AFP - Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende on Friday dismissed an ex-US general's "disgraceful" claim that Dutch soldiers failed to prevent the 1995 Srebrenica massacre as their ranks included openly gay troops.

Reuters - Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende attacked on Friday claims by a retired U.S. general that Dutch forces were overrun in Srebrenica in 1995 because of the presence of gay soldiers.

AFP - Japan's centre-left government Friday scrambled to work out a compromise in a festering row over a controversial US military base, days before its foreign minister heads to Washington.

AP - The Marine Corps' commandant said he won't force his troops to bunk with gays on base and would give them separate rooms if Congress votes to allow openly gay service.

AFP - A US military judge Friday denied a bid to dismiss charges against a former squadron leader accused in the 2005 killings of 24 Iraqi civilians after a roadside bomb attack.

AFP - White House staff are considering whether to hold international terrorism suspects at Bagram military base in Afghanistan, The Los Angeles Times reported.