Deutsche Welle English Service News 15 April 2004, 16:00 UTC ----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Final Round: Go East! The EU Quiz: Europe is expanding East. Embark on a journey through the 10 candidate countries set to enter the EU by playing the fourth and final round of DW-WORLD's Go East quiz Lots of great prizes are waiting to be discovered. http://dw-world.de/go-east ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Europe Outraged by Alleged Bin Laden Tape EU leaders on Thursday dismissed the offer of a "truce" from terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, who said his terror network al Qaeda might spare Europe from attacks. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1433_A_1171074_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Japanese hostages in Iraq set free Three Japanese nationals taken hostage last week have been released in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera broadcast pictures of them sitting on a sofa in a Baghdad office, apparently in good health. The station said the two aid workers and a journalist had been turned over to the Committee of Muslim Scholars in Baghdad, a Sunni Muslim organization that mediated their freedom. In Tokyo, national broadcaster NHK reported Japanese government confirmation of their release. The three Japanese civilians were taken hostage in Iraq by militants who threatened to kill them unless Japan withdraws its non-combat troops from southern Iraq. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had refused, insisting the soldiers will complete their humanitarian mission. US to raise US troops number in Iraq: US General The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers, said here Thursday that US troops numbers will be increased in Iraq due to what he called "significant security challenges. Myers told a press conference in Baghdad that General John Abizaid, the commander of US Central Command, and Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the head of US forces in Iraq, had indicated they would need more troops. He added that he believed any extra troops would show U.S. resolve to see this situation through. Iraq's Sistani tells US to stay out of Najaf Iraq's leading Shi'ite Muslim cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has warned the United States against entering the holy city of Najaf in pursuit of Moqtada al-Sadr, Shi'ite religious and political sources said on Thursday. Sistani, a political rival of rebel cleric Sadr, has issued statements in the past urging respect for law and order and the sanctity of Iraq's holy places, but he has refrained from commenting directly on the Shi'ite uprising by Sadr's militiamen. A 2,500-strong U.S. force is currently near Najaf after soldiers were sent south from bases north of Baghdad. UN's Kofi Annan criticises US President Bush for backing Israel United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has criticised US President George W. Bush for changing his policy on the Middle East peace process. Bush has shown support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip while retaining settlements in the West Bank. Annan said Bush was ignoring the wishes of Palestinians and circumventing the peace process. The secretary general said unresolved issues should be determined by both parties based on Security Council resolutions. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie said Bush was the first US president to give legitimacy to Jewish settlements on Palestinian territories. Russia supports Israel's Gaza Strip pull-out plan Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday conditionally welcomed Israel's initiative to withdraw Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip, but made no mention of a controversial plan to keep them in the West Bank. Lavrov told reporters an Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip was generally in line with the "road map" plan for a Middle East settlement -- supported by the "quartet" of the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia. EU opposes unilateral change to Mideast borders Meanwhile the European Union has said it opposes any kind of unilateral change to Mideast borders. A spokesman for the European Commission said the US support for Israel's plan to retain part of the West Bank did not conform with a position reached by EU leaders last month. The spokesman said the EU would not recognise changes to the pre-1967 borders different to those agreed by both sides. Spain's Zapatero signals policy shift Spain's Prime Minister designate Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has signalled major revisions of Spanish welfare and foreign policies, including crucial endorsement for a draft EU constitution. The Socialist leader told Spain's parliament that his new government would seek ties within Europe. That contrasts with his defeated rival Jose Maria Aznar who objected to the draft EU charter and sided with the USA's Bush administration, for example, through Spanish troop deployments to Iraq. Zapatero said the constitution - to be signed in Madrid - would pay homage to the 191 victims of last month's commuter train bombings in the capital. He vowed to overhaul Spain's intelligence services and, on Iraq, said that Spain would require future international interventions to have UN endorsement. He also vowed greater spending on education, housing and research. Europe rejects alleged bin Laden truce offer Reactions have been coming in to an audiotape broadcast on Arab TV purported to be from Osama bin Laden in which the al Qeada leader offered European nations a truce if they stop attacking Muslims. The EU Commission President Romano Prodi said there was no possibility of European countries accepting the offer. Germany said it wouldn't negotiate with "criminals" like bin Laden. Britain said the idea of an armistice with terrorists was "an absurdity." The voice on the recording says last month's train bombings in Madrid in which 191 people died were payback for Spain's involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The message also vows revenge on Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. SKorean pro-goverment party heads for victory in official count South Korea's pro-government Uri Party, which backs impeached President Roh Moo-Hyun, was heading for victory in parliamentary elections Thursday with 90 percent of the vote counted, according to official returns. The party was projected to win an overall majority of 151 seats in the 299-seat chamber, according to TV projections based on data from the National Election Commission. The conservative Grand National Party (GNP), which controlled the outgoing National Assembly with 137 seats, would win 121, according to the projections provided by state-run KBS network. ANC holds clear lead in South Africa's elections The latest results from South Africa's elections show the ruling African National Congress set to win resounding victory. Ballots counted from half the country's 17,000 voting stations showed the ANC winning 68 percent of the vote. The main opposition Democratic Alliance is trailing in second place with around 15 percent. In third place, the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party stood at 5.1 percent although its fate was linked to the outcome of the provincial race in its stronghold of KwaZulu-Natal province. The elections are the third democratic polls since apartheid ended 10 years ago. Karuna's location unknown, says Sri Lanka's army European mediators from Norway say Sri Lanka's military and Tamil Tiger rebels have agreed to uphold a 2002 cease-fire. This follows the Tigers' crushing of a breakaway rebel faction in eastern Sri Lanka last week. The military, meanwhile, has denied speculation that it might be sheltering in Colombo the renegade Tamil rebel commander known as Karuna. He vanished into jungle. A spokesman for the military said it had no knowledge of Karuna's whereabouts. Australia - Aboriginal council abolished Leaders of Australia's indigenous Aboriginals have condemned the abolition of their elected national commission by the conservative government. Prime Minister John Howard said the body, after what he termed a 15-year "experiment", had failed to deliver basic services to Aborigines, despite its 1.3 billion dollar budget, and had focused too much on what he called "symbolic" issues. The commission's acting chairman Lionel Quartermain said the move was a "sell out". He blamed existing laws for the plight of Aborigines. Numbering 400,000, they remain the nation's poorest, sickest and least educated citizens in a population of 20 million. Last month, the opposition Labor party said it too would abolish the commission. Labor leads in surveys ahead of an election expected later this year. Howard has proposed a substitute, purely advisory council. US promises 400 million dollars to Cyprus for rebuilding EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen has warned the Turkish and Greek communities on the divided island of Cyprus against stalling in a key referendum vote on its future. Verheugen rejected calls by some Greek Cypriot politicians to postpone the referendum. The United States has pledged some 400 million dollars in reconstruction aid for Cyprus if both sides on the divided island approve a UN peace plan. The island is set to join the European Union on May 1. If the UN peace plan is opposed only the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot half of the island will join the bloc. Schroeder visits Netherlands Visiting the Netherlands, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has played down fears that a future EU could be dominated by a few large members. A country's potential influence did not stem from its size, Schroeder told an audience at Rotterdam's Erasmus University. From Juli, the Netherlands takes over the EU's rotating presidency from Ireland. This evening, Schroeder will visit Queen Beatrix in The Haag, and have talks with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende. Drug busts in Germany and England In Germany police say they have smashed an continental drugs ring by intercepting 107 kilograms of heroin and arresting eight Turkish and three Greek suspects. The load, with a street value of 30 million euros, and apparently destined for Britain, was halted last weekend in Bayern on board a truck carrying steel plating from Turkey. Some of the arrests were also made in North Rhine Westphalia state and in England. In Liverpool harbour, British customs inspectors say they have found seven tonnes of hashish in two shipping containers, with an estimated value of 52 million euros. Seven men were arrested. The hashish was disguised inside the containers as roofing tiles. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD.DE on Your Desktop. Keep up with events with our RSS-Feeds: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,5069_A_1137115,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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