World briefs 10/04/02

TV journalists freed after six days in captivity

MANILA, Philippines -- Two Philippine television journalists who disappeared while covering a hostage-taking were freed Thursday after six days in captivity on a southern island known as home to Muslim rebels and bandit groups.

Reporter Carlo Lorenzo and cameraman Gilbert Ordiales of GMA Network Inc., one of the country's largest networks, had not been seen since Saturday, when they met armed men in an Indanan town on Jolo island to arrange interviews with the Muslim captors of three Indonesian hostages.

Lorenzo told The Associated Press by telephone that they had been taken by two armed men, who turned them over to a Muslim family that was told to guard them.

Yusop Jikiri, governor of Sulu province, said he negotiated the men's release and that no ransom was paid.

French unions march in protest of privatization

PARIS -- France's center-right government faced its first challenge Thursday when tens of thousands of public workers marched through Paris to protest plans to sell off parts of state-owned companies.

The demonstrators came from all over France and carried signs that read "Public Services Aren't for Sale."

The protest was led by electricity and gas workers but also included employees from partially state-owned companies like Air France, railway authority SNCF and struggling telecommunications giant France Telecom.

Some protesters played accordions and others banged on drums as the cortege made its way through town. Police said the protesters numbered 40,000, but organizers put the figure at between 60,000 and 80,000.

British jets scramble after security alert

LONDON -- British fighter jets scrambled Thursday after comments made by two passengers aboard a flight from the United States prompted a security alert, officials said.

Police boarded British Airways Flight BA228 from Baltimore when it landed at London's Heathrow Airport and briefly detained the two men, Scotland Yard said.

Officials declined to say what the two men had said to cause the alert, or to reveal their nationality. Police interviewed the men and released them, saying no offense had been committed.

Britain's Press Association news agency, quoting unidentified sources, said the two were U.S. citizens traveling in economy class who had been overheard making references to a possible hijacking. Another passenger reported their conversation to the cabin crew, the Press Association said.

Lawyer in Milosevic trial defends his comments

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- A lawyer appointed by the U.N. tribunal to help protect Slobodan Milosevic's interests apologized to the court Thursday after he was quoted as saying the former Yugoslav president will be found guilty of war crimes.

But Michail Wladimiroff said his ill-considered comments published earlier this month in Dutch and Bulgarian publications did not compromise his role as a "friend of the court," and he should be allowed to continue. He has said he was misinterpreted and misquoted.

The three judges are to decide later whether to dismiss Wladimiroff, one of three veteran defense attorneys appointed last year to help ensure Milosevic gets a fair trial.

More suicide attempts reported among detainees

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- More terrorist suspects detained at Guantanamo Bay have tried to kill themselves, following four attempted suicides in July and August, U.S. military officials say.

The attempts occurred since August, but officials declined to say how many more there had been, when they occurred, or whether any detainee has tried to kill himself more than once.

"There have been additional suicide attempts but we will not discuss that," mission spokesman Lt. Col. Joe Hoey said Wednesday, referring all other questions to U.S. Southern Command in Miami.

Southern Command spokesman Sgt. Ray Sarracino also declined to give details, but said guards had "intervened."

-- From wire reports