0 2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, March 19, 2004 NATION/WORLD Poland may withdraw from Iraq NEWS IN BRIEF; ___ __ __ ___ __ __ ___ __ __ ___ __ __ ___ _E W S I B R E a5' . HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD- WARSAW, Poland - President Alek- "But naturally I also feel uncomfort- sander Kwasniewski, a key U.S. ally, said able due to the fact that we were misled 4 ... I alsO feel uncomfortable due to the fact ISLAMABA, Pakistan yesterday that Poland was "misled" about whether Saddam Hussein's regime had weapons of mass destruction and was considering withdrawing troops from Iraq several months early. The remarks came as polls show about half of Poles are opposed to involvement in Iraq and after deadly bombings in Madrid - possibly by al- Qaida in retaliation for Spain's alliance with the United States - triggered fears of a terror attack on Polish soil. Kwasniewski's comments were the first by a Polish leader to raise doubts about the intelligence behind the deci- sion for going to war. He tempered them by stressing that Poland is not about to abandon its mission in Iraq, and said Iraq was a better place without Saddam. with the information on weapons of mass destruction," Kwasniewski told French.reporters, according to a tran- script released by his press office. "This is the problem of the United States, of Britain and also of many other nations," he later told a news conference. Despite his comments, U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said she did not think Poland was with- drawing its support for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. "I talked to the Poles, and they think they were a bit misinterpreted here, because there's been no stronger ally in this than the Poles," Rice said in a CNN interview. She said President Bush and Kwas- niewski had discussed the issue of Sad- that we were misled with the information on weapons of mass destruction:' - Aleksander Kwasneiwski President of Poland dam's alleged arsenal "and they went to war for the right reasons." Poland contributed 2,400 combat troops to the Iraq invasion and now com- mands a 9,500-strong multinational force, making it one of Washington's staunchest allies. But while many Poles feel historically close to the United States, public support for the mission in Iraq has been tepid. A poll last week found 42 percent of adults in favor and 53 percent opposed. The CBOS survey had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. Kwasniewski's criticism of the prewar intelligence also puts him in line with widespread public senti- ment in Western Europe, just before Poland joins the European Union on May 1. "Poland so far lacked a necessary bal- ance before the EU entry. It was too pro- American," said Janina Paradowska, a commentator for the Polityka weekly. Troops may have found al-Qaida's No. 2 Pakistani forces believe they have cornered and perhaps wounded Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, in a major battle near the Afghan border, an area where many believe the world's most wanted terrorist has been hiding, three senior Pakistani officials said yesterday. Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said a "high value" target was believed trapped in South Waziristan, a semi-autonamous tribal belt that has resis- ted outside intervention for centuries. Hundreds of troops and paramilitary rangers pounded several fortress-like mud-brick compounds with artillery and fired on them from helicopter gunships, as entrenched suspects fought back hard. An intelligence official said "dozens" were killed yesterday. At least 41 people - 15 soldiers and 26 suspected militants - were killed earlier this week in fighting in the area. The officials said intelligence indicated the forces had surrounded the Egypt- ian-born al-Zawahri in an operation that began Tuesday, the first major break in the world's most intense manhunt in more than a year. 6 Spain arrests five bombing suspects SEOUL, South Korea S. Korea will not send troops to city in Iraq South Korea yesterday scrubbed plans to send troops to the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, citing U.S. pressure to participate in "offensive operations," but it said the promised 3,600 forces will be sent to a different location to help rebuild the country. The dispatch, making South Korea the biggest coalition partner after the United States and Britain, had been scheduled to come as early as next month. But yester- day's decision means the mission might be delayed. The move comes as other Iraq coalition allies reconsider their contributions. South Korea's Defense Ministry said the "United States cited inevitability for offensive operations to keep security in order in the Kirkuk area, and proposed that a certain number of U.S. troops would remain in Kirkuk to continue to con- duct stabilization operations under the tactical control of South Korea." The South Korean side said the U.S. proposal does not jibe with its intention to "keep its own independent operational command system and conduct peaceful reconstruction." The Pentagon had no immediate comment on South Korea's decision. MADRID, Spain - Police arrest- ed five more people in the Madrid train bombings as the death toll rose yesterday to 202, making the blasts - along with the 2002 Bali night- club blasts - the worst terrorist strike since the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. The arrests brought to 11 the total suspects in Spanish custody and came as the country marked a week since the bombings that shocked Europe, led to a stunning election defeat for the gov- ernment and roiled Madrid's relations with the United States. In Morocco, police also rounded up associates of Jamal Zougam, a key suspect in the train bombings with alleged al-Qaida ties. The death of a 22-year-old Peruvian woman increased the toll in the attacks to 202 - the same number killed by bombings in Bali, Indonesia, in Octo- ber 2002. Nearly 3,000 people died in the Sept. 11 attacks carried out by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. The latest arrests added to suspi- cions Moroccan extremists linked to Islamic terrorism were behind the Madrid bombings. At least three of the five suspects arrested Wednesday and yesterday are Moroccan nationals, according to a Moroccan official. Spanish authorities sought to extend the detention of five other suspects, including Zougam, who ywere arrested Saturday. Zougam and the others - two Moroccans and two Indians - were being questioned yesterday at a Madrid .ourt by Judge Juan del Olmo. Del Olmo's options are to jail them pending further investigation - which would suggest there is strong evidence against them - free them on bail or with other restrictions, or release them altogether. The suspects can be held for two years without a formal indictment while more evidence is gathered. This period can be extended for two more years. In Morocco, police were rounding up Zougam's associates for question- ing, said a Moroccan official who spoke to The Associated Press on con- dition of anonymity. Three of the new arrests occurred in or near Alcala de Henares, a town 18 miles east of Madrid where three of the four bombed trains originat- ed, according to court officials in Madrid. It's also where police found a van with detonators and a cassette tape with verses from the Quran hours after the attacks. Another new suspect with Spanish citizenship was arrested in Oviedo, in northern Spain, court officials said. Police believe that suspect may have had a direct role in the bomb- ings and in the May 2003 suicide attacks that killed 33 people and 12 bombers in Casablanca, Morocco, said radio station Cadena Ser. There were few details about the fifth suspect, although the news agency Efe said he was of North African origin. Interior Minister Angcl Acebes confirmed the "investigation is advancing" but wouldn't comment on the latest arrests. "This is a time for caution," he said, announcing the government would release intel- ligence reports about the attacks. APPHu T A mosque burns Wednesday after a fire set by protesters in the southern Serbian town of Nis, some 250 kilometers south of Belgrade. NATO sends fortces to 74 7 T stop clasie! PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro - Ethnic Albanians torched Serb homes and churches yesterday as Kosovo convulsed in a second day of violence, its worst since the province's war ended in 1999. Serbian nationalists set mosques elsewhere on fire and threatened to retaliate with "slaughter and death," and NATO sent reinforcements to quell tensions in the U.N.-run province and ease the threat of renewed conflict in the volatile Balkans. The clashes, which began Wednesday when ethnic Albanians blamed Serbs for the drownings of two children, have killed at least 31 people and wounded hundreds more, including several dozen U.N. police and NATO peacekeepers, s in Kosovo according to U.N. spokeswoman Izabella Karlowicz. "The international community's drive to reduce (NATO) forces and the U.N. police for cost reasons and because of Iraq has turned out to be an error," warned Winfried Nachtwei, a German lawmaker who visited Kosovo this week. The White House called for an end to violence in Kosovo and said President Bush met with his nation- al security team to monitor the situ- ation. The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade closed temporarily to the public as a precaution. "We continue to call on all groups to end the violence and refrain from violence," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. BRUSSELS, Belgium EU plans to sanction Microsoft in ruling The European Union announced its intention yesterday to sanction Microsoft Corp. after the software giant balked at demands that could have pre- vented it from adding new features to future versions of Windows - a restriction it avoided in the landmark U.S. antitrust case. Frenzied settlement talks that acceler- ated this week with the arrival of Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer in Brussels collapsed over the EU's insis- tence on a broad deal in exchange for allowing Microsoft to avoid being found guilty of monopolistic behavior. EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said he would now pro- ceed with a precedent-setting ruling against the world's largest software company on Wednesday. The EU also plans to hit Microsoft with a fine expected to reach hundreds of millions of dollars. JERUSALEM Palestinians protest construction of wall Hundreds of Palestinians protested yesterday at a site where Israel is building its West Bank barrier, call- ing for a complete stop to the project after the Supreme Court halted con- struction at a nearby location. A 12-year-old boy was seriously wounded by soldiers firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets to disperse stone-throwers in the crowd. Protesters have focused in recent weeks on a particularly contentious section northwest of Jerusalem that would cut off eight Palestinian villages and disrupt the lives of 30,000 people. The high court on Wednesday froze construction of that 15, 6 mile stretch after retired Israeli army ofii- cers argued that Israel could have drawn a much less intrusive route. WASHINGTON Study: Possible mass extinction underway A detailed survey of birds and butter- flies in Britain shows a population decline of 54 to 71 percent, a finding that sug- gests the world may be undergoing anoth- er major extinction. Researchers said the study helps sup- port the theory that the sixth big extinc- tion in Earth's history is under way, anl this one is caused by humans. In a series of population surveys that6 combed virtually every square yard of England, Scotland and Wales over 40 years, more than 20,000 volunteers counted each bird, butterfly and native plant they could find. An analysis of the findings appears this week in the jour- nal Science. - Compiled from Daily wire reports. 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