Deutsche Welle
English Service News
September 27th, 2001, 16:00 UTC
Switzerland is in shock after a gunman stormed a local parliament in
the Alpine town of Zug and killed at least 13 people before
apparently shooting himself dead.
The bloodbath lasted three minutes. Among the 14 dead were three
politicians. Ten other people were wounded, many severely. Police
said the unnamed attacker was Swiss, from Zurich. Zug's parliament
had just rejected a complaint he'd filed. Witnesses said he entered
parliament's monthly session dressed as a policeman and shot wildly
with an assault rifle. A device possibly a grenade exploded. Outside,
police found a car with more weapons and a letter which swore revenge
on what it termed Zug town's (quote) "mafia". Many Swiss men are army
reservists who are allowed to keep assault weapons at home. Germany's
Bundestag has held a minute's silence for the victims.
The German parliament has voted by a large majority in favour of a
follow-on German-led NATO mission in Macedonia to protect several
hundred OSCE and EU civilian observers to oversee political reforms.
The new mission, code-named "Amber Fox" will comprise 700 NATO
troops, mostly German. Mandated by the UN Security Council, it'll run
initially for three months. In recent days NATO negotiated with
Skopje to launch "Amber Fox" as NATO troops ended their collection of
3,800 weapons from rebels under a peace plan that saw Macedonia's
parliament reluctantly adopt reforms. Ethnic Albanian rebel leader
Ali Ahmeti today claimed that his NLA militia had been disbanded.
Police in Pakistan say they've begun to arrest suspected associates
of Osama bin Laden, the USA's prime terror suspect who's thought to
be in neighbouring Afghanistan, to get information.
The arrests, reportedly in Karachi, follow a visit to Pakistan by
U.S. military officials. Pakistan's foreign ministry has denied
reports that a second government delegation had gone to Kandahar for
talks with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban. Ten days ago a Pakistan
delegation sought bin Laden's extradition. The U.S. civil rights
leader Jesse Jackson appears ready to act as mediator. But, there's
confusion over whether the Taliban had invited him. In the USA,
police have arrested nine men on suspicion of having false licences
for hazardous goods vehicles - as fears remain that more attacks
could follow those of two weeks ago on New York and the Pentagon.
The London-based journal, Janes Defence Review, has warned that the
onset of the bitter Afghan winter by next month will blunt any
significant military offensive by the USA against the Taliban.
Weather conditions may also limit the US military operations designed
to apprehend Osama bin Laden, the journal said.
Four Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip in the wake of
Wednesday's long-delayed talks between Israeli Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Hospital sources said the fourth to die was a Palestinian shot dead
by Israeli troops near a Jewish settlement at Kfar Darom. Overnight,
after the talks, three Palestinians were killed, and 27 others
injured when Israeli tanks entered Rafah. That followed a bombing
claimed by Hamas that wounded three soldiers. At their talks Peres
and Arafat pledged "full commitment" to re-activate truce talks. The
encounter had previously been vetoed by Israeli premier Ariel Sharon.
Turkey's parliament has agreed to partly remove the death penalty
among a set of constitutional reforms that would limit capital
punishment to cases of terrorism and war crimes.
Abolition has long been demanded by the EU as a precondition for
Turkish entry to the Union. Parliament also agreed on equal rights
for Turkish women. In total 37 reforms were endorsed by a two-thirds
majority vote The reforms are still subject to two more votes.
On the third day of his visit to Germany, Russian President Vladimir
Putin has returned to Dresden city, once part of East Germany, where
he worked as a Soviet KGB spy in the late 1980s.
Dresden is now the capital of Saxony state and Putin told its premier
Kurt Biedenkopf that it felt like returning home. Earlier, Putin has
handed back to Dresden's gallery three valuable paintings that went
missing during World War Two's Soviet occupation of the region. A
Russian businessman had rediscovered them at a Moscow market.
In southern Germany, two trains have collided head-on, leaving at
least 82 passengers injured, mostly pupils on their way to school.
Nine people have severe injuries, including both drivers. On board
the early-morning trains were 300 passengers. The collision happened
at Enzisweiler, between Friedrichshafen and Lindau. Police said it
appeared that one of the trains had left the local station too soon.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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