World briefs 02/18/03

N. Korea threatens to withdraw from armistice

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea threatened on Tuesday to abandon the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War, accusing the United States of plotting a naval blockade as a prelude to an attack over the communist state's nuclear program.

"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is getting extremely tense" because the United States is planning to send reinforcements in a standoff over the North's nuclear activities, said a spokesman for the North Korean army.

North Korea "will be left with no option but to take a decisive step to abandon its commitment to implement the Armistice Agreement ... and free itself from the binding force of all its provisions," said the official.

The 1950-53 Korean War ended with the armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the countries technically in a state of war. A North Korean withdrawal from the armistice would greatly increase tensions and uncertainty along the world's most heavily armed border.

Thousands of Bolivians call for president to resign

LA PAZ, Bolivia -- Thousands of Bolivians took to the streets Monday, calling for President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada to resign and denouncing the government's handling of a deepening economic crisis.

A long column of farmers and unionists descended on the downtown Plaza San Francisco, shouting anti-government slogans and decrying the military's use of force during last week's deadly riots triggered by an unpopular tax plan.

"The president must resign!" and "Long live the Bolivian worker!" demonstrators chanted. Shopkeepers pulled down metal gates to protect their storefronts as the protesters marched by, fearing a repeat of the looting that engulfed La Paz on Wednesday.

Last week's disturbances began when 7,000 police seeking a 40 percent raise walked off the job to protest a government plan for a new tax to reduce the budget deficit as required by the International Monetary Fund in exchange for new funds.

Clashes between government troops and striking police and protesters left 22 dead and more than 100 people injured. During hours of mayhem, looters ransacked dozens of businesses and torched at least 13 government buildings.

No violence was reported during Monday's march.

Report: Dozens injured in S. Korean subway blaze

SEOUL, South Korea -- A subway fire in southern South Korea has left dozens of people injured Tuesday, according to news reports.

Police officials in Daegu, 200 miles southeast of Seoul, said they were unable to confirm reports of injuries or deaths. But according to Yonhap news agency, up to 100 people were hurt and some might have died.

Ambulances rushed to the scene to take the victims to hospitals and the subway was filled with toxic gas, impeding rescue operations, Yonhap said.

YTN, an all-news cable channel, quoted a witness as saying that a man lit a milk carton filled with flammable material and threw it into a subway car. That report couldn't immediately be confirmed.

Israel says it is seizing land in Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Israel has given formal notice that it is seizing land near a Jewish pilgrimage site in the Palestinan town of Bethlehem to build a security wall, the mayor said Monday.

The seizure order says 3.5 acres are being taken for three years, but Mayor Hanna Nasser said he believes the area that will be cut off from the rest of Bethlehem by the security wall.

Israeli officials confirmed the order was sent to residents of the area but denied claims by Nasser that several homes would be destroyed to make way for the wall.

The area to be seized is near Rachel's Tomb, the traditional burial site of the biblical matriarch on the northern edge of Bethlehem.

Palestinian officials said they would appeal to Israel's Supreme Court.

-- From wire reports