World briefs 8/5/03

Eleven face death in Rwanda genocide trial

KIGALI, Rwanda -- A tribunal has convicted 100 people of rape, torture, murder and crimes against humanity in the largest trial so far seeking justice for Rwanda's genocide.

The three-judge panel sentenced 11 people to death and 71 to life imprisonment, J.M. Ntete, prosecutor for Butare province, said Monday.

The crimes were committed during the 100-day slaughter in mid-1994 in which at least a half-million people were killed, most of them members of Rwanda's Tutsi minority. Political moderates from the Hutu majority were also victims.

The mass trial, which ended Aug. 1, involved 139 defendants. It was held in a temporary courtroom in Mugusa, one of the thousands of settlements that dot Rwanda's rolling green hills -- and the site of the crimes.

Trial for Chinese activist accused of spying begins

BEIJING -- A Boston-based democracy activist held in China for more than a year was tried Monday on charges that he spied for Taiwan, but no verdict was handed down, his wife and a defense lawyer said.

Yang Jianli pleaded innocent during the three-hour, closed trial at the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court, said defense attorney Mo Shaoping. A court spokesman said he couldn't confirm whether the trial took place because it was closed to the public.

Yang, a Chinese citizen with permanent U.S. residency, was detained in April 2002 after visiting China to meet other activists and laid-off workers.

Vatican to gather experts to assess biotech crops

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican will convene a round-table discussion in the fall to study the ethical and scientific implications of biotech crops.

The Vatican "will draw the appropriate conclusions" on using genetically modified organisms after the meeting, Cardinal Renato Martino told Vatican Radio on Monday. A day earlier, an Italian newspaper that interviewed him on the divisive issue suggested the Vatican was coming out in favor of biotech crops as a way to combat world hunger.

"The problem of hunger involves the conscience of every man and in particular those of the Christians," Martino told Vatican Radio. "For this reason the Catholic Church follows with special interest and solicitude every development in science to help the solution of a plight that afflicts such a large part of humanity."

Ill president's son appointed prime minister

BAKU, Azerbaijan -- Azerbaijan's parliament named ailing President Geidar Aliev's son as prime minister Monday, a move that could catapult him to the country's top job.

Many observers believe Geidar Aliev, who wields almost complete control in oil-rich Azerbaijan, is laying the groundwork to transfer power to his son, Ilham Aliev. The president, 80, has not been seen in public since he was admitted to a Turkish military hospital last month, raising new questions about his health after years of heart problems.

Ilham Aliev received the support of 101 of parliament's 124 members in Monday's vote. One lawmaker abstained, and the opposition boycotted the session.

-- From wire reports

Lawmaker Igbal Agazade of the opposition party Umud (Hope) said he and other Aliev opponents left the session after they were told they would not be given the floor.

"Today's illegal act of appointing Ilham Aliev is a coup," Agazade said.

According to constitutional amendments passed last year, the prime minister becomes acting president if the president is incapacitated or resigns. Those amendments were opposed by democracy advocates who said their sole purpose was to prepare for Ilham Aliev to take power.