EASTERN EUROPE

SLAIN REBEL LEADER’S HOUSE BLOWN UP BY RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES

Russian authorities said yesterday they blew up the house where Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov was killed last week because they feared booby traps, but critics questioned the motive.

Colonel General Arkady Yedelev, chief of the federal headquarters for the campaign in Chechnya, said demolition experts inspecting the bunker had discovered and detonated a box that contained documents and was ridden with explosives. “The team of investigators decided to blow up the entire house to avoid such surprises in the future,” Mr. Yedelev said in a statement. Rights activists and government critics, however, suggested the blast could have been meant as punishment for the family that allegedly sheltered the rebel leader or an attempt to cover up sensitive evidence. Russian authorities said Maskhadov, 53, was killed during an operation by its forces last Tuesday in a basement bunker where he had been hiding, although accounts of how he died have varied. Yakha Yusupova, who lived in the house with her family, denied the rebel leader had been there and said she suspected Russian forces may have brought him there on Tuesday.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

KOSOVO’S FORMER PREMIER PLEADS NOT GUILTY

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Kosovo’s former prime minister pleaded not guilty yesterday to a list of atrocities he allegedly committed as a commander of the Western-backed ethnic Albanian separatists, and a former Bosnian Serb paramilitary commander surrendered to the U.N. war crimes tribunal – the 11th suspect to do so this year.

The rush of surrenders moves the United Nations court closer to its goal of closing the legal chapter on the Yugoslav wars within a few years, and advances the cause of the Balkan countries eager to join the European Union. Ramush Haradinaj, who resigned Wednesday as Kosovo’s prime minister, responded “not guilty” to each of 37 counts of war crimes allegedly committed in 1998, several months before NATO’s air campaign forced Serbian troops to withdraw from Kosovo and end a crackdown on ethnic Albanians. At his hearing, Mr. Haradinaj, 36, stood before Judge Carmel Agius and denied being responsible for abuses against Serb, Albanian, and Gypsy civilians during the 1998-99 war against Serbia.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

DALAI LAMA: TIBET READY TO SACRIFICE SOVEREIGNTY

BEIJING – The Dalai Lama held out a substantial olive branch to China yesterday, making his most positive comments about Beijing’s rule over Tibet since fleeing into exile more than half a century ago. Tibet wanted modernization and was prepared to sacrifice sovereignty so that it could benefit from China’s economic growth, he said in an interview.

“We are willing to be part of the People’s Republic of China, to have it govern, and guarantee to preserve our Tibetan culture, spirituality, and our environment,” he told the South China Morning Post. His comments suggested a renewed diplomatic offensive by the Tibetan government-in-exile in the lead up to the Dalai Lama’s 70th birthday in July. The Tibetan is deeply concerned by his advancing age. Though he is physically fit, his supporters are afraid that if he dies in exile, China would exert control over the choice of his successor and thus Tibetan Buddhism’s very future. The Dalai Lama has repeatedly sought to negotiate terms under which he could return to Tibet, which he fled in 1959 in the face of Chinese repression. He has already said he would accept Chinese sovereignty over Tibet but insisted on real autonomy over its religious and cultural life.

– The Daily Telegraph

NORTH AMERICA

PROPOSAL FOR ABSENTEE VOTING GAINS GROUND IN MEXICO

A massive turnout of Mexicans could soon be voting in that country’s elections from America. A proposal that would permit absentee voting for the first time is gaining steam in Mexico. If the measure pasts, the voters will turn up from Raleigh to New York to San Diego, a Pew Hispanic Center study released yesterday found, with 87% of Mexican migrants surveyed said they would vote if given the opportunity. There are roughly 10 million Mexicans living in America and a shift in law could have a large effect on Mexican politics. Currently, only Mexican citizens who are in Mexico are allowed to vote in elections for federal offices. But the Mexican Congress is debating a measure that would allow Mexicans abroad to vote in the 2006 presidential elections. The survey also revealed the lasting connections Mexicans maintain with their homeland. Thirty-five percent of the respondents said they owned land, 54% said they talk to their families in Mexico at least once a week, and 78% said they send money to Mexico.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SOUTHEAST ASIA

POLICE TAKE OVER JAIL IN THE PHILIPPINES; AT LEAST 17 KILLED

Police launched a major assault today on a maximum-security jail taken over by Al Qaeda-linked suspects, killing at least 17 inmates in a raid that began with a barrage of tear-gas canisters and bullets. The interior secretary, Angelo Reyes, said the dead included four leaders of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, including the two men who headed a botched escape attempt yesterday that left another five people dead.

“We have taken control of all the floors,” the metro Manila police chief, Avelino Razon, quoted the ground commander as saying less than an hour after the operation began. Sporadic gunfire continued for an hour as police said they were conducting mop-up operations. At least five officers involved in the assault were wounded. “There were so many people, they were hiding in their cells,” said a police officer, Napoleon Cabrera, who led one of the assault teams.

“Some were firing pistols, some were yelling because of the tear gas smoke,” Mr. Cabrera said, adding that he got in a firefight with one rebel.

– Associated Press