SOUTHEAST ASIA

INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT, ACEH REBELS TO MEET

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Mediators yesterday persuaded the Indonesian government and Aceh rebels to meet for negotiations on a cease-fire, trying to forge peace out of the tsunami tragedy. Indonesia raised its death toll from the disaster by as many as 7,600 people.

An American admiral dismissed fears that the American military is ending its relief effort for tsunami victims in Indonesia too soon as a U.N. agency delivered aid on its own for the first time yesterday – a sign that civilian groups are preparing to fill the gap when militaries pull out.

The massive earthquake and tsunami that battered south Asia on December 26 devastated parts of Indonesia and Sri Lanka where insurgencies have simmered for decades. The influx of relief workers and journalists into the region since the disaster has drawn unprecedented international attention to those conflicts and intensified diplomatic efforts for peace. Now, there are signs of progress on both fronts.

Finland’s Crisis Management Initiative, headed by former President Ahtisaari, confirmed yesterday that Indonesian government officials and rebel leaders would meet this week in Helsinki to discuss a formal cease-fire in tsunami-ravaged Aceh province, where separatists have been fighting for an independent homeland for nearly 30 years.

Separately, a powerful earthquake rocked parts of Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island early Monday, damaging around 30 houses, officials said. No injuries were immediately reported.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

GERMAN PROSECUTORS SAY TWO QAEDA SUSPECTS ARRESTED

BERLIN – German police arrested two suspected Al Qaeda members yesterday believed to have plotted a suicide attack in Iraq – with a side venture in insurance fraud, taking out a policy on the suicide bomber to use the money to fund the terror organization. The chief suspect, 29-year-old Iraqi Ibrahim Mohamed K., is also believed to have tried to obtain nearly two ounces of uranium in Luxembourg.

He also “played a not unimportant role in Al Qaeda, because he showed signs of contact with Osama bin Laden and met with Ramzi Binalshibh,” one of the plotters of the September 11 terror attacks in America, chief federal prosecutor Kay Nehm told reporters. The Iraqi, a resident of Mainz, was arrested on suspicion of recruiting suicide attackers in Germany and providing logistical help to Al Qaeda, Ms. Nehm said. The other suspect, a 31-year-old Palestinian Arab, identified as Yasser Abu S., was allegedly recruited by the Iraqi to be a suicide bomber in an attack in Iraq. The Palestinian Arab is a Bonn medical student, who was born in Libya and has an Egyptian passport, Ms. Nehm said.

– Associated Press

SOUTH AMERICA

VENEZUELA MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF DEMOCRACY WITH DEMONSTRATIONS

Supporters of President Chavez marched through Caracas yesterday, demanding respect for Venezuela’s sovereignty following American criticism and Colombia’s acknowledgment that it paid a bounty to capture a rebel on Venezuelan soil.

To mark the 47th anniversary of Venezuelan democracy, critics of Mr. Chavez staged a smaller march, accusing him of threatening freedoms gained with the January 23, 1958, overthrow of General Marcos Perez Jimenez, Venezuela’s last dictator. “Venezuela must be respected!” Mr. Chavez told a massive crowd outside the palace. “Nobody can deny that what Colombia has done is a violation of international law … the only government that has defended this vulgar error is the imperialist government of the United States.”

The crowd chanted, “Chavez makes them crazy!” Mr. Chavez blamed America for the crisis with Colombia. “This provocation came from Washington. It is the latest attempt by the imperialists … to ruin our relations with Colombia,” he said.

Chanting pro-Chavez slogans and carrying banners reading “Bush: Venezuela Is Not Iraq!” and “Colombia, Stay Out of Venezuela,” tens of thousands of loyalists danced to traditional folk music booming from loudspeakers on flatbed trucks.

– Associated Press