A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a bank in the northwestern Iraqi city of Haditha on Thursday, killing nine people including three policemen, the town's mayor said.

Eight other people, all civilians, were wounded in the midday blast at a branch of the state-owned Al-Rafidain bank in Haditha, 210 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, Mayor Bassim Naji said.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams revealed on Thursday that the international organization is currently studying the best way to assist Lebanon in drilling for petroleum in the Mediterranean and demarcating its maritime border.

He made his statements after holding talks with Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil on the political situation in Lebanon and the economic challenges facing it, as well as the government formation process.

French Ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton hoped on Thursday that the new government would be formed as soon as possible “because Lebanon is in need of its institutions.”

He said after holding talks with House Speaker Nabih Berri that the new government should also respect international agreements and maintain Lebanese unity.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized on Thursday Hizbullah’s possession of arms, saying that if this issue is not resolved, then any side attempting to constructive governmental functioning will fail.

He told France 24 and Radio Monte Carlo: “Its arms can be used to obstruct the democratic process in Lebanon or take it off its course, similar to what happened a month an a half ago.”

German federal prosecutors said Thursday they suspected an "Islamist motivation" was behind the fatal shooting of two U.S. airmen on a military bus at Frankfurt airport.

"In view of the circumstances, there is a suspicion that this was an act with Islamist motivation," prosecutors said, as police questioned a 21-year-old suspect of Kosovan origin arrested after Wednesday's attack.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel warned on Wednesday over the return to the era of hegemony under the reign of Premier-designate Najib Miqati’s government.

Describing the current political situation as “delicate,” Gemayel said following talks with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki that “there are fears over the return … of hegemony and repression.”

Egypt's military rulers have accepted the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, seen by protesters as a symbol of ousted president Hosni Mubarak's regime, the army said Thursday.

He will be replaced by Essam Sharaf, a former minister who took part in the mass demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square which led to strongman Mubarak's resignation on February 11 after three decades in power.

Free Patriotic Movement MP Ibrahim Kanaan stated on Thursday that the negotiations over the formation of the new government “are open to all options,” adding that the important thing is granting the movement a sovereign portfolio.

He told LBC: “The FPM is ready for any meeting with Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati and it does not want to pressure him, but the movement cannot eliminate itself and whom it represents.”

Turkish police on Thursday raided the homes of several people, including journalists and a former intelligence officer, as part of a crackdown on an alleged secularist network accused of conspiring to topple the Islamic-rooted government.

The raids come two weeks after a court jailed three journalists of a dissident website Oda TV in the case. Critics say press freedom is under attack in the country and the United States has expressed concern over media freedom. But Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denied any government attempt to silence journalists.

Yemeni opposition groups said Thursday they have offered President Ali Abdullah Saleh plans for a smooth exit from power by the end of 2011 in a bid to end Yemen's spiraling political crisis.

During "a meeting with religious scholars, we've agreed on a settlement proposal including a roadmap for the president's departure before the end of this year," said a statement by the parliamentary opposition spokesman, Mohammed al-Sabri.