0I 2A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, March 10, 2003 NATION/WORLD Powell, Rice reject talks with N. Korea NEWS IN BRIEF v Powell says U.S. will wait until other nations support direct talks. WASHINGTON (AP) - Top Bush administration officials said yesterday the time still isn't ripe for one-on-one talks with North Korea, despite con- cerns that North Korea is moving rap- idly to develop new nuclear weapons. Any lasting solution to the North Korean problem will need the support of Russia, China and other nations, Secre- tary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said in separate television interviews. North Korea opposes multilateral talks. "I think eventually we will be talk- ing to North Korea, but we're not going to simply fall into what I believe is bad practice of saying the only way you can talk to us is directly, when it affects other nations in the region," Powell said on CNN's "Late Edition." Powell, on Fox News Sunday, said that during his visit to the United Nations last week, he worked with diplomats to develop a multinational approach to North Korea. Democrats are pressing the Bush administration to begin direct talks immediately. They say that while the administration has been paralyzed by indecision and distracted by Iraq, the threat posed by North Korea has spiraled. In recent months, North Korea has expelled U.N. monitors, withdrawn from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and moved to restart a a nuclear reprocessing facility that could produce bombs within months. It is believed to already have one or two bombs. Most recently, North Korean fighter jets intercepted a U.S. reconnaissance plane and the Penta- gon sent 24 bombers to the region. Gunmen hijack vehicles, shoot 2 hostages MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Unidentified gunmen seized a passen- ger bus and several other vehicles in the southern Philippines today, and two people were killed before the gunmen escaped, authorities said. The bus was traveling between Cota- batao City and Davao on the southern island of Mindanao at about 6:30 a.m. when gunmen fired on it and took about 40-passengers hostage, said Farida Mal- ingco, mayor of the town of Pikit, near where the incident happened about 575 miles southeast of Manila. Passengers in three vehicles traveling behind the bus also were taken hostage, said Army Capt. Onting Alon, deputy spokesman of the 6th Infantry Division in the area. He did not know how many people were in those vehicles. Army Col. Carduzo Luna said a sol- dier in civilian clothes was shot in the head. The soldier could have been a bus passenger, Luna said. About two hours into the siege, the gunmen fled as security forces approached the bus, Malingco said. A pro-government militiaman was killed and five villagers were wounded as troops chased the attackers in Takepan village, about a mile from where the bus was seized, said a local radio reporter at the scene. The attack- ers were not captured immediately. Malingco said the rest of the hostages were unharmed. CIA: Al- Qaida may attack U.S. with toxins WASHINGTON (AP) - Al-Qaida operatives are planning to strike at U.S. and allied forces taking part in a war in Iraq, according to information acquired by American intelligence agencies, counterterrorism officials said Saturday. The operatives are subordinates of Abu Musab Zarqawi, whom CIA offi- cials describe as a senior associate of Osama bin Laden. Some are in Bagh- dad; others are elsewhere in Iraq, the counterterrorism officials said, speak- ing on condition of anonymity. The intelligence does not suggest any kind of coordination between the government of Iraqi President Saddarn Hussein and the al-Qaida operatives; instead officials believe the terrorists are looking to capitalize on the chaos created by any military conflict to strike at American and allied troops. A CIA report, passed to senior gov- ernment officials last week, warned of the potential strikes. A CIA spokesman declined to comment. The New York Times first reported the information Saturday on its Web site. The counterterrorism officials said operatives may be planning to use explo- sives or toxins to conduct the attack. The new information comes against a murky backdrop regarding vhether Iraq supports al-Qaida, or to what extent there are ties. However, intelligence officials have generally agreed they have nothing to document that Saddam Hussein had a hand in the Sept. I1 attacks or that Saddam and Osama bin Laden are coordinating terrorist operations. At the center of U.S. allegations that there are links between Iraq and the terrorist group is Zarqawi, a Jor- danian terrorist operative, and some of his followers. CIA Director George Tenet and oth- ers have described Zarqawi as a senior associate of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, but officials acknowledge some difference of opinion within U.S. intel- ligence whether it is correct to describe him as a member of the organization. Zarqawi has been linked to the failed millennium bombing of a tourist hotel in Jordan and the killing of an American diplomat in Amman in October. According to U.S. officials, Zar- qawi was in Baghdad last summer, presumably with the knowledge of Iraqi officials. IRAQ Continued from Page IA The paper, which said it had been provided a copy of the inspectors report, said it referred to videotapes showing "personnel conducting tests of a cluster bomb that appears to utilize submunitions based, in part, on 122- millimeter warhead components." The foreign minister of Guinea, a Security Council member, will visit administration officials this week, national security adviser Con- doleezza Rice said on ABC's "This Week." Asked whether the adminis- tration was trying to entice potential backers with promises of financial aid, as it sought to do with Turkey, Rice said, "We're talking to people about their interests." Rice refused to say which nations the United States is counting on for supportive votes. Powell and Rice took to the air- waves in a series of news interviews yesterday amid a tide of opposition to war from foreign leaders and ANKARA, Turkey New Turkish premier to push for U.S. Governing party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a seat in parliament by a huge margin yesterday, a crucial victory that opens the way for him to become prime minister and strengthens his hand in uniting the government behind deploy- ment of U.S. troops for an Iraq war. The charismatic Erdogan - already the nation's de facto leader - has advo- cated the U.S. troop deployment in Turkey, and analysts say one of his first moves as premier could be to purge ministers who oppose it. Prime Minister Abdullah Gul is expected to resign Wednesday to make way for Erdogan to take over the government, after Erdogan's Justice and Development Party overwhelmingly won by-election balloting in the southern town of Siirt. Gov. Nuri Okutan of Siirt said Justice captured 84.7 percent of the vote. Justice is likely to have won all three seats that were contested yesterday. It was unclear when parliament would be ready to take up a new resolution on U.S. troop deployment, after lawmakers failed to approve a resolution March 1. Turkish media say a vote could come as early as Thursday, but members of the Justice Party said it might be two weeks before a new government is in place. "Our task is hard, our path is long but my peoples' trust is total," Erdogan told supporters after the vote. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip Hamas leaders vow to continue retaliation Hamas remains defiant despite absorbing painful blows in Israel's three-week- old offensive - the most sustained campaign yet against the Islamic militant group in the Gaza Strip. Leaders have not gone into hiding and footsoldiers continue rocketing Israeli towns. After Israel killed a top Hamas leader Saturday, the group promised revenge and threatened to target Israeli politicians. Hamas' confidence is nurtured by religious zeal, popular support and the expec- tation that Israel will not dare reoccupy Gaza, a nest of armed militants and angry, impoverished civilians. And with the group using its setbacks to rally even more supporters, the conflict is likely to persist and shape prospects for resuming Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after an expected U.S. attackon Iraq. Theoretically, a weakened Hamas would be less able to sabotage negotiations with shooting and bombing attacks on Israelis, as it has done repeatedly in the past. However, the cycle of attack and response could just as easily accelerate, making it even more difficult to end fighting that has dragged on for 29 months. 01 WASHINGTON Travel to U.S. slows down after Sept. 11 The U.S. foreign-born population has reached a record high, though the rate at which people came to America has slowed considerably, the govern- ment reports. Experts suggest that downward trend may be due partly to the faltering econ- omy and fallout from the Sept. I1 ter- rorist attacks. Census Bureau estimates released today show there were about 32.5 mil- lion foreign-born residents in the Unit- ed States in March 2002, 2 percent more than the 31.8 million in the previ- ous March. The growth rate had been three times greater between March 2000 and 2001. About 1.2 million people arrived in the country in the 12 months ending in March 2002, compared with 2.4 mil- lion the previous year, according to demographer William Frey, who ana- lyzed the figures. KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait Businesses anticipate post-war prosperity The prospect of war in Iraq has cast a pall over most of the Arab world. But here in frontline Kuwait, it has fueled a roaring stock market, with businessmen dreaming of a postwar boom. As war between U.S.-led forces and neighboring Iraq draws near, Kuwaiti businessmen are confident that the United States will remove Saddam Hussein swiftly and pain- lessly - and open the door for lucrative commercial deals. Cement and construction compa- nies are planning to help rebuild Iraq from the devastation of a third war in two decades. Banks hope a new, friendly gov- ernment in its northern neighbor will need massive loans to fund a rebirth. Food wholesalers are getting ready to feed hungry Iraqis. NEW YORK Broadwaymusical strike stl unresolved Tempers were rising and so were the costs, but negotiations were at a stand- still yesterday in the effort to end a walkout that shut down 18 of the 19 musicals on Broadway. Everyoiie is'looking toward toaay, and the hope that talks would resume between the League of American Theatres and Producers and Local 802 of the American Fed- eration of Musicians. By yesterday afternoon, after two dark nights at the theaters, neither side had made the first move. "We are sitting by the phone (wait- ing)," said league President Jed Bernstein. "It's very difficult to engage in a negotiation when you don't have a negotiating partner ... somebody who wants to bargain toward a compromise." - Compiled from Daily wire reports. '6 The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by stu- dents at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. 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