Friday, October 3, 2008

NORTH KOREA

North Korea threatened Thursday to expel South Koreans from two joint projects in the North if leaflets critical of the government there keep arriving from over the border.

North Korean officials issued the warning during brief military talks with South Korea in the Demilitarized Zone, the first government-level contact since February.

The projects, an industrial park in the northern border town of Kaesong and a resort at scenic Diamond Mountain, have been dependable sources of cash for impoverished North Korea.

The two Koreas agreed in 2004 to end decades of reciprocal propaganda involving leaflets, loudspeakers and radio broadcasts. But activists still send helium balloons into the North carrying leaflets condemning leader Kim Jong Il's regime.

The chief U.S. nuclear envoy stayed on in North Korea for an unexpected second day of talks Thursday to persuade Pyongyang to resume dismantling its nuclear program in exchange for energy aid.

Christopher R. Hill met with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye Gwan, at the reclusive nation's invitation, U.S. officials said. He is expected to return to Seoul on Friday.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir warned that attempts by the International Criminal Court in The Hague to prosecute him on charges of genocide in Darfur are undermining attempts to bring peace to the region. Speaking in Accra, Ghana's capital, Bashir said the charges had "sent a negative signal to rebels, who immediately distanced themselves from all negotiations."

Somali pirates holding a hijacked ship loaded with arms bound for Kenya said they will not release it for less than $20 million and warned they will fight back against commando-style rescue attempts. A half-dozen U.S. Navy warships have surrounded the Ukrainian cargo ship Faina, which was seized last week off Somalia. The Somali government has authorized foreign powers to use all necessary force to free the ship.

The death toll in a stampede at a Hindu temple rose to 224 as the government asked a retired judge to probe the cause of the disaster in western India on Tuesday. Police said several local people had taken their dead relatives home and cremated them without telling officials.

Nine bodies were found dumped in the border city of Tijuana, and an official said the killings were believed to be tied to warring drug cartels. Meanwhile, in Mexico City, an anonymous tip led police to a downtown restaurant, where seven alleged members of the Gulf cartel's Zetas hit men were arrested.

Former Gen. Momcilo Perisic of the Yugoslav national army went on trial in The Hague, charged with supporting Bosnian Serb forces who massacred thousands of Muslims in Srebrenica and laid siege to Sarajevo during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

From News Services