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.

MIDDLE EAST
ISRAEL APPROVES DEPLOYMENT OF EUROPE AN INSPECTORS AT BORDER
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israel’s Security Cabinet yesterday approved the deployment of European inspectors at the Gaza-Egypt border, a major step toward giving the Palestinian Arabs freedom of movement without Israeli controls for the first time since the 1967 Mideast war. As negotiators tried to resolve remaining disputes over new security arrangements on the frontier, Israel killed two top Palestinian fugitives, Hassan Madhoun of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and Fawzi Abu Kara of Hamas, in a missile attack on their cars, triggering threats of revenge by militants.
– Associated Press
WESTERN EUROPE
MERKEL COALITION IN CHAOS AS KEY ALLY REFUSES POST
BERLIN – Germany’s nascent government was in chaos yesterday after the would-be finance minister, a key ally of the future chancellor, Angela Merkel, turned his back on the administration. The governor of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber, said he would prefer to stay in Germany’s most prosperous state than risk his fortunes in Berlin. Mr. Stoiber, who leads the Christian Social Union, junior partners in the conservative alliance led by Mrs. Merkel, said his decision was influenced by uncertainty over the future of the Social Democrats.
– The Daily Telegraph
CENTRAL ASIA
MUSLIM WOMEN TO VOTE IN AZERBAIJANI ELECTION
BAKU, Azerbaijan – In an about-face, officials ruled yesterday that Soviet-era passports can be used as proof of identity during weekend elections, defusing a controversy over a ban on I.D. cards bearing pictures of Muslim women in head scarves. The move came after a group representing thousands of Muslim women appealed to President Aliev to repeal the requirement that they pose bareheaded for identity cards. The group asserted women would be unable to cast votes in Sunday’s election because they have no identity papers.
– Associated Press
EAST ASIA
SOUTH KOREAN SAYS SIX-PARTY NUCLEAR TALKS COULD START NOV. 9
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea’s point man on North Korea said today that international talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program should resume in about a week. “The six-way talks are supposed to be held around November 9,” Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said in a speech. His remarks came a day after a Japanese press report that China had proposed starting the next round on November 9 in Beijing.
– Associated Press
KOREAS UNITE FOR OLYMPIC GAMES
BEIJING – North Korea and South Korea yesterday announced they would field a single team in the next Olympic Games. A statement released at the East Asian Games in Macau explained details of how the two countries’ Olympic squads would be merged for the Beijing Games would be worked out next month.
– The Daily Telegraph
EAST AFRICA
ZANZIBAR OPPOSITION REJECTS POLL DEFEAT ZANZIBAR – The president of Zanzibar, Amani Karume of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi Party, won re-election yesterday with 53% of the vote, but the opposition rejected his victory as a fraud and predicted a political crisis on the islands. Five supporters of the main opposition party and four members of its security force were killed as the violence that plagued campaigning continued.
– The Daily Telegraph
MUGABE’S MAN ADMITS ERROR OF FARM SEIZURES
HARARE, Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe’s bankrupt government said yesterday that it had run out of food because land seized from whites was given to amateurs with no “passion for farming.” The deputy minister of agriculture and a former businessman, Sylvester Nguni, blamed falling production on President Mugabe’s “new” farmers.
– The Daily Telegraph