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World in brief
No sign of missing Afghan plane
By wire services
Published February 5, 2005
KABUL, Afghanistan - As temperatures plunged overnight, fears grew Friday that no one would be found alive after an Afghan passenger jet carrying 104 people, including three Americans, disappeared from radar screens during a snowstorm near the mountain-ringed Afghan capital.
NATO forces suspended their ground and air search for the night as darkness closed in, and planned to resume looking today.
The Kam Air Boeing 737-200 took off Thursday from Herat bound for Kabul, but could not land because of poor visibility. The airline initially said the plane was diverted to neighboring Pakistan, but officials there said it never reached their airspace.
Transport Minister Enayatullah Qasemi said the pilot last contacted the Kabul control tower about 3 p.m. Thursday to ask for a weather update. Bagram Air Base, the U.S. military base north of Kabul with overall responsibility for Afghan airspace, cleared the plane for landing, but moments later it disappeared from radar screens.
Three of those on board were believed to be American women working for Management Sciences for Health, a nonprofit group based in Cambridge, Mass., said William Schiffbauer, a company representative in Kabul.
Tsunami survivors protest aid distribution problems
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - Some 400 survivors of Asia's tsunami blocked a Sri Lankan road Friday to protest corrupt aid distribution, and the government suspended two officials for mishandling relief and pledged to investigate 10 others on similar charges.
Despite millions of dollars in aid pouring into Sri Lanka since the Dec. 26 tsunami, 70 percent of survivors have received nothing because of bureaucratic bungling and incompetence, Sri Lanka's relief operations' chief said.
"The protesters were angry and accused village officers of holding back relief," said H.D Jinesena, a policeman.
In Sri Lanka, two village officials were accused of channeling aid to friends who were not affected by the tsunami, said W. Weerakoon, a government administrator in Galle. They were suspended.
Sharon: Action needed to stop terror attacks
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday that wide-ranging peace talks aimed at ending the conflict with the Palestinians will not be renewed until their leaders take real action to prevent terror attacks.
Sharon's comments appeared aimed at dampening expectations ahead of a Mideast summit scheduled for Tuesday in Egypt that Palestinians hope will revive the peace process, but Israelis want to remain focused on more limited security issues.
Meanwhile, new Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas held a meeting in Gaza of the PLO executive committee Friday night, the first of several sessions he was to hold before the summit.
On Friday, Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinians who tried to climb the security fence surrounding the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli army.
[Last modified February 5, 2005, 00:57:15]
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