Kiev - A senior Ukrainian aviation official said Iran intends to purchase and later produce a licensed version of a Ukraine's Antonov 148 mid-range passenger jet, the Interfax news agency reported on Wendesday.

Dmitro Kiva, chairman of the Kiev-headquartered Antonov aerospace factory, said Iran "will fully participate" in the subsequent production of the aircraft.

The An-148 is a twin-engine high-wing passenger plane designed for operation at rough airfields. Ukraine developed the aircraft during the 1990s and certified the single flying prototype in February 2007.

Oslo - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili held talks Wednesday with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg that touched on Tbilisi's aim of joining NATO in future.

The two also discussed developing energy cooperation and Norwegian support for various reform programmes, Stoltenberg told a joint news conference.

Concerning Georgia's prospects of joining NATO, Stoltenberg said "the door is open," citing the decision taken by NATO leaders at a summit in Bucharest in April.

"What we are discussing is the timetable, the development and reforms that are needed in Georgia," Stoltenberg said, adding that NATO and Georgia were in "close dialogue."

Belgrade - A Serbian war crimes prosecutor said in an interview released Wednesday that Albania was hiding evidence of a mass murder committed to harvest victims' organs during the Kosovo war.

The unverified claims have stirred up bad memories and bad blood between the countries.

"Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha. ... ordered security services to destroy documents on Serbs who disappeared in Kosovo, their transport to Albania and the trafficking of their organs," the prosecutor, Vladimir Vukcevic, told the daily Press.

Islamabad - A powerful earthquake rattled Pakistan's south- western Balochistan province on Wednesday, killing more than 170 people, injuring hundreds more and leaving thousands homeless, officials said.

The US Geological Survey website said a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 60 kilometres north-east of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, at 5:10 am (2310 GMT). It lasted about 40 seconds.

With the earthquake hitting just before sunrise, people fled their houses in panic. Television footage showed terrified families wrapped in blankets sitting by the roadsides in Quetta.

Baghdad - Three children were killed on Wednesday and 14 people were injured when al-Qaeda militants attacked a home in Iraq's restive city of Baquba, reported the Voices of Iraq VOI news agency.

The deceased were all the children of Abdel Karim, a leader of the Awakening Council movement, which is a collection of Sunni units that collaborate with US forces in fighting militants from the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq.

Seven women were among those injured in the attack, which occurred in the city's Baladruz district. Baquba, the capital of the Diyala province, is about 60 kilometres north of Baghdad.

Also in Diyala, another Awakening Council member died of wounds caused by an explosion in the Abu Sida district, the report said.

Berlin - A German official resigned his vice-ministerial post at the Transport Ministry on Wednesday after weeks of criticism of executive bonuses that are planned at one of Germany's biggest state-owned companies.

Matthias von Randow, state secretary at the ministry, was a member of the supervisory board of Deutsche Bahn, the national railways company, which is set to privatize a one-quarter stake in its passenger and freight operations.

Amid worldwide anger at large bonuses for executives, many Germans were critical of a generous bonus package promised by Bahn to executives when the company goes private.

The date of the flotation has been delayed by the world stock markets slide. It had been scheduled for Tuesday this week.