World briefs 9/16/02

U.S. Embassies to reopen after Sept. 11 anniversary

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- U.S. Embassies in Malaysia and Indonesia are scheduled to reopen Monday after being closed for five days because of securities concerns on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Both embassies were closed Sept. 10.

It was the second time since the Sept. 11 attacks that the embassy in Jakarta was closed because of security fears. In October, the public section of the building was shut down for two weeks because of fears of a terrorist attack.

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation, although the vast majority of its 210 million people dislike hardline interpretations of the faith.

Bomb warning forces plane down in Bucharest

JERUSALEM--- An airplane flying from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv was forced to land in Bucharest on Sunday when a letter was found on the plane that said a bomb had been planted on the aircraft.

A Romanian bomb squad found nothing on the plane, said Itai Yona, an Israeli passenger on the flight. A search of passengers and luggage also revealed nothing.

It was not clear who wrote the letter, who found it, or what language it was in.

The plane belonged to a Dutch charter company, Israel Radio reported.

About three hours into the flight, the pilot announced there was a technical problem and said he was landing in Bucharest. After an emergency landing on a special strip opened for the airplane, the pilot told the passengers before they disembarked about the letter and its warning.

Macedonia votes amid fears of ethnic violence

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Amid fears of violence, Macedonians and ethnic Albanians jockeyed for political power Sunday in key parliamentary elections, the first since last year's armed rebellion.

Tensions soared in the tiny southern Balkan country before the vote, with a series of murders and kidnappings that left at least nine people dead. On Saturday, an ethnic Albanian was killed and two were injured in a clash with Macedonian police in the country's tense west.

NATO's spokesman in Skopje, Craig Ratcliff, said he expected a peaceful vote despite the pre-election violence. But he said the alliance had placed an infantry unit on alert.

More than 3,300 candidates from 30 parties were competing for 120 seats in Macedonia's parliament.

Slain matador returned minus several organs

MADRID, Spain -- The father of a Spanish bullfighter murdered in Peru wants to know why his son's body was returned home with several organs missing.

The bullfighter's father, Jose Tomas Reina, told the Spanish newspaper ABC he will not rest "until justice is rendered." The body of Jose Reina Rincon, 22, was found July 9 on a beach near Lima.

He was struck in the head with a blunt object and beaten to death. Four people confessed to the crime, saying they wanted to steal the $1,200 Rincon was paid after a performance.

An autopsy was conducted in Peru, and his body was sent back to Spain July 12. A second autopsy performed this week in Madrid revealed that the body of the young bullfighter was missing part of the brain and several organs from his chest and stomach.

Guatemalan policeman burned to death by mob

GUATEMALA CITY -- A policeman who had shot a woman was seized and burned to death by an angry mob, Guatemala's police chief said Saturday.

Miguel Angel Orozco, 33, "was surrounded by a mob. They beat him, doused him with gasoline and set him on fire," National Police Director Luis Arturo Paniagua told reporters.

Paniagua said that "for unknown reasons," Paniagua had shot and killed a woman who was accompanying her 8-year-old daughter near her home on Friday night in the town of Coatepeque.

Radio stations quoted witnesses as saying Orozco had been drunk at the time. The slain woman's neighbors burned Orozco, Paniagua said.

-- From wire reports