World digest 03/01/03

Palestinian minister denies secret accounts

JERUSALEM -- In a bid to dispel charges of widespread corruption, the top Palestinian financial official on Friday said the Palestinian Authority had no secret accounts and had not funneled money to groups Israel and the United States accuse of terrorism.

Finance Minister Salam Fayad also disclosed that the Palestinian Authority had about $600 million in liquid assets. The public accounting was the first since the creation of the Palestinian governing body since it was founded about a decade ago.

Fayad has won praise in recent months from Palestinians as well as Israeli and American officials for making serious efforts to clean up the authority's murky finances.

An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Rannan Gissin, refused to comment on the financial disclosure.

Fayad gave a detailed accounting of the Palestinian Authorities' financial assets, held locally and internationally. Among the most valuable were Orascom Telecom Algeria, valued at $90 million, and the Jordan Mobile Telecommunications Company, valued at more than $66 million.

Dissidents on ballots for local Iranian elections

TEHRAN, Iran -- For the first time in two decades, liberal dissidents were on the ballot for Iran's local elections Friday after a power shift in the committee overseeing elections in this conservative society.

Nearly 225,000 candidates, including 6,000 women, were contesting the 185,000 village and city council seats. In past years, liberal dissidents were disqualified from running for office by hard-liners who controlled the parliamentary committee that supervises local elections.

This year, however, reformists who back President Mohammad Khatami control the Interior Ministry, which administers elections, allowing a wider pool of candidates.

Hard-line groups who support unelected conservative clerics effectively have boycotted the elections, though some low-level hard-liners are running as individuals.

Interior Ministry officials said results were expected by Sunday.

Philippine leader sets deadline to defeat rebels

MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Friday gave the military 90 days to defeat the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, and the head of the armed forces warned that commanders who fail will be replaced.

Arroyo said the order was not connected to the planned deployment of U.S. troops, who will help Filipino soldiers fight the Abu Sayyaf on the southern island of Jolo.

Arroyo said deadlines had worked when the military went after the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on the island of Mindanao. Government troops took control of Buliok, a rebel stronghold on the island, in February.

McDonald's to sell fruit at British outlets

LONDON -- Stung by criticism that its food is laden with fat and salt, McDonald's said Friday its British restaurants will be the first in the world to sell fresh fruit.

Starting in April, grapes and sliced apples will be sold in 2.3-ounce bags for 95 cents, the company said.

McDonald's is also adding a new fruit juice with "no extra sugar" to its Happy Meals for children and a 266-calorie pasta salad to its salad menu. The pasta salad will be available May 27. It was not immediately clear whether the juice and salad would be sold at restaurants outside Britain.

-- From wire reports