World briefs 11/26/02

Miss World contestants relieved to exit Nigeria

LONDON -- The organizers of the Miss World beauty pageant said Monday they were not to blame for the Muslim-Christian bloodletting in Nigeria touched off by a debate over the morality of the contest.

More than 200 people have died in riots that erupted last week, forcing the relocation of the contest from Abuja, the Nigerian capital, to London.

Miss World President Julia Morley said the contest had been used as a "political football" and blamed the violence on a Nigerian newspaper article suggesting Islam's founding prophet would have approved of the pageant.

Putin vetoes legislation to restrict media

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin vetoed media legislation Monday that would have sharply restricted terrorism coverage, but lashed out at the country's press, television and radio for their handing of last month's hostage crisis at a Moscow theater.

The legislation, passed by both houses of parliament, would have prohibited reports seen as hindering counter-terrorist operations and banned the broadcast or publication of rebel statements or extremist "propaganda."

Putin's decision to veto the measure was widely seen as an attempt to burnish his image as a defender of free speech. Critics have accused him and his government of cracking down on independent television.

Officials quiz militants about bin Laden tape

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- With the help of FBI agents, Pakistan security forces have detained about a dozen people in connection with the recent recording from Osama bin Laden, officials said Monday.

Pakistan forces say they are questioning the suspects in an effort to find out who delivered the tape from bin Laden to a reporter for Al-Jazeera, the Arab TV station.

"We are tracking down the footprints of those who are working for terrorists," a senior Interior Ministry official told The Associated Press.

Austrian governor bids farewell to politics

VIENNA, Austria -- Joerg Haider, whose praise of Hitler and anti-foreigner rhetoric helped fuel the rise of his party two years ago, said he was quitting Monday in the wake of the party's disastrous showing in general elections.

But after a late night meeting with Haider, a Freedom Party leader said he was sure the provincial governor would be persuaded to stay on.

Haider's flashes of pro-Nazi sentiment and exposes of corruption in other parties brought his Freedom Party from obscurity in the 1980s to strength -- it joined the present government coalition after coming in second in 1999 elections.

-- From wire reports