World digest 07/31/02

U.S. to help Indonesia with anti-terrorism

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -- The Bush administration, eager to help Indonesia confront daunting anti-terrorism challenges, is pushing to achieve that goal without violating congressional limitations on U.S. military assistance to that country.

The administration expects to provide $16 million for counterterrorism training of Indonesian police officers, which is normally designed for military personnel, said a senior State Department official accompanying Secretary of State Colin Powell on an Asian tour. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

It also plans to spend $400,000 during the current fiscal year and next year to train civilians in anti-terrorism activities.

Uruguay calls banking holiday amid crisis

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay -- Uruguay ordered its banks closed at 1 p.m. Tuesday in an attempt to stanch the flow of capital in the midst of a growing financial crisis.

The amount of capital in many banks has fallen dramatically in recent weeks, as hundreds of millions of dollars have been taken out of the financial system.

As rumors of a banking holiday spread, long lines began to form outside the capital's main banks, as people sought to take as much of their savings as possible from automatic teller machines. The government later announced that ATMs would be shut down.

Uruguay's banking system has been badly shaken by the deep economic crisis and financial system meltdown in neighboring Argentina, which has made savers jittery and made it hard for the country to raise credit. The country is also laboring through its fourth year of recession.

Veteran of germ warfare unit calls for apology

TOKYO -- A former Japanese soldier who took part in Tokyo's World War II germ warfare program urged the government to confess to killing thousands of people in China in attacks and biological experiments and to compensate the victims.

Yoshio Shinozuka, 79, a former member of the army's notorious Unit 731, said Japan has a chance to clear its conscience in a Tokyo District Court when it rules on a lawsuit Aug. 27 brought by Chinese survivors.

"The ruling will be a crucial test for Japan's conscience," he told reporters.

About 180 Chinese suing Tokyo for compensation and an apology say their relatives were killed in biological warfare and human experiments carried out by Unit 731.

Shinozuka and other Japanese veterans have testified in court that they produced cholera, dysentery and an-thrax to use against prisoners of war and the Chinese people.

Icebreaker on rescue mission bogs down in ice

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- An Argentine icebreaker attempting to rescue a German ship trapped in the Antarctic ice pack has itself become bogged down and could spend the next few months at sea, the icebreaker's captain said Tuesday.

The Almirante Irizar has been pulling the German vessel Magdalena Oldendorff to safety since July 19, but plummeting temperatures recently stalled the ships' progress, Capt. Eduardo Benmuyal said via satellite telephone.

He said it now seemed likely both ships will remain trapped until November or December.

The Magdalena Oldendorff was carrying 107 people when it became trapped June 11. Most were airlifted off the ship July 2.

-- From wire reports