World Watch

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U.K. Tony Blair's communications chief launched a bold and determined, though not entirely successful, campaign to discredit a BBC report that Downing Street had "sexed up" intelligence reports about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in order to sell the war to the country. Alastair Campbell insisted to a House of Commons committee that top intelligence officers, not anyone at Downing Street, had been responsible for the September claim that Iraq had WMD ready for use within 45 minutes.

Campbell then attacked the BBC for basing its story on a single source and not repudiating it after senior spies confirmed they were behind the 45-minute claim. While bystanders marveled at the sight of Downing

Floating Danger PETROS GIANNAKOURIS/AP GREECE Acting on a tip-off from NATO, authorities seized the ship Baltic Sky after it had made an erratic 41-day voyage in the Eastern Mediterranean with a cargo officials described as a virtual "atomic bomb" — 680 tons of ammonium nitrate and other explosive materials. Officials fear the cargo was intended for use by terrorist groups. The crew of seven were charged with illegal possession and transportation of explosives. The Sudanese and Tunisian governments defended the shipment as part of a legal purchase of explosives intended for civilian use by a company in Khartoum.

Street so relentlessly hammering the Beeb, the network rejected the assault and accused Blair's office of intimidation. Campbell made an unprecedented live appearance on a TV news show to demand, again, that the broadcaster admit to a mistake. The row drowned out the work of the committee, which is due to publish its findings shortly. — By J.F.O. McAllister

Limiting The Law
BELGIUM Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said he would reduce the scope of war-crimes legislation that allowed charges to be brought against George W. Bush and Tony Blair, among others. The announcement came days after U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld threatened to freeze spending on a new NATO HQ in Brussels unless the law was scrapped. The proposed amendment would restrict Belgium's universal jurisdiction over human-rights violations to cases in which the victim or the accused is a Belgian national or resident.

Vital Arrest
SAUDI ARABIA Authorities arrested Ali Abd al-Rahman as-Faqasi al-Ghamdi, alleged to be one of the top al-Qaeda operatives in the kingdom. Al-Ghamdi, who surrendered to police, is a leading suspect in the May 12 Riyadh bombings, in which 25 victims and nine attackers were killed. U.S. and Saudi officials said his arrest marked a major blow to al-Qaeda operations.

Shattered Peace
LIBERIA Rebels launched renewed attacks in Monrovia after George W. Bush demanded President Charles Taylor step down to avert further bloodshed. Up to 300 people were killed in three days of fighting, which erupted after Taylor reneged on a promise to yield power, a key condition of last month's cease-fire. Bush gave no indication he would respond to U.N. calls to lead an intervention in Liberia, founded by freed American slaves 150 years ago.

Travel Okayed
CHINA The World Health Organization withdrew its last SARS- related travel warning, saying the spread of the flu-like disease in Beijing appeared to have halted. The city had more than 2,500 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome — out of 5,300 in China and 8,450 worldwide — but there have been no confirmed new infections since May 29. The WHO also removed Taiwan and Hong Kong from its blacklist.

MEANWHILE IN THE U.K. ...
Not-So-Naked Truth
Theatergoers who expected nude dancers at a performance got more clothes than they bargained for. An ad with images of two naked dancers soaring through the air led at least one customer to expect the same on stage; he complained to the Advertising Standards Authority because the dancers turned out to be clothed. The watchdog upheld his complaint, warning that if the troupe continues to use the ad, it must clarify that dancers do not go for the full monty.