Congolese Troops Leave U.N. Buffer Zone
KINSHASA, Congo -- Congolese dissident soldiers have begun pulling out of a buffer zone set up by U.N. peacekeepers in the east to end clashes with government troops and allow humanitarian aid to flow, the United Nations said Sunday.
Fighters from RCD-Goma, a former Rwandan-backed rebel group that is now officially part of Congo's new army, last week battled government soldiers that were sent into North Kivu province to reinforce the border with Rwanda.
The U.N. mission in Congo deployed 400 peacekeepers on Wednesday.
The Americas
• BOGOTA, Colombia -- Troops backed by helicopters searched for seven Colombian tourists kidnapped by rebels as they celebrated Christmas at a lakeside spa, authorities said.
Fighters with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, raided a cluster of bungalows late Friday near San Rafael, 140 miles northwest of Bogota, and herded the vacationers into vehicles, said Jorge Mejia, deputy governor of Antioquia state.
The Middle East
• RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Candidates from the militant group Hamas defeated those from the mainstream Fatah political movement in nine of 26 local elections, results showed, in a sign of challenges confronting Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate leader and chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
A tally announced by the Palestinian Authority's Supreme Council for Local Elections showed Hamas scored victories in nine West Bank council races on Dec. 23. Fatah won 16 of the races. The rivals tied for control of one municipality.
Asia
• KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai appointed two warlords and former cabinet members to influential governorships in a bid to keep the strongmen happy but outside of his central government.
Gul Agha Shirzai, the former public works minister, was named governor of southern Kandahar province, a post he controlled once before. Sayyed Hussein Anwari, the former agriculture minister, was named governor of Kabul province.
• HONG KONG -- As many as 1,000 villagers battled police in southern China in a riot that left several people dead and dozens wounded, newspapers said.
Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po and Apple Daily newspapers differed widely over the size of the mob and what led to the clash Saturday in Guangdong province. Both said the riot started after security forces beat a resident to death.
EUROPE
• TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- Uzbeks voted in a parliamentary election in which opposition groups were barred from running, sparking criticism from Europe's top election watchdog and a fierce defense from the country's authoritarian president, who insisted that Uzbekistan has no "real" opposition.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which sent 21 observers, has said Uzbekistan did not provide conditions for a democratic vote.
-- From News Services
