Bush discusses Iraq, China military

SYDNEY, Australia - U.S. President George W. Bush said in an interview broadcast Friday that he would be concerned about China's military if the country ever turned hostile, and he urged U.S. allies to complete the work still left in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Speaking to Australia's Sky News network in Washington ahead of a visit to Australia an annual meeting of Pacific Rim leaders, Bush said he believed China's biggest issue was keeping it's economy growing.

"My view of China is that they're internally focused to the extent that they want economic growth and vitality, they're externally focused in order to get the raw materials they need. But if they ever turn hostile, I would be concerned about the military," Bush said.

He said that his administration spends "a lot of time on China" and that Washington had good relations with both China and Japan, two traditional rivals in Asia.

He said it was important for the United States to be an "active presence in Asia to make sure that old tensions don't flare up."

Bush also urged countries considering pulling out troops to base their decisions on restoring the country's security, saying the U.S. needs "all our coalition partners" in Iraq.

"I understand that everybody has got their own internal politics. My only point is that whether it be Afghanistan or Iraq, we've got more work to do. We, the free world, have got more work to do."

Australia has about 1,600 troops in and around Iraq, 550 of them in combat roles. The timing and circumstances of the troops' withdrawal is a political issue in Australia, as it heads toward national elections due by early next year.

Labor opposition leader Kevin Rudd, who opinion polls suggest is headed for victory in the elections, has pledged to set a timetable for withdrawing Australian combat troops from Iraq. Prime Minister John Howard has refused to set a timetable.

Bush said in the interview he would meet Rudd during his visit to Australia next week and that he would be glad to explain to Rudd why he believed victory in Iraq was important.

"What I ask if he were to win (the election) is that he consider the conditions on the ground before making decisions," Bush said. "What matters is success, and I believe we can be successful."

"My attitude is, coalition partners ought to be making decisions based upon conditions on the ground, because failure in Iraq would lead to, in my view, turmoil, chaos in the Middle East and other attacks on the United States and other nations," Bush said.

Bush said he did not want to take sides in Australia's upcoming elections, and said U.S.-Australia relations were strong regardless of who were the leaders of each country.

He said he looked forward to meeting Rudd in Sydney and offered high praise to Howard, who has been a staunch ally of Bush in Washington's war on terror.

Howard "no doubt about it, is a close personal friend of mine," Bush said. "He is a man of steel because he is a person who stands on conviction and principle."

Taliban to release Korean hostages

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korean negotiators in Afghanistan have reached a deal with Taliban militants holding 19 South Korean Christian aid workers for over a month, a presidential spokesman in Seoul said Tuesday.

Seoul welcomes the deal, but spokesman Cheon Ho-sun cautioned that many details must still be worked out and the aid workers will not be released immediately.

Under the terms of the agreement, South Korea agreed to stick by its previous decision to withdraw its 200 non-combat troops from Afghanistan, which work mostly in an engineering and medical capacity.

In addition, Seoul will halt all Christian missionary work in Afghanistan.

The spokesman said there was no agreement to pay the captors, nor was there any mention of releasing Taliban prisoners -- a major demand of the kidnappers.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said delegates from South Korea and the Taliban had "reached an agreement" to free the captives in face-to-face talks Tuesday in the central town of Ghazni.

Twenty-three hostages, all church volunteers, were seized July 19 by the Taliban militant group while they were traveling on a bus in Afghanistan. Two were executed and two others were freed, leaving 19 still in captivity.

While South Korean missionaries have been active in the region, the hostage group's church has said the kidnapped group's trip to Afghanistan did not involve Christian missionary work.

The kidnapping of government officials or foreign aid workers has been used increasingly by insurgents in a bid to destabilize the Western-backed government that took power after the defeat of the Taliban in 2001.

Violence in Afghanistan is running at its highest level since the Taliban were expelled from government nearly six years ago.

A suicide bomber in eastern Afghanistan killed three NATO soldiers and wounded six others on Tuesday as they were working on a bridge project, according to a news release from NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

As a matter of ISAF's policy, the soldiers' nationalities were not released. The suicide bomber approached the soldiers and "self-detonated, instantly killing himself and two nearby soldiers," ISAF said.

The third soldier died en route to an ISAF medical facility.

"Our thoughts during this very difficult time are with the friends, family and colleagues of the soldiers who were killed in this incident," said ISAF spokesman Maj. Charles Anthony.

On Monday, three coalition service members and two Afghan soldiers were killed in an ambush in Kunar province, also in eastern Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition said. Three coalition and seven Afghan soldiers were wounded.

The nationalities of the slain service members in this incident also were not supplied. U.S. troops have a strong presence in the eastern part of the country.

Near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, Afghan and coalition forces on Tuesday killed two Taliban militants and detained five others. The operation occurred southwest of the city, the U.S.-led coalition said.

A monster truck performing stunts in front of an auto parts store plowed into a crowd of spectators Thursday, injuring at least nine people, officials

Two people, including a mother and one child, were in serious condition at area hospitals, officials said.

Six others, including a mother and her four children, were treated and released, said Sharon Emanuelson, a spokeswoman for Kishwaukee Community Hospital in DeKalb. The other person injured was in good condition.

Another person refused medical treatment, said DeKalb Fire Chief Lanny Russell.

The demonstration, part of a monster truck tour sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts, featured the truck driving over and crushing four cars.

"After its third or fourth attempt of rolling over the cars, and getting back down to the street, it appeared to have lost control and at that point careened off to the left into part of the crowd that was watching the event," said City Manager Mark Biernacki.

After plowing through the crowd about 2 p.m., the truck went through a fence and stopped on railroad tracks, Biernacki said.

Witness Patrick Sheridan, 16, said NAPA staff members had asked observers to stand back from the road after the truck's first few passes.

"I watched the guy go over two or three times getting some air and one time he went up and he came really close to hitting people," Sheridan said, adding that the truck appeared to come within just three feet of bystanders.

The final pass "was like a full-out jump because he, like, floored it and it just went up and landed on the back tires and kept going," Sheridan said.

"It sounded like he couldn't get the gas off and like it kept going and going and going," he said.

The 44-year-old truck driver did not appear to be injured, Biernacki said.

"There was just this sound of steel crunching," DeKalb resident James Vesely told The Daily Chronicle of DeKalb. "I ran over to see if it hit anybody's car, and I saw a woman and a little girl around 3 years old lying on the ground with dirt on them."

Jerry Nix, a spokesman for NAPA's parent company, Genuine Parts Co., said he could not comment. A message left at the auto parts store near the accident site after business hours was not immediately returned.

The city of DeKalb gave the store permission to close the street for the demonstration, Russell said. DeKalb police would not immediately comment.

The manager of a bicycle shop on the block where the accident happened said he didn't see the incident but saw the truck performing stunts beforehand, and estimated at least 100 people were watching.

"It looked very precarious," said Tobie DePauw, manager of North Central Cyclery.