W O R L D

Gunshots, protests disrupt Wahid visit
DILI (EAST TIMOR), Feb 29 — Gunshots and angry protests disrupted a landmark visit to East Timor by Indonesia’s new reformist President Abdurrahman Wahid today.

Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid (C) is helped by East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao (2nd R) and Wahid's daughter Yenny (L) before his address to East Timorese people in front of UN Transition Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) headquarters in Dili on Monday during Wahid's visit to the former Indonesian territory. — AFP Photo

Fresh flood threat to Mozambique
MAPUTO, Feb 29 — Exhausted helicopter crews today resumed their airlift of Mozambicans trapped by rising floodwaters, and President Joaquim Chissano appealed to the outside world for more help.

Haider resigns as party chief
VIENNA, Feb 29 (DPA) — Initial reaction at home and abroad appeared lukewarm to the surprise resignation of Austrian populist Joerg Haider as head of his far-Right Freedom Party (FPOE).

4 Bosnian Serbs on trial for war crimes
THE HAGUE, Feb 29 (DPA) — Four Bosnian Serbs have gone on trial at the International War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague where they are accused of committing war crimes at detention camps in Bosnia.

UK may free Pinochet
LONDON, Feb 29 — Britain has decided not to ask former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to undergo a second medical examination, signalling that it was ready to free him, the Daily Telegraph reported today.

Gunshots, protests disrupt Wahid visit

DILI (EAST TIMOR), Feb 29 (Reuters) — Gunshots and angry protests disrupted a landmark visit to East Timor by Indonesia’s new reformist President Abdurrahman Wahid today.

Portuguese troops in a UN peacekeeping force fired two warning shots to calm a waiting crowd as Mr Wahid drove into Dili from the city’s Komoro airport after flying in on an Indonesian military aircraft on a trip intended to usher in friendly ties.

It was the first official visit by an Indonesian leader since Jakarta gave up its claim to the territory after East Timorese voted for independence last year. That vote unleashed a rampage by pro-Indonesian militia in which hundreds were killed.

Just after declaring he felt “at home” in Dili, Mr Wahid was forced to take refuge in the Governor’s palace, which now serves as offices for the interim UN administration.

Around 300 protesters noisily demanded Indonesia reveal the truth about the deaths or disappearances of resistance fighters during its 24-year occupation.

“Immediately reveal the facts and account for disappearances of our fighters who were captured and kidnapped illegally,” read one banner.

“Immediately bring to justice TNI (Indonesian military) commanders and generals who for 24 years were responsible for disappearances in Timor Lorosae (East Timor) by the convening of an international tribunal,” said a statement signed by coordinator Manuel Mira Freitas.

More than 5,000 persons turned out to greet Mr Wahid. Indonesia’s flag and the banner of the movement that fought Jakarta’s rule flew alongside one another outside the palace.

Mr Wahid carried on with meetings inside the Governor’s palace amid tight security. A helicopter hovered over the building and sharp-shooters kept watch from the roof. A communiqué on bilateral ties is due to be signed later in the day.

Independence leaders Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos-Horta, who had greeted Mr Wahid at the airport, tried to calm the crowd.

Ramos-Horta said he regretted the protest.

Fresh flood threat to Mozambique

MAPUTO, Feb 29 (Reuters) — Exhausted helicopter crews today resumed their airlift of Mozambicans trapped by rising floodwaters, and President Joaquim Chissano appealed to the outside world for more help.

“Rescue operations are continuing. Thank God two more helicopters and two more planes are coming today to assist in the operations,’’ said Mr Nicholas Lamade, an official with the UN World Food Programme.

Mozambique’s Water Authority has warned people living in Xai-Xai district, north-east of the capital, Maputo, to move to higher ground as the wave of water which inundated Chokwe district at the weekend moved towards the coast.

The authority also warned that a fresh flood wave from Botswana and Zimbabwe would hit the already ravaged central and southern regions of Mozambique in the next few days.

President Chissano flew over the flooded areas early today and told reporters his country needed more help from the outside world.

U.N. World Food Programme spokeswoman Michelle Quintaglie said the death toll was currently estimated at around 150, but had not been updated for days and was probably much higher.

Haider resigns as party chief

VIENNA, Feb 29 (DPA) — Initial reaction at home and abroad appeared lukewarm to the surprise resignation of Austrian populist Joerg Haider as head of his far-Right Freedom Party (FPOE).

Some local politician dismissed Haider’s decision to step down yesterday as a strategic retreat before a possible future push for the chancellorship.

Social Democrats (SPOE) said that Haider and the party were inseparable and called on Haider to leave politics altogether. Designated SPOE leader Alfred Gusenbauer described the resignation as one of Haider’s “many ruses”.

The FPOE leadership last night chose Austrian Vice-Chancellor Susanne Riess-Passer, 39, as Haider’s successor, according to participants of a party meeting.

Riess-Passer had been taking care of day-to-day party leadership business for the FPOE since 1996, and Haider said she would continue leading the party in the direction he had forged.

He stepped down last night, saying he does not “want to stand in the way of the government’s work”.

Haider justified his resignation by saying he no longer wanted to serve as “shadow Chancellor” to the new government of the FPOE and the Conservative Austrian Peoples Party.

4 Bosnian Serbs on trial for war crimes

THE HAGUE, Feb 29 (DPA) — Four Bosnian Serbs have gone on trial at the International War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague where they are accused of committing war crimes at detention camps in Bosnia.

“Images of skeletal inmates from camps in the Prijedor region in 1992 sent shock-waves around the world,” said prosecutor Grant Niemann at the opening of the trial yesterday.

The four accused — Miroslav Kvocka, Milojica Kos, Mlado Radic and Zoran Zigic — are accused of committing atrocities at the Omarska, Keraterm and Trnopolje prison camps in the region.

Each of them denies charges of rape, murder and torture at the detention camps between May and August, 1992. All four — a commandant, two prison guards and a taxi driver — also deny taking part in the Serbian “ethnic cleaning” campaign launched in the region the same year.

As senior supervisors in the camp, Kvocka (43), Milojica kos (36) and Mlado Radic (47) are also being held responsible by the tribunal for the crimes of the subordinates.

Leap-year glitches in Japan

TOKYO, Feb 29 (Reuters) — Japan, one of the world’s most high-tech nations, today suffered a series of computer problems due to the leap day rollover, including malfunctions in cash dispensers and weather forecast devices.

The Posts and Telecommuni-cations Ministry said about 1,200 cash dispensers at post offices across Japan went down due to Y2K computer bugs triggered by the February 29 leap day. There have been concerns that computers would not recognise February 29, 2000, a leap year that occurs once in 400 years.

The ministry said it had sent scores of engineers to repair the dispensers and at least 830 machines have already been fixed. The ministry runs some 25,000 cash dispensers.

Japan’s meteorological agency said computers designed to process data on local temperatures and precipitation at its 43 offices across the country malfunctioned early today.

An agency spokesman said the computer glitch was caused by an old programme installed in the system.

The computers at the agency’s 41 offices had been repaired by noon, more than 10 hours after they started malfunctioning.

It was the agency’s second day in a row of embarrassing computer problems related to the leap day rollover.

On Monday, a number of its computers failed to print properly the date on a set of weather forecasts.

SINGAPORE (DPA): Trouble-shooters reactivated Singapore’s Y2K coordination centre for the so-called leap-year bug on Tuesday, fearing some computers may not recognise February 29 as the last day of the month.

A spokesperson for the Infocomm development authority’s Y2K office said the bug could affect only date-dependent programmes, older computer systems and software.

UK may free Pinochet

LONDON, Feb 29 (Reuters) — Britain has decided not to ask former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to undergo a second medical examination, signalling that it was ready to free him, the Daily Telegraph reported today.

The Home Office (Interior Ministry) declined comment on the report, saying Home Secretary Jack Straw was still studying representations from Spain, Belgium, France and Switzerland which want to extradite him to stand trial on torture charges.

The Daily Telegraph said Straw’s decision not to approach Pinochet’s lawyers with requests from Spain and France for another medical examination “indicated that the Home Secretary had decided to confirm his provisional decision, announced last month, to free the former Chilean dictator’’.

WORLD BRIEFS

Hundreds streak for free wardrobe
VIENNA: Shoppers trying to win a free wardrobe showed up naked at dozens of clothing stores across Austria on Monday. Huddling in the buff, in temperatures slightly above freezing, dozens of men and women waited for the doors of the 40 Kleider-Bauer shops across the country to open at 0800 GMT before racing through the premises. The first five streakers at each location to reach the cash register received a coupon for 5,000 schilling ($ 357) in new clothes, along with a navy blue bath towel to cover up. — AP

Credit card error wrecks marriage
RIO DE JANEIRO: A credit card company’s simple billing mistake has ruined a Brazilian couple’s 23-year marriage, Istoe news magazine has reporter. Rio De Janeiro resident Dalva Dos Santos about a year ago discovered a charge on her husband’s credit card bill under the name of a hotel that rents by the hour. Her husband denied the charge and complained. The credit card company then told him the charge was incurred by his wife. The couple, unable to resolve the matter, had been living apart for several months when the credit card company discovered it had made an error. — DPA

Life term for Qatari Emir’s cousin
DOHA: The cousin of the Qatari Emir and a former Cabinet member was jailed for life on Tuesday along with 32 of his supporters for their role in a foiled 1996 coup. A panel of three judges told the court that former Economy and Trade Minister and police chief Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Hamad al-Thani was found guilty of masterminding the plot to overthrow his cousin, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. The court acquitted 85 defendants — Reuters

Boy survives fall from highest cliff
LONDON: An 11-year-old boy was blown in a gale off England’s highest cliffs and survived a drop on to rocks of at least 170 metres, the Daily Mirror newspaper has reported. Helicopter rescuers feared the worse but instead, the youngster lifted his head and looked in the direction of an RAF man winched down to find him. The boy also mumbled a few words. — DPA

Man dies as son wins lottery
ANKARA: A Turkish man died of a heart attack after learning that his son had won about $ 1.5 million in a lottery, the Anatolia news agency has reported. Haci Paloglu, a 65-year-old retiree, died after being hospitalised in the southeastern town of Palu, the agency reported on Monday. His son Servet Paloglu, a police officer in the nearby city of Batman, won 829 billion Turkish Lira in a lottery drawn on Saturday. — AFP

Falun Gong member beaten to death
BEIJING: Police beat to death a Falun Gong follower unable to pay a fine, a rights group reported on Monday, and the parents of two jailed activists of the banned spiritual movement have asked China’s leaders to release their daughters. The report of the death of Chen Zikiu and the petition to free the jailed Li sisters come just before a visit to Beijing by UN human rights chief Mary Robbinson — AP