World

In the face of mounting international pressure to quit Lebanon, senior Syrian officials pointed to instances in which their government has been helpful in combating terrorism and promised still more. But protesters were back en masse in Lebanon's capital Tuesday, vowing to keep up their daily demonstrations until the thousands of Syrian troops leave. Meanwhile, at a conference in London, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said the Lebanese "want to be masters of their own state" and that "it is very clear" that Syrian interference in Lebanon must end.

With the pro-Syrian government of Prime Minister Omar Karami resigning Monday, the protesters in Beirut shifted their focus to demand that President Emile Lahoud do the same. Opposition leaders are expected to call Wednesday for the resignations of government security chiefs as well, plus a new government of persons not already running in the general election in May.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas renewed a commitment to end terrorist violence by reforming his security forces. But the difficulty in achieving that goal was underscored in the West Bank, where angry militants tried to force his interior minister to cut short a visit to Jenin and leave immediately. Earlier, a car bomb was discovered near Israeli targets there and was detonated under controlled conditions.

Immigration officers in Malaysia began the roundup of illegal aliens threatened by the government. At least 131 people were arrested within hours after an amnesty ended Monday. As many as 400,000 immigrants accepted the amnesty and returned home - most of them to neighboring Indonesia - with the pledge that they may return if they obtain the identity documents required by authorities. Those caught staying behind forfeit that opportunity.

In a massive turnout, voters in Burundi OK'd a new Constitution that guarantees majority rule while respecting minority rights. Ninety percent of registered voters participated, elections officials said, and 91 percent said "yes" to reversing the current situation, in which Tutsis have dominated since independence in 1962. They and the Hutu majority have fought a civil war for the past 11 years.