World briefs 11/08/02

Chinese Communist Party Congress begins

BEIJING -- China's Communist Party Congress convened amid tight security today, drawing 2,000 delegates together on fabled Tiananmen Square to steer the nation through breakneck changes and introduce a new generation of leaders who inherit a society in the throes of change.

The National Party Congress, held once every five years, was called to order at 9 a.m. sharp under a giant hammer and sickle in the Great Hall of the People.

It convenes in a particularly challenging era for China -- one of convulsive change and the search for a political system that will stimulate enough economic growth to maintain stability.

This congress is widely expected to herald the retirement of Jiang Zemin, the party's general secretary and China's president. Most expect Jiang, 76, to be succeeded as Communist Party chief by Hu Jintao, 59, who is widely assumed to also be replacing Jiang as president next year.

Investigators search for clues in fatal train fire

NANCY, France -- Investigators probed the charred remains of a sleeping car Thursday where 12 people, including five Americans, died in a train fire in eastern France as relatives of victims arrived to claim their loved ones' bodies.

The blaze broke out early Wednesday on an overnight train from Paris to Munich, filling a sleeping car with deadly smoke. The train, as is usual in Europe, had no smoke detectors, and cigarette smoking was allowed on the train.

Speculation was high that an electrical problem caused the fire, and the German owner of the sleeping car took seven similar carriages temporarily out of service for safety checks.

Dutch police arrest suspected terrorist recruit

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Dutch police have arrested a Muslim man suspected of preparing a suicide attack, officials said Thursday.

The prosecutor's office said only that the 22-year-old man is a Muslim of Moroccan ancestry, but did not release his name.

He recorded a farewell message to his family on an audio cassette and was "presumably recruited and prepared to be sent out to die in international 'jihad,' or armed struggle against 'enemies of Islam,'" according to a statement by prosecutors.

A second man was detained but later released, it said.

S. Korea: Nuclear dispute could affect cooperation

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea warned Thursday that inter-Korean economic projects could be hurt unless North Korea resolves a dispute over its nuclear program promptly, South Korean pool reports said.

While avoiding a direct answer to the warning, North Korea appealed for a continued expansion of inter-Korean cooperation, said the reports from the North's capital, Pyongyang, where the two sides opened two days of economic talks, the third since 2000.

The exchange took place amid tension over recent revelations by the North's communist government that it has been secretly developing nuclear weapons in violation of a 1994 agreement with the United States.

Families of victims visit plane crash site

NIEDERANVEN, Luxembourg -- The relatives of 20 people who died when a plane crashed in Luxembourg visited the site Thursday as experts investigated why the flight from Berlin went down in heavy fog.

A French passenger rescued from the wreckage of Wednesday crash was recovering, and declared out of critical condition, while the only other survivor, the Luxembourg pilot, was treated for serious back injuries.

Authorities continued to look for clues to why the Luxair turboprop Fokker-50 crashed on approach to Luxembourg's Findel airport.

"It is a very complex investigation," said police spokesman Vic Reuter. "French experts are helping us in deciphering the black box," which was found in the charred plane late Wednesday.

-- From wire reports