World briefs

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 20, 2000

Resolution on killings in Turkey is shelved

WASHINGTON -- Bowing to national security concerns raised by President Clinton, House Speaker Dennis Hastert shelved legislation Thursday that would label the mass killing of Armenians in Turkey nearly a century ago a genocide.

"Every patriotic American should heed the president's request," said Hastert, R-Ill. He acted hours after receiving a letter from Clinton that warned of possible "far-reaching negative consequences for the United States" if the legislation came to a vote.

Armenians say 1.5-million people were slaughtered as part of the Ottoman Empire's campaign to force them out of eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1923. Turkey, a key U.S. military ally and a member of NATO, says that the death count is inflated and that Armenians were killed or displaced as the Ottoman Empire tried to quell civil unrest.

Turkish legislators had threatened not to renew the mandate for U.S. forces that use Incirlik air base in southeastern Turkey to patrol northern Iraq.

Russia may leave 'Kursk' crew buried at sea

MOSCOW -- The chief of Russia's navy may scrap the recovery of crew members' remains from the sunken Kursk submarine if experts decide the operation would risk divers' lives.

"If the analysis of the situation inside the submarine's hull shows it's dangerous and too risky for the divers, I will be forced to give orders to cancel the operation," Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov said Thursday. "We mustn't allow the operation at the site of the catastrophe to turn into yet another severe shock for all of us."

Naval experts have said the divers would be in mortal danger by working in bulky pressure suits inside the cramped submarine compartments, which are likely littered with jagged pieces of metal and other debris.

British, Scandinavian and Russian divers have sailed from the Norwegian port of Hammerfest and are expected to reach the site where the Kursk sank today.

All 118 seamen on board the Kursk died in the Aug. 12 accident.

Britain, Germany open relations with N. Korea

SEOUL, South Korea -- The British government will open diplomatic relations with North Korea to support reconciliation on the divided peninsula, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said Thursday.

Cook said the shift in policy was requested by South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week for breaking with a history of confrontation to engage the North in dialogue.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder said his country also would establish diplomatic relations with the North.

26 immigrants found in shipping container

HONG KONG -- Inspectors found 26 illegal immigrants from mainland China hiding in a shipping container bound for the United States after instruments showed carbon dioxide emanating from the container, authorities said Thursday.

The men got into the container in Hong Kong and were due to be shipped out today to Long Beach, Calif., said Peter Tiu, a spokesman for the Customs and Excise Department. He was not immediately able to identify the company that tried to send the container.

The young men inside had suffered no injuries.

Fifty-eight Chinese immigrants were found dead in June inside an airtight refrigeration truck arriving in Dover, England, from the Netherlands.

Elsewhere . . .

HURRICANE MICHAEL: Hurricane Michael hit southern Newfoundland late Thursday, knocking down power lines and damaging homes. The storm's winds weakened to 85 mph from 100 mph as it moved inland.

CHESS MATCH: Champion Garry Kasparov and challenger Vladimir Kramnik played an 11-move draw Thursday in London, leaving Kramnik with a one-point lead in their 16-game match.

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