World
No new UN resolution on terms for weapons inspections is acceptable, Iraq's leaders said, despite ongoing meetings between their representatives and would-be investigators in Vienna. Without modifications to the 1998 deal with the UN, inspectors wouldn't be able to carry out surprise visits to sites Iraq considers sensitive. But a government spokesman said "those evil people" are "under an illusion" if they think they can force Iraq to "give up its national rights." Meanwhile, in neighboring Turkey, Deputy Iraqi Prime Minister Tariq Aziz warned his hosts against providing any military aid to the US in case of an expected effort to effect "regime change" in Baghdad.
Eighteen people died in violence blamed on Muslim militants as voters in disputed Kashmir went to the polls for the third round of critical state elections. Authorities said the trouble was the worst since voting opened Sept. 17 and that the percentage of those eligible who cast ballots was the lowest yet. Eight people were killed when militants dressed as police attacked a bus with grenades and automatic weapons fire. One more round of voting is scheduled for next Tuesday.
With hurricane Lili bearing down on western Cuba, more than a half-million people were evacuated to higher ground for their safety. Amateur radio operators were calling the storm worse than hurricane Michelle, which killed eight people and caused an estimated $1.8 billion in property damage to Cuba last November. Lili's top winds were measured at 93 m.p.h. and appeared to be gaining strength. Although the eye had passed over Jamaica, that island nation was still being lashed by torrential rains.
Dissident soldiers seized another town in Ivory Coast as their mutiny entered its 13th day. But they complained of an advance of French paratroopers, who, they said, had exceeded the terms of a truce reached last week to evacuate foreign nationals trapped by the hostilities. The French now were between them and the lines of government forces sent to retake the nation's second-largest city, Bouaké.
Ten battalions of troops from neighboring Rwanda were en route home from Congo as their involvement in four years of civil war there neared its end. Another six battalions are due to be withdrawn today under terms of the peace accord signed in July to end hostilities in the battered former Zaire. In return, Congo is pledged to disarm Hutu militants known as Interahamwe, a militia responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The Interahamwe, who fled to Congo's eastern jungles, are seen by Rwanda as a potential invasion threat.