World briefs 12/1/03

Syria repatriates suspects in Istanbul bombings

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Syria handed over 22 suspects to Turkey on Sunday in connection with four deadly suicide bombings in Istanbul, the semiofficial Anatolia news agency reported. The suspects, all Turks, reportedly fled the country after the attacks, which targeted two synagogues in near-simultaneous bombings Nov. 15 and the British consulate and a British bank in twin attacks five days later. A total of 61 people were killed. Citing a statement from paramilitary police, Anatolia said the suspects included Hilmi Tuglaoglu, a close associate of Azat Ekinci, a central suspect in the blasts.

Vigils, seminars mark World AIDS day

ROME -- Candlelight vigils, educational seminars and torchlight parades were planned around the globe today to mark World AIDS Day, while a U.S. delegation headed to hard-hit Africa to urge its leaders to increase awareness about the deadly virus. Athletes were also getting into the spirit: The International Cricket Council said Sunday that players from Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England and Sri Lanka would wear red ribbons during matches Monday to show their support for AIDS victims. The United Nations reported last week that 2003 saw more deaths and infections from HIV and AIDS than ever before, with more than 3 million people killed and another 5 million infected. That brought the total number of people living with the virus to 34 million to 46 million.

Three al-Qaida militants captured in northern Iraq

MOSUL, Iraq -- American forces have captured three members of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network in northern Iraq, a U.S. military commander told The Associated Press on Sunday. If confirmed, it would be the first disclosed detention of al-Qaida militants in Iraq. About 10 members of Ansar al-Islam -- an Islamic group U.S. officials believe has al-Qaida links in northern Iraq -- also have been arrested by U.S. troops in the past seven months, said Col. Joe Anderson, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division.

Bombmakers say they lied about Iraqi nukes

Iraqi scientists never revived their long-dead nuclear bomb program, and in fact lied to Saddam Hussein about how much progress they were making before U.S.-led attacks shut the operation down for good in 1991, Iraqi physicists say. Before that first Gulf War, the chief of the weapons program resorted to "blatant exaggeration" in telling Iraq's president how much bomb material was being produced, key scientist Imad Khadduri writes in a new book. Other leading physicists, in Baghdad interviews, said the hope for an Iraqi atomic bomb was never realistic. "It was all like building sand castles," said Abdel Mehdi Talib, Baghdad University's dean of sciences.

Attacks force U.N. to suspend operations

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two attacks on Afghan soldiers taking part in a U.N.-sponsored weapons collection program in northern Afghanistan forced the United Nations to suspend travel along two main roads in the area, an official said Sunday. No one was hurt in the attacks by two Northern Alliance factions, but two Afghan National Army vehicles were damaged, U.N. spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said. The United Nations, which has offices in the Balkh province capital, Mazar-e-Sharif, suspended operations along the road between there and Jawzjan's capital, Shibirghan.That suspension was lifted on Sunday, the U.N. spokesman said. But the other, on the road between Mazar-e-Sharif and another Balkh province district, was kept in place because factional fighting also occurred there three weeks ago, Almeida e Silva said.

China releases three Internet dissidents

BEIJING -- China has released three people who were detained on charges of posting Internet articles critical of the government, a human rights organization reported Sunday. The three were released Friday, after President Hu Jintao expressed concern about their cases, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said. It noted that the move came just ahead of a visit to China by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder this week and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming trip to the United States.

N. Korea says U.S. must pay for delay in reactor

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea says the United States should compensate it for halting work on two nuclear reactors there amid efforts to arrange a second round of six-nation talks on the communist state's atomic weapons program. The U.S.-led Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, or KEDO, announced the yearlong suspension earlier this month to pressure the North into abandoning its nuclear weapons ambitions.

-- From wire reports