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Deutsche Welle English Service News March 19th, 2001, 16:00 UTC ----------------------------------------------------------- Largest British Troop Deployment heads to Afghanistan A UK infrantry battle group, spearheaded by 700 Royal Marine Commandos, will be deployed in Afghanistan in the largest British troop deployments since the Gulf War http://dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1434_A_479780_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------- Israel Agrees to End Arafat House Arrest U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney says he's prepared in principle to meet with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. But Cheney added it would depend on whether Arafat and his security people could guarantee his safety in the West Bank or Gaza. Cheney annoyed the Palestinians by meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon but not Arafat. Meanwhile, the Israeli army has withdrawn from the West Bank, pulling troops out of Bethlehem and Beit Jala. Israel also said Arafat would be allowed to leave the compound in Ramallah where he has been under house arrest for several months. Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs agreed on the pullout during talks earlier with the U.S special envoy Anthony Zinni. EU says Israeli attacks caused damage of 36 million Euros on development projects The European Union says Israeli attacks in the Palestinian areas have caused 36 million euros worth of damage to development projects. The EU funding share in them was almost 20 million euros. Half of the sum is accounted for by the almost total destruction of Gaza international airport. US Troops Withdraw after major Offensive After the end of the major offensive led by the US Army in the east of Afghanistan, the remaining US and Canadian troops have been pulled out of the combat area. According to American army statements, hundreds of el-Kaida and Taliban troops were killed. They dismissed doubts about the number of alleged dead. In a parallel development The British government announced that at the request of the U.S. government they would be sending 1, 700 more troops to Afghanistan. These would support future operations in the area. Today in Kabul, Britain is handing over to Germany local command of the international peace mission. Security standards apparently ignored in fatal Kabul rocket explosion Investigators in Potsdam, Germany, say safety rules may have been ignored in the accidental explosion that last week killed five European soldiers in Kabul. State attorneys say the soldiers might also have behaved wrongly in preparing to explode old Soviet ammunition. An investigation has been launched against the responsible German military in the Afghan capital. Two German and three Danish soldiers of the ISAF force protecting the Kabul government died and eight others were wounded when Soviet anti-aircraft missiles they were trying to defuse exploded prematurely. USA confirm arrest of a top al Qaida men in Sudan The United States has confirmed the arrest of a leader of the al Quaida terror organisation in Sudan. Citing government officials, the Washington Post newspaper named him as Abu Anas Liby, one of 22 people on the US list of most wanted terrorists. Liby is the highest-ranking al Quaida member to have been seized alive since the US-led war against terrorism began. He's said to have been involved in the 1998 attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed hundreds of people. The US officials say negotiations with the Sudanese government about handing Liby over to Egypt have been going on for a month. Liby is also suspected of taking part in a plot to assassinate the Egyptian president, Hozny Mubarak in 1995. Zimbabwe opposition demands new elections The opposition in Zimbabwe have rejected talks about cooperation with President Robert Mugabe after losing last week's controversial election. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says Mugabe supporters are attacking member of his Movement for Democratic Change in many places and demands new elections. The German foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, repeated his accusation that Mugabe manipulated the election. Fischer said in Berlin it was highly distressing to look on as the potentially rich Zimbabwe is ruined by an irresponsible president. Schroeder calls for tolerable pay deals Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has warned German unions and employers against industrial action that would hurt the recovering economy. After a meeting with business leaders in Munich he said upswing trends have to be supported by tolerable pay deals which he expected to be made without strikes. Earlier, business organisations demanded labour market action from the government. Self-made impediments to growth had to be removed, they said. There was too much bureaucracy and not enough flexibility in Germany. German president pledges pro-Europe help to Romania President Johannes Rau of Germany has promised Romania support for its integration in European institutions. His Romanian counterpart Ion Iliescu said in Bucharest that relations with Germany had improved constantly in all fields in the past 10 years. Serbian deputy premier resigns The Serbian deputy prime minister, Momcilo Perisic, who's suspected of spying, has resigned. Perisic, who was military chief of staff under ex-president Slobodan Milosevic, is alleged to have given secret documents to US diplomats. Serbian media report that the documents could incriminate Milosevic, who's being tried at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Italy declares state of emergency after refugee landing on Sicily In an effort to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, the Italian government has declared a state of emergency on the island of Sicily. The interior ministry says new legislation is needed to stem an alarming increase in illegal immigration. Cabinet is to meet on Wednesday to discuss the issue. In one of the largest refugee shiploads to reach Italy, the coastguard towed more than 1,000 immigrants, mostly Kurds, on a derelict vessel to the port of Catania on Monday. Police said five men suspected of organizing the people smuggling have been arrested. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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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