World briefs 4/4/04

Papers show U.S. willing to aid Brazil's 1964 coup

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Newly declassified U.S. documents show the extent of American willingness to provide aid to Brazil's generals during the 1964 coup that ushered in 21 years of often bloody military rule. The National Security Archive posted the documents on its Web site this week to coincide with Wednesday's 40th anniversary of the coup. The documents show members of Lyndon B. Johnson's administration actively preparing to aid the coup plotters, fearing that Brazil could fall under the spell of a communist-style regime led by President Joao Goulart. From 1964 to 1985, Brazil was ruled by a string of five military presidents. The dictatorship ended in 1985 when a democracy movement swept the country.

Indonesia ready to hold elections despite delays

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The justice minister has threatened to arrest election officials, thousands of polling stations still don't have ballots and parts of Aceh province are too dangerous to hold a vote. Nonetheless, Indonesia will hold parliamentary elections Monday for the second time since the fall of the longtime dictator Suharto in 1998. The reports of delays and government bungling have at times overshadowed campaigning in the run-up to Monday's vote, underscoring the chaotic nature of democracy in the world's most populous Muslim nation. All told, some 148 million eligible voters nationwide will choose among 58,000 candidates on three separate ballots in some big cities and four in other parts of the country.

Security Council urges Sudan cease-fire talks

UNITED NATIONS -- Thousands of people are being driven from their homes in Sudan's western Darfur region in an "ethnic cleansing," a U.N. official said Friday, calling it "one of the worst humanitarian crises." Some 750,000 people have been displaced inside Sudan and tens of thousands of others have sought refuge in Chad, Jan Egeland, undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told journalists after he addressed the Security Council. He said that 212 civilians reportedly had been killed in March but that he didn't have figures for those killed earlier because aid workers had been unable to enter the area.

Iraq restarts pumping oil through pipeline to Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey -- Iraq began pumping oil to Turkey through its northern pipeline Saturday after a nearly three-week lull, Dow Jones Newswires reported. Service resumed at about 8 a.m. at an initial rate of 400,000 barrels a day, Dow Jones reported. The prewar capacity of the pipeline -- from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk to Turkey's southern Ceyhan port -- was about 900,000 barrels. Oil has not been pumped to Ceyhan from Iraq since March 17. The oil flow through the pipeline has halted several times since last year, often because of sabotage and other problems.

-- From wire reports