SOUTH ASIA

7.2-MAGNITUDE QUAKE RATTLES SOUTHERN INDIA

NEW DELHI — A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit India’s southern Nicobar Islands yesterday, triggering panic in the islands and prompting Thailand to issue a tsunami warning for the region devastated by December’s earthquake and tsunami.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damages. The islands are in the Indian Ocean between India and Thailand, where about 5,400 people died in the December 26 Indian Ocean tsunami. By late yesterday, no tsunami was seen and Thailand withdrew its warning.

Yesterday’s quake also was felt in Indonesia’s Aceh province, the area hit hardest in December tragedy. Aceh residents, jolted from their sleep, said the quake rattled their homes for about 10 seconds. Some went outside to look for damage, returning minutes later when none was found.

In Sri Lanka, residents of Peraliya village — where the December 26 tsunami swept away a commuter train killing 2,000 — fled to a Buddhist temple on higher ground.

— Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

SHARON ALLOWS FOR MILITARY FORCE AT PULLOUT

JERUSALEM — Israel’s military will resort to unprecedented measures if Palestinian Arab terrorists attack Israeli soldiers and settlers during next month’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Sharon warned yesterday.

Mr. Sharon’s comments came a day after two Israeli motorists were killed in a Gaza shooting ambush and soldiers caught a would-be suicide bomber near a communal farm just outside Gaza late Friday.

Groups that claimed responsibility for the shooting included Islamic Jihad, the local Popular Resistance Committees, and the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, linked to the ruling Fatah party. Terrorist groups are trying to show that Israel’s pullout from Gaza next month is a retreat under fire from Palestinian Arab resistance, instead of a strategic Israeli decision.

Speaking to his Cabinet just hours after Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a convoy leading visitors out of Gaza Strip settlements, killing a Jerusalem couple, Mr. Sharon warned that if Palestinian Arabs attack settlers or security forces during the pullout, Israel’s response will be unprecedented. Mr. Sharon said he told visiting Secretary of State Rice that “our reaction [to attacks] will be of a different kind, with the addition of very harsh means, both if it takes place during the evacuation, or after we evacuate the Gaza Strip.”

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz met last night with Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, who commands the Palestinian forces — the first high-level meeting since an Islamic Jihad suicide bombing July 12 killed five Israelis in the town of Netanya. Mr. Mofaz demanded the Palestinian Arabs track down those responsible for the shooting attack, warning Mr.Yousef that if he didn’t, Israel would, aides to Mr. Mofaz said.

— Associated Press

EAST ASIA

AMERICA, NORTH KOREA TO HOLD ONE-ON-ONE TALKS

BEIJING — The American envoy to six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear program said today that he would hold a rare one-on-one meeting with his North Korean counterpart before the talks. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said he would meet North Korea’s envoy this afternoon before the full round of talks opens tomorrow after a gap of more than a year.

“We are just trying to get acquainted, review how we see things coming up and compare notes,” Mr.Hill told reporters. Referring to tomorrow’s talks, he said, “We are looking forward to working hard and trying to make some progress.”

He did not say what progress Washington hopes to make.

The talks also include host China, South Korea, Russia, and Japan.

Mr. Hill said yesterday that he did not expect the meetings this week to be the last negotiations over demands for the North to give up its nuclear program. He said the process is “going to take a lot of work.”

The last round of talks ended in June 2004 without major progress toward a settlement of the dispute. It erupted in late 2002 when America said North Korea had admitted running a nuclear program in violation of an earlier agreement.

— Associated Press

HONG KONG OFFICIALS SEARCH FOR CLUES ON FARM-ANIMAL DISEASE

HONG KONG — Hong Kong hospitals were on the lookout yesterday for a mysterious illness apparently related to pig farming that has killed nine people in a southern Chinese city and reportedly causes fever-like symptoms, vomiting, and internal bleeding.

Twenty people were hospitalized with the disease from June 24 to July 21 in the city of Ziyang in southern Sichuan province, the Hong Kong government said Saturday, citing information from Sichuan officials. Nine died, one was discharged, and 10 are still in the hospital, including six in critical condition, according to the Hong Kong government.

Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority has asked its hospitals to notify health authorities of any patients with similar symptoms, spokesman Raymond Lo said yesterday.The territory is wary of diseases spreading here from China since severe acute respiratory syndrome was brought to the territory by a mainlander in 2003. Animal viruses are also being scrutinized because of bird flu fears.

— Associated Press

SOUTHEAST ASIA

MYANMAR BACKS AWAY FROM ASEAN LEADERSHIP

VIENTIANE, Laos — Military-ruled Myanmar indicated yesterday it would forfeit its chance to assume the rotating chairmanship of the regional ASEAN security organization to spare the group from rebukes over the ruling junta’s poor democracy record.

Also yesterday,as Asia and Pacific nations opened their top annual security conference in the Laotian capital, Australia appeared set to embrace a regional nonaggression pact, reversing long-standing opposition.

Australia’s neighbors had made the accord a prerequisite for attending a summit next December to create an East Asian trade bloc. A draft conference statement obtained by the Associated Press said Australia would sign a declaration of intent to join the nonaggression treaty before Friday.

Myanmar’s colleagues in Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, have urged it to meet American and E.U. demands to release pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest or pass on its scheduled chairmanship of the group in late 2006. Both America and the European Union have threatened to boycott ASEAN meetings, which they usually attend as observers, if Myanmar becomes the bloc’s leader, and Southeast Asian nations fear the issue could endanger trade ties with the West.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

— Associated Press

WEST AFRICA

FOUR KILLED IN ATTACK ON POLICE STATION

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Unidentified assailants attacked security force posts in war-divided Ivory Coast’s government-held south, sparking gunfights that reportedly left at least four people dead, officials said yesterday.

Gunmen attacked a police station in a northern suburb of Abidjan, Anyama, late Saturday, and four people reportedly died, said a press attaché for the U.N. peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast, Captain Bois Moreau.

Captain Moreau said U.N. officials had not yet confirmed the deaths or from which side they may have come from. In a statement, the U.N. force “energetically condemned” the attack and said commanders had decided to send peacekeeping troops to the violence-hit areas.

An Ivory Coast army spokesman said there had also been a similar attack in the nearby neighborhood of Abobo, but there were no further details. The military said in a statement read on state television that there had also been fighting in Agboville, a town 50 miles north of Abidjan, and described the unknown attackers as “heavily armed.”

— Associated Press

SOUTHERN AFRICA

SOUTH AFRICA PLEDGES AID TO ZIMBABWE

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — President Mbeki of South Africa drove home his continued support for Zimbabwe’s regime yesterday by declaring that his government might pay some of President Mugabe’s debts.

Facing economic collapse, Zimbabwe has asked its neighbor for a rescue package running into hundreds of millions of dollars.The request comes amid international outrage over Mr. Mugabe’s latest excesses. The United Nations has denounced as “disastrous” demolition of large areas of Zimbabwe’s townships, saying the action has wrecked the homes or livelihoods of 700,000 people.

Despite this, Mr. Mbeki indicated he was willing to bail out Zimbabwe which owes the International Monetary Fund $300 million. The organization has begun proceedings to expel the country.

Mr. Mugabe, who is trying to maximize his options, arrived in Beijing yesterday to ask China for money.

— The Daily Telegraph