WESTERN EUROPE

POPE RETURNS TO VATICAN AFTER HOSPITAL STAY

VATICAN CITY – Pope John Paul II was released from the hospital and returned to his apartment overlooking St. Peter’s Square yesterday after reassuring the world’s Roman Catholic faithful with his own raspy voice that he is on the mend.

A gray Mercedes minivan carried the frail, 84-year-old pontiff back to the Vatican, 2 1/2 weeks after he was rushed by ambulance to Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic hospital and had surgery to insert a breathing tube in his windpipe. Cries of “Viva il Papa!” or “Long live the pope!” went up outside the hospital as John Paul crossed himself and the van pulled away. He waved and blessed the thousands of cheering Romans and tourists who lined the route, and his motorcade crossed the spectacularly floodlit square just as night fell, passed beneath the Arch of the Bells and disappeared inside the Vatican.

– Associated Press

PERSIAN GULF

TEHRAN: EUROPEANS MOVING TOO SLOWLY ON NUCLEAR TALKS

Iran described progress on nuclear talks with Europe as unsatisfactory and too slow, with Tehran’s chief negotiator warning yesterday that it soon may walk away from the discussions. Iran has made such threats before, accusing Europe of wasting time and not making proposals that conform to the Iranian bottom line – that it will develop peaceful nuclear technology. Europe seeks to ensure it does not use the technology to build bombs.

Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said a permanent halt of Iran’s nuclear activities was out of the question, but said Tehran was not yet ready to declare the “complicated and difficult” talks with Europe a failure.

The crux of the negotiations, Mr. Asefi said, involves securing European approval for a nuclear program built with guarantees that the technology will not be diverted toward weapons. Washington insists Tehran’s uranium enrichment program is aimed at developing a bomb, not merely providing an energy source.

– Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

KYRGYZ VOTERS CAST BALLOTS IN PARLIAMENTARY RUNOFFS

Voters in Kyrgyzstan cast ballots yesterday in elections amid accusations of fraud and opposition concerns that the longtime leader of the former Soviet republic might seek to extend his rule beyond constitutional limits. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the first round of voting for the 75-member Parliament fell short of international standards, noting instances of vote buying, questionable disqualification of candidates, and interference with the press. The government has dismissed those charges. Only two of the 32 seats filled without a runoff contest in the February 27 vote went to opposition candidates. Of the 43 remaining seats, opposition candidates contested about a dozen in yesterday’s election. Among the pro-government candidates was President Akayev’s daughter, Bermet.

– Associated Press

SOUTH ASIA

U.S. SKEPTICAL OF QAEDA’S ABILITY TO LAUNCH NEW ATTACKS

Senior Bush administration officials have warned in recent weeks that Al Qaeda is regrouping for another massive attack, its agents bent on acquiring nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons in a nightmare scenario that could dwarf the horror of September 11, 2001. But in Pakistan and Afghanistan – where Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy are believed to be hiding – intelligence agents, politicians, and a top American general paint a different picture.

They say a relentless military crackdown, the arrests last summer of several men allegedly involved in plans to launch attacks on American financial institutions, and the killing in September of a top Pakistani Al Qaeda suspect wanted in a number of attacks – including the 2002 killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and two failed assassination attempts against President General Musharraf – have effectively decapitated Al Qaeda.

– Associated Press