WASHINGTON — President Obama's pick to be the intelligence chief at the Department of Homeland Security withdrew from consideration yesterday amid signs he could face congressional opposition over his role in the CIA's interrogation of terrorism suspects.

Philip Mudd, who has held a series of senior positions at the CIA and FBI, said in a statement released by the White House that he had decided to step aside out of concern that his nomination would "become a distraction" to the administration. Mudd became the latest candidate for a high-level intelligence position to be forced to withdraw after being tied to the CIA's use of severe methods to interrogate terrorism suspects.

From 2002 to 2005, Mudd served as deputy director of the CIA's counterterrorism center, a unit that swelled in size in the aftermath of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and was responsible for running the agency's secret overseas prisons.

PAKISTAN MILITANTS STRIKE ARMY CONVOY

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Militants attacked a military convoy in Pakistan's restive northwest today, the latest episode in a surge of violence during an army offensive to drive the Taliban from the region's Swat Valley. There were no details on casualties.

The Taliban have vowed a campaign of retaliatory attacks for the military offensive, and a series of bombings and shootings have hit security forces and civilian targets, including a marketplace and a bus stop.

Yesterday, an attacker wearing an explosive vest blew himself up inside a packed mosque during prayers, killing at least 30 and wounding 40 more in Haya Gai village in Upper Dir, a rough-and-tumble district next to Swat.

The motive for such attacks on civilians is rarely clear, but it could be an attempt to use violence and intimidation to weaken public support for the army's operation.

MAN WHO FAKED DEATH PLEADS GUILTY

PENSACOLA, Fla. — An Indiana money manager avoided trial in Florida by pleading guilty yesterday to federal charges that he intentionally crashed his plane to fake his death and flee financial ruin, but his legal troubles aren't over.

Marcus Schrenker, 38, still faces millions of dollars in judgments and penalties related to his failed business dealings in Indiana, and officials in that state are waiting their turn to prosecute Schrenker following his Aug. 19 sentencing in Florida.

Financial investigators have said investors lost hundreds of thousands of dollars through annuity investments handled by Schrenker.

HIKERS’ BODIES FOUND ON MT. MCKINLEY

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Searchers have found the bodies of two Japanese climbers who disappeared last year on Alaska's Mount McKinley.

The frozen bodies of the 27-year-old and 24-year-old men were found connected by a rope. They had been missing since May 22, 2008.

The bodies were discovered about 500 feet from the top of the 20,320-foot mountain. Mount McKinley is North America's tallest peak.

DAYCARE CENTER BLAZE KILLS 29 CHILDREN

MEXICO CITY — Flames engulfed a daycare center in northern Mexico yesterday, killing at least 29 children and injuring dozens as neighbors and teachers ran through thick smoke to pull preschoolers from the blaze, officials said.

The fire apparently started at a car and tire depot yesterday afternoon and spread to the ABC daycare center in the city of Hermosillo, said Jose Larrinaga, a spokesman for Sonora state investigators. There were about 100 children in the daycare at the time.

Larrinaga said the fire was controlled within two hours and that most children died of asphyxiation.

INDIANS, PERU POLICE CLASH; DOZENS DEAD

LIMA, Peru — Up to 5,000 Indians protesting oil and gas exploration on their lands battled police in Peru's Amazon yesterday, with authorities and Indian leaders separately reporting 11 police and 25 protester deaths.

Initial accounts of the clashes and death tolls varied with independent journalists having little access to the remote jungle highway in the northern Peruvian province of Utcubamba where the fighting took place.