WORLD IN BRIEF

Saturday, April 8, 2006

Chavez Backers Harass U.S. Diplomat's Convoy

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Supporters of President Hugo Chavez threw eggs and fruit at the U.S. ambassador's car Friday, and motorcyclists chased his convoy for miles, at times pounding on the vehicles. The State Department swiftly accused Caracas city officials of complicity.

Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez was called to the State Department in Washington and told that Venezuela was in violation of an international convention that requires host countries to ensure the safety of diplomats, department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Brian Penn, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, said Venezuelan police escorts did not intervene as a car carrying Ambassador William R. Brownfield was pounded and pelted after it left a charity event. No one was hurt.

It was a "very violent demonstration by a small group of people who appear to be organized by the mayor's office," Penn said. The Caracas mayor's office, however, denied any involvement.

Brownfield has faced protests at recent appearances. Chavez has accused Washington of conspiring to overthrow him, an allegation U.S. officials have denied.

EUROPE

· VIENNA -- Shrugging off U.S. opposition, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, will go to Tehran next week in hopes of securing nuclear concessions from the Iranian leadership, diplomats and officials said.

· PARIS -- A picnic by students protesting a new jobs law, held in the middle of a busy Paris boulevard, turned violent when a frustrated motorist burst through the crowd, injuring 10 people. Students set upon the driver, overturning his car before police stepped in.

· MILAN -- Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, an Egyptian accused of helping plan the Madrid train bombings in 2004, indoctrinated young people in Spain and advocated martyrdom, an Italian investigator testified in Ahmed's trial on a terrorism charge. Ahmed, also known as "Mohamed the Egyptian," denies any connection with the Madrid explosions.

· BERLIN -- Nazi Germany planned to expand the extermination of Jews beyond the borders of Europe and into British-controlled Palestine during World War II, German historians Klaus-Michael Mallman and Martin Cueppers say in a new study.

· MADRID -- The head of the banned Basque party Batasuna was freed from jail after paying $305,000 in bail, making it possible for him to take part in any peace talks following a truce by the separatist group ETA. Arnaldo Otegi was jailed for breaking the terms of an earlier bail by calling a strike that turned violent.

ASIA

· TOKYO -- A U.S. military air base in Okinawa will be relocated to a city elsewhere on the island as part of a reorganization of American troops stationed in Japan, officials said.

The city of Nago in central Okinawa agreed to host the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station after Japan's Defense Agency decided to relocate a planned runway to keep flights away from residential areas. Futenma Air Station is currently located in Ginowan, in southwestern Okinawa.

The deal marks a major step toward a final agreement between Japan and the United States on redeploying U.S. troops in Japan. Washington has proposed the adjustment as part of a worldwide realignment of U.S. forces.

· KATMANDU, Nepal -- Hundreds of Nepalese protesters fought pitched battles with police, braving tear gas, hurling stones and chanting pro-democracy slogans as part of a four-day general strike against King Gyanendra's rule. Protesters postponed a demonstration planned for Saturday after the king imposed a curfew and ordered violators shot on sight.

AFRICA

· LONDON -- Life in Zimbabwe is shorter than anywhere else in the world, with neither men nor women expected to live to 40, the World Health Organization said. The World Health Report for 2006 said the average life expectancy in the AIDS- and poverty-stricken country was 36 years -- less than half the 82 years in Japan, which tops the list.

-- From News Services