Stuttgart  - Clerics of the ultra-conservative Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) are to continue their Good Friday practice of praying for the conversion of the Jews, a spokesman for the group said Thursday.

SSPX superior Father Franz Schmidberger said the intercession dated back to a Church tradition originating in the fourth century, and was not aimed at provoking or hurting the religious feelings of non-Catholics.

Vilseck, Germany - The final trial of a group of US servicemen who were accused of murdering four blindfolded Iraqi men and dumping their bodies in a Baghdad canal begins in Germany next week.

One of the accused received life imprisonment last month and another up to 35 years at the series of trials in Vilseck, Germany, where their unit is based. Master Sergeant John Hatley, 40, the highest-ranked accused, goes on trial from Monday, US officials said.

Hamburg - Forward Lukas Popolski faces grave consequences if he misbehaves in the Germany jersey again, coach Joachim Loew said in a newspaper interview published on Thursday.

Loew told the Badische Zeitung daily that Podolski "lost a lot of sympathy" when he slapped captain Michael Ballack in the face during a heated argument between the two in the second half of last week's World Cup qualifier in Cardiff against wales.

Berlin, Apr. 9 : A key advisor to US President Barack Obama, Bruce Riedel, has said that Al-Qaeda's main motive is to render Pakistan a failed state as it is trying to paralyse the government and destabilize the country.

Riedel urged the international community to safeguard Pakistan's nuclear armaments from the reach of the Taliban, which is dangerously expanding its control over different regions in the country.