World in brief

EU makes "best offer' to potential members

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- European Union leaders struggled Thursday to overcome last-minute snags to the EU's largest expansion at a summit aimed at overcoming the legacy of the Cold War by bringing in eight formerly communist nations.

The landmark meeting also gave an answer to Turkey's demands to be included in the EU's longer-term expansion plans: Talks could start as early as December 2004, said Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the summit host.

If EU leaders decide then that Turkey has made sufficient progress on democracy, human rights and economic stability, "then accession negotiations can begin as soon as possible," he told a news conference after midnight.

At the two-day summit's opening dinner Thursday night, Fogh Rasmussen said EU leaders also backed a $41-billion subsidy package to the new entrants.

Bilateral talks were to begin today to persuade the candidate countries to accept what Fogh Rasmussen termed the EU's best offer.

The EU plans to invite Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to join the EU in 2004, along with Cyprus and Malta.

Nicaraguan legislature strips Aleman's immunity

MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Nicaraguan lawmakers stripped former President Arnoldo Aleman of his immunity from prosecution Thursday, clearing the way for him to face charges he stole nearly $100-million in public funds.

The measure marked the first time a president has been stripped of his immunity and was approved in a 47-45 vote. Nine members of Aleman's ruling Constitutionalist Liberal Party supported the motion, while the rest of the lawmakers in his party -- including Aleman himself -- voted against it.

President Enrique Bolanos served as Aleman's vice president but took office in January pledging to clean up the country's corrupt government, a campaign that has put him at direct odds with his predecessor.

Federal prosecutors allege the former president diverted nearly $100-million in state funds to Panamanian bank accounts controlled by his family and then funneled the money to Constitutionalist Liberal candidates.

Aleman became a lawmaker upon leaving office and Thursday's vote did not remove the former president from the legislature. It ensures that prosecutors will take their case against him to trial, however.

Aleman's daughter and two key aides to the former president also have been implicated in the case, but enjoy immunity as sitting lawmakers. Legislators have yet to draft resolutions that would remove their immunity.

Mob rushes to enlist at Ivory Coast academy

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- Thousands of screaming, chanting government loyalists swept through Ivory Coast's main city Thursday, answering a call to help battle rebels who have taken over the north and west.

As young men mobbed a police training academy in Abidjan, a rebel faction pulled out of peace talks in nearby Togo, saying it wanted to consult its rank and file.

Nearly three months after an uprising led by disgruntled soldiers, hundreds of people have been killed, thousands have fled their homes, the economy is crippled, and many foreign embassies are urging their nationals to leave a country once seen as a cosmopolitan cocoon in a volatile region.

France's Defense Ministry said Thursday it would send several hundred additional soldiers to Ivory Coast, its former colony, in the next three days.

On Thursday, paramilitary police beat back men trying to push their way into the signup center. Dozens were injured and scores fainted in the crush.

The men were responding to a government call-to-arms for 3,000 volunteers to join the armed forces. One official said 12,000 youths showed up.

OPEC to trim output

VIENNA -- Representatives agreed Thursday on a plan to reduce OPEC's production and keep prices from falling when seasonal demand dips early next year. The pact is expected to have little, if any, impact on consumers.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said the agreement would lead to a net reduction of 1.5-million to 1.7-million barrels a day in OPEC's actual output.

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