Foreign Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

EASTERN EUROPE
NO WINNER IN ROMANIA PRESIDENTIAL RACE BUCHAREST, Romania – Exit polls showed no clear winner in Romania’s presidential election yesterday, forcing a runoff next month between a former ship’s captain with a populist message and a political veteran embodying the communist past. The polls also showed that no party won a majority in the parliamentary election that would enable it to form a government by itself.
The two top vote-getters both promise to lead the east European country out of poverty and into the European Union, and both also will likely maintain their support for the American-led war in Iraq. Romania currently has about 700 troops there. Although 12 candidates contested the presidency, the race was between Prime Minister Nastase of the left-wing Social Democratic party and Bucharest mayor Traian Basescu, the former sailor. The polls showed Mr. Nastase leading for the presidency with up to 43% of the vote, while Mr. Basescu was in second place with 35%. About 18 million people were eligible to vote, and turnout was expected to be 57%.
If the exit polls hold up, a runoff will be needed December 12 since neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote. The polls were carried out by the Insomar/Metro Media group and Center for Urban Sociology of Romania based on interviewing more than 1,000 people. Official results in the presidential and parliamentary elections were expected by Tuesday.
– Associated Press
WESTERN EUROPE
REPORT: 9/11 PLANNER ALSO GAVE ORDER FOR MADRID BOMBINGS An unidentified Muslim terrorist suspected of helping plan the September 11 attacks in America also ordered this year’s Madrid train bombings, a Spanish newspaper said yesterday, asserting the closest link yet between the two terrorist attacks.
The man is believed to be a lieutenant of Mustafa Setmariam, a fugitive with dual Syrian and Spanish nationality who is considered a key figure in the March 11 backpack bombings that targeted the Madrid commuter rail network, the newspaper ABC said, citing information from the FBI.
Last week, America announced a $5 million reward for information leading to Mr. Setmariam’s arrest, saying he was an Al Qaeda operative who ran a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.
Also known as Abu Musab al-Suri, he trained terrorists in poisons and chemicals, the State Department said.
The Madrid attack killed 191 people and was claimed in videotapes by terrorists saying they acted on behalf of Al Qaeda in revenge for Spain’s sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan. Conservatives who backed the war in Iraq were voted out of power in elections three days after the attack.
– Associated Press
SOUTH ASIA
PAKISTAN TEST FIRES NUCLEAR-CAPABLE MISSILE ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan test fired a new version of its medium-range, nuclear-capable missile today, a top government official said.
The senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the surface-to-surface missile had a range of 180 miles. “All the flight tests went well,” the official said.
It was the third test of the Ghazanvi missile. India has said technology for the missile came from China or North Korea in the 1990s.
It was Pakistan’s second major missile test in the past six weeks. On October 12, Pakistan launched a Ghauri V missile, which has a range of 930 miles and could reach several Indian cities. Officials in Pakistan, however, said the test was not intended as a message to New Delhi.
India and Pakistan routinely test missiles. A government official said yesterday that Islamabad had informed neighboring countries, including India, about plans for the test.
India on Friday test fired a surface-to-air missile.
– Associated Press
EAST ASIA
EARTHQUAKE HITS JAPAN, TRIGGERS TSUNAMI TOKYO – A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 struck Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido early today, swaying buildings, throwing objects off shelves, and triggering a tiny tsunami wave that reached the shore. Thirteen people were injured by the 3:32 a.m. quake, but there were no immediate reports of damage.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency quickly issued a tsunami warning for the eastern shores of Hokkaido’s Pacific coastal area. Tsunami are potentially dangerous waves triggered by seismic activity. But agency official Masahiro Yamamoto later told a televised news conference that the agency had lifted its warning, saying it had detected a 4-inch tsunami and expected only small changes in the ocean’s surface. The quake was centered off Hokkaido’s east coast, about 550 miles northwest of Tokyo, 30 miles below the sea surface. The rocking was felt throughout northern Japan, including Hokkaido’s largest city, Sapporo, and Kushiro, on the island’s eastern shore. The initial tremor was followed by a 4.6-magnitude aftershock about a half hour later.
– Associated Press
EXPLOSION IN CHINA KILLS AT LEAST 25 MINERS BEIJING – An explosion tore through a coal mine in central China yesterday, killing at least 25 miners and trapping more than 140 others in tunnels and shafts below without communications, the government said. Another 127 miners escaped. The blast rocked the state-owned Chenjiashan coal mine in Shaanxi province at 7:20 a.m., when 293 workers were underground, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The explosion was centered around coal pits five miles from the mine entrance, it said. At least 166 workers remained trapped, while 127 escaped, Xinhua said, citing the State Bureau of Production Safety. Most who escaped were working close to the entrance, it said, and many suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning. Some 41 were hospitalized, Xinhua said.
Witnesses said they saw “huge amounts of thick smoke pouring from the mine’s ventilation vents,” hampering rescue efforts, according to the Web site of the Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper. Staff at Chenjiashan said communications with the trapped miners were cut off, the site said. On its evening newscast, state TV showed ambulances rushing to the scene as huge crowds of people gathered outside the main gate of the mine. President Hu Jintao urged rescuers to employ “all effective measures” to save the trapped workers, China Central TV said.
– Associated Press