World digest 02/21/04

Israel to begin removing small section of barrier

JERUSALEM -- Israel will take down a section of the West Bank separation barrier that had isolated a Palestinian town, an official said Friday, days before world court hearings on the legality of the partition. Workers will begin Sunday to remove the section that cuts off the town of Baka al-Sharkia from the rest of the West Bank. The International Court of Justice, in The Hague, Netherlands, begins hearings Monday. Israel has come under growing pressure to reroute the barrier and reduce hardship for Palestinians.

Five Guantanamo Britons unlikely to face trial

LONDON -- Five Britons due to be released from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay are unlikely to face trial in Britain because of a lack of evidence, legal experts said Friday. Lawyers said that any information gleaned from the men during interrogation at the base would be inadmissible, as they had been denied access to attorneys. "There is likely to be a huge problem of the lack of any evidence," said Michael Birnbaum of the Human Rights Committee of the Bar Council. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Thursday that the five men will be flown home within weeks.

German police chief faces charge of making threats

FRANKFURT, Germany -- A top city police official was charged Friday with ordering threats of "intense pain" against a suspect being questioned for the 2002 kidnapping and slaying of a prominent German banker's 11-year-old son. Prosecutors charged deputy police chief Wolfgang Daschner, 60, who last year admitted using the threat of violence against Magnus Gaefgen in an attempt to save the boy's life. Gaefgen later confessed to the killing. He is serving a life sentence. Daschner faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Peacekeepers' shooting of dogs caught on video

OSLO, Norway -- A videotape of Norwegian peacekeepers in Kosovo shooting dogs drew furious reactions in their homeland Friday. The footage, called "Hotdog," aired on national TV on Thursday night and was edited to look and sound like a music video. Outrage over the video has been so intense that the leader of the parliament's defense committee, Marit Nybakk, said she would demand an explanation from Defense Minister Kristin Krohn Devold. The newspaper Verdens Gang said one of the soldiers in the video told the Oslo tabloid that scenes from various events had been pieced together. For example, laughter on the soundtrack was from soldiers trying off-road vehicles, he said.

Carnival haters brace for world's biggest party

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Rio's carnival, known as the world's biggest party, started Friday with the ceremonial handing of the key to the city of Rio to the symbolic "Fat King." Tourists may love the five-day long pre-Lenten bash, but a recent survey conducted by the Sensus polling group found that 57.4 percent of Brazilians dislike carnival and want nothing to do with it. "It's the devil's party," said the Rev. Flavio Luis Silva Araujo, a pastor for the Universal Kingdom of God Church. Some 2,000 people were interviewed for the survey. Rio's mayor, Cesar Maia, said he still believes Brazil's remaining "70 million people like it."

-- From wire reports