Gov't agents unharmed

WASHINGTON (AP)

Two delegations of United States (US) lawmakers, officials and business leaders who were in New Zealand at the time of a devastating earthquake suffered no casualties and are all safe, the State Department said yesterday. The US, meanwhile, has dispatched a search-and-rescue team to New Zealand to help in the quake's aftermath.

A US delegation of 43 govern-ment, business and community leaders was in Christchurch yesterday for a US-New Zealand Partnership Forum meeting. Also participating in the forum was Kurt Campbell, the State Department's assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.