Bogota  - Leftist rebels in Colombia on Tuesday released a former provincial governor that they had held hostage since 2001, a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed.

Alan Jara, former governor of the southern province of Meta, was handed over to Red Cross officials, Yves Heller, the spokesman for the organization in Colombia, told reporters.

Following Jara's release by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the jungle in southern Colombia, he was set to travel in a Brazilian helicopter to the city of Villavicencio, near the Colombian capital Bogota, Heller said.

Bogota  - At least 20 peo

New York  - The UN Security Council on Tuesday praised the successful holding of provisional elections in Iraq, which UN officials said was professionally organized and took place without violence.

The 15-nation council discussed the elections that took place over the weekend and issued a statement congratulating both the Iraqi people and the government. Tens of thousands of monitors, both local and international, were deployed to witness the democratic process.

Washington - The United States' new Middle East envoy George Mitchell met Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday after returning from his first visit to the region, but won't stay away long as he plans another trip by the end of the month.

Mitchell is to return to the Middle East before the end of February, Clinton said, calling his recent trip "the first of what will be an ongoing high level of engagement by Senator Mitchell on behalf of myself and the president."

London  - Arsenal brought an end to the most protracted transfer of the January window when they confirmed the signing of Andrei Arshavin on Tuesday.

A deal was agreed between Arsenal and Zenit St Petersburg only minutes before Monday's 5pm deadline, and it was almost 24 hours before the transfer was officially ratified.

Following their usual practice, Arsenal refused to disclose the fee, but it is understood to be around 15 million pounds (21.6 million dollars).

Berlin  - A major German car parts maker, Schaeffler, said Tuesday it was putting 20,000 workers on short time because of a dramatic fall-off in orders.

The company, which recently acquired German tyre maker Continental AG in a controversial takeover, said nearly two-thirds of its total workforce would be affected by the move.

The Schaeffler Group employees about 31,000 workers at 25 plants in Germany where the car industry has been particularly hard-hit by the global economic crisis.