World Watch

THE HAGUE
Slobo Mounts His Defense
The trial of Yugoslavia’s former president at the international war-crimes tribunal in the Hague opened with the prosecution furnishing gruesome details of the way Slobodan Milosevic is alleged to have purged former Yugoslavia of non-Serbs. Milosevic then spent two days justifying his actions — and will go into extra time for an hour-and-a-half this week — after which the prosecution will produce its first witness. Milosevic, who doesn’t recognize the tribunal’s legitimacy, is conducting his own defense and seems to consider attack the best form. With aggressive gestures, he called the prosecution case “an ocean of lies” and “terrible fabrications” and seemed to be playing to the gallery, the press and the folks back home who are watching proceedings on TV. He spoke without interruption for four hours and showed his own horrific images — of those he says were killed in NATO attacks. On his second day in court, he continued his allegations that NATO is to blame — and should be on trial — for the deportation and killing of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo in 1999. Milosevic wants to call powerful witnesses to support this line of reasoning, including ex-U.S. President Bill Clinton, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, but the judges must decide if their testimony is likely to be relevant. Milosevic faces a total of 66 counts on three indictments for genocide and war crimes in Bosnia, and for crimes against humanity in Croatia and Kosovo, each carrying a possible life sentence. The trial could go on for two years.

BRITAIN
No Smoking Gun
The case against the first person to be accused of involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks appeared to collapse when a British judge found insufficient evidence to detain Lotfi Raissi on charges of terrorism. The Algerian-born pilot walked free on $14,200 bail after lawyers said the FBI had failed to supply direct evidence that he had trained the Sept. 11 hijackers. Raissi, who spent five months behind bars, still faces extradition to the U.S. on charges of making false statements when applying for a pilot’s license.

FRANCE
Early Campaigning
The news was no surprise, but the timing was: President Jacques Chirac announced he would seek a second term in office, weeks sooner than expected. Observers said the early declaration was a bid to gain advantage before corruption allegations cost him further support. Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin is also expected to be a candidate for the two-stage presidential election beginning April 21.

THE NETHERLANDS
New Evidence
Five judges in the Lockerbie appeal case heard new evidence that lawyers say casts doubt on the conviction of a Libyan for the downing of a Pan Am airliner over Scotland in 1988. A former security guard at Heathrow Airport said that he discovered a break-in at the restricted baggage area about 18 hours before the New York-bound flight took off from London. One of the appeal judges agreed earlier that the bomb that downed the plane, killing 270 people, may not have been loaded in Malta as argued in the original trial.

IRAN
Cracks Appear in The “Axis of Evil”
Lest anyone think it isn’t serious about terrorism, Iran arrested around 150 people trying to enter the country from Pakistan, according to the official news agency. The Arab, African and European nationals are suspected of links to al-Qaeda or the Taliban and are thought to have fled Afghanistan. Early in the week, however, millions of Iranians massed in city streets to protest President Bush’s inclusion of their country in an “axis of evil.”

MIDDLE EAST
E.U. Peace Bid
European leaders sought to end the political stalemate in the Middle East by proposing a new plan providing for Palestinian legislative elections followed by recognition of a Palestinian state. The plan, unveiled by E.U. Foreign Ministers at a meeting in Spain, calls on Israel to pull back from West Bank towns and allow Palestinians to campaign for a referendum followed by council elections.

YEMEN
Street Cornered
A brother-in-law of one of the Sept. 11 hijackers blew himself up with a hand grenade as security forces moved in to capture him in a suburb of the capital, Sana’a. Sameer Mohammed Ahmed al-Hada was also wanted in connection with the Oct. 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole. Earlier in the week, the fbi issued a terror alert identifying 17 al-Qaeda suspects, six of whom were found to be in jail in Yemen.

ZIMBABWE
Under Observation
Government officials accredited 26 E.U. observers for next month’s presidential election — but excluded the Swedish head of the team and representatives from Britain, Denmark, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands. The acceptance of observers was a key condition laid down by the E.U. if Zimbabwe is to avoid sanctions on its leaders. Authorities also denied that the tourist visa granted to E.U. delegation head Pierre Schori had been withdrawn but warned him not to make more political statements.

CHINA
Welcoming the Year of the Horse
The Chinese celebrated the lunar New Year with lion and dragon dances and the customary televised musical marathon. Beijing police said protests in Tiananmen Square by foreign followers of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement were intended to stop the Chinese from enjoying the festival. They deported most of the more than 40 foreign nationals arrested. Since 1999 many Falun Gong supporters have been imprisoned without trial, and the movement claims over 1,600 have died in custody.

MADAGASCAR
Poll Rivals Talk
The Organization of African Unity came to the rescue to resolve a crisis over disputed results in December’s presidential election. OAU chief Amara Essy brought President Didier Ratsiraka and opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana together for talks to end masssive protests over the poll. The second round of voting has been postponed until a commission representing both sides can find a way forward.

AFGHANISTAN
Deadly Confusion
As the U.S. began inquiries into accidental civilian deaths and allegations of mishandling prisoners, Kandahar airport again came under fire. Two U.S. soldiers were slightly wounded and an ammunition depot was set ablaze in the attack, which underscored continuing security problems even after the three-month bombing campaign against al-Qaeda targets.

PAKISTAN
Fears Grow
The main suspect in the kidnapping of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl gave himself up to police and admitted that he had organized the abduction. But concern grew after Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh gave contradictory statements about the fate of Pearl, who vanished on Jan. 23.

INDONESIA
Spice Islands Deal
Christian and Muslim leaders from the eastern Maluku Islands signed a deal to end sectarian violence that has killed thousands of civilians over the past three years. Negotiators met on neighboring Sulawesi island and signed an agreement to surrender all weapons and set up joint security patrols. But Laskar Jihad militants from Java, responsible for a sharp escalation in the fighting last year, were not represented.

UNITED STATES
Kyoto Alternative
President George W. Bush unveiled a plan to tie reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions to economic output. He says his plan will avoid more than 500 million tons of heat-trapping gases over the next decade. But business participation is voluntary, and environmentalists say that Bush’s own numbers show the plan will actually result in a 14% increase in emissions.