International Roundup

Palestinian leader killed in West Bank bomb Monday
TULKAREM, West Bank (AP) — A Palestinian militia leader who boasted of shooting Israelis was killed when a bomb exploded as he emerged from his West Bank hide-out and walked along a quiet street Monday. Hours later and close by, Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli and wounded another in a roadside ambush, security sources said.
No one claimed responsibility for either attack, which pointed to a renewed cycle of retaliatory violence that has marked the conflict in and around Tulkarem since the Palestinian uprising began nearly 16 months ago.

Monday’s violence further undermined U.S. truce efforts, and it was not clear whether U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni would return to the region this week as planned.

Palestinians accused Israel of planting the bomb that went off exactly as militia leader, Raed Karmi, 27, strode past on a residential street that bordered a cemetery. The bomb sprayed Karmi with shrapnel, leaving a cavity on the roadside and a pool of blood on the blacktop where Karmi died.

Without confirming or denying involvement, Israel issued a statement shortly after the explosion saying Karmi was responsible for the shooting deaths of nine Israelis.

Royal Family Making News for Drug and Alchohol Use
LONDON (AP) — After a weekend of embarrassing tabloid headlines about her 17-year-old grandson’s experimentation with alcohol and marijuana, Queen Elizabeth II said Monday that she was pleased with the way Prince Charles had handled his son’s scrape.

“The queen shares the Prince of Wales’s views on the seriousness of Prince Harry’s behavior and supports the action which has been taken,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “She hopes the matter can now be considered as closed.”

Charles sent his younger son to a south London rehabilitation clinic for a day so he could talk to recovering addicts and see the dangers of drug use. Harry, then 16, admitted last summer that he’d drunk with friends at a pub near his father’s Highgrove country estate and smoked marijuana with friends, according to press reports confirmed by a royal source.

Marijuana is illegal in Britain and the drinking age is 18.

Harry returned to the prestigious Eton school Monday after spending Sunday at his father’s Highgrove estate. But the story of his smoking and drinking remained on front pages and at the top of news broadcasts.

Adding to his headaches, police refused to rule out legal action.

Pakistan Gov’t Questioning More Terrorists Members
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police brought in hundreds more Islamic militants for questioning Monday as part of a crackdown that included anti-India extremists. But India was not impressed, and both nations refused to withdraw hundreds of thousands of troops massed along their border.

Hopes that the standoff could be resolved had risen after a speech Saturday by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf banning five militant Muslim organizations, including two accused of terrorism in Indian-controlled Kashmir, and placing other curbs on Islamic extremists.

The speech was coupled with a nationwide police sweep that by Monday had led to the detention of nearly 1,500 extremists, the Interior Ministry said.

Most were expected to be released after questioning.

Indian officials welcomed Musharraf’s promise to stamp out terrorism but were waiting for tangible signs. On Monday, Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes said his government would not withdraw its troops from the frontier with Pakistan until cross-border terrorism stops.

The confrontation between the two nuclear powers was expected to be high on the agenda both for Secretary of State Colin Powell, scheduled to arrive to Islamabad on Wednesday, and Fernandes, the Indian defense minister, who departs for Washington on Tuesday.

Indian and Pakistani troops moved to the border after a deadly Dec. 13 attack on India’s Parliament.

The crackdown on extremists began Saturday. Quereshi said Monday that the operation was close to finished, but police sources said it could continue for several more days.

Jordanian Cabinet Restructured For Elections
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan’s King Abdullah II reshuffled his Cabinet on Monday, replacing the foreign and interior ministers, and ordering the new lineup to prepare parliamentary elections expected this year.

It was the third shakeup since Prime Minister Ali Abul-Ragheb took office in June 2000.

Abul-Ragheb remained in his post in the new Cabinet, which Abduallh swore in Monday.

Marwan Muasher — the ambassador to the United States and Jordan’s first ambassador to Israel seven years ago — will become the new foreign minister, according to the royal decree.

The TCU Daily Skiff © 2002