u.s.

Sri Lanka has denied reports that a proposed loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is being delayed by the US, officials say.

American officials said the move was aimed at putting pressure on Colombo to do more to help civilians caught up in the fighting in the north.

But a senior Sri Lankan official says the talks are on schedule.

Sri Lanka has been holding talks with the IMF for a loan of nearly a $2bn to weather the global economic crisis.

International concern

A Guantánamo detainee at the center of a long standoff between the United States and Britain was freed and returned to Britain on Monday after almost seven years in American custody.

The detainee, Binyam Mohamed, was flown in a Gulfstream jet to the Northolt Royal Air Force Base in Northwest London, and by this evening had been released from detention.

An investigation into a missile strike carried out by US-led forces in Afghanistan earlier this week has found that 13 civilians were among 16 people killed, the US military has said.

The military made the admission on Saturday, after originally saying that 15 opposition fighters had been killed in the strike in the Gozara district of Herat province.

Afghan officials insisted all along that six women and two children were among those killed.

Following Afghan outrage over the attack, US generals undertook an investigation, travelling to Gozara and talking to locals there.

This is encouraging - doesn't make up for the airstrikes killings though.