CAIRO/PARIS - French officials said Friday they would not have policies dictated to them by terrorists after a branch of Al Qaeda called on the government in Paris to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan in return for the safety of five French hostages.

WASHINGTON - The owner of a small firm in California confirmed Friday that he was the manufacturer of a fake suitcase bomb, intended for security training, that was found in a Namibian airport.

ISLAMABAD - A senior Al Qaeda leader, Mufti Ali Muhammad, has reportedly been killed along with two of his accomplices in a US drone strike Friday in Pakistan's North Waziristan district along the Afghan border.

NEW DELHI - The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday arrested a man allegedly involved in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast. He was produced in a city court, which granted the CBI his transit remand for two days.

KOLKATA - Supected Maoists Friday attacked a panchayat office in West Bengal's West Midnapore district, police said.