World Scene

IRAN

Bomb explodes in mosque, 9 killed

TEHRAN — A bomb exploded yesterday in a mosque in southern Iran, killing at least nine people and wounding more than 100, Iranian media reported.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency said the bomb exploded during an address by a cleric in the Shohada mosque in the city of Shiraz.

Fars news agency said that on Saturday nights the cleric usually gave speeches on the Baha’i faith, an offshoot of Islam considered heretical by Iran’s Shi’ite Muslim establishment and its members claim they face discrimination and persecution in Iran.

KENYA

Leaders report accord on Cabinet

NAIROBI — Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga struck a deal on a power-sharing Cabinet yesterday after secret one-on-one talks to end a six-week impasse, sources close to the talks said.

The formation of a coalition Cabinet is the crux of a deal to end the East African nation’s post-election crisis. Once the Cabinet is named and sworn in, Mr. Odinga will become Kenya’s prime minister.

The two leaders had agreed to announce a 40-member coalition Cabinet on April 6, but the deal fell apart at the last minute.

CHINA

Taiwanese, Hu hold historic meeting

BOAO — Taiwan’s next vice president sat down with Chinese President Hu Jintao for a brief but historic chat yesterday, raising hopes that the rivals would begin to ease six decades of hostilities.

The meeting between Mr. Hu and Vincent Siew marked the first time such a high-ranking elected figure from Taiwan visited a Chinese president since the two sides split in 1949, when communists took over Beijing and Taiwan refused to be ruled by the new government.

The 20-minute talk at a tropical island resort was largely symbolic, focusing on boosting economic ties. Beijing appears to favor Mr. Siew and his Nationalist Party political partner, President-elect Ma Ying-jeou. They were elected last month after promising voters they would soothe relations with China.

IRAN

Nuclear official to meet ElBaradei

TEHRAN — A top Iranian official will discuss his country’s disputed nuclear program with the U.N. atomic watchdog boss Mohamed ElBaradei in Vienna this week, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported yesterday.

IRNA said the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, would meet tomorrow with Mr. ElBaradei, the head of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany will meet Wednesday in Shanghai to discuss whether to sweeten the incentives they offered Iran in 2006 to curb its nuclear program.

TURKEY

Secularists protest government

ANKARA — Thousands rallied yesterday in the Turkish capital, accusing the Islamic-rooted government of under-mining the country’s secular laws.

A power struggle is growing in Turkey between the secular establishment and supporters of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party, which has origins in Turkey’s Islamic movement. Last month, Turkey’s highest court agreed to hear a case to close down Mr. Erdogan’s party on charges that it is taking steps to impose Islamic law.

From wire dispatches and staff reports