Jerusalem - Israel's government approved Sunday the appointment of the country's former chief rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau, as chairman of the Council of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Centre.

Lau, a Holocaust survivor, succeeds Yosef Lapid, a fellow holocaust survivor and former minister of justice who died in June this year, as chairman of the council, an honorary body of 120 people, which meets once a year.

Madrid - Almost two years after the collapse of peace negotiations with the Spanish government, the militant Basque separatist group ETA is deeply divided, according to police intelligence.

The suspected ETA chief Francisco Javier Lopez Pena, alias Thierry, who was arrested in France in May, had been ostracized by the group, the Madrid-based El Pais newspaper reported Sunday.

The newspaper, quoting a police report, said his exclusion had been enforced by hardliners who wanted to punish the 49-year-old for being against further terrorist attacks.

Dhaka  - Authorities in Bangladesh Sunday claimed that Myanmar has suspended oil and gas exploration in the disputed Bay of Bengal as a result of Dhaka's efforts to defuse tension between the two countries.

"Diplomatic endeavours and a strong presence by the Bangladesh navy resulted in the suspension of exploration by Myanmar in the disputed waters," a statement issued by the Inter-Service Public Relations office of the country's Defence Ministry said.

Islamabad - Jets from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Sunday bombed hills in Pakistan's Khyber tribal district, killing at least five people, Pakistani authorities quoting locals said.

The attack took place in Morga area in the remote Tirah valley, located close to the volatile Afghan border.

"The airstrike killed at least five people from the Qambar Khel tribe, while four or five more were wounded," an official in the area told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on condition of anonymity.

Gaza - Hamas will not implement a long-term truce with Israel for the time being, a senior official of the Islamist organization said Sunday.

The offer "was not cancelled," Mahmoud al-Zahar said, but added that there was "no room to implement it for the time being" since "there is no one to talk about this proposal with on the other (Israeli) side."

He said a long-term truce was "a project that can be developed when there are intentions."