United Arab Emirates

The International Cricket Council (ICC) charged Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq on Monday with bringing the game into disrepute after his team forfeited the fourth Test against England at the Oval. ”There are two charges brought forward by the umpires, one for changing the condition of the ball and the other for bringing the game into disrepute,” ICC spokesperson Jon Long said.

The leader of Islamist fighters controlling Somali capital Mogadishu warned the United States it would pay dearly for any intervention in the country, a pan-Arab paper reported on Wednesday. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the chairperson of the Islamic courts, said the US would face a disaster similar to a botched 1993 intervention.

Tuesday’s match between India and Pakistan in Abu Dhabi marked a significant moment in the career of Emirates Elite Panel umpire Rudi Koertzen as it was his 150th one-day international. By standing in the game, the 57 year-old has become only the second umpire in history to officiate in that number of ODIs, joining the now-retired David Shepherd in that very select club.

International community pressure to convince Iran not to develop nuclear arms should apply to Israel as well, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Wednesday. Saud made his comments during a wide-ranging inaugural speech at the second Saudi-British Two Kingdoms: Friendship and Partnership conference, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Saudi security forces discovered and disarmed explosive devices planted in two separate vehicles near Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery, Abqaiq, the Saudi newspaper al-Riyadh reported on Wednesday. The paper said security forces broke into a house in al-Muntaar town on Tuesday to find two booby-trapped cars with the company’s logo on them.

Racist abuse from Australian fans to South Africa’s cricketers was ”premeditated, coordinated and calculated to get under the players’ skins”, said an official report to the International Cricket Council on Tuesday. South African fast bowler Andre Nel said he was racially taunted by fans in the third Test in Sydney in January.

Rafael Nadal broke down in tears after his sensational Dubai Open triumph over Roger Federer but admitted that he will probably never displace the Swiss superstar from the world number one spot. The 19-year-old Spaniard clinched his third win in four meetings with the triple Grand Slam title-holder when he won the Dubai crown in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory on Saturday.

The foreign minister of one Muslim country, Indonesia, says radical groups are exploiting genuine public anger over the prophet Muhammad cartoons for their own ends. A United States military spokesperson also says extremist groups may be inciting the protests.

Two shots into the water cost Tiger Woods the lead at the Dubai Desert Classic on Friday. Danish journeyman Anders Hansen made nine birdies for a nine-under 63 and Retief Goosen celebrated his 39th birthday with a five-under 67 to share the second-round lead at 13-under 131.

He won the Buick Invitational in San Diego on Sunday. Then he flew across 12 time zones — halfway around the world — to play at the tip of the Arabian peninsula in the Dubai Desert Classic. No problem for golf’s most international player. His five-under 67 in Thursday’s first round in Dubai put him three strokes off the lead, shared by Retief Goosen, Richard Green and Jamie Donaldson.

Golf’s ”quiet man”, Retief Goosen, has been quieter than usual over the past six weeks while enjoying a seasonal break back home in South Africa. But it did not take the two-times United States Open winner long to find his marks at the Dubai Desert Classic on Thursday.

South Africa powered their way into the quarterfinals of the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens with an inspiring 19-7 win over Argentina in their final pool game. After negotiating the early pool matches against tricky opponents Portugal and Scotland, the Boks shifted up a gear as the desert evening set in.

South Africa go into their five-match one-day international series against India, which starts in Hyderabad on Wednesday, just three matches away from a new world record. Graeme Smith’s side are unbeaten in their past 19 matches (16 wins, two no-results and a tie), which leaves them just two games short of Australia’s record mark of 21.

Militants loyal to al-Qaeda in Iraq threatened to intensify their campaign of violence sharply unless United States and Iraqi forces end a major offensive near the Syrian border, in an internet statement posted on Monday. The statement also promised to destroy the homes of Iraqi soldiers and government employees.

Libya plans to scrap the death penalty to clear the way for the settlement of a diplomatic row over five Bulgarian nurses on death row after hundreds of children were infected with the Aids virus, an Arabic daily said on Wednesday. The deal would involve financial compensation for the infected children’s families.

Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgam on Monday rejected a call by United States President George Bush for Tripoli to spare the lives of five Bulgarian nurses who were sentenced to death in May last year. ”This is a legal matter which cannot be influenced by any political decision,” the minister said.

A woman suicide bomber blew herself up at an Iraqi police recruitment centre on Wednesday, killing five people in an attack claimed by al-Qaeda’s Iraq frontman, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. United States President George Bush warned again of an upsurge in violence ahead of next month’s vote on the draft Iraqi Constitution.