The world in brief

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 6, 2001

Gadhafi fails to produce Lockerbie evidence

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Moammar Gadhafi failed Monday to produce any new evidence to exonerate a former Libyan intelligence agent convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, despite a promise of revelations so grand they could drive the trial judges to suicide.

In a tirade lasting two hours and 15 minutes, followed by a 30-minute news conference, the Libyan leader ridiculed the "triviality" of the evidence in the Lockerbie trial, read from published reports by analysts and experts who had expressed skepticism about the verdict and looked for holes in the court's ruling.

When eventually asked for the promised information, Gadhafi said what he had read and quoted was the "evidence that was absent" in the case against two Libyans.

"The world didn't know about these facts. I refuted the whole case, destroyed it," he said.

3-member presidency proposed in Haiti

PETIONVILLE, Haiti -- The Haitian opposition has proposed to President-elect Jean Bertrand Aristide that he be part of a three-member presidency that would lead the country to new elections in two years, diplomats and mediators involved in talks to break the nation's political impasse said Monday.

In a 17-point proposal, the opposition coalition known as the Democratic Convergence also suggested that the prime minister come from their ranks. The proposals were being studied by representatives of Aristide's Family Lavalas Party, which is set to usher him into formal power at inauguration ceremonies Wednesday.

Lavalas delegates had yet to respond by early evening, although it seemed unlikely that the party would accept any governing scheme that would dilute Aristide's authority. Moderators of the talks have suggested to the opposition that it scale back some of its demands.

Angry mobs burn party offices in Indonesia

SURABAYA, Indonesia -- Thousands of President Abdurrahman Wahid's supporters attacked a college campus Monday and burned the offices of political opponents who want to speed up his possible impeachment over two corruption scandals.

The unrest in the president's home province of East Java took place just hours before legislators handed documents to police that they say link him to two corruption scandals.

Lawmakers said the maneuver could bring separate criminal proceedings against Wahid, who has refused to quit and has denied any wrongdoing.

Adding to Wahid's woes, lawyers for the ailing former dictator Suharto predicted he would never be tried for corruption after the Supreme Court ruled the prosecution could proceed only if his health improved. A trial for Suharto collapsed last year when doctors said he suffered brain damage from a series of strokes.

Putting Suharto behind bars had been a key promise of Wahid's, and the president has largely failed to eradicate corruption.

A legislative committee said Wahid knew about an illegal transfer of $4-million from the state food agency by a former business associate. It also criticized him for failing to declare a $2-million aid donation from the ruler of neighboring Brunei.

Elsewhere

CUBA FREES CZECHS: Cuba freed two prominent Czechs on Monday, resolving a case that had strained ties between the two nations. Czech Republic lawmaker Ivan Pilip and Jan Bubenik were released shortly after they acknowledged -- in the presence of foreign diplomats -- that they unwittingly broke the law when they met with the dissidents in Havana last month.

U.S. HOSTAGE THREATENED: Muslim separatists demanded talks with the Philippine government Monday after renewing threats to kill 25-year-old Oakland resident Jeffrey Schilling unless the group receives a $10-million ransom. Schilling, captive since last August, is gravely ill, the rebels said.

Abu Sabaya, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippines, told a local radio station he wants to negotiate directly with Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon. It is not clear why the group chose Gordon.

The group also threatened to kill Schilling last week, but a ransom deadline of last Wednesday passed, apparently without incident.

HOLOCAUST ACCOUNTS: Swiss bankers on Monday published a list of 20,825 names of dormant accounts from the World War II era that may have belonged to victims of the Holocaust.

The new names will be added to about 16,000 others published in 1997 to help heirs of victims locate assets, said a statement by the Swiss Bankers Association.

Monday's massive publication on the Internet at www.dormantaccounts.ch is meant to be a final step in returning assets to their rightful owners.

Most of the accounts listed Monday were empty and were closed decades ago. They were included on the chance that they were closed under duress and that the money might have been taken by the Nazis.

Since there is no way to determine how much money was in the accounts before they were closed, an independent panel has established different formulas to determine how much should be paid to claimants based on the type of account.

11 KILLED IN BUS ATTACK: Hutu militiamen backing Congo's President Joseph kabila ambushed a bus in rebel-controlled eastern Congo, killing 11 passengers, a rebel-run radio reported Monday.

Nine men and two women died in the attack on a minivan bus Friday on a road heading south from the Congolese-Rwandan border town of Bukavu. Five survivors were treated for injuries, Radio Bukavu, monitored in Nairobi, reported.

Congolese rebel officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

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