World Watch

MIDDLE EAST
End of an Unholy Siege
A five week standoff between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem ended peacefully. The siege of one of Christianity's holiest places began on April 2 when Israeli forces swept into the West Bank town and more than 200 Palestinians took refuge in the church. In an agreement brokered by European Union representatives, 13 of the besieged, described by Israeli authorities as "senior terrorists," were flown to Cyprus, where they will remain until other arrangements are made for their exile. As a further 26 survivors of the siege were taken to Gaza, Israel withdrew all its troops from Bethlehem. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said that he expected a "careful and measured" military response to a suicide bombing earlier in the week that had killed 16 Israelis and wounded 57 at a snooker club in the northern town of Rishon Lezion. In Gaza the Palestinian authority police arrested 16 members of the militant group Hamas, which claimed responsibility for the bombing. The arrests seemed to indicate Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's willingness, under pressure from the U.S., to take action against militants.

FRANCE
Careful Choices
Wasting little time after his May 5 landslide re-election, French President Jacques Chirac appointed an interim government of conservative allies to set policy ahead of general elections in June. Led by centrist Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the rightist government will seek to address popular voter issues like rising crime, while revisiting measures passed by the leftist coalition of former Premier Lionel Jospin. The nomination of the Raffarin team marks the first time Chirac has shared power with a friendly government since the left swept to power in 1997.

THE E.U.
On Guard
A controversial proposal by the European Commission for a mutinational force of border guards brought to the fore the thorny issues of enlargement, immigration and national sovereignty. The proposed European Corps of Border Guards, to be operational in four or five years' time, would have powers of search, interrogation and arrest. All 15 member states need to approve the idea, which met with mixed reaction.

RUSSIA
Parade Bomb
More than 40 people, including at least 12 children and a number of World War II veterans, died in the Dagestani city of Kaspiisk, in southern Russia, when a remote-controlled mine was detonated during a parade to mark victory over Nazi Germany. President Vladimir Putin swore vengeance on those who carried out the attack and sent the head of the Federal Security Service to investigate. The authorities blamed rebels from neighboring Chechnya, where remote-controlled mines are common. Dagestan, however, also has Islamic militants of its own.

AFGHANISTAN
Secret of the Caves
British troops uncovered a major weapons cache left behind by fleeing Taliban fighters — but no sign of combatants. The lack of enemy fighters emboldened British commander Roger Lane to say the war in Afghanistan was "all but won." The troops later used 100 kg of plastic explosive to blow up the four caves, which contained up to 40,000 mortar shells, rockets and grenades.

NETHERLANDS
United in Death
In life Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn divided his countrymen with controversial views on immigration. But after a gunman shot dead the flamboyant sociologist, who founded his eponymous party three months ago, thousands of Dutch, including many opponents, came together to demonstrate their horror at his death. More than 15,000 people lined the streets and 800 packed Rotterdam Cathedral for his funeral. Police arrested animal-rights campaigner Volkert van der Graaf on suspicion of the murder.

INDIA
Gujarat Battles
The government said it would send 2,000 troops to help combat ongoing communal violence in the western state of Gujarat. State officials initially asked for extra police from Punjab after local forces failed to quell street battles between Hindu and Muslim groups armed with pistols, iron bars and homemade explosives. Human-rights groups say hundreds died in the latest clashes in the state capital, Ahmadabad, and more than 2,000 in Gujarat since February.

NEPAL
Truce Trounced
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba ruled out any talks with Maoist rebels unless they surrender their weapons. Deuba was responding to reports, later denied by a rebel spokesman, that the guerrillas had declared a one-month unilateral cease-fire. The statements came after some of the heaviest fighting in the country's six-year conflict, with estimates that between 250 and 600 people had died in the Western district of Rolpa.

BURMA
Free to Talk
Government officials said they would resume talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who made her first public appearance after 19 months of house arrest. But military intelligence chief Kyaw Win said details of the talks would remain secret, and international labor and human-rights groups warned that the release of Suu Kyi did not herald the country's imminent return to democracy.

PAKISTAN
Terrorists Target French Workers
Immediately after Sept. 11, 80 French engineers helping build an Agosta submarine for the Pakistan navy in Karachi were ordered home because of the terrorist threat. Earlier this year 40 of them returned, knowing they might still be at risk. Last week those fears were realized when a suicide bomber in a car blew up a bus, killing 11 French engineers and three local workers and injuring 23 others. Police suspect the bomber may have belonged to a militant group opposed to Pakistan's support for the war on terrorism.

MALAYSIA
Antiterror Pact
The leaders of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines signed a cooperation agreement to combat terrorism and target Islamic fundamentalists who they say threaten all three states. The accord allows for combined antiterrorism operations and the sharing of information, including airline passenger lists.

INDONESIA
Hit Men
A judge handed down life sentences to two men allegedly hired by former President Suharto's son Tommy to assassinate a Supreme Court judge, Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, in July 2001. Tommy Suharto is separately accused of masterminding the murder and could receive the death penalty if convicted.

UNITED STATES
Iraq Sanctions
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed on new guidelines for sanctions against Iraq, but a vote on the revised package was delayed at the request of Russia and Syria. The resolution provides for a "goods review" list, enabling civilian supplies to reach the Iraqi population more quickly while maintaining a ban on military or "dual purpose" imports.

COLOMBIA
No Refuge

Antigovernment rebels took responsibility for the deadliest single incident in the 38-year civil war — the killing of 117 villagers, including 45 children, sheltering in a church at Bojaya. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said a mortar bomb accidentally hit the church during fighting with right-wing paramilitary soldiers. Government troops later regained control of the area.