Palestinians hold protest marches against attacks

NABLUS, West Bank -- Thousands of Palestinians protested Friday against U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan, holding two marches in the West Bank and chanting "Bush is the father of terrorism."

In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met with two senior Palestinian negotiators for talks on how to implement a Sept. 26 truce deal -- despite mutual complaints of serious violations, officials from both sides said.

In the towns of Nablus and Ramallah, senior activists of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement participated in anti-U.S. marches Friday, despite previous efforts by Arafat's government to muffle such protests.

The Palestinian Authority has distanced itself from Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States, which triggered the bombing raids in Afghanistan.

However, Arafat has taken no clear position on the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan.

A year later, U.S., Yemen clash over Cole bombing

ADEN, Yemen -- A year after the bombing of the USS Cole, U.S. officials -- prompted by the Sept. 11 attacks and America's new resolve to combat terrorism -- have requested a reopening of the investigation into the blast that killed 17 sailors, a diplomat said Friday.

U.S. investigators want suspects held in connection with the Cole attack reinterviewed in light of newly acquired information, the Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

It was shortly after noon on Oct. 12, 2000, when two suicide bombers drew a skiff alongside the USS Cole as the destroyer sat in Aden's port for refueling. The bombers detonated their explosives-laden skiff, blasting a hole at the water line of the 8,600-ton warship.

The powerful blast killed 17 sailors and injured 37 others -- and still reverberates a year later.

Mediterranean search finds debris from plane

MADRID, Spain -- Rescue aircraft on Friday located floating debris from a plane that disappeared two days ago over the Mediterranean with eight American passengers on board.

The debris was found in waters about 40 miles south of Castellon, Spain. Serial numbers linked pieces to cabin instruments in the missing aircraft, Spanish Air Force Cmdr. Felix Manjon told the Spanish news agency Efe.

Manjon said helicopters were transporting more debris to an airport for investigation.

The plane, operated by Flightline Airlines, was en route from Barcelona's El Prat airport to the Algerian coastal city of Oran when it dropped from radar Wednesday morning.

It was carrying seven employees and a partner in Consolidated Restorations Systems Inc., a mechanical engineering company based in Fairfield, Conn., said James C. Stotlar, who also is a partner. The pilot and co-pilot were Spaniards.

Four of the passengers were from Virginia Beach, Va.; two were from Fairfield; one was from Coronado, Calif.; and one was from Nashville, Tenn. Authorities have not released their names.

Colombia paramilitaries accused in massacres

BUGA, Colombia -- Colombia's top human rights official called for an investigation into whether the army could have prevented the massacre of 24 unarmed men by right-wing paramilitaries this week.

Paramilitary fighters pulled the men from buses and homes in the southern village of Buga and killed them Wednesday for allegedly collaborating with leftist rebels, Buga Mayor John Jairo Bohorquez told Caracol radio.

The massacre is the latest in Colombia's 37-year civil war, and follows a week of bloodshed that killed 49 people, including four soldiers and the mayor of a southern town, despite President Andres Pastrana's efforts to negotiate an end to the war.

Twelve others are missing and feared dead.

--From wire reports