With tips of attacks, Germans secure sites

FRANKFURT, Germany - Several German states tightened security Wednesday around some U.S. military bases and other sensitive facilities after American warnings that Islamic militants may carry out attacks.

The same U.S. tip prompted authorities in Hamburg on Tuesday to seal off a German military hospital cited as a possible target for three days.

Some criticized Hamburg authorities for exaggerating their reaction - police have found nothing suspicious at the hospital and made no arrests. The closure and Wednesday's heightened security in several states reflect German jitters amid European-wide warnings of possible terror attacks over the holidays.

"The indications are a further warning that Germany is no longer safe (from terrorism), but that attacks can also be carried out here," said Bavarian interior minister Guenther Beckstein.

A spokesman for Beckstein said that in the wake of the warning, Bavaria had increased security, especially around the dozens of U.S. military bases in the state. Rhineland-Palatinate authorities have done the same.

Security officials in the western state of Hessen said they had increased security at "particularly sensitive facilities," including the U.S. Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt and another U.S. military base in nearby Wiesbaden.

U.S. military officials said they had no indications of any increased threats to bases in Germany.

KABUL, Afghanistan - President Hamid Karzai's insistence on a powerful presidency under Afghanistan's new constitution is driving a dangerous wedge between his Pashtun kinsmen and smaller ethnic groups, delegates and analysts warned Wednesday.

With marathon talks on the new charter at a stalemate, opponents said the strong Pashtun - and American - flavor of Karzai's support risked a backlash among minorities whose militias still control much of the country.

"If they don't include our ideas in the constitution, we won't give up our weapons," said Habiba Danish, an ethnic Tajik delegate to the ongoing loya jirga in Kabul. "If they want national unity, we want equal rights."

The council is in disarray amid open feuding over Karzai's reluctance to share power in a country he says needs strong leadership because it is fractured by ethnic mistrust.

Pashtuns, the country's largest ethnic group and traditional rulers, have rallied behind Karzai - a boost for a leader maligned here as the "mayor" of Kabul for his lack of influence beyond the capital.

But smaller groups from farther north including Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras protest that Pashtuns are ignoring their demands, such as recognizing their languages and sharing more influential government posts.

Karzai allies, confident they have a majority, are pressing for a vote on dozens of articles still contentious in an already amended draft. Minorities want a consensus hammered out in advance.

Karzai has said even a slim majority of the 502 delegates is enough to pass the constitution. But council leaders and Western diplomats acknowledge that the charter could be stillborn if it doesn't command broad support.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in a failed assassination attempt on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last week were members of an outlawed group fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, the Associated Press reported, citing three intelligence officials it did not identify.

The bombers were part of Jaish-e-Mohammed, which Musharraf banned in 2002 as part of a drive to purge Pakistan of terrorism, according to the officials, who are all involved in the investigation.

One of the attackers was from Pakistan's portion of Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region that is divided between Pakistan and India. The identity of the other attacker has not been announced.

The attack in Rawalpindi, a bustling city near the capital, Islamabad, killed 16 people and left dozens wounded. Musharraf was unhurt.

Two days after the failed assassination attempt, authorities raided a home in Rawalkot, a district in Pakistan's portion of Kashmir, said Abdul Rauf Chaudhry, an Interior Ministry spokesman. Police arrested three men, all believed to be relatives of one of the bombers.

Chaudhry told AP on Wednesday that authorities have detained dozens of suspects, but he would not comment on whether Jaish-e-Mohammed was involved in the attack.

"At this stage, we cannot say anything about it," he said.

A spokesman for Jaish-e-Mohammed, Sahrai Baba, denied any involvement Wednesday.

"We do not like Musharraf, but we did not try to kill him," he said.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi security authorities have arrested three men in connection with an explosion that targeted a senior security official, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Okaz daily, citing a security official it did not identify, said the suspects were picked up shortly after Monday's attack. The car was empty when it exploded in Riyadh's eastern Al-Salaam district and nobody was hurt by the blast.

Police stopped a white Toyota Tercel after a witness described a similar car leaving the scene of the explosion soon after it took place, the paper said.

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