Ukrainian Government Tries To Rein In Poisoning Inquiry
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's outgoing government sought Monday to control the inquiry into the poisoning of presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, with officials close to the government taking charge of both investigations into who tried to harm or kill him.
The head of a new inquiry by lawmakers -- an ally of Yushchenko's opponent in the court-ordered Dec. 26 presidential rematch -- immediately cast doubt on whether deliberate poisoning could be proved. The decision by a parliamentary commission to reopen its investigation came a day after a similar move by the country's new top prosecutor. A clinic in Austria determined over the weekend that Yushchenko had been poisoned by dioxin.
EUROPE
• MADRID -- Spain's prime minister accused the previous government of deceiving the public about who carried out the March 11 train bombings in Madrid and of erasing computer records for the three days between the bombings and the elections.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, testifying for 14 hours before a parliamentary commission, stopped just short of accusing the conservative Popular Party of lying for electoral gain about the attacks, which killed 191 people.
The investigation showed that Islamic militants were responsible and not the Basque separatist group ETA -- as Jose Maria Aznar, then the prime minister, had initially insisted.
• BRUSSELS -- Germany, Britain and France launched new negotiations with Iran to seek ways for it to abandon its alleged nuclear weapons program in return for aid to build up its civilian energy program.
• PARIS -- France's highest administrative body ordered the TV station of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group off French airwaves within 48 hours for broadcasting hateful content in some shows and posing risks to public order.
On Nov. 23, programs quoted a warning of "Zionist attempts" to transmit diseases such as AIDS to Arab countries and glorified attacks against Israel, the administrative body said.
• DUBLIN -- Northern Ireland's major Protestant party broke off relations with the Irish government after Prime Minister Bertie Ahern indicated he had accepted the IRA's refusal to provide photographs of disarmament.
Democratic Unionist leader Ian Paisley said his British Protestant party would not talk with Ahern's foreign minister or other officials during negotiations planned for Wednesday.
ASIA
• ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan said there was no evidence that Osama bin Laden was hiding in the country and denied a report that it allowed CIA agents to set up bases along the border to search for the al Qaeda leader.
Masood Khan, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said bin Laden had not been seen anywhere and scoffed at reports he might be hiding in the Chitral region, in the country's scenic north.
• HONG KONG -- A dead gray heron found near Hong Kong's border with mainland China has tested positive for bird flu, the third such case in the territory this year, the government said.
AFRICA
• KHARTOUM, Sudan -- The United Nations has suspended its humanitarian operations in the South Darfur area of Sudan following a shooting that killed two aid workers, the agency said.
Meanwhile, Darfur rebels suspended formal peace talks in Nigeria, delegates said.
-- From News Services
