Vienna - Two Austrians held by kidnappers in Mali since February have been freed, the Austrian foreign ministry announced Friday.

Belgrade - The violent disintegration of Yugoslavia - the fragmentation, corruption and shadowy political interests - have spawned a ruthlessly efficient, unbiased and deadly network of organized crime spanning the entire Balkans, experts warn.

A Croatian criminal may kill as a favour to Serbian partner. He may then pass the tab to a Montenegrin "businessman" he owes. And so on - all under the umbrella of trafficking drugs, people, weapons and money laundering. And under the noses of secret services also in the know.

"It's all intertwined. Organized crime is unhampered by borders that block police from different countries," said Hajrudin Merdanovic, a retired Croatian policeman.

New Delhi, Oct 31 : U. N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed his appreciation for the commitment of India and Pakistan regarding the recently initiated cross-border trade.

Addressing a news conference here, Ban Ki-moon said, “I am encouraged by the commitment of the leaders of both the countries towards this direction. The recent opening of trade between India and Pakistan was encouraging as a result of summit meeting between the two countries. I hope these exchanges and dialogues as a part of composite dialogues initiated by India will continue to appear good results."

He also expressed his concern over the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan.

New Delhi, Oct 31 A two-day meeting of the Indo-UK Task force on Corporate Governance which concluded here today emphasized the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Governance in business value creation and sustainability.

UK was represented at this 3rd meeting of the Task force by an eight- member British delegation, led by Geoffrey Stanley Dart, Director, Corporate Law and Governance, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform(BERR), Government of UK, while the Indian side was led by Anurag Goel, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.

Istanbul - The influence of the US and the EU in the Middle East and the Caucasus is dwindling, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Friday.

Speaking on the edges of the World Economic Forum meeting in Istanbul, Mottaki said the most recent Western attempts to intervene in the Caucasus following August's war in Georgia were "fruitless."

Regional efforts to solve the crisis would function better without them, he said.

"Perhaps what has recently occurred in Lebanon could serve as a model for the solution of conflicts by countries from within the region," said Mottaki.

London - Convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohammed al-Megrahi has applied for interim liberation pending the outcome of an appeal, British media reported Friday.