World briefs 3/15/04

At least 15 dead in two days of Syrian soccer riots

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Two days of riots that started with fights between rival Kurd and Arab soccer team fans killed at least 15 people and injured more than 100 in northeastern Syria, officials said Sunday. There also were reports of new violence in the sensitive Kurdish region, which borders Kurdish enclaves in Turkey and Iraq. One official said the death toll was 18; Turkish media said as many as 49 people were killed. Syrian state broadcasting reported late Saturday that the government had appointed a committee to investigate the rioting, a rare burst of public unrest in this strictly controlled Arab nation.

N. Korea condemns Roh's impeachment as coup

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea condemned South Korea's presidential impeachment as a U.S.-masterminded "coup," while 35,000 frustrated protesters gathered Sunday night in downtown Seoul rallying against the push to remove their leader. "Nullify Impeachment!" chanted the crowd, which was down in size from the 50,000 people who sang songs the previous day. Organizers pledged to hold candlelight vigils every night. Communist North Korea, run by leader Kim Jong Il with an ironclad cult of personality, shuddered at Friday's vote in the National Assembly to impeach President Roh Moo-hyun on charges of illegal campaigning and incompetence. It was the first such move in South Korean history.

Putin wins re-election by more than 68 percent

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin easily won a second term in elections Sunday with 69 percent of the vote, according to an exit poll, confirming widespread expectations of a landslide victory. The poll, conducted by the nongovernmental Public Opinion Foundation, surveyed 120,000 voters at 1,200 polling stations. With 21.5 percent of precincts accounted for, Putin had 68 percent of the vote, Central Election Commission chief Alexander Veshnyakov said. Ninety minutes before polls closed in heavily populated western Russia, electoral officials said that 61.18 percent of voters nationwide had cast ballots. Once the turnout exceeded 50 percent, the election was considered valid.

Suspected Taliban attacks leave five dead

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suspected Taliban attack on an Afghan government office and a rocket attack on a provincial town killed five people, officials said Sunday, hours after the U.S. military announced a new drive to crush insurgents and track down Osama bin Laden. Late Saturday, about 60 Taliban fighters armed with rockets and heavy machine guns raided a district chief's office in southern Kandahar province, near the border with Pakistan. That sparked a firefight that killed three of the Taliban and one Afghan soldier, Kandahar deputy police chief Gen. Salim Khan said. -- From wire reports

Separately, two rockets hit the capital of eastern Laghman province late Saturday, killing one civilian in his home, provincial Gov. Mohammed Ibrahim Babkerkhel said. A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility.

French take over patrols for U.S. Marines in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- French troops took over patrols Sunday in a slum where U.S. Marines -- under fire -- killed at least two people and angered residents demanding the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide, meanwhile, was expected to return to the region two weeks after he fled a bloody rebellion under pressure from the United States and France. He planned to leave exile in the Central African Republic later Sunday and reach Jamaica early today. His imminent arrival in the neighboring island is raising tensions in Haiti, where his followers plan more protests to demand he be restored as the legitimate leader.

-- From wire reports