World briefs 01/24/03

Iraq's neighbors urge Saddam to cooperate

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Fearing war could trigger a crisis in the region, Iraq's neighbors urged Saddam Hussein on Thursday to cooperate fully with U.N. arms inspectors. They avoided any public call for the Iraqi leader to step down.

"The counties of this region do not wish to live through yet another war and all its devastating consequences," said a joint communique read by Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis.

"We therefore solemnly call on the Iraqi leadership to move irreversibly and sincerely toward assuming their responsibilities in restoring peace and stability in the region."

Foreign ministers of the six countries -- Turkey, Syria, Iran, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- urged Iraq to "demonstrate a more active approach" in providing information on its weapons programs "in full conformity" with U.N. regulations.

However, Yakis and others said there was no discussion of urging Saddam to step down to spare his country from war.

Iraq: Scientists refused private U.N. interviews BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi scientists have so far refused to submit to private interviews with U.N. arms inspectors despite government attempts to encourage them to do so under an agreement with the United Nations, a senior Iraqi official said Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Hossam Mohammed Amin, chief liaison with the U.N. weapons monitors, also said the chief U.N. inspectors "exaggerated" differences between them and the Iraqi government in talks last Sunday and Monday.

The inspectors believe scientists with possible leads to any work on forbidden weapons will be less candid in interviews if government officials listen in. In a 10-point agreement emerging from the recent two days of talks, the Iraqis committed to urging potential witnesses be interviewed privately.

However, Amin said a half dozen scientists had so far refused to meet with inspectors without a government official present.

Huge marches support Chavez amid strike

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans marched through Caracas on Thursday to pledge their loyalty to President Hugo Chavez and protest a 53-day-old strike intended to unseat him.

An explosion near a subway station a block from the march killed one person and injured 14, fire chief Rodolfo Briceno said. The cause of the blast wasn't immediately known.

Buses from across the country, swathed with red banners and red, yellow and blue Venezuelan flags, poured into the capital for the show of support for Chavez. Briceno estimated the number of demonstrators at more than 300,000.

Three Israelis killed in Palestinian ambush

HEBRON, West Bank -- Palestinian gunmen opened fire Thursday on three Israelis walking near a settlement in the West Bank, killing all of them, witnesses and officials said.

Hours later, Israeli helicopters fired at least five missiles at targets in Gaza City, while tanks also shelled targets, witnesses said. The Israeli military would say only that an operation was in progress.

It was not immediately clear what the targets were in the attack. One Palestinian was wounded in exchanges of fire with Israeli soldiers during the tank incursion, hospital officials said. Palestinians said he was a civilian.

The West Bank shootings occurred at the Beit Haggai intersection near a settlement in the Hebron hills. It came just five days before Israelis vote for a new government.

Explosion at Peruvian military base kills seven

LIMA, Peru -- An explosion leveled an ammunition depot Thursday at a military base in northern Peru, killing seven people and injuring 95, officials said.

The blast occurred at El Tablazo army base outside the city of Tumbes, 16 miles from the border with Ecuador. The base is surrounded by shantytowns.

Those killed were two officers and five soldiers who had been inspecting the explosives, Vice President Raul Diez Canseco said. He said 80 civilians and 15 soldiers were injured.

The cause of the blast was not known.

-- From wire reports