World
US marines reentered Fallujah, Iraq - this time on a mission to collect weapons from resisters. Tension also eased in Najaf, the other major flashpoint in recent weeks. But violence of a different sort erupted in Baghdad, where 12 mortar rounds exploded on the city's main prison. At least 22 people - all "security detainees" - were killed. A US military spokes-man said 92 others were hurt - 25 of them requiring emergency treatment.
"In the shortest time possible," Honduras will join Spain in withdrawing its troops from Iraq, President Ricardo Maduro said Monday. The pullout of 370 soldiers will occur "before July," an aide added. Neighboring El Salvador, which has a similar number of military personnel in Iraq, declined to follow suit, but Thailand's government said its 450 engineering and medical troops would be brought home if they are attacked. If fighting in Iraq worsens, Portugal also will "have to withdraw" the 128 police it sent there, the interior ministry announced.
The White House sought to play down the significance of an apparent snub by the leader of Jordan, who postponed his scheduled meeting with President Bush later this week over "urgent developments" that required clarification of the US "positions on Mideast issues." King Abdullah, already in the US on a lecture tour, was expected to return home Tuesday without stopping in Washington. His government is considered a key ally of the US, but many Jordanians question that relationship, especially following Bush's endorsement last week of Israeli plans to settle the Palestinian problem unilaterally.
In an about-face, Prime Minister Tony Blair said he'd schedule a national vote on whether Britain should be subject to the proposed new European Union constitution. But he announced no date for the referendum, and analysts said it almost certainly could not be held before Britons must go to the polls to choose their next government, probably in May 2005. The proposed charter must first be agreed to by EU member governments; then it must pass in the British Parliament. Previously, Blair had adamantly opposed such a referendum, and critics said his decision - under pressure by the opposition Conservative Party - is a sign of political weakness.
Soccer powerhouse Manchester United, one of the world's premier sports teams, disputed a published report that suspected Muslim radicals arrested in Britain Monday planned to explode bombs during an internationally televised game this weekend. The suspects were found with tickets to various sections of the stadium for Saturday's contest against Liverpool, but a team spokesman said no warning had been received that it might be targeted. The arrests brought to 19 the number of Muslims rounded up in counterterrorism raids in Britain since March 30.
