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A wall falls, but division remains

By TIMES WIRES
Published March 10, 2007

The concrete wall that served as a symbol of this island's decades-long division fell to the roar of bulldozers Friday, but the path between Nicosia's north and south remained barricaded - this time by plastic and metal screens - and prospects for reconciliation were still uncertain.

Acting before dawn and without prior announcement, the Greek Cypriot government demolished the 12-foot-high wall that stretched across Ledra Street in the heart of the city's tourist area. The demolition of the barrier, a bitter symbol of the island's 32-year division into a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north, raised hopes of eventually reuniting Cyprus.

But residents of Nicosia and the tourists who flock to Ledra Street's shopping district were still blocked from crossing: The wall was replaced in a matter of hours by screens, and armed soldiers still guarded the area.

BELFAST, N. IRELAND

Chinese politician breaks election mold

Anna Lo doesn't fit into the straitjacket of Northern Ireland politics. She's not a Protestant or a Catholic - and her Belfast brogue comes with a Cantonese twist. Lo, a Hong Kong native who has lived in Northern Ireland for 32 years, on Friday became the first ethnic minority to be elected to political office in this almost exclusively white British territory. "I'm a Taoist, not a Christian, and I don't naturally belong to orange or green," she said, referring to the local color labels for British Protestant and Irish Catholic.

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND

Turk guilty of denying Armenian genocide

A prominent Turkish politician was convicted Friday of breaching Swiss antiracism laws by saying that the early 20th-century killing of Armenians could not be described as genocide. Dogu Perincek, leader of the Turkish Workers' Party was ordered to pay a fine of $2,450 for breaking Swiss law by denying during a visit to Switzerland in 2005 that the World War I-era killings of up to 1.5-million Armenians amounted to genocide. In Turkey it is a crime to use the word genocide to describe the World War I-era killings.

Elsewhere

CHIEF JUSTICE REMOVED: Pakistan's president has removed the Supreme Court' Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry for "misuse of authority," a minister and state media reported Friday. Chaudhry was noted for his stance against government misdeeds and human rights abuses.

ABORTION LAW EASED: Portugal's parliament voted overwhelmingly to legalize abortion up until the 10th week of pregnancy, a major step in bringing this small Roman Catholic nation in line with most of its European neighbors.

REBELS KILLED: Sri Lankan commandos overran a rebel base on Friday, killing at least 20 guerrillas, Brig. Prasad Samarasinghe said. He said three commandos died in the fighting, and 12 were wounded. Rebel officials were not available to comment on the clash.

[Last modified March 10, 2007, 02:30:28]