London  - A leading convicted member of the militant Basque separatist group ETA, who is wanted by Spain, will fight his extradition from Britain, a court in Northern Ireland was told Monday.

Ignacio de Juana Chaos, 53, appeared at the Recorder's Court in Belfast Monday after surrendering for "arrest by agreement" ahead of the proceedings.

Defence barrister Sean Devine told the court that his client did not consent to extradition request and would fight it. The arrest warrant provided by the Spanish authorities was "fundamentally flawed," said Devine.

Munich - Bayern Munich's French defender Willy Sagnol is considering en

Jerusalem  - Israel will free 250 Palestinian prisoners in advance of a Muslim holiday next month, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas when the two met in Jerusalem Monday afternoon.

The two held talks amid a collapsing truce between Israel and the Palestinian militias in the Gaza Strip. The truce has been unraveling since last week, as Palestinians fire rockets at southern Israel and Israel targets militants.

Abbas said after his talks with Olmert that Gaza had figured "extensively" in the meeting. He called on the Palestinian factions in the salient to stop firing the "useless" missiles, a call he has made previously, but without success.

Reykjavik  - Iceland was Monday expecting to reach a quick deal with German depositors in Kaupthing Bank, one of the North Atlantic nation's three main banking groups that recently collapsed over the global credit crunch.

Kaupthing had some 30,000 customers in Germany.

Late Sunday, Iceland said it had agreed to reimburse British and Dutch depositors of failed internet bank Icesave, operated by the collapsed Landsbanki Bank.

The compensation agreed for the British and Dutch depositors was 20,000 euros (25,300 dollars).

Dhaka  - The maritime boundary talks between Bangladesh and Myanmar ended Monday with the two sides agreeing only to hold further talks to resolve their demarcation dispute, officials said.

"The issue was a complex one and the two sides agreed to continue their talks on the subject, with the next round of negotiations taking place in Myanmar," Bangladesh's foreign affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told the media after talks with visiting Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister U Maung Myint.

Maung led an 11-member Myanmar delegation at the two-day technical consultation to discuss the maritime boundary disputes, which flared over Myanmar's reported exploration for oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal earlier this month.

Baghdad  - Iraq's parliament on Monday completed the first reading of the final draft of the country's security pact with the United States, as opponents continued to denounce it.

As lawmakers were considering the deal, one policeman was killed and more than 30 people were injured in attacks across Iraq.

The 275-member house is set to review the pact over the coming days and vote on the deal by November 24, deputy speaker Khalid al- Attiyah said in a press conference.