AMMAN - A JORDANIAN man slowly strangled his 16-year-old married sister, using wire and the girl's scarf, after she visited a female friend because he had to 'cleanse family honour' a judge said on Monday.

After jailing the unidentified 20-year-old man for seven years, Judge Hassan Amayreh told AFP: 'It took him 30 minutes to strangle his sister to death with a metal wire and her own scarf.' The girl, who had been married for six months, died in January in the Gaze refugee camp in the town of Jerash, north of the capital.

MOGADISHU - SOMALI pirates who have been holding the Saudi super-tanker Sirius Star for more than two weeks told AFP on Monday they are still ready to negotiate its release.

Speaking by phone from the coastal area of Harardhere, north of Mogadishu, the leader of the group that hijacked the ship on November 15 warned against any further attempt by the ship owners to involve the government.

COPENHAGEN - INTERNATIONAL coalition warships stopped Somali pirates from hijacking a luxury cruise ship in the Gulf of Aden at the weekend, the Danish navy said on Monday.

A Danish navy spokesman refused to name the vessel involved but a Danish media report said the cruise ship Nautica, carrying 400 passengers and 200 crew was the target of the latest attack by Somali pirates.