----------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
US Tells Europe to Play Catch-Up America has warned Europe to build up its military capability in order to avert US unilateralism. But who is going to pay for it? To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1434_A_434692_1_A,00.html ----------------------------------------------------------- Deutsche Welle English Service News 4th February, 2002, 18:00 UTC Turkey Warns Iraq of "Grave Danger" Turkey's Prime minister Buelent Ecevit has made an urgent appeal to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to allow United Nations weapons inspectors back into his country. In a letter, which Ankara described as a last warning, Mr. Ecevit said Iraq was facing a "grave danger", if it delayed further weapons inspections. The U.S. Defense Policy Board chairman, Richard Perle, said on Monday that it had been essentially decided that the "next front" would be Iraq, unless inspectors were allowed into the country. He also said Washington would act - even against the will of the Europeans, if necessary. The German Foreign Ministry has warned the United States against taking any unilateral action. Rumsfeld Accuses Iran of Collaboration U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has accused Iran of helping Taliban and al Qaeda fighters to escape from Afghanistan last November - a charge rejected by a senior Iranian general. Mr. Rumsfeld said he could confirm a "Time" magazine report which claimed that 250 senior Taliban and al Qaeda fighters slipped into Iran from Afghanistan as U.S.-backed Afghan opposition forces took control. General Mohsen Rezai said Iran had patrolled its border with Afghanistan meticulously. The Iranian foreign ministry warned the USA not to mount any military action against Iran. Explosion Kills Four Palestinians Four Palestinian motorists have been killed near Rafah in the Gaza Strip by an unexplained explosion. Israel's military has so far declined comment. News agencies report that a farmer found the vehicle blown apart. Overnight, Israeli helicopters fired missles at a Palestinian metal engineering workshop in northern Gaza. The Israeli army claimed that it had been producing mortars. The building was largely destroyed, but there have been no reports of casualties. Confusion Over Fate of U.S. Journalist Senior Bush administration officials have ruled out any concessions to kidnappers in Pakistan who seized Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Karachi two weeks ago. The kidnappers reportedly are demanding the release of Pakistani prisoners held by the United States at its Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. Mr. Pearl's fate is unknown, with Pakistani police dismissing as hoaxes a string of messages over the weekend which had claimed the journalist had been found dead. Germany Offers Aid to Turkish Quake Victims German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has offered Berlin's assistance to Turkey following Sunday's earthquake. Both Mr. Fischer and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed their condolences to victims in a letter to the Turkish prime minister. The tremor, which measured six on the Richter scale, jolted Turkey's southwestern province of Afyon, killing at least 45 people. Thousands of survivors spent the night outside in freezing temperatures. Some 150 homes and buildings collapsed in the towns of Sultandagi, Cay and Bolvadin. Many others were severely damaged. Villagers Killed in Angolan Raid At least fourteen people were killed and ten injured by a group of armed men when they ambushed a fishing village in western Angola over the weekend. News of the incident was only reported late Sunday. The attack took place in Benguela province. A local official said 150 people had also been abducted in the attack and 50 head of cattle stolen. He blamed Jonas Savimbi's UNITA rebel movement. However, this could not be independently confirmed. The spokesman said three attackers died and two were taken captive in fighting with Angolan security forces who arrived later. UNITA has staged a number of high-profile raids over the last nine months in areas which support the ruling MPLA party. Hun Sen Scores in Municipal Polls Initial projections from Cambodia's landmark municipal elections point to victory for the People's Party of Prime Minister Hun Sen, but gains were also reported for the SRP party of opposition figure Sam Rainsy. Official results are not due until Tuesday, but an election official said Hun Sen's CCP had scored a 70 percent foothold across 1,600 prefects, ahead of general elections next year. Turn-out among the five million Cambodians was a high 90 percent. Sam Rainsy said he would accept the outcome but stressed that campaigning had been marred by intimidation, murders of activists, and Hun Sen's media domination. Monitors, including EU observers, have not yet publicly commented. Pirates More Brutal - IMO The U.N.'s International Maritime Bureau says pirates have become more brutal and resort more often to weapons, especially in waters off Indonesia as well as India, Bangladesh and some parts of Africa. The IMO's anti-piracy office in Kuala Lumpur said world-wide 21 seamen were killed last year and 16 were kidnapped. Of the 335 assaults registered, pirates used weapons in 73 incidents. Improved patrols had, however, reduced piracy in the Straits of Malakka, one of the world's busiest shipping routes. Compared to 2000, when 75 incidents were reported, last year there were only 17. --------------------------------------------------------------- For more information please turn to our internet website at http://dw-world.de/english Here you'll find out what's happening in Germany, Europe and the rest of the world. News and background reports from the fields of current affairs, culture, business and science. And of course the DW website also has information about DW-RADIO and DW-TV programmes: topics, broadcast times and frequencies. You can even listen to all programmes as audio-on-demand. Serbian News Network - SNN [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.antic.org/
