World briefs 8/6/02

German authorities shut down Arab charity

BERLIN -- German authorities shut down an Arab charity accused of collecting money for the militant Palestinian organization Hamas, the interior ministry said.

Investigators seized the equivalent of $296,000 from accounts of the Al-Aqsa organization in the cities of Aachen and Cologne, Interior Minister Otto Schily told reporters Monday.

Schily said Al-Aqsa raised money for families of suicide bombers who carried out deadly attacks against Israelis.

The funds were transferred to social and humanitarian organizations in Palestinian territories connected to Hamas.

Mahmoud Amr, chairman of Al-Aqsa, denied the organization was funneling money to Hamas.

Iraqis demonstrate against U.S. war threats

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- About 10,000 Iraqis rallied outside ruling party headquarters Monday in a demonstration against U.S. military threats, burning effigies of President Bush and American flags.

Participants carried banners pledging their support for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, whose overthrow is a U.S. policy goal.

Salim al-Qubiesi, a member of the Iraqi parliament, called on the world to get rid of Bush instead of Saddam.

Women claiming to be priests excommunicated

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican has excommunicated seven women who claim to be priests and refuse to repent, saying that the group had "wounded" the Roman Catholic Church.

The women participated in an ordination ceremony June 29 carried out by Romulo Braschi, an Argentine who calls himself an archbishop but whom the Vatican rejects. The Church's guardian of orthodoxy, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, set a July 22 deadline for the women to reverse their claims.

The Vatican said in a statement the women gave no indication of amendment or repentance for their offense.

The women are expected to appeal.

The excommucated women were identified as Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger and Adelinde Theresia Roitinger, both of Austria; Gisela Forster, Iris Muller, Ida Raming and Pia Brunner, all of Germany; and Angela White of the United States.

Glitches, protests mar new Japanese ID system

TOKYO -- Computer glitches and protests marked Monday's launch of Japan's first nationwide identification system.

About 70 people demonstrated against the system Monday morning in front of Japan's Public Management Ministry in downtown Tokyo.

As the system got up and running, several municipalities -- including ones in the western prefecture (state) of Kyoto, the central region of Toyama and the metropolis of Osaka -- also reported temporary computer glitches that prevented them from tapping into the national network, local officials said.

Even before Monday's kickoff, the ID system was undermined by five municipalities refusing to register information, and by Yokohama, a city of 3.4 million people, saying it would register information only from those who consent.

The new resident registry system assigns an 11-digit identification number to each citizen -- much like the U.S. social security number -- to be used by the government to draw up basic information on the person limited to name, address, sex, and birthdate.

-- From wire reports