NORTH AMERICA

WHITE HOUSE SAYS SYRIA HAS HIT LIST OF LEBANESE FIGURES

WASHINGTON – Bush administration officials alleged yesterday that Syria has developed a hit list targeting senior Lebanese political figures in an attempt to regain control of its neighboring state, just six weeks after Syria said it had ended almost three decades of military occupation.

“These are threats against some of the most prominent Lebanese political leaders. The purpose would be to create instability and to create internal strife,” a senior administration official said. After a brief lull in Syrian interference in Lebanon, senior Syrian intelligence personnel have been seen back in Lebanon, particularly over the past week, the official added.

Secretary of State Rice said yesterday that America is concerned about a potential “pattern” of political killings. “What we don’t want is that there is a pattern now of assassination of key figures because that would be very, very destabilizing in Lebanon, and I think it would have to point a finger at those forces that have been destabilizing in Lebanon,” Ms. Rice said on The Charlie Rose Show.

The Lebanese opposition leader Walid Jumblatt also expressed concern yesterday about the potential for future assassinations after the car bombing last week of a leading journalist critical of Syria. “Probably there is a decision – with the knowledge or without the knowledge of President Assad – to continue the assassinations,” he said on a Lebanese TV talk show.

– The Washington Post

AMERICA, BRITAIN AGREE ON $16B IN DEBT RELIEF FOR AFRICA

America and Britain have agreed on a deal to erase $16.7 billion owed by 18 of the world’s poorest countries to international lenders, the New York Times reported on its Web site. Treasury Secretary John Snow and the British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown are expected to announce the agreement today in London at a meeting of seven of the Group of 8 nations.

Most of the 18 countries are in Africa, and the debt obligations would be forgiven to free up the countries for development of health, education, and social programs, according to a source who requested anonymity because a formal announcement had not been made, the Times reported.

A compromise was worked out in recent days in Washington and London.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SOUTH AMERICA

SUPREME COURT CHIEF NAMED AS PRESIDENT AMID RAUCOUS PROTESTS

SUCRE, Bolivia – Bolivia’s high court chief rose to the presidency late yesterday after two congressional leaders refused to assume the post, clearing the way for possible early elections that officials hope will curb violent protests.

The action came as lawmakers gathered in an emergency session and rapidly accepted the resignation of President Mesa. The rejection of the top post by the two congressional leaders automatically gave the job to Supreme Court Justice Eduardo Rodriguez, who had been third in line to the presidency.

The important developments took only minutes during a session called after a day of raucous street demonstrations in this historic colonial capital some 450 miles southeast of La Paz.

– Associated Press

CARIBBEAN

E.U. TO DECIDE ON CUBA POLICY

Observers of Cuba’s democracy movement will be looking across the Atlantic next week, as the European Union decides whether to adopt a uniform policy on diplomatic relations with Cuba’s communist dictator, Fidel Castro, and the dissidents who oppose him.

The European Union imposed a diplomatic freeze on the island nation’s strongman in March 2003 after he imprisoned 75 independent journalists, librarians, and other dissidents, while increasing its diplomatic ties with members of Cuba’s opposition movement. The move outraged Mr. Castro, and in January, the European Union – led by Spain following the election of its Socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero – relaxed its hard line against the dictator and scaled down its overtures to Cuban dissidents, allowing member states to determine their own policies on diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Meetings in Brussels next week will determine whether the Europeans will reinstitute a common, tough stance toward Mr. Castro, whose repressive actions surrounding a May 20 meeting of democracy activists – the Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba – may have jeopardized his chances of receiving a favorable nod from European diplomats and policy-makers.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

SEASON’S FIRST HURRICANE HEADED TOWARD FLORIDA

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Atlantic hurricane season’s first named storm headed north yesterday toward the Gulf Coast as Florida residents, still recovering from last year’s devastation, watched with a wary eye. Tropical Storm Arlene, which strengthened from a tropical depression that formed Wednesday, was centered about 115 miles south-southeast of the western tip of Cuba at 5 p.m. It was moving north at about 8 mph, with parts of the Florida Keys expecting rain late yesterday, forecasters said.

Arlene had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and was, at least for now, mostly a rain threat, forecasters said. It was expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico by today – a path that prompted authorities to warn residents of coastal communities to beware.

– Associated Press

AUSTRALIA

AMERICAN EMBASSY CLOSES AFTER RECEIVING WHITE POWDER

CANBERRA, Australia – The embassies of America and four other countries with troops in Iraq were closed yesterday in the Australian capital after they received envelopes containing white powder, authorities said. The packages also were sent to the embassies of Britain, Japan, Italy, and South Korea. Tests showed that the powder in at least two of the parcels was not harmful, police said.

“It is a nonsense, it is a waste of resources, and it is a silly way for any person to make their point, political or otherwise,” police Commander Shane Connelly said. He could not say whether the incidents were linked and said there was no apparent political motive. Powder packages also were sent to Australia’s parliament and the office of Prime Minister Howard, a staunch American ally who has sent troops to Iraq. Police would not say if they were investigating a link to the Iraq war.

– Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

U.S. LIFTS BAN ON $10 MILLION AID PACKAGE

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro – America lifted its freeze on a $10 million aid package for Serbia-Montenegro yesterday, saying the Balkan country had shown better cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal. Congress withheld $10 million in aid in January because of Serbia’s failure to arrest and extradite several Serb suspects to the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands. Another $16 million was withheld last year for the same reason. But since October, Serbia negotiated the surrender of about a dozen Serb war crimes suspects. Still, the former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic, believed hiding in Serbia, and wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, believed to be in Bosnia, remain at large.

– Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

SUSPECTED TALIBAN COMMANDER ARRESTED IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – A suspected Taliban commander responsible for roadside bomb attacks on Afghan and American-led coalition troops has been arrested in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan commander said yesterday.

Mullah Abdul Razak was handed over to coalition forces after being caught traveling in a taxi when troops at a checkpoint recognized his face from a list of photographs of wanted suspects, an army commander, General Muslim Amid, said.

Mr. Razak is the alleged Taliban leader in Arghandab district, just north of Kandahar, the main city in southern Afghanistan and a former rebel stronghold, he said.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

RUMSFELD: U.S. PREFERS DETAINEES WERE HELD BY HOME COUNTRIES

BRUSSELS, Belgium – America would rather have detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp imprisoned by their home countries, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said yesterday.

Mr. Rumsfeld spoke a day after saying he was unaware of anyone in the Bush administration discussing closing the prison in Cuba. Hours later, President Bush refused to rule out shutting the facility, saying his administration was “exploring all alternatives” for detaining the prisoners. Human rights groups and former detainees say prisoners at Guantanamo have been mistreated.

The Pentagon said last week that some American personnel there mishandled prisoners’ copies of the Koran, the Muslim holy book. American officials are waiting until Iraqi and Afghan authorities have the ability to deal with dangerous prisoners before handing over detainees from those nations, Mr. Rumsfeld said yesterday at a news conference during a NATO defense ministers’ meeting.

– Associated Press