World

Expressions of outrage were coming from all corners of the world over the apparent execution of Margaret Hassan by her kidnappers in Iraq. Videotape of the shooting of a blindfolded woman believed to be the Irish-born director of CARE International in Baghdad was released to the Arabic TV news channel Al Jazeera. Her captors had demanded that Britain withdraw its troops from Iraq in return for her freedom. Elsewhere, US marines were tracking down terrorists in Fallujah who were observed sneaking back into the city and a car bomb exploded in the city of Baiji, killing 15 people and wounding 22 others.

Unconditional negotiations on the future of Kashmir were offered by new Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as he toured the disputed territory for the first time officially. He said he'd talk "calmly" with "anyone and everyone" because "we want a permanent end to violence." Although Singh dismissed a suggestion by rival Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, that areas of Kashmir be declared independent, that nation's Foreign Ministry welcomed the offer of talks.

The unexplained disappearance from public buildings in North Korea of Kim Jong Il portraits was puzzling intelligence analysts, although there were no obvious indications that the communist nation's leader was being challenged politically from within. The disappearance was reported by a Russian news agency, which cited a diplomat based in Pyongyang, the capital, as its source. Kim has been known to poke fun at the cult of personality surrounding him and Kim Il Sung, his late father and the nation's founder, whose portrait hangs beside his in most public places.

A suspected Muslim extremist was deported to Spain by the Dutch Justice Ministry as a "serious threat to national security" amid new worries across Europe over radicalism. Those worries have risen sharply since the murder in Amsterdam earlier this month of a Dutch filmmaker by a Muslim suspect. In Belgium, police moved a senator known for her criticism of the Islamic immigrant community into hiding after she received repeated death threats. Spain, Britain, France, Germany, and Denmark all confront or have been seeking to limit threats of Muslim radicalism in recent months.

Police sprayed hundreds of demonstrators with tear gas and water cannon in Santiago, Chile, as protests over President Bush's impending arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit entered a second day. Reports said at least 30 arrests had been made. Similar protests were being answered by the same police tactics in the nearby port city of Valparaiso.

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