WESTERN EUROPE

TAIWAN EXPERIMENTED WITH PLUTONIUM UNTIL 1980s

VIENNA, Austria – The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency has found that Taiwan’s experiments with plutonium extended up to the mid-1980s, diplomats said yesterday, uncovering a key detail about the country’s now-abandoned nuclear weapons program. It had been known that Taiwan briefly revived its nuclear weapons research program in the 1980s, and the revelations confirm suspicions that plutonium separation experiments were carried out at that time.

Taiwan first launched its nuclear weapons program in the 1960s, but suspended it in the following decade under pressure from America, which apparently feared the response from Taiwan’s rival China. Taiwan’s government has never acknowledged having a secret weapons program, according to analysts.

The experiments were uncovered in inspections and testing conducted by the International Atomic Energy Agency after the Taiwanese government agreed to voluntary extra controls on the country’s peaceful nuclear program, the diplomats said.

– Associated Press

SWITZERLAND INVESTIGATES EXPORTS OF NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY

Prosecutors yesterday opened an investigation into two Swiss citizens suspected of illegally exporting nuclear bomb-making technology to Libya, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said. The spokesman, Hansjuerg Mark Wiedmer, declined to identify the suspects. But one investigative source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said one was Swiss engineer Urs Tinner, who was arrested in Germany last week.

The Swiss agency that polices adherence to international sanctions disclosed in February that it had opened an investigation to determine whether Mr. Tinner had broken Swiss law by making precision parts in Malaysia that were destined for Libya. He is believed to have been part of the international clandestine network of Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, which helped Libya’s nuclear program, German authorities said.

– Associated Press

CARIBBEAN

REBELS GATHER TO END VIOLENCE

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Former soldiers who led a deadly revolt that ousted President Aristide gathered in Haiti’s capital yesterday, saying reinforcements were coming to help end violence that has killed at least 46 people. The advancing rebels intended to provide security in Port-au-Prince, former army Master Sergeant Joseph Jean-Baptiste said in a broadcast by private Radio Vision 2000.The development threatens to stir conflict with U.N. peacekeepers and armed supporters of Mr. Aristide.

More than 30 men in military fatigues, some heavily armed, gathered in an apartment in Petionville, a hillside suburb overlooking Port-au-Prince. Rebel leader Remissainthe Ravix, a former army major, said more reinforcements were on their way. The core rebel force estimated at 200 has been joined by many recruits.

– Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

COMPLAINT PROBES DELAY VOTE COUNT

KABUL, Afghanistan – Foreign election experts yesterday studied complaints from candidates in Afghanistan’s first ever presidential election, setting aside suspect ballot boxes and further delaying the vote count. Despite the problems, a top American general said last Saturday’s vote “spells the end” of the rule of the gun in a country still controlled by warlords. With ballot boxes pouring in by road, air, and even donkey from across the rugged and impoverished land, officials had forecast that the counting could begin yesterday.

But a three-person panel set up to investigate alleged irregularities said yesterday they were still examining 43 objections made by some opponents of President Hamid Karzai and the tallying cannot start until all the complaints are reviewed.

– Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

RUSSIAN-U.S. CREW SETS OFF FOR SPACE STATION

A Russian rocket carrying a new Russian-American crew to the International Space Station lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome today. For Russians Salizhan Sharipov and Yuri Shargin and American Leroy Chiao, it was their first mission in a Soyuz spacecraft – breaking the nearly 30-year tradition of having at least one crewman with previous experience in piloting the capsule.

Mr. Chiao and Mr. Sharipov both have flown American space shuttles, while Mr. Shargin is a rookie. The Soyuz TMA-5 lifted off from the bleak steppes of Kazakstan at 7:06 a.m. Moscow time and was due to dock with the station in two days.

– Associated Press