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Palestinians bury 6 in peace, giving hope to the futureCompiled from Times wires© St. Petersburg Times published December 23, 2001 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Palestinians buried six young men killed in some of the worst Palestinian infighting in years, while a second militant group appeared ready Saturday to heed Yasser Arafat's call to halt attacks against Israel. As the procession for one of the dead, an Islamic Jihad supporter, passed a police station in Gaza, mourners formed a human chain to prevent any shooting between militants in the crowd and police. In another development, Palestinian police arrested Shadi Mohana, the alleged head of Jihad's military wing in northern Gaza, and his second-in-command Mahmoud Judeh on Saturday, Palestinian security officials said. Also, Arafat said he intended to make his annual Christmas visit to the traditional birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem, with or without approval from Israel, which controls the roads in and out of the West Bank town. Israel has banned Arafat from attending the services, according to a government statement issued early today. Japan sinks fishing boat, says it was spying for North KoreaTOKYO -- A fishing boat suspected of spying for North Korea sank off southwestern Japan late Saturday after trading machine gun fire with Japanese coast guard vessels at the end of a six-hour chase, officials said. Two coast guard sailors suffered minor wounds in the firefight, and an estimated 15 crewmen from the fishing boat were dumped into rough seas when the vessel went down 240 miles off the Japanese island of Amami Oshima. Survivors clung to life preservers in the cold water for nearly two hours as rescue efforts were hampered by the rough conditions and concerns that the castaways might resist. By early Sunday, there were no signs of survivors, coast guard spokeswoman Miki Sakamoto said. She said patrol boats were continuing a search. Spain celebrates lotteryMADRID, Spain -- Schoolchildren chanted the winning number Saturday for the grand prize in Spain's Christmas lottery, billed as the richest in the world with $1.26-billion in total prize money. The winning number for the grand prize, which has a top prize of $1.6-million this year, was 18,795.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
