Baghdad - Iraqi security forces on Thursday said they had killed a top military commander in the Iraqi branch of the al-Qaeda network.

General Tariq al-Assil, police chief for Iraq's western al-Anbar province, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that his forces had killed Hamza Ubid Idris, also known as Abu al-Ansar, on Wednesday night.

Al-Assil said that Idris was responsible for directing attacks in western Iraq by the al-Qaeda in Iraq organisation.

Gibraltar/Madrid  - Britain's Princess Anne on Thursday inaugurated a military hospital in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar in an act that irritated Spain, Spanish media reported.

The hospital was located in a border area the sovereignty over which was unclear, Jose Carracao of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist Party was quoted as saying.

Already in January, Spain protested to the British embassy in Madrid about the royal visit, describing it as "inopportune."

Havana  - Former Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque and former secretary of the Cuban Council of Ministers Carlos Lage - a sort of Cuban prime minister - resigned from all their political positions and admitted their "mistakes," Cuban state media reported Thursday.

Beirut  - The Lebanese Shiite movement Thursday hit out at the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

The group, Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, said "the timing of the warrant, after the reconciliation over the Darfur crisis, was an obvious attempt to worsen circumstances in the region.

"It would also threaten Sudan's sovereignty and territorial integrity through promoting separation."

With the Election Commission announcing the dates of general elections, the state machinery has geared up and affecting transfers of senior police officials in Maharashtra. However, with code of conduct in place, the state government will have to seek the permission of Election Commission before taking a final decision on the same.

Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Ramrao Wagh is one of the senior officials whose transfer is on cards. Wagh took the charge as city police commissioner in August 2006 succeeding Vijay Kamble.

Commenting on the issue, Wagh said, "I have not got any transfer orders yet. It all depends on the Election Commission. As of now, nothing can be predicted."

Just when the Congress was wondering about NCP chief Sharad Pawar's intentions in opening channels with the Shiv Sena, the old Maratha warrior surprised everybody by meeting Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi in Pune. It was a low-key meeting but no less high profile for that and replete with significance. The very next day the two parties announced they had finally worked out their state-level agreement — the NCP gets 22 seats, one more than the last time - a coincidence, perhaps but nonetheless significant.