Deutsche Welle English Service News February 26th 2005, 17:00 UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's highlight on DW-WORLD:
British Soldiers Jailed for Iraqi Abuse Three British soldiers were jailed and dishonorably dismissed from the army Friday for abusing Iraqi civilians in a case compared with the mistreatment of prisoners by US guards at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the internet address below: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1502147,00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- In light of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2005, DW-WORLD has put together a special site marking the occasion. Our coverage looks at the effect of World War II on countries around the world and includes interviews with scholars as well as picture galleries. To view the site, please go to http://www.dw-world.de/english ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Arrests after Tel Aviv suicide bombing Israeli and Palestinian security forces have arrested eight men in relation with Friday's suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv disco. The bomber blew himself up next to a line of patrons waiting to get into the club, killing four Israelis and injuring at least 50. Those arrested include two brothers of the bomber. Security services from both Israel and Palestine have accused Hezbollah of being behind the bombing. The Lebanese Shiite movement denies involvement. The leaders of all the main Palestinian factions have distanced themselves from the attack and insisted that they were still committed to an unofficial truce. Mubarak proposes multi-party polls Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has proposed an amendment to the country's constitution which would allow more than one candidate to stand in presidential elections. Mubarak said in a televised speech he had made the proposal to parliament to change the constitution and hence pave the way for multi-party elections. This has been a demand of opposition parties in Egypt. Under the existing system, parliament, which is dominated by Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party has to approve the sole candidate for a presidential referendum that was scheduled for September. African countries lift Togo sanctions African leaders have lifted sanctions against Togo after Faure Gnassingbe stepped down as president. The sanctions were applied by the Economic Community of West African States after Togo's army installed Gnassingbe earlier this month, following the death of his father who had ruled the West African country for 38 years. Abbas Bonfoh, formerly the deputy speaker of the parliament, will act as president until elections in April. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan welcomed the decision by Faure, who in turn announced he would run for the country's top office. Pope's blessing will be given by aide For the first time in his 26-year pontificate, Pope John Paul II will leave an aide to perform his traditional Sunday Angelus blessing. A Vatican statement said the pope will join the prayer from his hospital room. John Paul was readmitted to hospital on Thursday with respiratory problems and a tracheotomy was then performed to ease breathing. The Vatican said the pontiff is currently breathing on his own. It is still uncertain how long John Paul would remain hospitalised. Yemen upholds one death verdict An appeals court in Yemen has upheld a death sentence against an al-Qaeda militant found guilty of the 2000 bombing of the US destroyer Cole. The court however commuted the death penalty against another. The man whose death sentence was upheld, Adb al-Rahim al-Nashiri, is considered to be a former al-Qaeda leader and is currently being held in the United States where he is expected to face separate legal procedures. The Cole was refuelling in Aden harbour when two men on a small boat laden with high explosives rammed the US destroyer. 17 US sailors were killed. UN investigates Lebanese assassination A United Nations team has begun an inquiry in Beirut into the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Lebanon's Syrian-backed government had rejected calls for an international investigation into the killing but has since pledged to cooperate with the UN's three-member team. Lebanon's opposition blames Syria for the bombing murder of Hariri, whose death has intensified pressure on Damascus to end its political and military domination of Lebanon. In response, Syria announced plans on Thursday to pull back its 14,000 troops stationed in Lebanon closer to the two countries' mutual border. The move falls short, however, of demands by the US, France and the UN Security Council for a total withdrawal. Four US soldiers, 13 Iraqis killed In a new wave of violence in Iraq, three US soldiers, a Marine and 13 Iraqis have been killed since Thursday. The most recent incident happened on Saturday in which a US Marine in the rebel province of Al Anbar west of Baghdad was killed. The other three troops died when their patrol was hit by a roadside bomb near Baghdad. In another development, Iraq's government says it has captured a key aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian al-Qaeda militant behind many attacks in Iraq. The government said the aide, Abu Qutaybah, was caught last Sunday in Anah, an Iraqi town in the Euphrates river valley near the Syrian border. The man allegedly arranged safe houses, transportation and coordinated meetings between leading militants and al-Zarqawi. Army says dozens of Maoists dead Government troops in Nepal have said they have killed at least three dozen Maoist rebels in a series of clashes. Also, three soldiers and a policeman were killed in the rebel-dominated far western Kailali district. The latest fighting took place as soldiers tried to clear road blocks set up by the Maoist rebels to enforce a blockade in protest of King Gyanendra's seizure of power on Feb. 1. In other violence, hundreds of rebels stormed a Nepalese TV station in the southwest, forcing the outlet to suspend broadcasting. Nobody was reported injured. Since 1996, over 11,000 people have died in the Maoist revolt. Schroeder optimistic about UN seat German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has expressed optimism about the possibility of Germany receiving a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Although the topic was not discussed during US President George W. Bush's visit to Germany on Wednesday, Schroeder said in an interview with the "Frankfurter Allgemeine" Sunday newspaper that the conditions for such talks had improved. Schroeder said the common interests on both sides of the Atlantic were so great that even differences of opinion could now be resolved. UN troops killed in eastern Congo The United Nations says militiamen in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have killed nine Bangladeshi peacekeepers. UN sources in Congo said two patrols were ambushed in the mineral-rich district of Ituri, where the UN's mission MONUC has nearly 5,000 troops from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco and Nepal. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan strongly condemned the murders and called on Congo's transitional government to find the perpetrators and hold them accountable. Basra Brits jailed for abuse At a British military base here in Germany, three British soldiers have been given jail terms ranging from five months to two years for abusing Iraqi detainees. A British military court gave one soldier two years in jail for disgraceful conduct, which occurred in the Iraqi city of Basra in 2003. The most senior of the trio, a corporal, received 18 months. All three have been discharged from the British army. In London, British army chief General Mike Jackson apologized to the victims of the abuse. The mistreatment of the Iraqi detainees by British soldiers was documented in photographs, similar to the pictures of abuse taken by US troops at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. Referee Hoyzer released Robert Hoyzer, the former referee at the centre of a match-fixing scandal in German soccer, has been released from custody. Berlin prosecutors said that Hoyzer would have to report to police three times a week and he was also forced to give up his passport. Prosecutors had arrested him two weeks ago on fears of Hoyzer fleeing or going underground. Since he had provided more details of matches under his charge, prosecutors decided to release him. Hoyzer is under investigation for his role in manipulating ten matches in 2004. 107 German tsunami victims identified Two months following the tsunami-disaster in south Asia, a total of 107 German bodies have been identified. The German Foreign Office said that 502 Germans were still missing. The official death toll from December's devastating tsunami stands at around 290,000. More than 237,000 of the victims died in the Indonesian province of Aceh. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DW-WORLD values your opinion: We look forward to hearing from you about stories we write and regularly post your letters in our reader response section. 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