World briefs 1/22/07

Taliban militants to open own schools

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The Taliban said it will open its own schools in areas of southern Afghanistan under its control, an apparent effort to win support among local residents and undermine the Western-backed government's efforts to expand education. The announcement follows a violent campaign by the fundamentalist Islamic group against state schools in the five years since its ouster by U.S.-led forces. The Taliban destroyed 200 schools and killed 20 teachers last year, and President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that 200,000 children had been driven from the classroom. The Taliban's announcement that it will open schools "is like putting salt into the wound," said Mohammad Hanif Atmar, Afghanistan's education minister. Abdul Hai Muthmahien, the purported chief spokesman for the militants, said the group will begin providing Islamic education to students in March in at least six southern provinces, funded by $1 million allotted by the Taliban's ruling council.

Serbs vote in closely watched election

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Serbs voted Sunday in parliamentary elections closely watched by European Union leaders hoping the troubled Balkan nation will keep pursuing Western-style reforms and a peaceful solution to the dispute over Kosovo. The vote was the first since Serbia became independent last year with the end to its union with Montenegro, its last partner from the former Yugoslav federation. Soon after the vote, a U.N. plan for the future of Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province is expected to be proposed. More than 6.6 million voters were choosing among 20 political parties, ranging from ultranationalists and conservatives to pro-Western reformists and liberals. Nearly 57 percent of registered voters had cast ballots one hour before polls closed, said CeSID, an independent Serbian polling group, indicating a strong interest among the electorate.

Earthquake rattles northeastern Indonesia

MANADO, Indonesia -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.3 shook buildings for several minutes in northeastern Indonesia Sunday and caused minor damage, the U.S. Geological Survey and witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or a tsunami after the underwater tremor off the eastern coast of Sulawesi island. Three people were slightly injured when a church was damaged in the regional capital, Manado, a witness said. And frightened residents on the islands of Maluku and Sulawesi ran in panic to higher ground.

Kenya hands 34 Islamic militiamen to Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Kenya handed over 34 Islamic militiamen to Somalia's transitional government, the Somali government spokesman said Sunday, adding that some of them may be senior leaders of the country's Islamic movement. Kenya flew the militiamen to Somalia under armed guard Saturday, the same day Somalia's fledgeling government received a boost when the last major warlord turned over his weapons and militia. Kenyan border patrols arrested the men in the past few weeks after Somalia's western neighbor closed its border, said Abdirahman Dinari, the government spokesman. He said that the government is investigating the identities of the men and will soon make the details public.

Phase one of sainthood process nearly complete

ROME -- Catholic Church officials are almost finished documenting Pope John Paul II's life. The documentation is the first step toward sainthood for John Paul, who died in April 2005. The late pontiff's personal secretary, who's now archbishop of Krakow, Poland, told Italian radio that interviews have been completed with people in Poland who knew John Paul before he became pope, and testimony is wrapping up with witnesses in Rome.

-- From wire reports