World briefs 9/4/02

London mayor: I feel safer in New York

LONDON -- Mayor Ken Livingstone said Tuesday that he feels safer in New York than in London -- a surprising vote of no-confidence in his own city.

"I do feel safe in London, but I don't feel as safe as I did when I went to New York," Livingstone told reporters, adding that crime seemed much worse now than when he was a child. "I want to be back to something more like I grew up with. We have lost the visible presence" of the police on the streets.

Crime has been increasing in London over the past several years, with muggings and other street crimes rising and robberies doubling in the autumn of 2001 compared with the previous year.

Hijack suspect moved to Stockholm jail

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- A Swedish man suspected of planning to hijack an airliner was moved to a prison in Stockholm on Tuesday, as his lawyer predicted a hijacking charge wouldn't hold up in a trial.

Kerim Sadok Chatty, 29, was moved from the police station in Vaesteraas, 60 miles northwest of the capital, where he had been held since Thursday, when security officers at the airport found a gun in his carry-on luggage.

A district court judge on Monday ordered Chatty detained as a prosecutor prepares preliminary charges of planning to hijack a plane and illegal possession of a weapon.

His arrest as he prepared to board a Ryanair flight to London at Vaesteraas airport has fueled fears about terrorism ahead of Sept. 11.

Russia repays debt to Germany early

MOSCOW -- Russia made this year's payment on its Soviet-era debt to Germany early to help pay for billions of dollars in damage from summer floods, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

Moscow had already paid $172.1 million earlier this year, and owed another $172.1 million by Dec. 31, but Putin said the latter sum was transferred to Germany late last month.

The money "will be needed in Germany to help ease the consequences of the floods," Putin said during a meeting with German President Johannes Rau in the Kremlin as part of a state visit. "We didn't want to wait until the end of the year."

Six men file appeal in gang rape case

MULTAN, Pakistan -- Six men filed an appeal of their death sentences Tuesday, asking a court to overturn their convictions in the gang rape of a woman that was ordered by a tribal council to punish her family.

The six were convicted last weekend and sentenced to hang in the June 22 case, which drew international criticism of Pakistan's tradition of tribal justice and the status of women in rural areas.

Defense lawyer Malik Salim said he filed an appeal with the Multan branch of the regional High Court asking that the verdicts be set aside because the judge's decision, rendered shortly after midnight Sunday, "is not maintainable according to the law and facts of the case.

"All of the accused should have been acquitted," Salim told reporters without elaboration. "We will challenge this decision."

The court will decide later whether to hear arguments or simply reject the appeal.

-- From wire reports