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Deutsche Welle English Service News 5th January, 2002, 16:00 UTC Mideast tension high despite Zinni efforts U.S. peace envoy Anthony Zinni met Palestinian officials on Saturday, emerging still optimistic about truce prospects despite heightened tensions over Israel's seizure of a shipload of smuggled arms. Suggesting progress in American efforts to end 15 months of bloodshed, Mr.Zinni said the sides would resume trilateral security talks on Sunday, broken off in December after a wave of violence wrecked an earlier push for a ceasefire. But disputes over the arms shipment, which Israel insisted was bound for the Palestinians, overshadowed the top-level talks and underscored the troubles ahead. Ship seizure clouds U.S. peace mission in the Middle East Israeli navy dock workers in the Red Sea port of Eilat have unloaded a ship that the army said was seized trying to smuggle tonnes of weapons to Palestinians during a renewed U.S. peace mission. The Palestinian Authority denied any knowledge of the ship and said it considered the announcement an Israeli effort to sabotage the visit by U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni. Israel said the vessel was carrying 50 tonnes of mostly Iranian-supplied arms destined for Palestinian-ruled territory. The ship was seized in international waters in the Red sea, while Mr. Zinni was meeting Palestinian President Yasser Arafat as part of Washington's latest effort to end more than 15 months of Middle East bloodshed. Pakistan, India foreign ministers meeting-official Foreign ministers of India and Pakistan are meeting on the sidelines of a South Asia summit in Kathmandu, Nepal a Pakistani official confirmed on Saturday. The meeting of the Indian foreign minister and his Pakistani counterpart is an apparent diplomatic breakthrough as the two countries had previously said they were unlikely to hold a bilateral meeting to discuss escalating tension over Kashmir. The leaders of the two countries, whose troops are massed on either side of their joint border, are at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in Kathmandu.India accuses Pakistan of fomenting revolt in disputed Kashmir, but Pakistan says it only extends moral and diplomatic support to separatists. India blames Pakistan-based groups for an attack on Indian parliament last month. Bushfires blaze on in Australia Thousands of firefighters hope for rain and cooler weather after having battled through the night against two huge bushfires threatening mountain towns to Sydney's west and beachside hamlets to the south. Some 10,000 firefighters, most of them volunteers, are trying to contain about 100 fires, the majority lit by arsonists, on fronts totalling over 2,000 km along Australia's east coast. Two massive blazes posed the greatest threat, one along the Blue Mountains west of Australia's biggest city, Sydney, and another on the New South Wales state's south coast. The fires, the worst and most widespread in Australia's history have destroyed 172 homes and destroyed an area twice the size of greater London. UN says Sierra Leone disarmament all but complete The United Nations' biggest peacekeeping force hopes to disarm the last remaining fighters in Sierra Leone on Saturday, allowing one of the world's poorest nations to recover from a brutal civil war. Over 42,000 fighters have handed in guns in the past year, but those in some eastern areas stopped disarming in December. Their decision followed bloody clashes in diamond centres, whose gems have funded the war and forced the U.N. to extend its year-end deadline for completing the process. They resumed disarming after a local deal to stop illegal mining. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan authorised the creation of a special war crimes tribunal for Sierra Leone last Thursday. It will have the task of prosecuting about 20 ringleaders of atrocities in the war, during which thousands of women and children had their hands and feet hacked off. Somalia under surveillance The U.S. military has stepped up aerial surveillance along the coast of Somalia to keep an electronic eye on suspected extremist training camps and sites where Osama bin Laden and his top aides could take refuge. U.S. officials however cautioned that while Somalia was considered among the top centers for extremist activities, the reconnaissance by U.S. surveillance planes did not mean the African state was the next U.S. target after Afghanistan. Zimbabwe mob attacks opposition office and MP's home Zimbabwe's main opposition party on Saturday accused youths loyal to President Robert Mugabe of attacking one of its offices and the home of a legislator, as violence rises ahead of presidential elections set for March. The Movement for Democratic Change or MDC said about 300 youths from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party attacked its headquarters in Chitungwiza at sunset on Friday, injuring several people.It said the youths, in the sprawling town neighbouring the capital Harare, were armed with guns, axes, stones and clubs. They also besieged the home MDC member of parliament Fidelis for more than 90 minutes. The MDC says the recent killing of its four members has brought to 87 the number of opposition activists and supporters killed since February 2000. Argentina to devalue and bring in dual exchange rate Argentina's new government has sought special powers from Congress to reform the economy. It wants to set the stage for a devaluation of its peso currency and create a dual exchange rate system. President Eduardo Duhalde sent a bill to Congress requesting powers to reform the foreign exchange and banking systems, regulate prices of goods and services, safeguard the value of savers' bank deposits and ensure debtors do not go bankrupt. The bill contained no more details on devaluation of the peso which has been pegged to the dollar at one-to-one for a decade. Duhalde's aides say the devaluation could be around 30 percent. ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
