outgoing premier, was "trampling the principles of democracy" and endangering "Israel's most vital interests" for the sake of his own personal record.

Brussels - The European Union on Friday urged Israel to put an end to "brutal" attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

"The European Union once again condemns in the strongest possible terms the acts of violence and brutality committed against Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank," said a statement issued by the French presidency of the EU on behalf of the bloc's 27 member states.

"The European Union would point out that it is up to the Israeli government, which has itself condemned these acts, to take the necessary measures to stop them immediately, in accordance with its international obligations," the EU said.

Kabul - A soldier of the US-led coalition was killed in eastern Afghanistan, while international forces arrested three suspected insurgents elsewhere, the military said Friday.

The soldier was killed by small arms fire on Friday in the eastern region, US military said in a statement, but did not say if the firefight was with Taliban militants.

The dead soldier was not identified in the statement. Most of the soldiers who serve under the command of coalition forces are from the US.

More than 1,000 international soldiers have been killed in and around Afghanistan since the ouster of Taliban regime in late 2001.

Vienna - Two Austrians kidnapped by a terrorist group in Tunisia in February were freed Thursday night in Mali, Austria's foreign ministry announced Friday.

Wolfgang Ebner, 51, and Andrea Kloiber, 43, were on holiday in the Sahara desert when they were taken hostage allegedly by the terrorist organization al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb.

"Both are currently under the protection of the Mali army and are on their way to the capital Bamako," Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said in a statement.

The kidnap victims are in relatively good health, according to Mali authorities, and would soon be met by Austrian officials in Bamako, the ministry said.

Tallinn - Estonian residents are obtaining Russian citizenship at nearly twice the rate they are claiming Estonian citizenship, according to figures released Friday.

Newspaper Eesti Paevaleht reported that the Russian embassy in Tallinn had granted Russian citizenship to 3,700 people during the last twelve months, while Estonian government figures showed that 1,600 people had acquired Estonian citizenship since January this year.

The newspaper quoted Russian embassy spokesman Maxim Kozlov who said "Estonia is one of the leading places in the world in terms of adoption of Russian citizenship."

Paris - The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband are shortly to travel to the threatened Congolese city of Goma.