Foreign Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
SOUTH ASIA
TERRORIST GROUP CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR INDIAN BOMBING
NEW DELHI – India declared a state of emergency in its capital yesterday as police hunted those behind Saturday’s bombings. Prime Minister Singh branded the attacks as dastardly terrorist acts. Investigators confirmed they had detained 32 suspects, but refused to give details about the arrests. A man saying he represented a terrorist group, Islamic Inquilab Mahaz claimed responsibility for the bombings. The little-known group is thought to be tied to the Pakistan-based Lashkare-Tayyaba.
– The Daily Telegraph
EAST ASIA
CHINA: NORTH KOREAN LEADER PLEDGES TO STICK WITH NUCLEAR TALKS
BEIJING – China’s president went to North Korea with promises of economic support and emerged with a pledge from its leader to stick with six-nation talks aimed at halting the North’s nuclear weapons program, an official said yesterday. During their talks, Kim Jong Il told President Hu “that the [North] adheres to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to the peaceful solution of the nuclear issue through dialogue,” the head of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Department, Wang Jiarui, said.
– Associated Press
PERSIAN GULF
GUNMEN ASSASSINATE BROTHER OF AN IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Gunmen killed a brother of Vice President Abdul-Mahdi, Ghalib Abdul-Mahdi, yesterday and a top official in the Ministry of Trade, Qais Dawood Hasan, escaped assassination in another part of the capital, while the death toll in a truck bombing the day before rose to 30. An American Marine was fatally injured in another bombing. The U.S. command also announced yesterday that a Marine died of injuries suffered the day before in a roadside bombing near Baghdad.
Elsewhere, an Iraqi border guard was killed. A roadside bomb destroyed an oil tanker truck, killing two men inside, police Captain Ibrahim Abdul-Ridha said. A bomb killed a farmer in Samarra, police Captain Laith Mohammed said. A shooting in Baghdad killed two construction workers.
– Associated Press
MIDDLE EAST
PALESTINIANS, ISRAELIS AGREE TO HALT VIOLENCE
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel and the Palestinian Arabs agreed yesterday to halt their latest round of rocket attacks and air strikes, official said, but the deal threatened to fall through when Israeli forces killed two Islamic Jihad terrorists. Israeli forces circled a house in the West Bank town of Qabatiyeh yesterday and killed an Islamic Jihad member accused by Israel of planning a deadly suicide bombing last week, Jihad Zakarne, and another terrorist, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said. The Israeli military had no comment.
– Associated Press
EAST AFRICA
TROOPS FIRE ON VOTERS AS ISLAND BOILS OVER
STONE TOWN, Zanzibar – Tear-gas filled the alleys of Stone Town yesterday, as troops opened fire on opposition voters outraged at alleged vote-rigging.
With Zanzibar being a semi-autonomous state that is part of Tanzania, the crackdown has focused attention on the Tanzanian president, Benjamin Mkapa, who has been criticized for a lack of good governance. Zanzibar is seen as the only place where the opposition Civic United Front could beat Mr. Mkapa’s ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi.
– The Daily Telegraph
CENTRAL AMERICA
BETA HITS NICARAGUA’S EAST COAST
MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Hurricane Beta roared ashore along Nicaragua’s Caribbean coastline yesterday, causing rivers to overflow in neighboring Honduras before weakening to a tropical storm. No deaths were immediately reported.
– Associated Press