WESTERN EUROPE

DUTCH MINISTER SEEKS BROADER ARREST POWERS

Spurred by the first terrorist killing on its soil, the Dutch justice minister said yesterday that authorities need broader arrest powers to combat a growing threat from Islamic radicals in the Netherlands.

In an interview, the justice minister, Piet Hein Donner, also suggested that the spread of Islamic radicalism is more widespread than the government previously acknowledged. He said the new laws would empower antiterrorism investigators to detain suspects without evidence that they may have committed a crime.

“In those cases where we can’t even clearly prove the existence of recruitment or radicalization but only have a suspicion, we will still use possible administrative powers and other powers to disrupt it as much as possible,” said Mr. Donner, the country’s leading terrorism official.

Not only will the laws “make it easier to arrest people,” he said, they will “make it possible to keep people for longer terms without fully revealing information in their dossier.” In some cases, detentions could last “at least three to four months,” he said.

– Associated Press

BLAIR CALLS ON EUROPE TO WORK CLOSELY WITH U.S.

LONDON – Prime Minister Blair, seeking to repair strained ties between America and Europe, urged Washington yesterday to reach out to its allies and not depend on military force alone in the global fight against terrorism.

In a keynote foreign-policy speech, Mr. Blair said democracy was the key to stability in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle East. He called on European leaders to work more closely with President Bush and cautioned Washington against pursuing a go-it-alone foreign policy.

“Democracy is the meeting point for Europe and America. I am not, repeat not, advocating a series of military solutions to achieve it. What I am saying is that patiently but plainly Europe and America should be working together to bring the democratic, human, political rights that we take for granted to the world,” he added.

“None of this will work, however, unless America too reaches out. Multilateralism that works should be its aim. I have no sympathy for unilateralism for its own sake.” Mr. Blair views Britain as an important diplomatic bridge between America and continental Europe and believes that, as Mr. Bush’s closest overseas ally, he can help heal divisions that emerged over the war.

[Also last night, President Chirac dealt a blow to Mr. Blair’s attempt to close the gap between America and Europe by saying Mr. Blair had won nothing for supporting the war against Iraq, according to a report on the Times of London’s Web site.]

– Associated Press

EASTERN EUROPE

MACEDONIAN PREMIER RESIGNS

SKOPJE, Macedonia – Macedonia’s prime minister, Hari Kostov, resigned yesterday over disagreements with ethnic Albanian coalition partners, setting off a government crisis in the Balkan state where ethnic tensions run high.

Mr. Kostov, who became prime minister in May, accused the Albanian Union for Integration Party of promoting partisan interests, nepotism, and corruption and submitted his resignation to the Parliament speaker.

Ermira Mehmeti, spokeswoman for the ethnic Albanian party, said the group was “surprised” by Mr. Kostov’s resignation and the accusations against them.

Mr. Kostov’s resignation needs approval from Parliament, which will meet Thursday.

If the resignation is accepted, President Crvenkovski could name a new prime minister without calling early elections. It was not immediately clear who might succeed Mr. Kostov.

Mr. Kostov, 45, said he felt he had no real authority over the ethnic Albanian ministers in the coalition government. He said that two key economic laws were not approved because ethnic Albanians said their consent depended on 15 new jobs for ethnic Albanians in the state administration.

– Associated Press

WEST AFRICA

UNIONS SUSPEND STRIKE THREAT TARGETING OIL IN NIGERIA

Nigeria’s main labor union yesterday lifted its threat of a nationwide strike that would have shut down the oil industry in the world’s no. 7 exporter. The threat was lifted after the government agreed to lower domestic fuel prices – a key demand of unions.

“We have decided to suspend the strike for now, to give the government a chance,” Nigeria Labor Congress Spokesman Owei Lakemfa told reporters.

“It’s not exactly what we want. But we’re convinced one important point has been made – the government can’t behave as if its word is cast in stone, irrespective of what the people want,” congress leader Adams Oshiomhole said.

Announcement of the strike, originally set to start today, had worried world oil markets earlier in the month. Unions had threatened to cripple Nigeria’s daily oil exports of 2.5 million barrels. Nigeria is the fifth-largest supplier of American oil imports. The Nigeria Labor Congress, joined by oil worker unions and others, called the strike to protest a 23% increase in September in prices of kerosene, diesel, and gasoline within Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

– Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

TERROR LEADER: GROUP SPLIT OVER FATE OF HOSTAGES

KABUL, Afghanistan – The purported leader of Taliban-linked terrorists holding three U.N. hostages said yesterday his group was split over whether they should “get rid” of the captives.

After the deadline set for reaching a deal for the hostages’s release passed last night, Jaish-al Muslimeen leader Mohammed Akbar Agha said the group would meet today to decide their fate. Earlier, Afghan officials said negotiations with the kidnappers had been postponed amid disagreements over ransom demands.

Philippine diplomat Angelito Nayan, British-Irish Annetta Flanigan, and Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo were seized at gunpoint on October 28 – the first abduction of foreigners in the capital since the fall of the Taliban three years ago.

Jaish-al Muslimeen, or Army of Muslims, has threatened to kill the trio unless 26 terrorist prisoners are released. “There are some of our members who have hard-line views on the issue but there are others who have moderate views,” Mr. Agha said in a telephone call from an undisclosed location. Jaish-al Muslimeen has claimed that the 26 men it wants freed are in American custody, but the American military says it will release no one and has received no list issued by the terrorists.

– Associated Press