World / Nation Briefs February 26, 2012

2 US advisers shot dead in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan - A gunman killed two American military advisers with shots to the back of the head Saturday inside a heavily guarded ministry building, and NATO ordered military workers out of Afghan ministries as protests raged for a fifth day over the burning of copies of the Quran at a U.S. army base.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Interior Ministry attack, saying it was retaliation for the Quran burnings, after the U.S. servicemen - a lieutenant colonel and a major - were found dead on the floor of an office that only people who know a numerical combination can get into, Afghan and Western officials said.

The top commander of U.S. and NATO forces recalled all international military personnel from the ministries, an unprecedented action in the decade-long war that highlights the growing friction between Afghans and their foreign partners at a critical juncture in the war.

The U.S.-led coalition is trying to mentor and strengthen Afghan security forces so they can lead the fight against the Taliban and foreign troops can go home. That mission, however, requires a measure of trust at a time when anti-Western sentiment is at an all-time high.

Afghan Defense Minister Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak called U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to apologize for the shooting and offer his condolences, Pentagon press secretary George Little said in a statement released in Washington.

Surveillance of students called 'disgusting'

NEW YORK - At Columbia University and elsewhere, the fear among students that the New York Police Department might secretly be infiltrating their lives has spread beyond the Muslim student population to others who find the reported tactics "disgusting," as one teenager put it.

The NYPD surveillance of Muslims on a dozen college campuses in the Northeast is a surprising and disappointing violation, students said Saturday in reaction to Associated Press reports that revealed the intelligence-gathering at Columbia and elsewhere.

Documents obtained by the AP show that the NYPD used undercover officers and informants to infiltrate Muslim student groups. An officer even went whitewater rafting with students and reported on how many times they prayed and what they discussed. Police also trawled college websites and blogs, compiling daily reports on the activities of Muslim students and academics.

Swift asks teen on date to music awards

SOMERDALE, N.J. - Taylor Swift has a date for the Academy of Country Music awards.

The country star asked a fan, Kevin McGuire of Somerdale, N.J., to the awards show. McGuire is 18 and has leukemia. His sister had started a campaign on Facebook to get Swift to go with him to his prom.

Swift wrote in a Facebook post of her own that she can't make it to the prom, but that she'd like for McGuire to accompany her to the awards ceremony April 1 in Las Vegas. She is nominated for three awards.

A spokesman for Swift confirms that she wrote the post. A post on the Facebook page for McGuire thanks her for the invitation. His sister did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Official: US in talks with Egypt over advocates

RABAT, Morocco - A senior U.S. official says the Obama administration is in "intense discussions" with Egypt to resolve the legal case against 16 American democracy advocates that has badly damaged ties between the countries "in the coming days"

The official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the matter, said Saturday that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had raised the matter twice in person with Egypt's foreign minister - once in London and once in Tunis - in the past three days and that other senior U.S. officials are actively involved.

The administration has been calling for the case to be resolved for weeks in a manner that allows seven of the implicated Americans who have been barred from leaving to leave the country.

- The Associated Press