Kyodo news summary -2-

---------- U.S. hopes for free and fair elections in Pakistan

WASHINGTON - The United States expressed hope Friday that Pakistan's parliamentary elections Monday, seen as crucial to the stability of South Asia, will be free and fair.

''This has to be an election in which they have confidence, and we all will look for the election to produce a government in which the Pakistani people can have confidence,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a news briefing.

---------- Gov't to instruct NTT units to improve anti-competitive practices

TOKYO - The government plans to instruct NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp. early next week to improve their operations, alleging the telecom firms and their subsidiaries are engaging in anti-competitive practices in the fiber-optic market, government sources said Saturday.

The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry will inform the presidents of the two NTT carriers Monday and instruct the firms to submit a report by the end of March on measures to improve business practices that the ministry considers as hampering fair competition in the fiber-optic market, they said.

---------- U.N. chief wants Bush's support to tackle global warming

WASHINGTON - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon called on President George W. Bush on Friday to assume a greater leadership role in talks on a new global pact to combat global warming.

''It would be...very important for the international community to sustain the momentum established in December last year'' on global warming, Ban told Bush after a White House meeting.

---------- Icebreaker Shirase bids farewell to Antarctica

ABOARD THE SHIRASE - The 11,600-ton Icebreaker Shirase bid farewell Friday to Antarctica after 25 years in service as it left Showa Base for Japan with a group of expedition members aboard.

The Shirase left Japan in November for its 25th and last Antarctic mission before its planned decommissioning following its return to Japan in April.

---------- U.S. nuclear expert says more work needed on N. Korea declaration

BEIJING - A U.S. nuclear expert who visited North Korea said Saturday much more work needs to be done before North Korea can give a full accounting of its nuclear programs as required under a six-party denuclearization deal.

Siegfried Hecker, a former director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, indicated the need for more time on the issue, which is the cause of a stall in the six-way talks, after meeting with North Korean officials during his five-day stay in the country.