Deutsche Welle English Service News 29. 01. 2004, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
Prisoners Swapped in Cologne and Israel Israel and Hezbollah have begun a complicated, German-brokered prisoner swap. In Cologne and Israel more than 400 in Israeli custody are being exchanged for a businessman and the bodies of three soldiers. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_1099793_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- German-negotiated prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah ends The biggest prisoner exchange in the two decades of conflict in the Middle East has been completed. A German air force plane has left a military airport near Cologne bound for Beirut with about 30 Arabs who were released by Israel. Shortly afterwards, an Israeli plane left the military airport for Tel Aviv with an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three dead soldiers who had been held by Hizbollah. At the same time, Israel was releasing about 400 Palestinian prisoners to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The prisoner exchange deal, reached after three years of negotiations, was mediated by German government officials. Suicide bomber blows himself up on Jerusalem bus At least 10 people have been killed and nearly 50 wounded in a suicide bombing on a bus in downtown Jerusalem. The blast went off just 100 metres from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's official residence. Sharon was not at home at the time of the blast. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group with loose ties to Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, has claimed responsibility for the attack. In a note, the bomber said he carried out the attack to avenge eight Palestinians killed in fighting with Israeli troops in Gaza City one day earlier. The Palestinian Authority has condemned the bombing and called for a resumption of peace talks with Israel. Blair accepts BBC apology The British Broadcasting Corporation has apologised for broadcasting a report alleging that the government "sexed up" a dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who demanded the apology after the release of the Hutton Report on Wednesday, has accepted it. Earlier, the BBC's director general, Greg Dyke stepped down over the findings of the Hutton Inquiry. The BBC's chairman, Gavyn Davies, had resigned just hours after Lord Hutton released his report into the circumstances surrounding the death of government weapons expert Dr David Kelly. Kelly committed suicide last June after being named as the source for a report that the British government exaggerated the intelligence on the threat posed by Iraq to make the case for war. Lord Hutton criticised the BBC for failing to check the accuracy of the report by defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan. Blast hits Iraq security forces north of Baghdad At least 10 people have been wounded after an explosion hit an Iraqi security patrol in the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad. The blast struck members of the Iraqi Civil Defence Force as they were conducting an early morning patrol. Baquba has been the scene of repeated attacks against Iraqi security forces in recent weeks. Indonesia orders mass bird slaughter Indonesia has ordered the mass slaughter of poultry to prevent the bird flu disease from breaking out even more in the region. President Megawati Sukarnoputri promised compensation for livestock owners. After weeks of denials, authorities in Jakarta acknowledged on Sunday that bird flu had reached Indonesia. And the European Union has said it had banned imports of pet birds from nine Asian nations in response to the bird flu outbreak. Furthermore in Peking, authorities have stopped both the slaughter of fowl and the sales of poultry products and non-inspected bird meat. Bird flu has not yet been found in the Chinese capital, but one case has been reported from the Guangxi region in the south of the country. So far, bird flu has only been transferred from live birds to humans, although scientists suspect the disease could mutate into a form that spreads from humans to humans. Bird flu has killed at least 10 people worldwide. German kidnapped in Somalia A German United Nations worker has been kidnapped in Somalia. The U.N. said that the kidnapping took place north of the city Kismaayo. A leading member of the militia ruling the region told the news agency Reuters that the group would attempt to free the hostage and capture whoever is responsible. Somalia clans to create common government The heads of various rival Somali clans have signed an agreement in Nairobi to create a transitional government. They then plan to put together a new parliament, which would form the first central government in the country in 13 years. They also hope to end clan-based militias which have been at war since the downfall of head of state Mohammed Siad Barre in 1991. The European Union representative at the talks, Carlo Ungaro, called for international support for a new Somali government. A donor conference is planned within the next few weeks. Georgia hopes to eventually join EU Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, starting a two-day visit to Berlin, has said that his country has the long-term goal of joining the European Union. At a meeting with Bundestag President Wolfgang Thierse, Saakashvili asked for German help to build a democratic Georgia. Saakashvili took office in Tbilisi on Sunday, at thirty-six years one of the world's youngest heads of state. He had helped lead protestors who ousted long-time, former President Eduard Schevardnadze. Saakashvili is to speak later with German President Johannes Rau, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. German-negotiated prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah ends A prisoner exchange between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hizbollah has almost been completed. A German air force plane has left a military airport near Cologne bound for Beirut with about 30 Arabs who were released by Israel. Shortly afterward, an Israeli plane left the military airport for Tel Aviv with an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three dead soldiers who had been held by Hizbollah. At the same time, Israel were releasing about 400 Palestinian prisoners to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The exchange was one of the largest in the history of the Middle East conflict. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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