World
In a "volcano of anger" over the deaths of 56 people aboard a burning train Wednesday, Hindus in Ahmadabad, India, went on a retaliatory rampage against Muslims. At least 38 Muslims were killed when their houses were set ablaze. Other Hindus looted and burned Muslim-owned stores, hotels, restaurants, and vehicles (above) or formed roadblocks to keep police and fire crews from reaching the scene. The government pleaded for restraint, and police increased security in cities with large Muslim populations amid calls for a nationwide general strike today.
Police moved the suspected plotter of Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and murder to a more secure, undisclosed location in Karachi, Pakistan, after an anonymous caller threatened to bomb his original jail if he or other suspects in the case are sent to the US for trial. Ahmed Omar Saeed has been ordered held until at least March 12. He has retracted his confession in the case. Meanwhile, the Bush administration offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of persons responsible for the crime.
In other terrorism-related developments:
A guard and one prisoner died and eight others were hurt in Karachi as unidentified gunmen ambushed a bus returning Muslim extremists to jail from a court appearance. The attack appeared to be an attempt to free the prisoners.
In Amman, Jordan, two passers-by were killed when a bomb exploded under a car belonging to a senior government counterterror- ism officer.
A bomb hidden in a supermarket cart exploded in the Basque city of Portugalete, Spain, injuring a councilwoman and her bodyguard.
In reprisal for the second fatal attack by a woman suicide bomber in recent weeks, Israeli forces raided two refugee camps in the West Bank believed to be strongholds of Palestinian militants. The combined incidents killed 11 more people and injured five others. Senior Palestinians warned of retaliation against Israelis "everywhere in the occupied territories."
Curiousity-seekers were being kept blocks away from the Embassy of Mexico in Havana, where 21 Cubans remained in seclusion after crashing a bus through its back gate late Wednesday. More than a dozen were seen shortly afterward on the roof, shouting "We are not going to leave" and "Down with Fidel [Castro]." Similar incidents have occurred at embassies in Havana in the past, but none since the mid-1990s.
The outcome of Sunday's national referendum in Switzerland on becoming a full member of the United Nations appeared too close to call. The traditionally neutral nation has long maintained a two-track relationship with the world body, actively supporting - and providing headquarters for - some of its agencies but otherwise keeping it at arm's length. A similar referendum in 1986 was overwhelmingly defeated.
