English Service News 13th April, 2002, 16:00 UTC ----------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD: Arms Delay, but not Embargo As violence rages in the Middle East, it still remains unclear whether Germany will agree to a European Parliament proposal to impose trade sanctions on Israel at a foreign minister's meeting on Monday. 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_497077_1_A,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------- German airforce evacuates injured tourists from Djerba A German airforce plane equiped as an airborne clinic has landed in Hamburg, bringing home 8 seriously injured German tourists from the Tunisian island of Djerba. Early Saturday two other flying hospitals transferred four people who are fighting for their lives after suffering burns to over 70 percent of their bodies. In a faxed statement to DW Radio, the German foreign ministry said two more people succumbed to their injuries on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 13. On Thursday a tanker-truck loaded with liquid gas exploded near a synagogue on island. Local authorities are still officially calling the incident, an accident, however, there is some uncertainty if the blast was indeed an accident. Two federal German police officers are in Tunisia to help the local authorities with the investigation. The German news magazine "Focus" quoted eye witnesses who said the truck had been parked near the synagogue and had not crashed into the wall surrounding the house of worship. The German Foreign Ministry has warned people not to make unsubstaniated conclusions and said it expects a report from the German officers in Djerba shortly. Arafat condemns all terrorist acts; meeting with Powell scheduled for Sunday Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has issued a statement in Arabic condemning the latest suicide bombing in Jerusalem and all acts of "terrorism" against innocent civilians. Arafat's statement was distributed by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA and was later read on Palestinian television. However, Arafat also condemned Israeli actions saying "We also strongly condemn the massacres and slaughters committed by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian civilians and refugees in the city of Nablus, the Jenin camp and against the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Shortly after the statement was released, British television reported US Secretary of State Colin Powell has agreed to meet with Arafat at his presidential compound in Ramallah on Sunday. Neither the state department in Washington nor the Powell entourage in Israel have confirmed Mr. Powell's agenda. On Saturday, Mr. Powell meet with Christian leaders in Israel, the diplomatic equivalent of treading water. The church elders encouraged him to use his influence to help those trapped inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Israeli military campaign marches on Israel on Saturday continued its military campaign as tanks rolled four towns close to the northern city of Jenin. Troops also entered three villages near Nablus and Ramallah. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ignored international pressure to withdraw from the cities and towns that the army has occupied in a drive it says is aimed at destroying "terror infrastructure". Meanwhile, two people have been pulled out alive from the rubble of their Nablus home which collapsed earlier in the week amid heavy fighting in the West Bank city. Also eight dead bodies of one Palestinian family were recovered from the ruins of the same house. Tens of thousands of people attend pro-Palestinian rallies across Europe Tens of thousands of people have gathered in several European cities on Saturday calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian terrorities. In London, a crowd estimated at 20,000 rallied at Trafalgar Square. In Germany, 10,000 people gathered in Berlin's Alexander Square, before parading through the city. In Frankfurt an alliance of some 40 pro-Palestinian groups rallied to support the Palestinian people. Other rallies were also held in Duesseldorf, Mainz, Ulm, Mannheim, and Tuebingen. British soliders attacked in Kabul Two British patrols from the international security assistance force in Kabul came under fire Friday night. The two patrols were attacked simultaneously by a group of about 30 men armed with AK-47 assault rifles. The British soldiers returned fire. No one was injured in the gunbattle, however, seven of the assailants were captured. Nine reported killed as Afghan warlords fight Fighting between the forces of two rival commanders in Afghanistan's Wardak province stopped on Saturday amid conflicting accounts of what started it. Local people said both sides used mortars, machineguns and artillery in the fighting which claimed at least 9 lives and closed the road between Kabul and Maidan Shahr. Pedro Carmona Sworn In as Leader of Venezuela Venezuela's military-backed interim president Pedro Carmona has been sworn in, replacing the ousted Hugo Chavez, and immediately dissolved Congress and fired all justices of country's supreme court. Carmona promised "free, transparent" elections within a year. Mr. Chavez remains at an army base in Caracas, after the military denied his request to leave and live in exile in Cuba. Nepal attack toll hits 90 Nepali soldiers found at least 36 bodies of Maoist rebels in a ditch in west Nepal on Saturday taking the toll from Thursday's gun battles to 90. Junior Interior Minister Devendra Raj Kandel said many policemen were among those killed on Thursday when rebels attacked police posts using rocket launchers and bombs. On Saturday morning, a landmine killed three and injured four people in the town of Laltin Bazaar, 600 kilometers northwest of the capital, Katmandu. Bundesliga results Here are the results of Germany's bundesliga action on Saturday. Bayern Munich defeated Nuremberg 2-1. Wolfsburg won in Moenchengladbach 2-nil. 1860 Munich hammered Freiburg 5-2. Cologne edged St. Pauli 2-1. In a stunning upset Werder Bremen blanked Schalke 3-nil. Berlin shutout Rostock 1-nil and finally Leverkusen remains top of the table by virtue of their 1 all draw in Hamburg. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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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