PERSIAN GULF

MAN HELD BY U.S. FOR 3 YEARS RETURNS TO SAUDI ARABIA

A Saudi-American captured in Afghanistan labeled an enemy combatant and held in American solitary confinement for nearly three years without charge returned to his family yesterday after agreeing to forfeit his American citizenship for freedom.

Yaser Esam Hamdi, who was captured in Afghanistan in late 2001 during the American battle against the Taliban, landed in Saudi Arabia about noon yesterday, Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Mansour al-Turki said.

“His parents were there to receive him. The minute he arrived, he said he had given up his U.S. nationality,” General al-Turki said.

The deal with the American government freeing Mr. Hamdi required he give up his American citizenship and live in Saudi Arabia for five years.

He also had to renounce terrorism and agree not to sue America over his imprisonment. Mr. Hamdi will never be allowed to travel to Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, or Syria.

– Associated Press

CAUCASUS

BAGAPSH WINS PRESIDENCY OF ABKHAZIA

TBILISI, Georgia – Electoral officials in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region yesterday declared an opposition candidate the winner of the province’s presidential election, but the decision did little to ease tension over the disputed vote.

The announcement of Sergei Bagapsh’s victory came more than a week after the election but before court rulings on complaints filed by both top candidates. The chief of the election commission resigned after the decision, which was denounced by Mr. Bagapsh’s main challenger and questioned by the region’s Supreme Court. Central Election Commission member Alexander Adleiba said a majority of its 15 members had voted to pronounce Mr. Bagapsh the victor of the October 3 vote, which ended in confusion when officials repeatedly delayed announcing vote totals but said that Mr. Bagapsh was in the lead.

Then-Prime Minister Khadzhimba, who was running with the backing of the current Abkhazian president, alleged widespread violations. Eleven commission members signed a protocol saying Mr. Bagapsh won with 50.08% of the vote, the Interfax news agency reported.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

GERMAN FAR-RIGHT GROUPS TO ‘MERGE’ AFTER VICTORIES

BERLIN – Germany’s biggest far-Right political parties have agreed to merge in an attempt to win Bundestag seats. Leaders of the National Democratic Party, NPD, and the German People’s Union, DVU, said they would meet this week to formalize plans.

The parties are still bewildered by their surprise successes in elections in two eastern states last month. The NPD secured 9.2% of the vote in Saxony, earning it a seat in a state Parliament and the DVU won 6.1% in Brandenburg. In those polls the parties agreed to cooperate by not standing against each other.

But the new plan, effectively to merge as the “NPD/DVU,” takes collaboration a considerable step further.

The idea has worried mainstream parties, which have been blamed for losing voters to the far Right because of national discontent over the government’s reform program and the opposition’s inability to come up with viable alternatives.

– The Daily Telegraph

MINISTER OPENS OLD WAR WOUNDS

MADRID – The Spanish government has sparked a fierce fight by inviting former adversaries from the country’s civil war to share the podium at Spain’s national day military parade yesterday.

The Spanish defense minister, Jose Bono, said the presence of the fascist veteran alongside a Republican was part of the reconciliation process between the two sides that fought the 1936-39 civil war. The two men will stand with King Juan Carlos on the podium as soldiers parade along Madrid’s main thoroughfare.

Left-wing parties, however, denounced the decision as offensive.” Dolors Camats, of the Catalan Green Party, said reconciliation was already a fact, and the inclusion of the fascist representative would only “cause offense and an historic injustice.” The Socialist government’s radical left-wing nationalist allies in the Catalan regional assembly, the Catalan Republican Left, ERC, was also critical.

– The Daily Telegraph

CENTRAL AFRICA

CAMEROON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS BEGIN AMID FRAUD ACCUSATIONS

Voting in Cameroon ended yesterday amid opposition allegations of fraud in a presidential race where President Biya is favored to win another seven-year term. An anticipated low voter turnout was reflected by small lines at many polling stations, but there was no immediate official report of the percentage of eligible voters that cast ballots. Thirteen candidates were vying for the presidency. Official results are not expected for two weeks. After voting, Mr. Biya told reporters he was “happy the campaign took place calmly.” Among the main campaign issues are endemic corruption, acute electricity shortages, a lack of clean drinking water, and salary cuts for civil servants – all of which have prompted street demonstrations in the past.

Foreign observers declined immediate comment, but the opposition was quick to cry foul.

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

CHINA: TAIWAN LEADER’S PEACE OVERTURE ONLY WORDPLAY

China’s state controlled press yesterday rejected the Taiwanese president’s National Day call for peace talks with Beijing, saying it was “too insincere and too vague to be treated seriously.” Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese leaders haven’t met since the communists took over China in 1949. Taiwan is governed separately, though China insists the island is a Chinese province and has threatened to attack if it refuses to unify eventually. In a speech Sunday marking the October 10 founding of the Taiwan government, President Chen Shui-bian urged China to begin peace talks so the rivals can avoid war.

“Because we can’t communicate, there’s a lot of misunderstanding,” Mr. Chen said. As is often the case, the Beijing government has not responded directly to the overture. However, the state-run newspaper China Daily, often used as a medium to communicate the country’s policies, ran a front-page commentary citing mainland researchers accusing Mr. Chen of “playing word games.”

– Associated Press