World in brief

Scarf ban passes French Senate

PARIS - A law banning Islamic headscarves in France's public schools was overwhelmingly adopted Wednesday in the Senate despite protests by many French Muslims that the measure is discriminatory.

The 276-20 vote mirrored similar support by the National Assembly, the lower chamber of Parliament, which passed it 494-36 on Feb. 10.

President Jacques Chirac must sign it into law within 15 days. He had said such a law was needed to protect the French principle of secularism.

The law forbids religious apparel and signs that "conspicuously show" a student's religious affiliation. While Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses also would be banned, authorities have made clear that it is aimed at removing Islamic headscarves from classrooms.

The measure is to take effect with the start of the new school year in September.

CAIRO, Egypt - Arabs cannot support the Bush administration's new strategy for reforming the Middle East unless the United States addresses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and restores stability in Iraq, the head of the Arab League said Wednesday.

Secretary-General Amr Moussa was addressing Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo to debate President Bush's "Greater Middle East Initiative" and set an agenda for the March 29-30 Arab League summit in Tunisia.

"As far as the Greater Middle East Initiative is concerned, it should not be confined to developing the societies but also to achieving stability in the region," Moussa said. "This stability cannot be achieved without a fair, correct and balanced treatment of the Palestinian cause and the Iraqi issue."

PARIS - Nearly 10,000 rail workers hunted for bombs along thousands of miles of train tracks in France on Wednesday after a little-known group threatened attacks unless it is paid millions of dollars.

Information from the group, called AZF, led to the recovery Feb. 21 of an explosive device buried in the bed of a railway line near Limoges in central France, the government said.

The Interior Ministry said Wednesday the group had sent several letters demanding $4-million and 1-million euros, or about $1.2-million, to dismantle bombs it had laid along rail lines.

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela's opposition met with international observers Wednesday, pleading for help in reversing the denial of a recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez.

At least seven people have died and scores have been wounded since demonstrations began Friday, security officials said.

Venezuela's opposition appealed to the Organization of American States, the U.S.-based Carter Center and other countries with an interest in the stability of the world's No. 5 oil exporter to reverse Tuesday's ruling.

MALAYSIA: Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Wednesday called an early national election that will pit the long-ruling secular coalition government against a fundamentalist Islamic opposition. Badawi almost certainly will extend his coalition's 50-year grip on power. But he wants his own mandate as Malaysia's first new leader in a generation. Elections are expected March 20-21.

SERBIA-MONTENEGRO: Vojislav Kostunica, a moderate nationalist promising democratic reforms but deeply opposed to the U.N. war crimes tribunal was elected Serbia's prime minister Wednesday. Kostunica, who replaced Slobodan Milosevic as president of Yugoslavia in 2000, won the approval of the 250-seat assembly, 130-113.

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