JERUSALEM — Israel's foreign minister eked out a victory today in a surprisingly tight race to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as the head of the governing party, putting her in a strong position to become the country's first female leader in 34 years.

Tzipi Livni, 50, said she would immediately turn to the task of trying to cobble together a new government.

"The national responsibility (bestowed) by the public brings me to approach this job with great awe," Livni said shortly after the results were announced.

Livni, a political moderate, won 43.1 percent of the vote in the Kadima Party primary elections, compared with 42 percent for Shaul Mofaz, a hawkish former military chief and defense minister, in a contest with far-reaching implications for peacemaking with the Palestinians and Syria.

The official results were much closer than the double-digit victory predicted by exit polls Wednesday night.

Olmert, who is stepping down to battle multiple corruption allegations, will remain as a caretaker leader until parliament approves a new Cabinet. He will resign after the next Cabinet meeting on Sunday, but spokesman Mark Regev would not say when exactly.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan said today it was not warned about a suspected U.S. missile strike in its northwest that came the same day a top American official assured Pakistani leaders of U.S. respect for the Muslim nation's sovereignty.The reported attack Wednesday will likely fuel anger in Pakistan over a surge in cross-border operations by U.S. forces — including a Sept. 3 ground assault — that has strained the countries' seven-year anti-terror alliance.Pakistan's prime minister today reiterated Pakistan's stand against the incursions. But while denying prior knowledge of the reported strike, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi indicated Pakistan's civilian leaders want to defuse tensions through diplomacy.

BAGHDAD — Seven American soldiers were killed in southern Iraq early today when their helicopter crashed as it was flying into the country from Kuwait, the U.S. military said.The CH-47 Chinook helicopter did not come under attack, the military said. It believes the crash was an accident."At this time we are uncertain of the cause, but hostile fire has been ruled out," military spokesman Maj. John Hall said. "The other three helicopters in the flight did not have incident or injury."The four-helicopter convoy was flying from Kuwait to the U.S. military base at Balad north of Baghdad when the crash occurred shortly after midnight in the desert about 60 miles west of Basra, the military said.The military said the seven who died were the only people on board. The Chinook, the Army's workhorse, is designed to transport troops and supplies to combat and other regions.

VILSECK, Germany — A U.S. military judge has handed a 7-month sentence and a dishonorable discharge to a soldier who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder in the slaying of four bound and blindfolded Iraqis.Spc. Belmor Ramos, 23, faced a possible sentence of life in prison but worked out a plea agreement today.He has agreed to testify against other soldiers alleged to be involved in the killing of the Iraqis, whose bodies were dumped in a Baghdad canal.Ramos confessed to standing guard as the prisoners were killed. Three other soldiers in the unit were charged Tuesday with premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and obstruction of justice.