World Watch

ISRAEL
Attack and Counterattack
The most violent week in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the start of the Aqsa intifadeh nearly 17 months ago left more than 50 people dead. Palestinians turned to military targets, killing six Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Ramallah. In response, Israel Defense Forces sent tanks into Gaza City, blew up the Voice of Palestine radio and TV station and for the first time fired on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Ramallah compound, where he has been under virtual house arrest since December. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon addressed Israelis on TV, promising to set up buffer zones between the communities. He pledged to continue his efforts to “prevent a slide into total war.” Talks can continue once there’s a cease-fire, he said. As he spoke, Israeli helicopter gunships continued the offensive, firing on Palestinian security buildings in Gaza City. Some concessions were made: Arafat ordered the arrest of three of the alleged murderers of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi, and Israel pulled troops from the Gaza Strip. The arrests were a condition of Arafat’s being allowed to leave his compound, but Sharon said he had not met all the requirements. This week Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs plan to meet, and the U.N. Security Council will convene to discuss solutions.

THE NETEHERLANDS
Testimony Begins
Week two of the trial of Slobodan Milosevic moved into high gear with the first five witnesses called to testify that the former President was responsible for the deportation of 800,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and the murder of hundreds more. Kosovo Albanian political leader Mahmut Bakali, who had meetings with Milosevic, said that Serbs imposed an “apartheid” state on ethnic Albanians after Milosevic became leader. But it was those furthest removed from power who gave the most striking testimony: the first Kosovo Albanian victims testified against — and were questioned by — the man they hold most responsible for the burnings, lootings, murders and deportations that defined Kosovo in 1999. With their backs turned to Milosevic in a sign of disrespect, one told how Serb forces murdered his entire family, another said simply: “It is unimaginable the things that you have done.”

THE E.U.
Zimbabwe Censure
E.U. Foreign Ministers imposed targeted sanctions against the Zimbabwe government and recalled an advance team of election observers after officials refused to accredit the mission’s head, Pierre Schori. The U.S. State Department said it planned to implement similar measures denying visas and freezing the assets of 20 top Zimbabwe officials. Observer teams from southern Africa and the Commonwealth said their missions would go ahead as planned, deploying about 200 people among them.

ITALY
Rome Attack Foiled
A police raid on a suburb southeast of Rome may have thwarted a possible biochemical attack in the Italian capital. Four Moroccan men were arrested after 4 kg of a powdered cyanide-based substance were found in their apartment, along with city maps indicating the U.S. embassy and charts of Rome’s water system. The arrests were made as a Milan court convicted four Tunisians, including the alleged al-Qaeda regional head, Ben Khemais, of trafficking in chemicals, explosives and false documents.

PAKISTAN
Death of a Journalist
The U.S. State Department announced it had video evidence that kidnapped U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl had been murdered. Pakistan’s President Musharraf vowed to hunt down his killers. President Bush said such crimes strengthened U.S. resolve to fight terrorism. Earlier in the week the Administration adopted a new policy on U.S. citizens kidnapped overseas, allowing for direct intervention. Pearl was abducted Jan. 23 in Karachi by a group calling itself the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty.

Russia
What Sank the Sub
Investigators said that an obsolete torpedo had probably caused the explosion that sank the submarine Kursk in August 2000. Russia’s prosecutor general Vladimir Ustinov said there was no evidence of foreign craft in the vicinity of the submarine. It was the first public acknowledgment that the sinking had not been caused by a collision with another vessel, but investigators said they would release their final conclusions only in May.

LIBYA
No Medical Plot
A bizarre case against seven foreign medical workers took another twist when a Libyan judge found no evidence to support the charges against them — after three years in jail. The People’s Court in Tripoli charged a Palestinian doctor and six Bulgarian medical workers last July with a plot to undermine state security by infecting children with the aids virus. Their lawyers argued that poor hospital hygiene caused the infections. The case has been referred to an ordinary criminal court.

AFGHANISTAN
Insecurity
British forces in Kabul came under fire twice within a week, and aid agencies said the security situation in the country’s interior also appeared to be deteriorating. UNHCR recorded a dramatic increase in the number of refugees crossing into Pakistan, fleeing what they described as harassment by other ethnic groups. Many of the estimated 20,000 new refugees were Pashtuns from the north of the country. Others were fleeing drought.

EGYPT
Holiday Express to the Inferno
A train crammed full of passengers returning home for the Eid al Adha holiday caught fire en route from Cairo to Luxor. The driver kept going for 7 km, the wind fanning flames. Bars on some windows prevented escape, but many people jumped and some survived with injuries. Relatives went to identify the remains of the more than 360 dead in Cairo’s central morgue, but many were burned beyond recognition. The Minister of Transport and the head of the state railway system resigned.

Nepal
State of Emergency
Parliament voted to extend another three-month state of emergency after rebels killed more than 140 troops and police in the deadliest-ever raids by Maoist insurgents. Barely five hours after the announcement, rebels raided a police post in the western Salyan district, killing at least 24 policemen.

SRI LANKA
Real Deal
Norwegian mediators scored a major breakthrough when the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels agreed to a permanent cease-fire after two decades of civil war. The memorandum of understanding not only halts offensive action but also includes detailed provisions for the treatment of civilians. News of the agreement came only hours after a major sea battle off the northeast coast in which a naval officer was killed and several injured.

China
Korean Problems
U.S. President George W. Bush wound up a three-nation Asian tour with agreement from China’s Jiang Zemin to help promote dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea. But Pyongyang rejected any suggestion of talks, saying Bush’s criticisms of North Korea, made during a visit to South Korea, had insulted leader Kim Jong-il.

COLOMBIA
The Final Straw
Warplanes began bombing rebel territory, and the army moved thousands of troops to the area, after the government canceled peace talks. President Andrés Pastrana broke off negotiations with FARC guerrillas after rebels hijacked a civilian plane and abducted a senator.