NewsApril 5, 2005
World digest 04/05/05
Saudi forces kill seven militants in shootout; Kyrgyz president signs agreement to resign; Austria's ex-right-wing leader creates new party; Israeli settlers agree to discuss withdrawal
Saudi forces kill seven militants in shootout
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Security forces battled the biggest group of Islamic militants in a nearly two-year campaign against terror, killing seven in a gunbattle Monday and cornering up to 10 others in an isolated desert town, Saudi officials said. The forces were besieging the building in which the remaining militants were holed up and hoped to take them alive, Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Mansour al-Turki told The Associated Press. Al-Turki said the security forces did not intend to flush out the militants soon. "As long as there are no hostages involved, there's no reason to rush," he said, adding that the militants were well armed and appeared to have plenty of ammunition.
Kyrgyz president signs agreement to resign
MOSCOW -- Askar Akayev signed his resignation as Kyrgyzstan's president Monday, lawmakers said, raising hopes of ending political turmoil in the strategic Central Asian country 11 days after he fled ahead of protesters storming his offices. The United States is Kyrgyzstan's biggest donor, with assistance of nearly $800 million since the 1991 Soviet collapse. Akayev signed his resignation, to be effective Tuesday, at the Kyrgyz Embassy in Moscow, a day after meeting with a delegation representing Kyrgyzstan's interim leadership headed by parliament speaker Omurbek Tekebayev.
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Austria's ex-right-wing leader creates new party
VIENNA, Austria -- Joerg Haider and his supporters broke Monday with the once-powerful populist Freedom Party to form a new movement meant to reflect the former rightist firebrand's turn toward relative moderation. The Freedom Party is part of the uneasy coalition government along with the People's Party. Its debut as part of the federal government coalition in 2000 triggered seven months of EU sanctions after statements made by Haider were perceived as anti-Semitic and sympathetic to Nazi Germany's labor policies under Adolf Hitler. Haider's sister, Ursula Haubner, announced the split and her resignation as head of the Freedom Party. Haider then told reporters at the news conference he would head the new party, the "Union for the Future of Austria." The rupture was precipitated by insults of the Freedom Party leadership by its detractors, Haider told reporters, without going into details.
Israeli settlers agree to discuss withdrawal
JERUSALEM -- Ending months of angry opposition, several Jewish settler leaders agreed Monday to sit down with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The meeting, set for today, was the latest sign that some settlers have come to terms with their failure to scuttle the plan and are preparing for life after the pullout this summer. Agreement by a majority of settlers to cut a deal would reduce the threat of confrontations. Settlers are demanding higher compensation from the government for giving up their homes. And some leaders, who are urging followers to refrain from violence, say they want to move their tight-knit communities as a group to Israel.
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