RFE/RL - October 31st, 2002

Tallinn, 31 October 2002 (RFE/RL) -- An Estonian court today found a former Soviet security officer guilty of crimes against humanity for his participation in deportations of Estonian civilians.

The court condemned Yurii Karpov, 81, to eight years in prison for his role in the 1949 deportation of thousands of Estonians to Siberia.

But the court said that because of his age, Karpov will not serve the sentence if he doesn't commit a new crime within three years.

Karpov, who used to work as a senior officer in the Soviet Estonian state security ministry, has denied all charges.

More than 20,000 Estonian civilians were deported to Siberia in March 1949.

Moscow, 31 October 2002 (RFE/RL) -- A Moscow court has issued an arrest warrant for tycoon Boris Berezovskii and two of his associates in connection with the theft of cars from Russian carmaker AvtoVAZ.

Interfax news agency says the court issued the warrants for Berezovskii, Badri Patarkatsishvili and Yurii Dubov at the request of Russia's Prosecutor-General's Office yesterday. Berezovskii and his two associates are all living outside of Russia.

Deputy Prosecutor-General Vladimir Kolesnikov has said that international extradition requests will be filed against the three.

Andrei Borovkov, a lawyer acting on behalf of Berezovskii and his associates, was quoted as telling Interfax that he would appeal the Moscow court's decision.

Russian prosecutors opened a criminal case against Berezovskii and Patarkatsishvili last month for allegedly stealing cars worth $13 million from AvtoVAZ in 1994-95.

Berezovskii has said the various charges against him are retaliation for his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Note: GTA 4: Vice City is in stores now! Official web site here.

MOSCOW (AP) -- The day after terrorists seized a Moscow theater, taking hundreds of people hostage, police armed with automatic rifles came to Elita Usmanova's apartment and took away her two teenage sons for questioning.

Chechens in Moscow say they've been subjected to unannounced police visits, document checks and harassment in the days since last week's hostage drama, which ended Saturday when Russian troops stormed the theater. At least 119 hostages were killed, all but two from an opiate gas used in the rescue effort to incapcitate the Chechen rebels.

Russian Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov has said dozens of people have been detained on suspicion of aiding the hostage-takers, but many Chechens and other dark-skinned people from the Caucasus region with no connection to the case have been caught up in the police dragnet, human rights workers say.

Usmanova said her experience with the police was chilling.

After checking documents and searching the one-room apartment Usmanova shares with two other Chechen families, the police demanded that her two sons, ages 14 and 16, come to the police station, where they were photographed, fingerprinted and questioned for three hours before being released.

Now Usmanova, 33, says she is afraid to let her children go outside for fear they will be detained again or attacked on the street.

``Friends called and said it's better to stay home. The police are stopping women and children,'' she said, her eyes brimming with tears.

Like Usmanova, some Chechens have sought help at Civil Assistance, a Moscow-based humanitarian group that provides legal advice to refugees. The organization, housed in the dark, stuffy basement of a Moscow office building, is crowded with people with nowhere else to turn.

Milana, 39, a proud-looking Chechen woman in a fur-trimmed coat, said she lost her job and was in danger of losing her home. Her employer told her not to come back to work as a saleswoman at a Moscow kiosk and her landlords called on Wednesday, saying she, her husband and son had two days to vacate their apartment.

``They simply say, 'You're a Chechen,' and that's it,'' said Milana, who declined to give her last name. She said police had also stopped her on the street and, learning that she was a Chechen, took her to the local station for hours of questioning.

Milana's case -- like that of many other Chechens in Moscow -- is complicated by the fact that she does not have a document that shows she is registered to live in the city. Without that piece of paper, troubles with police become vastly more complicated, often entailing large bribes to sort things out, Chechens say.

The tension is just the latest byproduct of a bloody conflict that began after Chechnya declared independence and Russia responded by sending in troops in 1994. Thousands of people have been killed on both sides.

Some Chechens said the increased police checks reminded them of the atmosphere in 1999, after a series of apartment house explosions left more than 300 people dead -- attacks the authorities blamed on Chechen rebels.

This time, however, police are checking Chechens in their homes, not just on the street, many say.

``Two policemen showed up at my door. I asked them what they were doing, and they told me they had instructions to check all Chechens and Dagestanis'' in Moscow, said Abdulla Khamzayev, 65, an ethnic Chechen lawyer who has lived in Moscow for 40 years. Dagestan is a mostly Muslim region that borders Chechnya.

Khamzayev, who represents the family of a murdered Chechen girl in the high-profile trial of the Russian officer accused of killing her, said he took a confrontational tone with the police and they eventually left. Others haven't been so lucky.

When police visited Chechen businessman Islam Gadayev at his home, Gadayev agreed to go the local police station to give a statement, said Zelimkhan Bashayev, an aide to Chechen lawmaker Aslanbek Aslakhanov.

There, police said they discovered a small amount of heroin in the Gadayev's coat pocket and opened a criminal case against him. Gadayev, 26, is being held in a jail cell pending legal proceedings.

``Why would he drive himself to the police station if he had drugs on him?'' Bashayev asked, implying the whole thing was a setup. He added that relatives who retrieved Gadayev's wallet said $64 was missing from it.

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Yugoslavia conceded Thursday that a state arms dealer had violated U.N. trade bans with Iraq.

The admission comes two weeks after evidence surfaced that a Bosnian Serb factory in cooperation with a Yugoslav arms dealer had refurbished Iraqi military aircraft. Previously, the government only indirectly admitted the clandestine arms trade.

In a statement released after a Cabinet meeting Thursday, the government said that ``because of imprecise regulations on arms trading, there have been several cases of breaching the U.N. embargo'' with Iraq.

The U.N. Security Council has maintained a strict embargo on Iraq since Saddam Hussein's army invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1990. Countries found to be violating this trade embargo could face punitive U.N. sanctions.

According to Belgrade, the breach of U.N. sanctions occurred in connection with Yugoslavia's role in the ``overhaul of jet engines for Iraqi military aircraft MiG 21 and MiG 23, and also in providing certain military and technical services.''

The government also said it would ``suspend all trade protocols on military and economic cooperation with nations under U.N. sanctions for the entire duration of those sanctions.''

It also banned ``any export of arms and military equipment'' to these countries. The government statement did not list the nations under U.N. sanctions.

Evidence of the trade with Iraq came after NATO inspected a Bosnian Serb military factory in neighboring Bosnia's northeast.

The NATO raid on the Orao plant uncovered documents showing the manufacturer was selling instruments for the aviation industry to Baghdad through Yugoimport, the Yugoslav state arms dealer.

After the discovery, the government of the Bosnian Serb republic, on whose territory Orao is located, admitted the aviation manufacturer was at fault and promised to discover and punish the culprits.

In Belgrade, the Yugoslav government promptly fired Yugoimport's director, Gen. Jovan Cekovic as well as a deputy defense minister, Ivan Djokic. It also ordered Yugoimport to shut down its office in Baghdad.

Although the United States welcomed the dismissals, it urged Yugoslavia to halt any ongoing cooperation with Iraq, conduct a thorough investigation and hold accountable those responsible for the arms trade.

The scandal -- which could lead to renewed U.N. sanctions against Yugoslavia -- became a major embarrassment for Belgrade, where democratic leaders who ousted ex-president Slobodan Milosevic two years ago clashed over who was responsible for the affair.

Under Milosevic, the country was under embargo for his role in stoking the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

A former Yugoslav spy has been cross-examined by former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Slobodan Lazarevic, who said he worked as an under-cover agent during the war in Croatia, has been providing some of the most incriminating testimony the court has heard so far.

Mr Lazarevic said on Tuesday that Mr Milosevic controlled and financed the Bosnian Serb and Croatian Serb armies during the conflict in the early 1990s.

He told the court that Mr Milosevic was known as the "boss" during a campaign to expel non-Serbs from parts of Croatia.

The witness said he had seen deliveries of cash and weapons for Croatian Serbs arrive from Belgrade.

Mr Lazarevic said on Tuesday that Mr Milosevic's government instructed rebel Serbs to block potential peace deals in Switzerland, Austria and Norway in the early 1990s.

He said Belgrade provided the money for Croatian Serb delegations to attend the conferences and instructed them not to agree on anything.

Full story here.

HAVANA (AP) -- More than 300 Cuban dissident groups have formed a kind of opposition parliament, forming a huge coalition of opponents of Fidel Castro's government, leaders of the umbrella organization said Monday.

Lead organizer Marta Beatriz Roque said the Assembly to Promote Civil Society pulls together 321 dissident organizations representing everything from human rights groups to independent libraries to labor and press unions operating outside Cuba's communist system.

The groups cannot now hold a large gathering, but ``we are doing what we can to do so as soon as possible,'' said Roque. Such a gathering -- especially of dissident groups -- is unheard of in Cuba, where large meetings must be organized or approved by the government.

There was no immediate reaction from the government, whose responses generally come in carefully studied written statements, often published in state newspapers. Authorities in Cuba generally view dissidents as ``counterrevolutionaries.''

Roque told reporters the new opposition assembly represents a wide range of political views and ``is open to all those that want to participate.''

Among those who have not joined are lead organizers of the Varela Project, which seeks a referendum asking voters if they favor guarantees for rights such as freedom of speech and private business ownership.

Roque is among those who do not support the Varela Project, saying it doesn't go far enough.

But Varela Project organizers can join the assembly if they want, said Rene Gomez Manzano, another assembly leader who does not back the referendum campaign. ``It is inclusive, not exclusive,'' he said.

The refusal of dissidents -- including Roque, Gomez Manzano and Felix Bonne -- to back the Varela Project has caused a major split in Cuba's opposition. Those three were among four well-known opponents convicted of incitement to sedition in 1999 after a closed trial that sparked international protests.

Vladimiro Roca, the fourth member of the group, does back the Varela Project. He was released in May after serving the longest sentence of all -- five years. The rest served about two years each.

``There is another part (of the opposition) that says we do have to change the constitution,'' Roque said, referring to Varela Project organizers' insistence that they want to create new laws, not constitutional change.

``With this constitution we are not going to resolve anything. With Fidel Castro we are not going to resolve anything,'' Roque said.

Varela Project organizers submitted more than 11,020 signatures to Cuba's parliament in May but have not received a response.

After the signatures were submitted, the parliament approved a constitutional amendment declaring that Cuba's social, political and economic systems ``irrevocable.''

MOSCOW (Reuters) - All but two of the 117 hostages so far confirmed dead in the Moscow theater siege died of gas poisoning, the city's top doctor said Sunday.

Andrei Seltsovsky, chairman of the health committee of the city of Moscow, said only one of the around 800 hostages had died from gunshot wounds when elite troops stormed the musical theater early Saturday.

Asked what the others had died from, he said: "From the effects of the gas exposure."

One man had been shot dead during the operation to free the captives. The second to die of gunshot wounds was a woman shot while trying to escape when the theater was seized by around 50 Chechen guerrillas Wednesday night.

Seltsovsky told a news conference that 646 of the freed hostages were still in hospital, of whom 150 were in intensive care and 45 were "in a grave condition."

Full story here.

Amid the confusion, and without consulting President Vladimir Putin, Special Forces officers took the decision to end the standoff, which by then was entering its third day.

A black van sped towards the building, while a squad of around 30 masked and heavily armed Russian elite Spetsnaz troops were seen moving into position.

Using explosives to blow a hole in the wall of the theatre, they pumped in sleeping gas with the aim of subduing the rebels.

This however, created more panic in the auditorium.

In desperation, one female hostage used a mobile phone to tell radio station Ekho Moskvy: "They are gassing us. All the people are sitting in the hall. We really beg not to be gassed. We hope it will not be like Kursk."

Troops poured into the auditorium - some reportedly from the basement, where they had been preparing an assault for days - and a fierce gun battle erupted.

At least 50 rebels were killed in the onslaught, including leader Movsar Barayev, and women wearing explosives-packed belts.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: Now we all know what Hitler, Saddam, Janet Reno and FSB have in common. They all like to gas people to death. How many hostages actually died from terrorists? Possibly only two? According to Putin, murdering more than 100 hostages was justified in order to save the rest. All we know today about terrorists is nothing except that their leader is some criminal who worked for FSB by kidnapping Westerners and portraying Chechens as brutal savages and cutthroats. FSB is now spreading rumors of phone calls being made by terrorists during hostage crisis to Turkey, Saudi Arabia and U.A.E., all conveniently American allies. But was it necessary to kill over 100 innocent people to play dirty politics with America? How come 50 armed to the teeth terrorists are able to drive in military vehicles around Moscow and carry large amount of explosives and mines? Where were Moscow police, FSB and other security forces? If FSB is killing Russians this way then what non-Russians can expect in the future, particularly Chechens. Is gassing of Chechnya next? Although Putin and his FSB comrades claim over 70% popularity in Russia it is hard to believe that people want to be gassed. Extraordinary elections should be held soon because Russians don't need hundreds of people murdered every year by FSB. What they need is democracy and full civilian control of FSB and other security forces.

The Russian authorities have begun negotiations with Chechen rebels who have seized a Moscow theatre and are holding hundreds of people hostage.

Heavily-armed Russian elite troops are surrounding the building, but the security forces have said they will not attempt to intervene for now.

An MP at the scene, Gennady Gudkov, warned that the attackers were putting forward an "unacceptable demand to end to military action in Chechnya".

The attackers' leader, Movsar Barayev, says they are a Chechen "suicide" unit demanding the withdrawal of troops sent into Chechnya by President Putin in 1999 to restore Russian control.

But a spokesman for the official Chechen rebel leadership told the BBC he had no information about who the attackers were and condemned attacks on civilians.

"We condemn any terrorist attacks against civilians," said Aslanbek Khadiev, a representative of Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov at the Hague.

"We don't have any information about that group, and if this is a group, or just individuals - I believe some disparate Chechens are trying to bring attention to the situation in Chechnya, if they are Chechens."

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: It seems that all those FSB bombings of apartment buildings in Moscow were not enough so now they have decided to stage phony Chechen terrorist attack on Moscow theater. This shameful FSB operation code name Dallas will end up by disguised FSB agents leaving the scene of terror while bodies of tortured and murdered Chechens from Russian prisons will be planted on the scene. There is a strong possibility that they will blow up theater to cause huge casualties in order to win total public support for genocide in Chechnya as well to prevent forensic experts from finding out how "Chechens" really died. Not even Stalin did similar things during his reign of terror.

NOVI SAD , Oct 23 (Tanjug) - Serbian Premier Zoran Djindjic said in Novi Sad on Wednesday that the developments linked to the foreign trade company Jugoimport SDPR are yet another example that the law on the civilian control of the Yugoslav Army is not being implemented and that it is the job of the president of Yugoslavia to deal with the application of this law.

"It is bad that he is not doing this," Djindjic set out adding that this brings up the question why the head of military security does not have the necessary qualifications for this job.

BEIJING (AP) -- Falun Gong supporters have sued Chinese President Jiang Zemin in U.S. federal court, accusing him of committing torture and genocide in China's crackdown on the spiritual movement, a lawyer for the group said Wednesday.

The announcement came on the first day of Jiang's trip to the United States. Lawyer Terri E. Marsh said a notice of the lawsuit was delivered to the Chinese leader's guards at his Chicago hotel.

The lawsuit adds to efforts by Falun Gong to use U.S. courts to punish Chinese officials for the 3-year-old crackdown, in which activists say more than 500 supporters have been killed.

The press office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing said it had not heard of the lawsuit and couldn't confirm whether Jiang had received court papers.

Marsh said the lawsuit was filed under a law allowing U.S. courts to hear cases against foreigners accused of human rights abuses or violations of international law abroad.

It asks for unspecified financial damages and for the federal court in Chicago to prohibit Jiang from committing future abuses, she said by telephone from Chicago.

``Jiang Zemin is orchestrating the torture of people who simply embrace the principles of truthfulness, forbearance and compassion,'' she said, referring to the doctrine espoused by the group's followers.

China banned Falun Gong in mid-1999 as a threat to public safety and communist rule. The group had attracted millions of followers with its mix of slow-motion exercises and teachings drawn from Buddhism, Taoism and the doctrines of its founder, a former Chinese government clerk.

Thousands of members have been detained. Most are released after a few weeks, but activists say more than 500 have been killed. Chinese officials deny mistreating anyone, though they say some detainees have died during hunger strikes or from refusing medical attention.

In 2001, a Chinese police official from the central province of Hubei was the target of a US$50 million lawsuit in U.S. federal court. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Chinese man who said his mother and brother were killed in the crackdown.

A judge in New York entered a judgment against the official after he failed to contest the lawsuit, but there is no indication the plaintiffs will be able to collect damages.

Chinese authorities call Falun Gong an ``evil cult'' and blame it for some 1,600 deaths. They say its teachings prompted members to commit murder or suicide or to refuse medication.

Foreign leaders usually cannot be sued in U.S. court for their official acts. However, Marsh said U.S. District Judge William J. Hibbler in Chicago allowed the lawsuit to proceed after lawyers argued that U.S. law removes such immunity for human rights violations.

``We're looking at Jiang Zemin's acts as going beyond the parameters of a head of state,'' she said.

The lawsuit was filed Oct. 18 but kept sealed by the judge until this week to allow the plaintiffs to serve papers on Jiang, Marsh said.

The Yugoslav Government has dismissed a deputy defence minister after revelations that a state-run firm was involved in arms sales to Iraq.

Ivan Djokic was sacked after the US accused the Jugoimport company of helping a Bosnian Serb firm sell spare parts for fighter planes to Baghdad.

The head of Jugoimport, Jovan Cekovic, has also been dismissed, after the company was accused of acting as an agent for the Orao military factory based in the Serb-run part of Bosnia, Republika Srpska.

The Belgrade government has ordered a thorough investigation of the charges, which emerged after Nato peacekeepers inspected Orao's plant in eastern Bosnia.

It is claimed that the factory supplied engine parts for Iraqi Soviet-built Mig fighters and sent technicians to Baghdad to help service the planes.

Yugoslavia has a historically strong relationship with Iraq, fostered by the friendship between communist President Josip Tito and President Hussein.

Later, the common isolation of President Slobodan Milosevic and the Iraqi leader also brought the two countries together.

Full story here.

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) -- A Bosnian aviation firm and Yugoslavia state-run arms dealer helped Iraq repair aircraft in violation of the U.N. arms embargo, the United States said Wednesday.

U.S. authorities have ``clear evidence'' that the aviation firm, Orao Aviation, and the arms dealer, Yugoimport, provided military assistance to Iraq, according to a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.

``The U.S. expects the relevant authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia to undertake the necessary steps to immediately halt any ongoing cooperation with Iraq, to conduct a thorough investigation and hold accountable those responsible,'' the statement said.

Authorities in the Bosnian Serb Republic, where Orao is located, acknowledged the company's involvement in the illegal trading.

``The Orao company has been violating the embargo on export of arms to Iraq. The responsible individuals will have to be punished,'' said Cvijeta Kovacevic, the head of the government's information bureau in Banja Luka.

The U.N. Security Council has maintained a strict embargo on trading with Iraq since Saddam's army invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1990. Countries violating the embargo could face sanctions.

Authorities provided few details about the violations, which apparently came to light after NATO peacekeepers raided the Orao factory earlier this month.

The government of Yugoslavia promptly fired Yugoimport's director, Jovan Cekovic, and a deputy defense minister, Ivan Djokic, and ordered the arms dealer to shut down its Baghdad office.

The U.S. government welcomed the moves, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said. ``We believe that these are significant decisions by the government of Yugoslavia.''

The scandal has become a major embarrassment for officials in Belgrade. Serbia's justice minister, Vladan Batic, demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Dragisa Pesic and Defense Minister Velimir Radojevic.

Batic made the demand as leaders in Belgrade clashed over who was responsible for the scandal, which could result in renewed sanctions against the troubled Balkan country.

Zoran Djindjic, the prime minister of Yugoslavia's dominant republic, Serbia, accused the federal president, Vojislav Kostunica, of ``not doing his job'' by failing to prevent some members of the federal Yugoslav army from doing business with the regime of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

``This is so damaging to our international reputation,'' Djindjic said. ``At a time when major nations are rallying to battle terrorism, it is very dangerous to be on the other side.''

The American embassy said the revelations about illegal transactions with Iraq were presented to senior officials in the Bosnian Serb republic, central authorities in Sarajevo and the government of Yugoslavia.

``The officials have pledged a full investigation of these allegations,'' the embassy statement said.

President Kostunica admitted the embargo against Iraq was violated and said a thorough investigation in Belgrade was underway.

He played down the extent of assistance, describing it as ``merely some work on repairing aircraft engines of an older generation, not ... the sale of modern weaponry which we don't have, anyway.'' Still, he acknowledged that any such ties with Iraq were ``hazardous and irresponsible.''

Nato peacekeepers in Bosnia say an arms company that has been accused of selling weapons to Iraq has broken international export agreements.

Last month the United States accused the company of supplying military aid to Iraq, but this was denied by Bosnian authorities which carried out a brief investigation into the company.

The Nato-led force in Bosnia, S-For, says these are only the preliminary results of its investigation into the Bosnian Serb military company, Orao Aviation.

A spokesman said they had found evidence linking the aircraft company to the unreported export of weapons systems components.

The S-For spokesman would not say which foreign country the exports were destined for, but insisted the trade was in breach of international agreements.

Full story here.

Tehran, 17 October 2002 (RFE/RL) -- An Iranian court has jailed the head of a polling institute that published a survey showing that most Iranians support dialogue with the United States.

The state-run "Iran" newspaper said Behruz Geranpayeh has been charged with "fabricating news and spreading lies," and is awaiting trial in Tehran's Evin prison.

Geranpayeh's organization, the National Institute for Research Studies and Opinion Polls, conducted a poll last month showing that some 74 percent of Iranians favor renewing talks with Iran's rival, the United States. The poll infuriated Iran's conservative leaders who reject any ties with Washington.

A reformist member of parliament, Ahmad Borqani, is also facing charges related to his role in setting up the institute, which has been ordered closed.

Reformists in President Mohammad Khatami's government have defended the poll.

WASHINGTON (AP) - North Korea (news - web sites) has told the United States it has a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of an agreement signed with the Clinton administration, a senior administration official said Wednesday night.

North Korea also told U.S. diplomats it no longer beholden to the anti-nuclear agreement, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Surprisingly, North Korea confirmed the allegation.

Full story here.

BELGRADE , Oct 16 (Tanjug) - Yugoslavs spend between 80 - 90 percent of their earnings on food, while the annual meat consumption has dropped to 40 kgs per capita (in developped Western countries it is double this figure), it was announced on Wednesday on the occasion of World Food Day.

In the crisis years, the population turned to bakeries, and the 65-kg meat consumption per capita from the early 1990s dropped to the present 40 kg, agricultural expert Milan Prostran told a press conference held in the facilities of Belgrade daily Danas.

Children as young as 11 are being snatched off the streets of Burma, given military training and then coerced into battle, a new report from the Human Rights Watch group says.

Most of the boys end up in the national army where 70,000 soldiers are estimated to be under the age of 18, though armed opposition groups use them as well, according to the report.

Khin Maunh Than was 13 when his army unit captured 15 women and children, including three babies.

The adults were shot and the babies beaten to death on rocks, he said.

Full story here.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A hard-line Iranian court on Monday ordered two leading reformist parliamentarians to appear before it, the latest of a string of President Mohammad Khatami's allies to face prosecution and possible prison terms.

Khatami is engaged in a long-running struggle to assert his powers and overcome conservative opposition which has largely blocked his efforts to create a more open, democratic Islamic Republic.

Ahmad Borqani, an outspoken reformist MP, was told to be in court Wednesday to face charges of ``misappropriating public assets,'' a close friend told Reuters.

``This summons is related to an opinion poll conducted on Iran-U.S. ties,'' the source said.

A survey last month which showed that most Iranians favored talks with the United States resulted in a court summons for the head of the polling institute and the chief of the state news agency which published the poll findings.

The judiciary said the poll was fabricated.

Borqani stands accused of illegally financing the institute while serving as deputy culture minister.

Washington cut ties with Iran after radical students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Reformists have repeatedly called for fresh talks with Washington to reduce tension between the two countries. But negotiations have been ruled out by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state.

Another court summoned a woman deputy for Tehran, Fatemeh Haqiqatjou, for spreading lies, making propaganda against the state and insulting officials, charges related to a speech she made in the central city of Isfahan, a parliamentary source said.

It was not immediately clear when Haqiqatjou would appear in court.

More than 30 reformist members of parliament have been prosecuted in the past two years for speeches they made in parliament or articles they published.

Courts have handed out prison terms to a number of deputies, but only one MP, Hossein Loqmanian, has actually been jailed. Khamenei pardoned Loqmanian only three weeks into a 10-month sentence after the speaker of parliament went on strike in protest against his incarceration.

Reformers say the sentences contradict laws granting deputies immunity to carry out their official duties. They accuse judges of serving factional interests, not justice.

Conservative clerics and hard-line newspapers have launched a barrage of criticism at Khatami since the president presented two bills to parliament last month proposing curbs on the conservative Guardian Council and greater authority for him to enforce the constitution and take to task the hard-line courts.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- As it gets ready to celebrate its 300th birthday, Russia's fabled czarist capital is suffering a crime wave similar to those afflicting many European cities -- except that here the criminals are often the men in uniforms.

Foreigners have figured prominently among the victims of policemen or criminals in police uniforms. ``Watch out for police!'' May Andersson, the Swedish consul in St. Petersburg, told Dagens Nyheter, a Swedish daily.

Tim Waite of the British Consulate echoes the warning, saying: ``It is strange, but we feel safer with ordinary people in the city than with the city police.''

St. Petersburg gets a lot of visitors from North European countries just across the Baltic Sea, and some of them are among the victims.

Anna Axman, a Swedish businesswoman, says she and friends were surrounded by seven or eight men in police uniforms who took 6,000 rubles (about $200) from her backpack. Then she was robbed again near her apartment.

Vesa Hakkinen of the Finnish Consulate in St. Petersburg says Finnish citizens have reported at least five robberies by uniformed men in the past month, and the Finnish government has posted advice on a Web site advising its nationals on dealing with police.

Sometimes the offenders don't commit robbery, but demand victims pay a bribe or be hauled off to a police station.

Anderson, the Swedish diplomat, advises foreigners to walk in groups and to be extra careful around Nevsky Prospect, the boulevard at the heart of St. Petersburg where there are many shops, restaurants, hotels and night clubs.

Lev Loschilov, who is in charge of fighting police corruption, said hundreds of Russians and foreigners register complaints about police every year.

Sometimes the criminals are real policemen, sometimes military men or civilians dressed in police uniforms, he said.

Every year a few crooked policemen are caught in special operations, he said. But a special commission made up of diplomats, police and city officials has failed to solve the problem.

The absence of witnesses, lack of police staff and low salaries are all to blame, Loschilov said. ``Of course, it's not an excuse, but just think -- how can a grown-up man who has a family live on $100 salary a month?''

Meanwhile, the city founded by Peter the Great on the marshes of western Russia fears the crime wave will drive away investors and tourists in 2003, its tricentennial year.

``In various seminars on business opportunities in Russia, the first two worries Swedish businessmen express are the stability of the Russian economy and crime,'' said Axman, the Swedish businesswoman.

Said Loschinov: ``It is definitely a very painful situation for the city's image.''

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) -- Serbia's failure to elect a president dealt a serious blow to pro-democracy leaders in the Yugoslav republic, deepening political tensions and an ongoing power struggle.

The presidential election collapsed after less than the required 50 percent of voters cast ballots Sunday. The low turnout was attributed to voter apathy and disappointment with the leaders who worked together to oust Slobodan Milosevic two years ago, only to split over differences in style and substance.

``We can say that the current authorities do not have the majority support,'' said Milan Milosevic, a political analyst who is not related to the former Yugoslav president. ``That is disturbing.''

Competing in Sunday's presidential runoff vote were current Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica and deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus, both from an anti-Milosevic bloc now divided over the path and pace of reforms.

The state electoral commission said unofficial results showed that Kostunica, a conservative nationalist, won nearly 67 percent of the vote, more than twice as many as Labus, a pro-Western reformist.

But the turnout was 45.5 percent, the commission said. Official results were expected Monday.

Serbs had plenty of reasons to boycott the vote: Many had hoped for a faster improvement in living standards after Milosevic. Average salaries have gone up, but have barely kept pace with soaring prices despite the relative stability of the national currency, the dinar. Unemployment stands at a staggering 40 percent.

The elections are scheduled to be held again by Dec. 5 -- one month before the mandate of the current president, Milan Milutinovic, expires.

But Serbia's politicians could decide to change the republic's Milosevic-era constitution first as part of a revamping of the Yugoslav federation, which also includes the tiny republic of Montenegro.

Kostunica risks losing his present job next year under those changes, which are meant to transform Yugoslavia into a loose union of its two republics.

Such a move would postpone the Serbian presidential vote for another several months.

The election failure paves the way for a continued power struggle between Kostunica and his archrival, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. Kostunica and Djindjic were the main players in orchestrating Milosevic's ouster, only to turn against each other.

The two camps' constant bickering has slowed the pace of change in Serbia, impoverished by more than a decade under Milosevic. The feud also partially blocked the work of Serbia's parliament, turning many of the pro-democracy supporters away from their leaders.

Speaking a few hours after polling stations closed, Labus said the politicians should stop and ask themselves why the people chose to stay home on Sunday. Labus did not specify whether he would run if the elections are repeated.

Kostunica's camp has criticized the Milosevic-era election law that requires large turnouts and two rounds of voting.

A rerun election increases the chances of Vojislav Seselj, an ultranationalist leader who had Milosevic's backing at the first round of vote on Sept. 29, when he finished third.

Editor's commentary: Current Serbian president and indicted war criminal Milan Milutinovic won second elections in 1997 after first elections were won by Croat fascist Seselj. His victory was invalidated similar to Kostunica's thanks to less than 50% turnout. Zoran Lilic, SPS candidate who lost from Seselj was then replaced by Milutinovic who won easily. Similar scenario is possible again so we can expect Labus being replaced by someone else from DOS who is going to beat fascist Kostunica for good.

LAZAREVAC, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - Two years ago, Zoran Radivojevic and fellow miners were in the vanguard of Serbia's October ``revolution'' that toppled Slobodan Milosevic after a bloodstained decade in power.

They laid down tools and defied police and army, galvanizing people across Serbia. The Kolubara mine was compared with Gdansk in Poland, where protests by shipyard workers in the 1980s led to the end of communist rule.

But as Serbia prepares for a presidential election the West hopes will help strengthen democracy, the euphoria the father-of-three felt the day Milosevic was overthrown has given way to disappointment that not more has changed for the better.

``We were hoping for faster changes,'' said Radivojevic, 45, a cigarette in his hand and tired after his shift at Serbia's main coal mine, its chimneys spewing black smoke into the gray sky.

Like elsewhere in Serbia, people here complain their living standards have not improved as much as they had hoped, with higher prices offsetting much of their pay increases.

``Now we have European prices, and almost African salaries,'' Radivojevic said.

His words show how the enthusiasm that swept Serbia the days after Milosevic's downfall has faded as it struggles to recover from the violent break-up of socialist Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Most people feel their situation has either not improved at all or even worsened, according to a recent opinion survey.

Serbian Social Affairs Minister Gordana Matkovic insists living standards have increased but suggests people are disappointed because they expected even faster improvements.

She said the government had succeeded in restoring social benefits and increasing pensions. ``It's a big achievement, it helped the most vulnerable,'' she told Reuters in Belgrade.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese dissident Chen Ziming, labeled a ``black hand'' behind-the-scenes organizer of 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, ended 13 years in jail and under tight house arrest on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear whether Chen was yet a free man as he had bureaucratic procedures to go through.

``Today is definitely the day'' his sentence ends, a relative told Reuters. ``He should be getting back his residence permit,'' the basic document which allows Chinese to function, the relative said.

Arrested shortly after the ill-fated demonstrations, Chen was sentenced to 13 years in jail in 1991 for ``counter-revolutionary'' activities in 1989.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of protesters and Beijing residents were killed when Chinese troops and tanks advanced into the square on the night of June 3-4, 1989, to crush the movement.

Chen, 50, was not immediately available for comment on Thursday as he sought to get his residence permit back.

``Once that's done he will consider the next step,'' another relative said.

In the 1980s, Chen and colleague Wang Juntao headed a progressive, private think-tank called the Beijing Social and Economic Sciences Research Institute. With other sympathetic intellectuals they gave advice and organizational support to student protesters in 1989.

After the protests were crushed, a warrant was issued for the two men's arrest and police nabbed both that October.

``I don't know of anyone who has been in jail longer,'' Jeffrey Wasserstrom, an Indiana University specialist on protests in China, said of Chen.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Slobodan Milosevic provoked a ``great calamity'' in the Balkans by rejecting proposals for the peaceful dissolution of old socialist Yugoslavia in 1991, his war crimes trial was told Tuesday.

The former Serbian leader rejected a blueprint to allow Yugoslavia's six republics to become independent states and form unions on a new basis at peace talks in The Hague in October 1991, former Montenegrin Foreign Minister Nikola Samardzic said.

Milosevic, charged with genocide and crimes against humanity in the Balkans in the 1990s, was the only leader of Yugoslavia's republics to reject proposals by Europe's peace envoy Lord Carrington at the talks, Samardzic said in court.

``By doing so he prolonged the war and opted for war, instead of the peace offered by the international community and brought the people of Serbia and all the other nations and nationalities of Yugoslavia to a great calamity,'' he said.

Milosevic, who has been on trial at the U.N. war crimes tribunal since February, spearheaded a drive to create a ``Greater Serbia,'' Samardzic told the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

``Slobodan Milosevic was accepted by all nationalist forces in Serbia -- and embraced in a large measure in Montenegro as well as by Serbs in Bosnia -- as the leader of the movement for the creation of a Greater Serbia,'' Samardzic said.

MONTENEGRO UNDER PRESSURE

Samardzic, who was foreign minister in the coastal Yugoslav republic from February 1991 to May 1992, was a participant of The Hague Conference in 1991, together with former Montenegrin President Momir Bulatovic.

Bulatovic voted for the suggestion in the Hague. After returning to Yugoslavia, Bulatovic withdrew his approval.

The prosecution has set out to prove that Bulatovic changed his mind under pressure from Serbian and Montenegrin members of the Yugoslav Presidency, Borisav Jovic and Branko Kostic.

Samardzic said Bulatovic had come under fierce pressure to reverse his decision at the Hague talks.

``He said to me that Jovic was categorical and said: 'We'll bring in other people if you don't want to change your opinion and position.'...and in that situation bringing in new people meant to lose your life. That was what Jovic said and that's what Bulatovic conveyed to me.''

Tiny Montenegro and dominant Serbia were the only two republics which remained in the Yugoslav federation after it collapsed in bloodshed. The Montenegrin leadership was closely allied with Milosevic until the late 1990s.

Prosecutors say Milosevic gave political, logistical and military support to Croatian and Bosnian Serbs who grabbed territory and ejected non-Serbs, and exerted heavy influence over a Yugoslav Army that became a force defending Serbs.

Prosecutors plan to call 177 witnesses in a Bosnia and Croatia case that contains 61 counts covering 1991-5. The trial last week heard from a former moderate Croat Serb politician and from Croatian President Stjepan Mesic.

UNITED NATIONS - Protesting human rights conditions in North Korea, a Korean-American man fired seven bullets in front of U.N. headquarters, hitting several offices but injuring no one before he was tackled by U.S. Secret Service agents.

The gunman was identified as Steve Kim, a naturalized U.S. citizen who works for the U.S. Postal Service and lives in Des Plaines, Illinois outside Chicago.

Kim evaded U.N. security by jumping over a poorly guarded fence surrounding U.N. headquarters. McCann said. He walked up to the building, fired seven shots in the air and then dropped the pistol on the ground, witnesses and security officials said.

He then tossed a stack of leaflets in the air before putting his hands up against a wall, awaiting capture.

The leaflets were handwritten in poor English and addressed to "all people who love freedom and justice."

"In a shinning and civilized 21st century, most people in the world enjoying peace and freedom. North Korea however is groaning under the weight of starvation and dictatorial suppression. They don't have even the most basic of human rights since all things body and spirit plants and plows belong to one named greatest general Kim Jong Il," it said.

It was signed: "A citizen of UN, Steve Kim, Oct. 2, 2002."

Full story here. For those who must go postal we suggest patience until release of computer game Postal 2.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stripped the US-funded broadcaster, Radio Liberty, of special privileges awarded by his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, 11 years ago.

These included permission to open bureaux anywhere on Russian territory, unimpeded accreditation for the station's journalists and automatic access to Russia's internal radio-relay services.

Officials in Moscow say the station, which was set up during the Cold War and is funded by the US Congress, is guilty of biased reporting.

Full story here.

Tehran, 2 October 2002 (RFE/RL) -- The head of an Iranian polling center is due in court today to answer questions about a survey which showed three-quarters of Iranians supported opening talks with the U.S.

The state-owned "Iran" newspaper reported today that Behrouz Geranpayeh has said the poll was commissioned by Iran's parliament. His National Institute for Research Studies and Opinion Polls was sealed off by court officials on 30 September.

The poll has been highly criticized by Iran's conservative media, which opposes improving ties with Washington. The head of the Iran's official IRNA news agency, Abdollah Nasseri, appeared in court on Monday to answer charges about publishing the poll.

"Iran" says Nasseri and Geranpayeh are being charged with "publishing lies to excite public opinion."

PALERMO, Sicily (AP) -- A Palermo court convicted 28 Mafiosi on Tuesday in a spate of 1980s killings, and sentenced all but two of them to life in prison.

Several of those convicted are already serving life terms for other convictions, among them Salvatore ``Toto'' Riina, the ``boss of bosses'' who was nabbed in 1993 after two decades on the run.

Fugitive Bernardo Provenzano was tried in absentia. Considered Riina's successor as the head of Cosa Nostra, he has eluded capture for nearly 40 years.

They and the others were convicted of involvement in about 20 murders during the 1980s, when Mafia clans battled one another for control of the Cosa Nostra, the ANSA news agency said.

Six people were acquitted, and two people who testified for the prosecution received lesser sentences, news reports said.

Prosecutor Marcello Musso said he was pleased with the outcome, even though he had sought life terms for 32 of the 34 suspects.

``It was a victory of justice following a hearing involving sacrifices and difficulties,'' the AGI news agency quoted Musso as saying.

The sentences were handed down as prosecutors prepared to put their latest informer on the stand.

Antonino Giuffre, described as a top aide to Provenzano, was arrested in April and reportedly began cooperating with prosecutors in June, supplying a wealth of information that has already put several dons behind bars.

The ANSA news agency said Tuesday that Giuffre would make his first appearance before Palermo judges next Tuesday. His lawyer, Lucia Falzone, told the court Giuffre wanted to testify in a double murder trial in which he has been implicated, ANSA said.

Giuffre was convicted of involvement in the 1992 bombings in Sicily that killed anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. He was sentenced to life in prison for Falcone's killing and to 20 years for the blast that killed Borsellino.

Sicilian prosecutors are hoping his information may finally lead to Provenzano's capture.