World briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 27, 2001

Powell: Castro's not all bad

WASHINGTON -- Four decades of icy distance from Cuba melted a bit Thursday as Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke in some praise of Fidel Castro: "He's done some good things for his people."

"He is no longer the threat he was," Powell said in response to questioning at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing.

Powell has described Castro as "an aging starlet" and said he supports the U.S. embargo against Cuba. He gave no indication of any plan to alter the embargo policy in his testimony Thursday.

Powell also said the Bush administration is quietly picking up the pace of U.S. diplomacy in the Mideast and detects "a little bit of progress" in stemming violence.

Ethiopians surrender after hijacking plane

KHARTOUM, Sudan -- Six hijackers armed with hand grenades and pistols seized an Ethiopian plane carrying at least 50 passengers and diverted it to Khartoum on Thursday. The attackers released all their hostages hours later and surrendered early today.

There were no reports of serious injuries among the passengers or hijackers.

One of the attackers, who identified himself as Bagemberman Tebegne, a member of the Ethiopian air force, told reporters the six seized the plane, which took off from Addis Ababa and was heading to northern Ethiopia, to "draw international attention to the terrible economic and political situation in Ethiopia and the lack of freedoms."

More suspect cash dogs German party

BERLIN -- Just as Germany's Christian Democrats were recovering from a financial scandal that besmirched the legacy of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, a key figure in the affair has disclosed another suspected slush fund.

Party ex-treasurer Walther Leisler Kiep stirred fresh calls Thursday for an interrogation of Kohl and other Christian Democratic Union officials by revealing that he had transferred $460,000, to the party coffers.

He said he found the money in his personal bank account and thought it belonged to the CDU.

Mexican Senate passes Indian rights bill

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican President Vicente Fox on Thursday hailed Senate approval of measures that would add new rights for Mexico's Indians to the country's constitution and urged the lower house of Congress to pass the bill.

Fox said that the Senate action contributed to national unity and "will let us advance rapidly in developing Indian towns and communities."

The measures that gained unanimous Senate approval late Wednesday came after changes that Zapatista rebels, who staged a brief armed uprising in 1994, may be unwilling to accept. Those modifications significantly weakened proposals that would have given Indians strong rights to self-government and control over land and natural resources.

Milosevic ordered held for another two months

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- A Belgrade court has extended Slobodan Milosevic's detention for two months because of fears the former president could flee, Serbian television said Thursday.

Milosevic, arrested April 1 on suspicion of corruption and abuse of power during his rule, was initially ordered detained for one month while the case was being investigated.

Serbian Television, citing officials at Belgrade's District Court, said the detention was extended two more months out of fear "that Milosevic could flee the country or influence potential witnesses."

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