MIDDLE EAST

AL-JAZEERA AIRS TAPE OF FOUR KIDNAP VICTIMS

The Al-Jazeera satellite channel aired a tape yesterday that is said to show three kidnapped Romanian journalists and a fourth unidentified person.

The station said the four were held by an unnamed militant group. The authenticity of the tape could not be verified. The tape showed the four seated on the ground in a room, with a blanket hung behind them. Two men – their faces covered with scarves – pointed guns at them. The missing journalists, abducted Monday night near their Baghdad hotel, have been identified as reporter Marie Jeanne Ion, 32, and cameraman Sorin Dumitru Miscoci, 30, from Bucharest-based television station Prima TV, and Romania Libera reporter Ovidiu Ohanesian, 37.

– Associated Press

MILITANTS FIRE AT ABBAS’ WEST BANK HEADQUARTERS

Palestinian Arab militants fired yesterday at Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ West Bank headquarters while he was in the compound, but he was not injured, security officials said. Later, the 15 gunmen – who said they belong to an armed group linked to the ruling Fatah movement – went on a shooting rampage throughout the city of Ramallah, damaging several restaurants and forcing shops to close, witnesses and officials said.

– Associated Press

LEBANON’S PRIME MINISTER STALLS ON PROMISE TO RESIGN

Lebanon’s pro-Syrian prime minister stalled in carrying out his promise to resign, prompting accusations yesterday that he is trying to extend a political crisis and scuttle elections his camp fears it could lose. About 3,000 people chanted “Death to America!” in a demonstration near the American Embassy. The protesters, many belonging to the pro-Iranian militant group Hezbollah, said Washington should stay out of Lebanese affairs. Meanwhile, France and America circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution yesterday that would establish a new international investigation into the assassination less than a week after a U.N. report criticized Lebanon’s own probe, saying it did not meet international standards and calling for an entirely new one by an outside team.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

CHINESE OFFICIALS MEET TAIWANESE LEADER

BEIJING – Chinese communist officials and a leader of Taiwan’s Nationalists held yesterday the highest-level meeting between their parties since civil war split the two sides in 1949, and they called for expanded economic ties. The vice chairman of the Nationalists who once ruled China and now are Taiwan’s main opposition party, Chiang Pin-kung, is visiting the mainland this week on a history-making trip that underscores a warming in relations with their former communist enemies.

– Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

LEADER WARNS AKAYEV’S RETURN COULD CAUSE UNREST

Kyrgyzstan’s interim leader told the ousted president to stay away from the country for now, warning yesterday that Askar Akayev could cause more unrest if he returned and that the government could not guarantee his safety. Mr. Akayev, who fled last week after violent protests, hinted on Russian TV on Tuesday that he might be willing to submit a formal resignation if he received security guarantees from parliament. He also said he wanted to come home.

– Associated Press