NORTH AFRICA

TAPE ATTRIBUTED TO BIN LADEN PRAISES ATTACK

CAIRO, Egypt – A man identified as Osama bin Laden, speaking on an audiotape posted on an Islamic Web site yesterday, praised an attack earlier this month on an American consulate in Saudi Arabia and criticized the Saudi regime as weak and controlled by America. The voice sounded like the Al Qaeda terror chief’s, and the tape, which was more than an hour, was posted on a site known as a clearinghouse for terrorist Islamic comment. The identity of the voice, however, could not be independently confirmed.The tape appeared the same day another dissident had called for antimonarchy protests in the kingdom.

In Washington, Secretary of State Powell said American intelligence officials were analyzing the tape, and “it appears to be” the voice of Mr. bin Laden. An intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his colleagues had “high confidence” that it was Mr. bin Laden’s voice. When asked whether he thought Mr. bin Laden was trying to taunt America and Saudi Arabia, Mr. Powell replied, “He’s a terrorist.That’s what terrorists do. He’s a criminal, he’s a terrorist, he’s a murderer, and we’re going to continue to hunt for him. …He will be brought to justice.” The tape’s reference to the December 6 attack – in which five insurgents shot their way into the compound of the American Consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, killing five non-American employees – showed that it was made recently.Four of the attackers were killed and one was wounded in the consulate attack.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

E.U. TO OFFER TURKEY MEMBERSHIP TALKS

BRUSSELS, Belgium – European Union leaders agreed yesterday to open negotiations with Turkey next year on eventual E.U. membership, but the Turkish premier said more talks were needed – presumably over the contentious issue of Cyprus – before he could accept the offer. Despite widespread public opposition, the 25 E.U. leaders proposed October 3, 2005, as the start date for the talks, which are expected to last for years. Ankara had hoped for a start date in April. Following a two-hour meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan, Prime Minister Balkenende of the Netherlands said no deal had been reached and talks would continue today.

“We realized very big issues are at stake,” said Mr. Balkenende, whose country holds the rotating E.U. presidency. The prospect of Turkish membership has split governments and public opinion across the continent. Critics fear opening the door to a populous, mostly Muslim country would profoundly alter the 25-nation bloc’s European and Christian character at a time when many Europeans are questioning multiculturalism.

– Associated Press

TWO CHARGED IN HIJACKING OF GREEK BUS

ATHENS, Greece – Two Albanian immigrants were charged yesterday with multiple counts of kidnapping and attempted murder following an 18-hour bus hijacking and hostage drama that ended peacefully, and the government appealed for Greeks not to strike back at foreigners. A crowd outside Athens police headquarters jeered as the two 24-year-old Albanians, Gaz Resuli and Leonard Murati, went before a prosecutor. Both are housepainters who have lived in Greece for seven years.

The two are accused of using shotguns to hijack a long-distance bus with 26 passengers on board shortly before dawn Wednesday. The gunmen claimed to have explosives and threatened to blow it up if authorities did not pay a ransom of $1.3 million and provide them with safe passage out of Greece.They were jailed without bond pending an arraignment Monday. The government sought to defuse any backlash against immigrants in Greece, which has become home in the past decade to more than 1 million foreigners, most from neighboring Albania. Immigrants make up 10% of the Greek population.

– Associated Press

TEN CONVICTED IN PLOT TO BLOW UP CHRISTMAS MARKET

PARIS – Ten accused Islamic insurgents were convicted yesterday and sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to 10 years for their roles in a millennium plot to blow up a Christmas market in the eastern city of Strasbourg on New Year’s Eve 2000. The suspects – Algerian nationals and French citizens of Algerian origin who included an alleged associate of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden – went on trial in October on charges they were involved in the foiled plot.They were convicted of criminal association with a terrorist enterprise that state prosecutor Christophe Tessier alleged had links to Islamic networks in Britain, Italy, and Spain.

Cooperation between French and German police led to the arrest in late 2000 of a Frankfurt-based group of Algerians who allegedly planned to attack the market.The bombing “was avoided by a hair,” Mr.Tessier said last month. Strasbourg’s well-known market is set up around the city’s cathedral during the Christmas period and is a major gathering place. France opened an investigation after four suspected Islamic radicals were arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, in possession of a map of Strasbourg and a video cassette showing the market.

– Associated Press

CARIBBEAN

U.N. TROOPS SURROUND ARISTIDE’S FORMER COMPOUND

Several hundred U.N. troops and Haitian police surrounded the estate of the ousted president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, yesterday in a showdown with a band of former soldiers who seized the abandoned compound.Haiti’s interim government warned that the rebels must leave the estate in the suburb of Tabarre because it belongs to the state, but the men refuse to go. “The transitional government will take all necessary steps to put an end to this intolerable situation with the assistance of the…U.N. stabilization force,” the government said in a statement issued through the U.N. peacekeeping mission.

The dozens of ex-soldiers, participants in the three-week rebellion that ousted Mr. Aristide in February, refused to leave after taking over the compound on Wednesday, said former Sergeant Remissainthe Ravix, their spokesman. The government called the men at the compound “outlaws,” setting a tough tone. U.N. spokesman Colonel Carlos Barcellos said there were no plans to storm the compound and the U.N. force is waiting for a team of government negotiators to arrive.

– Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

YUSHCHENKO SAYS GOVERNMENT COOKED UP A ‘POLITICAL MURDER’

Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko starkly accused the Ukrainian government yesterday of poisoning him in a “political murder” to knock him out of the presidential race, saying his massive dioxin dose probably came from a dinner three months ago with Ukraine’s security chief. Mr.Yushchenko laid the blame unequivocally on the government of President Kuchma and Prime Minister Yanukovich, his opponent in the contest to be decided in a December 26 repeat of their fraud-marred runoff. For the first time, he also pinpointed the time and place the poisoning likely took place: A September 5 dinner with the head of the Ukrainian Security Service, Ihor Smeshko, and his deputy, Volodymyr Satsyuk. “That was the only place where no one from my team was present and no precautions were taken concerning the food,” Mr. Yushchenko said.”It was a project of political murder, prepared by the authorities.”

– Associated Press