"Much scared by the successful nuclear test for self-defense conducted by the DPRK," the U.S. mobilized 15 strategic and tactical reconnaissance planes, including WC-135W, a plane for detecting nuclear tests, to commit aerial espionage against all areas of the DPRK, the report quoted a military source as saying.

The U.S. U-2s conducted shuttle flights over Tokjok Islet, Phochon and Sokcho almost every day in the month to commit espionage against important military targets in the DPRK, it said.

The DPRK said the U.S. flew more than 170 spy missions against it in September.

France, Italy, Britain and Australia also will participate in Monday's exercise, the 25th held under the initiative and the first held in the Persian Gulf.

The practice interception comes as the United States is seeking support for UN sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program. On Friday, Iran stepped up its uranium enrichment program, according to a semiofficial news agency.

"From Iranian news reports we know the exercise got the attention of Iran," Robert Joseph, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said Friday.

The exercise also comes as the United States is urging northeast Asian countries for strict enforcement of UN sanctions against North Korea, which detonated a nuclear explosion October 9. Those sanctions ban Pyongyang's weapons trade and suggest that North Korean ships be searched for suspected illegal materials.

The Bush administration and the several dozen countries who support the proliferation initiative say stopping ships in international waters on suspicion they are carrying illicit traffic is legal, but there is some uncertainty about whether the suspect cargo can be seized.

In any event, conducting an exercise within range of Iran could be taken by Tehran as a demonstration of international resolve to curb its nuclear programs.

Bahrain will provide a frigate for the exercise, while Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, three other Arab countries, also will offer a measure of support as observers. Other observers include Russia, Japan and South Korea. Saudi Arabia, the largest of the Gulf countries, has not joined them.

"I would like to advise foreign military forces who are to stage a war game in the Persian Gulf waters to avoid damaging regional peace and friendship among countries of the region," Elham told the reporters.

On Sunday, the U.S. navy said that vessels from the six countries began a naval training exercise off the Iranian coast in the Gulf aimed at blocking smuggling of nuclear weapons and arms proliferation.

The maneuvers are being held under the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush in May, 2003. Bahrain's participation marks the first time a Gulf nation joins a PSI exercise.

Elham stressed that Iran and other Gulf littoral states are fully aware of the fact that durable peace and security would be restored through collective cooperation of all countries of the region.

Iran was not bothered about the military maneuvers because the country "is powerful in all fields", he said.

The spokesman stressed that "the Islamic Republic of Iran will not accept threats. Iran is a strong and powerful state and will not take maneuvers as a threat."

Also on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted by the local Fars News Agency as saying that Tehran has informed the Gulf littoral states that staging military maneuvers under the present sensitive conditions is "provocative".

"We have informed the regional countries that carrying out military maneuvers based on special arrangements and in pursuit of certain political objectives could be very provocative," Mottaki said.

Some in the crowds urged the officers to break ranks and join them, while others hurled insults which on occasion riled some within the ranks standing for hours in riot gear under a burning sun. Sporadic assaults with petrol bombs were replied to with tear gas and water cannon. Plumes of smoke rose from barricades of burning debris.
Most protesters admitted that they could not win a physical battle, but hoped their resistance to the police occupation would pressure the federal government into forcing the governor of Oaxaca state out of officea their main demand.

A loose alliance called the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (Appo) seeking to oust the governor, Ulises Ruiz, had controlled the square and much of the city for months. The movement has its roots in a teachers' pay dispute which began in May, but was radicalised in June after a botched attempt by Mr Ruiz to evict protesters, who regard him as the epitome of political corruption and authoritarianism.

Despite losing control of the city centre, Appo supporters insisted they would not give up. "We lost a battle yesterday, but we didn't lose the war," said Berta Ramirez as she set off on one of three marches from different points of the city towards the square.

The protesters' numbers swelled as they approached, and the tension grew, with helicopters flying low overhead.

The marchers said the strategy was to lay siege to the police in the square. They hoped to be supported by villagers coming down from the surrounding mountains to back their cause. "They [the police] are an invasion. We're going to recover our territory," said Luis González, a teacher. "We have the support of the people."

Not everybody agreed. As yesterday morning broke, some residents emerged to celebrate the removal of the Appo. "Oaxaca is free and we are very happy," said Felipa Ruiz, a housewife, as she stood in a small group holding up handwritten banners thanking the police.

Sunday's eviction operation involved thousands of riot police who moved into the centre with the help of their heavy equipment and helicopters circling above - spraying tear gas to repel resistance.

Some protesters responded by burning buses and throwing stones and petrol bombs. But most limited their resistance to chanting and singing the Mexican national anthem as they were pushed back by the military-style advance.

Once at the entrance to the square, a tense standoff ensued as night fell. The Appo leaders then suddenly decided to pull out and retreat to the grounds of the university, where police have been prohibited from going.

Laying their shields and helmets to one side, the police spent the night sleeping on the pavement under the colonial arcades which ring the square, wrapped in revolutionary banners they torn down to stay warm.

President Vicente Fox ordered the assault after violent protests worsened last Friday, with the deaths of two protesters and a US activist journalist.

The protesters say 16 people have died on their side in total, killed by paramilitary groups ordered in by Governor Ruiz. They say two people died in Sunday's operation. This has not been confirmed.

President Fox said the operation had restored "social peace" in Oaxaca.

Bachelet, Chile's first woman president, is not involved in this rights case.

Some 3,000 people were killed and another 28,000 were tortured during Chile's 1973-1990 dictatorship.

Pinochet has been arrested five times on rights abuses since 1998 and has also faced tax fraud charges, but was released in all cases on grounds of poor health or because bail was granted.

Torture arrest

Monday was the first time Pinochet was arrested for charges related to torture, so that actual victims of Villa Grimaldi, at the eastern edge of the capital, could testify against him.

The case shows prosecutors are strengthening the cases against the former dictator.

"So in a sense this arrest is a milestone," said Sebastian Brett, a researcher with Human Rights Watch in Santiago.

Villa Grimaldi was one of the main holding places for political prisoners in the early years of Pinochet's 17-year rule.

Courts have convicted 109 people for crimes including "disappearances", extrajudicial executions, and torture during the dictatorship.

Thirty-five former generals in the army, police, and air force have been convicted or are facing trial, according to Human Rights Watch.

Pinochet turns 91 on November 25. He spent his last birthday under arrest for other human rights charges against him.

The fitness test, never exactly Olympian, also included running 1.5 miles and squeezing hand grips. Dropping it may make it easier for the military to recruit the people it desperately needs now that it is stretched so thin with the deployment of more than 2,200 troops in Afghanistan.

The US has also relaxed its standards, increasing its enlistment age limit from 35 to 42.

In Canada, older recruits have long been welcome, but for those over 35 the test was even less stringent than for the under-35s: 14 push-ups and 17 sit-ups for men, seven push-ups and 12 sit-ups for women. It too has been dropped.Would-be military men and women still have to pass a medical exam, and those deemed not to be in "acceptable" physical shape will be turned over to trainers.

"If you're 450lbs, they will recruit you and then put you in a fat camp until you are ready," Scott Taylor, the editor of Esprit de Corps, a magazine covering Canadian military affairs, told the Globe and Mail.

The newspaper ran a satirical poem at the weekend entitled the Battle of the Bulge.

"Who cares how many pounds you jerk? Our smart bombs do the heavy work. So sign up fast, you blobs and runts. And we'll soon turn you into grunts."

Other options are also being considered to find the people needed for the mission in Afghanistan.

General Rick Hillier, the chief of the defence staff, said this week that navy personnel may be called in. The sailors could drive supply trucks. Radio operators or intelligence officers from the navy or air force also might find themselves in Afghanistan, he said.

The military may also oblige new recruits to serve two years as infantry before they can move into more specialised roles, he said.

"We're looking at how we can share the burden completely across the Canadian forces so that no one man or woman has to carry an inordinate amount on their shoulders," he told a House of Commons committee.

An aggressive recruiting campaign has attracted about 20,000 recruits over the past four years. But the military is barely keeping up with attrition, the auditor general noted earlier this year, and the new Conservative government has promised to boost the number in the regular forces by 13,000.

Gen Hillier said last week that the recruiting drive couldn't be going better, despite 40 combat deaths in Afghanistan.

"Kids are flocking to our recruiting centres across our country," he said. "Twice the number so far this year as during the same time last year."

And now they won't have to do push-ups to get in.