World briefs 9/23/02

Japan may demand compensation for victims

TOKYO -- Reacting to a national outrage over North Korea's admitted abduction of several Japanese nationals, Tokyo says it may seek compensation from Pyongyang on behalf of the victims' families.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il stunned Japan when he admitted this week that "elements in the military" abducted at least 12 Japanese citizens during the 1970s and 1980s to train North Korean spies.

Kim's admission -- and apology -- came during an unprecedented summit with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and could prove to be a melting point in their chilly relations.

Deputy Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, who accompanied Koizumi to the isolated communist nation Tuesday, said Japan will seek more information from North Korea about those abducted.

"With (North Korea) already admitting the abductions, we will examine appropriate steps under domestic and international laws, including an official compensation," he said on Japanese public broadcaster NHK's news program. He did not specify an amount.

Marchers protest possible ban on hunting

LONDON -- To the blare of hunting horns and the shriek of whistles, about 400,000 people marched through the streets of London on Sunday to support fox hunting and the rural way of life.

The march, billed as Britain's largest civil protest in 150 years, drew farmers, gamekeepers, and hunting enthusiasts with a clear message for Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"Blair, ban hunting and we will boot you out," read placards held by tweed-clad demonstrators as they marched 20 abreast through the streets, bringing much of the city to a standstill.

Protesters from around Britain and as far afield as Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand marched along two separate routes before converging on Whitehall, the government district, for a final walk to Parliament.

Elections boost Slovakia's hopes of joining EU, NATO

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- General elections boosted Slovak hopes of joining NATO and the European Union by leaving an authoritarian former prime minister with his worst showing ever, according to preliminary results released Sunday.

The electoral commission results showed Vladimir Meciar's HZDS party first with 19.5 percent, more than 7 percentage points below its 1998 election results. The SDKU party of Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda was second at 15.09. That was better than generally expected, considering widespread discontent with fallen living standards generated by his economic reforms.

Despite its first place showing, Meciar's party had little chance of making a comeback because he is rejected by potential coalition partners. They have been warned by the United States and the European Union that Slovakia has little chance of joining NATO and the EU under Meciar because of his record of playing loose with democracy during his five years in office after the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993 and the creation of an independent Slovakia.

10 men with possible al-Qaida links arrested

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Pakistani security forces arrested 10 Arab men as they tried to sneak across the border from neighboring Afghanistan in the past week, officials said Sunday.

The men, traveling with fake passports, were ordered held in northwestern Pakistan. Officials suspected they may be part of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

"The suspects are being questioned by the Pakistani authorities," said a police official with knowledge of the case, speaking on condition of anonymity. "None of them have been handed over to FBI agents for questioning yet."

He did not say what evidence authorities have that the men are part of bin Laden's terror group.

The detentions came during a crackdown on al-Qaida and other Islamic extremist groups in Pakistan.

-- From wire reports