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Deutsche Welle English Service News April 23rd, 2001, 16:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: The Search For The Truth In response to an international outcry, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has named a team to investigate Israel's military operation in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_503846_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- German Police Detain 11 Suspected Terrorists German police have detained 11 people suspected of planning terrorist attacks in Germany. The 11, believed to be members of the Sunni Palestinian "Al Tawhid" organization, were arrested when the authorities raided 19 locations simultaneously in 5 states. The Federal prosecutors office in Karlsruhe has confirmed the arrest of a 36 year old Palestinian man in Essen, who is believed to be the head of the organization. Meanwhile in Frankfurt, an Algerian man on trial for allegedly plotting to bomb the Christmas market in Strasbourg, France said his defence lawyers were devils and the trial was a farce. Lamine Maroni, is being tried with four others who are suspected of having links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network. Prosecutors said the men formed a cell aimed at acquiring weapons and planning attacks after they returned from training in Afghanistan. Victims of Catholic Pedophile Priests Call for Action American victims of the Roman Catholic Church's pedophile scandal on Tuesday called for strong action against priests who abused children in their care and said assuring words from the pope were not enough. Victims and their lawyers said priests responsible for these sex crimes must be held accountable, as well as Catholic leaders who moved pedophile priests from one parish to another rather than turn them in to the authorities. The pedophile scandal has shaken the Catholic Church across America and led Pope John Paul II to summon U.S. cardinals to Rome to discuss the crisis in which the church has been accused of protecting its own before the child victims. Talks to End Bethlehem Standoff End Talks to end the standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity have ended with the Palestinians reporting progress. It's the first direct contact between the Israelis and Palestinians since dozens of Palestinian gunmen took refuge in the church, built on the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born. However, the violence in the Middle East continued on Tuesday when an Israeli helicopter missile strike in Hebron killed Marwan Zuloum, local head of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and his bodyguard. Angry crowds took to the streets of Hebron screaming for revenge after the men's charred bodies were pulled from the burning wreckage of their vehicle early on Tuesday. Just hours after the attack, hooded gunmen dragged three men accused of collaborating with Israel to the scene and shot them dead. Meanwhile, tanks remain ringed President Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, however, Mr. Arafat will meet with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU special envoy Miguel Angel Moratinos on Wednesday who travel to the region this evening. Mr. Arafat will also meet with the foreign ministers of Greece and Turkey later this week. Ahtisaari to Head Jenin Inquiry Team Despite Israeli protests, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has named a commission to investigate Israel's recent assault on the Jenin refugee camp. Former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari will head the commission which also includes former UNHCR director Sadako Ogata, the former president of the International Red Cross Cornelio Sommaruga, and as military adviser the retired U.S. general William Nash. The Palestinian Authority has claimed that a "massacre" of civilians took place in Jenin, an accusation that Israel has denied. Six Serb suspects ready to face U.N. tribunal Zoran Djindjic, the Prime Minister of Serbia, has announced 6 suspected Serb war criminals, including two senior allies of ousted leader Slobodan Milosevic, will give themselves up to the United Nations tribunal in The Hague, Holland in the next few days. However, still at large, are two of the world's most wanted men, wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic. Belgrade said the two are beyond its reach, rejecting allegations from The Hague that Mladic enjoys army protection. A government spokesman said those of the 17 suspects who had not turned themselves in and were in Yugoslavia would be arrested. Yugoslavia, Croatia move to improve relations A landmark meeting to thaw relations between two former Balkan foes, Yugoslavia and Croatia on Tuesday went smoothly with both sides saying they hoped to resolve a dispute over a strategic peninsula on their border by the end of the year. The meeting came during the first visit of a Croatian foreign minister to Belgrade since reformists came to power in both countries. Thousands Mourn Victims of Milan Skyscraper Crash Thousands of mourners packed Milan's huge cathedral on Tuesday for the funeral of two women killed when a light plane struck a skyscraper last week. Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi joined relatives and colleagues of the two families in a mass for the victims of Milan's second air disaster in just six months. Investigators are still trying to establish what happened in the ill-fated cockpit, and still cannot verify if illness, mechanical failure or a suicide wish caused the plane of Luigi Fasulo, to smash into the landmark, 30-storey Pirelli Tower. German Foreign Ministry Issues Travel Warning for Tunisia The German Foreign Ministry has issued a warning to people planning to travel to Tunisia saying there is an increased security risk. The warning came just hours after Germany's Federal Interior Minister Otto Schily returned from the north African nation and declared the explosion outside of a Tunisian synagogue on April 11th was indeed a terrorist attack. The ministry is recommending that tourists avoid areas where people could congregate including demonstrations, tourism sites and religious landmarks. The blast killed 11 Germans, 5 Tunisians, and a French man. IG Metal to Ask for Strike Mandate Germany's second largest union IG Metall on Tuesday said it would ask some of its 2.8 million members for a strike mandate after it had declared negotiations for a new contract dead. Klaus Zwickel, the president of the IG Metal said the union's board had recommended a strike ballot in the southern region of Baden-Wuerttemberg, as well the states of Berlin and Brandenburg involving around 200,000 members in over 1,000 firms. The Union leadership is expecting an overwhelming mandate to back demands for a 6.5 percent pay hike. German Economy on the Rebound The 6 leading German economic think tanks in their annual spring report believe the largest European economy is at the beginning of a recovery. They expect the German economy to grow this year by 9 tenths of one percent and estimate unemployment to hover around the 4 million mark. Meanwhile, the German Association of Credit Collection Agencies expects the number of bankrupcies to soar this year. They believe some 40,000 small businesses could collapse this year eliminating upto 600,000 jobs. Those figures are 15 percent higher than last year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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