World Watch

UNITED STATES
What's Going on Inside Camp X-Ray?
As international criticism intensified over U.S. treatment of alleged al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters flown to the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross arrived there. The four delegates — including a doctor — were to interview the 110 men regarding their capture, detention and transfer to what the U.S. calls Camp X-Ray. The Pentagon refers to the detainees as "unlawful combatants" — not prisoners of war entitled to the legal protections of the Geneva Conventions. Amid speculation that the Philippines could be the next target in the "war on terrorism," an undisclosed number of U.S. troops flew to the southern island of Basilan for "mutual training." The Philippines has been battling Islamic guerrilla groups since the 1970s.

THE E.U.
New President
In the first direct election for the post of President of the European Parliament, M.E.P.s chose Pat Cox, an Irish Liberal Democrat, to replace French conservative Nicole Fontaine. A former television journalist, Cox stood as an independent, promising reforms aimed at making the assembly more effective. "We are building the democratic part of Europe's future," he said after defeating Scottish socialist, David Martin, in three rounds of voting.

BRITAIN
Antiterror Swoop
A court in Leicester charged two Algerian men with involvement in the al-Qaeda network and police arrested another 17 in the largest crackdown on U.K. terror suspects since Sept. 11. Nine people were detained under new antiterrorism legislation, while another eight were held for possible immigration offenses. Police said the latest arrests were not directly linked to Sept. 11, but one of the two remanded in custody, Baghdad Meziane, faces charges of directing and financing undisclosed al-Qaeda operations and inciting an act of terrorism abroad.

CYPRUS
Crossing the Divide
The prospect of European Union membership galvanized two long-standing adversaries to agree to a timetable for resolving their differences. Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders Glafcos Clerides and Rauf Denktash said they would meet three times a week over the next few months in the hope of hammering out a power-sharing deal that could stitch back the divided parts of Cyprus. Both leaders agreed to keep meeting until June. Turkey has threatened to annex the north of the island if Cyprus joins the E.U. without agreement by both parties.

SIERRA LEONE
End to a Brutal War
President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah declared the country's civil war officially over and agreed to establish a special court to try those most responsible for atrocities during the decade-long conflict. The tribunal's most prominent indictee is likely to be rebel leader Foday Sankoh, who was captured after British troops intervened in Sierra Leone nearly two years ago. Celebrations marking the end of hostilities took place just days after the U.N. announced the completion of its disarmament program with the handover of weapons by 47,000 combatants.

ZIMBABWE
Last Chances
International pressure appeared to pay off as the government unexpectedly postponed draconian press and labor legislation, saying the bills would be revised. Although Southern African leaders agreed to give President Robert Mugabe a "chance" to hold free and fair presidential elections in March, E.U. and U.S. officials have threatened sanctions against the regime, including the freezing of its international assets. Britain offered a reprieve to some 100 Zimbabwean asylum seekers facing deportation.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
The Wrath of Mount Nyiragongo
Lava poured down the slopes of Mount Nyiragongo and through the eastern Congolese city of Goma, destroying everything in its path and sending hundreds of thousands of people fleeing for their lives. U.N. officials put the death toll at about 50, as displaced people lined roads into Rwanda and gathered in the town of Gisenyi. As the 3,469-m volcano continued to spew molten rock, earthquakes shook the area and a cloud of smoke hung in the air. The lava flow ended in Lake Kivu, on the border.

SRI LANKA
Peace Moves
Journalists had their first glimpse of life behind rebel-held lines as the Tamil Tiger leadership allowed a visit to the Vanni region and the government lifted a seven-year economic blockade on the northern territory. The arrival of trucks carrying food, medicines and other goods was seen as a key step in the revival of Norwegian-led truce talks between the government and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

CHINA
Bugged
China found more than two dozen sophisticated spying devices in the upholstery of a new Boeing 767 that was to be President Jiang Zemin's official jet, according to reports in the Financial Times and the Washington Post. Officials did not know how or when the bugs were planted on the aircraft, which was under Chinese surveillance while it was being furnished in the U.S. The discovery comes weeks ahead of a summit between Presidents Jiang and Bush in Beijing.

UNITED STATES
Suspects Booked
Shoe-bomb suspect Richard Reid denied all nine charges against him brought by a Boston court, relating to his alleged attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner en route from Paris to Miami. New evidence suggested that British-born Reid, initially thought to be a maverick, operated as a terrorist scout for the al-Qaeda network. In Virginia, U.S. Taliban fighter John Walker was charged with four criminal counts, including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals abroad.

COLOMBIA
Mediation Helps
Rebel leaders agreed to restart peace talks after President Andrés Pastrana called their bluff by threatening to retake their safe haven. But even as the President set another deadline for a cease-fire timetable, observers of the three-year peace process were hopeful of maintaining the momentum. The difference, they said, was the presence of international negotiators, including a U.N. envoy and diplomats from 10 countries. Renewed bombing attacks by FARC guerrillas in areas south of the capital left others less convinced.

ARGENTINA
Banks Unbalance
The government sought to relax banking restrictions that had led to violent protests, but there was no way to disguise the banks' lack of foreign capital as lawyers began investigating the disappearance of billions of dollars before accounts were frozen. President Eduardo Duhalde reopened the stock exchange after forcing the resignation of central bank governor Roque Maccarone, but the measures were unlikely to cause a surge in demand for the peso.