World briefs

By Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 13, 2000

Mubarak: Compromise would lead to violence

CAIRO, Egypt -- President Hosni Mubarak warned Saturday that a compromise over Jerusalem would lead to uncontrollable violence in the Middle East, and said no Arab or Muslim can relinquish rights to east Jerusalem and its holy sites.

But Egypt would not stop Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from reaching a deal over the disputed city, "if it's compatible with his Palestinian people's demands," Mubarak said.

"Any compromise over Jerusalem will cause the region to explode in a way that cannot be put under control and terrorism will rise again," Mubarak said in his first public comment since the collapse of last month's talks between Arafat and Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak. Mubarak is a key mediator in the Mideast peace process.

At Camp David, Barak offered the Palestinians limited control over parts of east Jerusalem, but Arafat held firm on the Palestinian demand for full sovereignty.

ARAFAT, PERES TO BRIEF CHINA: Arafat and Israeli Cabinet minister Shimon Peres will visit Beijing this week to brief Chinese leaders on the Middle East peace process. Arafat was to visit Monday at the invitation of President Jiang Zemin, and Peres was to come Wednesday and stay for two days.

Separatists rally in Spain

BILBAO, Spain -- Several thousand people paid tribute Saturday to four young Basque separatists who blew themselves up by accident, reportedly while preparing an attack.

A police helicopter hovered as Arnaldo Otegi, leader of the pro-ETA Basque coalition Euskal Herritarrok, pointed to poster-size photographs of the four and praised them as freedom fighters. Police had feared incidents between the crowd and opponents of ETA, the armed Basque separatist group, but the rally went off peacefully.

Allied attack kills 2 in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An allied air strike hit a warehouse storing humanitarian aid, killing two people, Iraqi officials said, prompting Baghdad to accuse Saudi Arabia and Kuwait of backing aggression.

In Friday's strike, U.S. and British planes struck in the city of Samawa, 168 miles south of Baghdad, hitting the main food ration distribution center used to store food allowed under the U.N. oil-for-food deal, Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh told reporters.

Elsewhere

MOSCOW DEATH TOLL RISES: Three more people have died from wounds suffered in Tuesday's bomb blast that tore through a crowded underground passageway in Moscow, raising the death toll to 11. The bomb detonated during the evening rush hour. Seven people died at the scene and more than 90 were wounded. Police reported no progress in finding the bombers.

CHECHEN VIOLENCE: Thirty militants were killed and three Chechen rebel commanders were wounded and in a three-day sweep of a small town in central Chechnya, Russia's Interior Ministry said Saturday. Russian troops also confiscated bombs, guns and ammunition, according to a federal command spokesman.

HAITI BOMBING: Attackers lobbed a firebomb into the garden of a European Union official's home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in the latest attack against foreign officials and their property. EU agriculture consultant Pierre-Yves Baulain was in France, and the explosive did not cause any property damage.

FIJI LEADER TO U.N.: Fiji's deposed prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said he would travel to the United Nations to lobby for the restoration of democracy to the South Pacific nation. Chaudhry, who was ousted by a coup in May, said he would discuss the possibility of sending U.N. troops to Fiji during the visit.

INDONESIAN REBELS DEAD: Two missing separatist rebels were found dead in Indonesia's Aceh province. The latest deaths bring to at least 46 the number of people who have died in the region since a three-month truce between the government and separatist leaders started July 2.

ALGERIAN BUS CRASH: A bus carrying passengers to an Algerian beach crashed into an oil truck, killing 22 people, among them 13 children. The bus carrying 31 passengers skidded at a turn near Bordj Bou-Arreridj, 155 miles east of Algiers. It crashed into an oncoming cargo truck carrying 7,020 gallons of fuel.

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