WASHINGTON - AIRTRAN Airlines says nine Muslim passengers were removed from a flight from Washington, D.C., to Florida after other passengers reported hearing a suspicious remark.

An AirTran spokesman says there was a misunderstanding. The Muslim passengers say AirTran wouldn't rebook them Thursday and they had to pay for seats on another airline.

BAGHDAD - A SUICIDE bomber struck a lunch gathering of Sunni Arab tribal leaders on Friday in a town south of Baghdad, killing at least 23 people and wounding 42 others, security spokesman Major-General Qassim Moussawi said.

The US military said its initial reports said 21 were killed and 44 were wounded. An Iraqi security source said as many as 30 people died and more than 100 were hurt.

JAMRUD (Pakistan) - PAKISTANI security forces partially reopened a key northwest supply route for Western troops in Afghanistan on Friday, three days after shutting it to drive militants from the area, officials said.

Security forces backed by helicopter gunships, tanks and heavy artillery on Tuesday launched the operation in the rugged Khyber tribal area near Jamrud, the gateway to the famed Khyber Pass linking Pakistan and Afghanistan.