World briefs 3/21/04

Haiti's interim leader visits cradle of rebellion

GONAIVES, Haiti -- Sharing a platform with rebel leaders, Haiti's interim leader Saturday praised the gunmen who began the uprising that chased Jean-Bertrand Aristide from power and even paid tribute to an assassinated gangster. About 3,000 people cheered and clapped for Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, who held his first rally in his hometown of Gonaives, where Haiti's independence was declared 200 years ago and was the starting point for its recent rebellion. Rebel leader Winter Etienne, self-declared mayor of Gonaives, welcomed Latortue and told the crowd his fighters would surrender their weapons when a police presence is restored to the city, which had about 250,000 people before the uprising erupted Feb. 5.

Report: Spaniard helped bombers steal dynamite

MADRID, Spain -- A Spaniard with a criminal record led four Moroccans to an explosives warehouse at a mine to steal dynamite used in the Madrid terror bombings, a newspaper reported Saturday. The unidentified Spaniard was among five people arrested Thursday. He insisted he only led the Moroccans to the warehouse and did not help with the robbery or know the Moroccans had Islamic extremist links, El Pais reported, quoting police sources. The Spaniard was arrested Thursday in Aviles, El Pais said. Four Moroccans were also arrested Thursday outside Madrid. Police think all or part of the estimated 220 pounds of dynamite used in the Madrid bombings came from that warehouse, the paper said.

U.N. police search for Kosovo violence instigators

PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro -- U.N. police officers Saturday took photographs, checked for booby-traps and picked through the smoldering rubble of homes burned during days of rioting in Kosovo, searching for clues that might lead to the instigators of the violence. NATO reinforcements fanned out throughout Kosovo to prevent further violence in the province, as tensions eased after an appeal by ethnic Albanian leaders and a veterans organization to halt attacks. The rioting killed 28 people and injured 600, making it the worst violence since the end of the 1999 Kosovo war. With calm being restored, U.N. police were looking for organizers of the unrest.

-- From wire reports