By KRISHAN FRANCIS, Associated Press Writer

The president of the Maldives was saved from assassination Tuesday when a boy scout grabbed the knife of an attacker who had jumped out of a crowd greeting the leader, an official said.

Iraqi Army soldiers lay dead and wounded moments after a suicide attack on a celebration marking Army Day in the Karradah neighborhood of central Baghdad, Iraq on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008. Two Iraqi army soldiers threw themselves atop a suicide bomber, but the attacker was able to detonate an explosives vest, killing the two soldiers and another nine people attending a gathering commemorating Iraq's Army Day, the U.S. military and police said. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)

By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer

President Pervez Musharraf told British forensic experts Tuesday they would have a free hand in investigating the circumstances surrounding the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, a government official said.

The promise appeared to be a softening of the government's position on the probe. Last week, Musharraf told reporters the investigators would not be allowed to go on a "wild goose chase" and investigate claims the government was behind Bhutto's killing in a Dec. 27 shooting and bombing attack.

"The president assured (the investigators) of his full support and said that they were totally free to conduct their probe, and no one will interfere in their affairs," Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema said.