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Yemeni wanted in Italy slips from under eyes of Bosnian police SARAJEVO, June 5, 2002 (AFP) - A suspected Islamic militant from Yemen awaiting extradition from Bosnia to Italy has escaped despite having been placed under police surveillance, Bosnia's anti-terrorist unit admitted Wednesday. The fugitive, Saleh Nidal, was placed under watch in his apartment in Bugojno, central Bosnia, in March after the Italian government demanded his extradition for links to militant attacks on Italian soil. But police said he escaped in May. "Just as the request was being considered and preparations taken for his extradition, the police from the region...

Head of Islamic Community urges government to curtail efforts against Muslim charities Wed Jun 5,11:26 AM ET By AIDA CERKEZ-ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - The head of Bosnia's Islamic community urged his government Wednesday to curtail its efforts to investigate Muslim aid groups while trying to assist in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Mustafa Ceric appealed to authorities to pay more attention to crimes committed against Muslim refugees trying to return home after the 3 1/2 year war — instead of conducting high-profile raids against the charities. "Islamic humanitarian organizations are raided and investigated not because they have...

Russian officer on trial for murder of Chechen woman remains defiant Wed Jun 5, 8:05 PM ET By SERGEI VENYAVSKY, Associated Press Writer ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia - Col. Yuri Budanov does not deny that he strangled to death an 18-year-old Chechen woman — but he defiantly casts himself as a Russian patriot and a victim of politics. With a southern Russian court poised to issue a verdict in his case as early as next week, Budanov said he is sorry he killed Heda Kungayeva but insisted he has no regrets about his career in the military or the army's conduct in...

Albania and Kosovo want to build connecting highway Wed Jun 5, 8:49 AM ET By MERITA DHIMGJOKA, Associated Press Writer TIRANA, Albania - Albania and Kosovo would like to build a connecting highway to boost economic and political relations, Prime Minister Pandeli Majko said Wednesday. "It would be ironic for Albanians in Albania and Kosovo to wish to be integrated into Europe, before they are integrated in the region," Majko told a joint news conference with Bajram Rexhepi, the prime minister of Kosovo. The planned 200-kilometer (120-mile) highway would link Albania's Western port of Durres, the northern town of Kukes,...

Azerbaijan Protests Continue Tue Jun 4, 6:57 PM ET By AIDA SULTANOVA, Associated Press Writer BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) - Police checkpoints ringed a village outside Azerbaijan's capital Tuesday, a day after deadly clashes between villagers and police. Villagers say Monday's violence at a gathering outside a mosque stemmed from government efforts to stifle dissent in this former Soviet republic, and that villagers were simply demanding access to gas for heating and cheaper drinking water. But the government says the police actions were prompted by recent Islamic extremist activity. President Geidar Aliev reportedly convened top security officials Tuesday to discuss the...

Bosnian police raid offices of Islamic charity in growing crackdown on terrorist activity Tue Jun 4, 1:05 PM ET By AIDA CERKEZ-ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Police said Tuesday they had raided the offices of an Islamic charity, a move which appeared to form part of a growing crackdown on organizations suspected of having links to terrorist groups. Police raided two offices of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation in Sarajevo on Monday, and a third office in Travnik, some 70 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Sarajevo, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. During the raids, officers seized equipment...

Kosovo Serbs Cling to Hope Loved Ones Are Alive Tue Jun 4,12:45 PM ET By Fredrik Dahl BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - Verica Tomanovic holds up a black and white photograph of her doctor husband Andrija. She last saw him in June 1999 as the United Nations (news - web sites) and NATO (news - web sites) peacekeepers entered the southern Yugoslav province of Kosovo. "My husband was kidnapped in the Pristina hospital," said Tomanovic in a low voice as she sat in the cramped Belgrade office of a Serb association for families of people missing in Kosovo. "He was abducted...

Milosevic Witness Held in Contempt Tue Jun 4, 9:43 AM ET By LAUREN COMITEAU, Associated Press Writer THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - A Serb witness for prosecutors in the war crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites) was held in contempt of court Tuesday after he refused to answer their questions. The witness, an ex-military serviceman and driver identified only as K-12, had been expected to reveal information about the exhumation of mass graves in Kosovo to cover up war crimes. He was summoned back to the courtroom Tuesday after the three-judge panel excused him on Monday when...

Bush voices support for oil and gas pipelines leading from Caspian to Turkey Tue Jun 4, 6:57 AM ET By AIDA SULTANOVA, Associated Press Writer BAKU, Azerbaijan - U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) reaffirmed Washington's strong support for the strategic oil and gas pipelines intended to carry rich Caspian Sea energy resources to global markets via Georgia and Turkey in a letter released Tuesday. "Great progress has been made over the past year toward realizing our shared goal of an east-west corridor to transport Azerbaijani and other Caspian oil and gas to global markets," Bush said...

Monday June 3, 3:44 PM US rejected Iraq offer to turn over alleged World Trade Center bomber The United States spurned an offer from Iraq to turn over terror bombing suspect Abdul Rahman Yasin, a suspect in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. CBS News program "60 Minutes" interviewed Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz who said Washington rejected his country's offer to deliver Yasin, who is the US list of most-wanted terrorists for his alleged role in the bombing. A native of Bloomington, Indiana, Yasin, 42, grew up in Iraq, where he fled after allegedly taking part in the...

Greece, Italy agree on operation of undersea power cable link Mon Jun 3,10:28 AM ET ATHENS - Greece and Italy have agreed on the operation of an undersea electricity cable linking the two countries, Greece's energy regulator said Monday. The cable linking the Greek and Italian electricity grids will be 75 percent owned by Italy's Enel and 25 percent owned by Greece's Public Power Corp. The cable will provide a capacity of 500 megawatts in both directions, Greece's energy regulator RAE said. Operation of the cable will be handled by a joint committee to be established shortly. With the agreement,...

U.S. assistant secretary of state visits Bosnia, says judicial shake-up could help international war on terror Mon Jun 3, 8:19 AM ET By AIDA CERKEZ-ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - A ranking U.S. State Department official on Monday said ongoing reorganization of Bosnia's judicial system would help the country contribute to the international war on terror. Elisabeth Jones, U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Euro-Asian affairs, arrived for meetings with local and international officials amid a shake-up of the judiciary. All sitting judges and prosecutors have been ordered to reapply for their jobs along with other candidates...

<p>NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Months before the September 11 attacks, the CIA knew two of the hijackers were in the United States and that they were connected to the al Qaeda organization, Newsweek reported Sunday.</p>

Analysis: Politics of terrorist socials By Sukino Harisumarto From the International Desk Published 6/1/2002 6:27 PM JAKARTA, Indonesia, June 1 (UPI) -- Amid international concerns about terrorists linked to the al Qaida network continuing to operate in Indonesia, the country's vice president decided to find out for himself firsthand. His visits and dinners with Muslim hard-line clerics, however, reached a peak of controversy this week, with Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terrorist group and the Muslim cleric alleged to be the ideological leader on an organization linked to al Qaida. That exchange drew even more...

India says diplomat 'abducted' in Pakistan By Harbaksh Singh Nanda From the International Desk Published 6/1/2002 6:37 PM NEW DELHI, June 1 (UPI) -- India says one of its embassy officials in Islamabad was abducted Saturday, hours after a Pakistani embassy official was arrested in New Delhi on charges of spying. Unidentified men in Islamabad allegedly abducted Kulwant Singh after Indian police arrested Pakistan embassy official Amir Shabbir for allegedly receiving classified defense documents in New Delhi from an Indian contact. India's foreign ministry said that unidentified men pounced on Singh while he was returning home with his 10-year-old son....

CHINA: The Shadow of the Tai-Ping Rebellion June 1, 2002; The 29 May issue of the New York Times reported on incidents of widespread lawlessness in many of China's rural towns and villages that have grown in the last two decades. The once stringent Maoist discipline has withered and often been replaced by an economic free-for-all devoid of public cohesion or shared ideals that reads like something out of a "MAD MAX" movie. In late 1998, a schoolboy fight rekindled an old clan enmity and hot words led to open preparations for battle, with villagers building earthen ramparts and gun...

Chechen rebels ask U.S. Secretary of State Powell to intervene Sat Jun 1,12:01 PM ET By YURI BAGROV, Associated Press Writer VLADIKAVKAZ, Russia - The rebel foreign ministry in breakaway Chechnya (news - web sites) has asked U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) to use his office to get Russia to halt operations in the village of Mesker-Yurt. The foreign ministry released a statement Saturday saying that hundreds of residents in Mesker-Yurt have been detained in military sweeps and taken to undisclosed locations in Chechnya. In the latest clash between rebels and government troops in Mesker-Yurt,...

Saturday June 1, 12:00 AM Prosecution asks for more time in Milosevic trial The prosecution in the war crimes trial of Slobodan Milosevic asked the UN court for more time to present its case against the former Yugoslav president. "We would require another two months", prosecutor Geoffrey Nice told the judges. Legal wrangling over time constraints and sharp exchanges between the prosecution and the trial chamber marked Friday's hearing. Last week, presiding Judge Richard May told Nice he wanted the prosecution's case for Kosovo wrapped up by July 26th. Milosevic is charged with more than 60 counts of genocide, war...

Posted on Thu, May. 30, 2002 Missouri's immigrant population rose 87 percent in the 1990s By GRACE HOBSON and GREGORY S. REEVES The Kansas City Star When Denis Zijadic moved to Kansas City from Bosnia in 1999, he chose to live near the Don Bosco Community Center and the help it provides refugees. And when he bought a duplex last year, he chose Gladstone, where he found a home that was affordable and close to North Kansas City's burgeoning Bosnian population. "You want to be close to people in your community," said Zijadic, who at 27 is married and has...

Three incidents threaten peace in Macedonia Thu May 30, 7:48 AM ET By KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES, Associated Press Writer SKOPJE, Macedonia - An explosion, a shoot out and a booby trap incident threatened the fragile peace Thursday in this ethnically divided Balkan country. After a couple of calm weeks, an explosion rocked the downtown area of the second-largest Macedonian city of Tetovo early Thursday, shattering windows and damaging buildings, but causing no injuries, the government's crisis center said. The explosion at 03:00 a.m. (0100 GMT) near the town's main "Sarena" mosque was caused by "a self-made device, planted by unknown individual,"...