World digest 7/3/02

Pakistan: Al-Qaida behind attack on U.S. Consulate

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan -- Pakistan has evidence that al-Qaida financed last month's deadly car-bombing at the U.S. Consulate in Karachi that killed at least 12 people, the country's internal security chief said Tuesday.

"We know al-Qaida was behind the attack on the U.S. Consulate," Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider told reporters. "We have credible information."

Haider did not elaborate on the claim that Osama bin Laden's network was behind the June 14 attack. However, officials had speculated that the attack was carried out either by al-Qaida or Pakistani Islamic extremists with ties to the terrorist network.

Vatican receives U.S. church's policy on abuse

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican said Tuesday it has received details of a policy approved by American prelates in Dallas but gave no indication how long it would take to examine the plan, which would bar sexually abusive priests from church work.

The bishops need Vatican approval to make the policy binding on every U.S. diocese. Some Vatican officials have expressed concern that the plan is too sweeping -- raising the possibility that the Holy See would reject it.

A full Vatican review could be lengthy, since it would involve several departments, including those dealing with clergy, bishops and doctrinal orthodoxy.

China gives fuzzy answer on missile test inquiry

BEIJING -- China on Tuesday sidestepped a direct response to reports it tested a new air-to-air missile in a move that U.S. defense officials say could prompt Washington to give Taiwan access to similar weapons.

The American officials said the Chinese missile was fired last week.

"I'm not aware of the specific case ... but would like to reiterate that no matter what kind of excuse the United States uses for the arms sales to Taiwan, it will be resolutely opposed by China," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao. "China has a long border. It is very normal for China to build its national defense."

The communist Beijing government claims Taiwan as its territory and has repeatedly threatened to use force to take control of the island, about 100 miles off the mainland's southeastern coast.

Israel turns away 18 pro-Palestinian Americans

JERUSALEM -- Israel barred 18 Americans from entering the country and put them on a flight back to the United States on Tuesday as part of a policy of refusing entry to foreigners who want to show solidarity with the Palestinians.

The Americans arrived at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion Airport on Monday with the aim of going to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Interior Ministry spokeswoman Tova Ellison said.

The U.S. group included naturalized citizens born in Pakistan, Egypt and Iraq, she said. Two members of the group were admitted entry because they have Israeli citizenship.

"The state of Israel is in a state of war at the moment, and no other country would allow its enemies or those who support its enemies to enter," Ellison said.

Former dictator unfit to stand trial, court rules

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Citing his health, Chile's Supreme Court ruled aging former dictator Augusto Pinochet unfit to stand trial for political killings more than a quarter-century ago.

Monday's Supreme Court decision could set a precedent for other cases pending against Pinochet. A lawyer for hundreds of relatives of those killed during Pinochet's 1973-90 dictatorship said they would continue pursuing legal action against him.

In the 4-1 ruling, the court upheld a March 2001 lower court decision deeming Pinochet mentally unfit to stand trial. Pinochet, 86, suffers from dementia, an irreversible neurological disorder.

The ruling suspends a criminal case pursued by Judge Juan Guzman, who sought to try Pinochet in connection with mass executions carried out shortly after he seized power in a 1973 coup.

-- From wire reports