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.	-News for Fri. 29, Sat 30 & Sun 31 March 2002 The following news clips are from the BBC and included for your convenience. For more detail contact the BBC website. On the BBC web site you will find country profiles, historic information, as well as supporting articles and related news events. The Ugandan Government says it has captured all four main rebel bases belonging to the rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army inside neighbouring Sudan. Ugandan Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi said that one camp - Lala, situated about 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of the Ugandan border - was captured on Thursday and the three remaining bases were overrun on Friday. "The operation began yesterday, by last evening our forces had captured Lala camp and were moving on to other camps," he told Reuters news agency on Friday. No casualty figures were given, and Mr Mbabazi would not say whether rebels were present at the camps when they were captured. However the BBC's Will Ross in Uganda says that there is a possibility that the LRA rebels may have simply moved on. Civilian rescue Uganda says the operation is the first of a concerted attempt to rescue women and children captured by the LRA for use as slave labour. It also marks unprecedented co-operation between the governments of Uganda and Sudan. The military action follows the signing of an agreement earlier this month, whereby Sudan authorised Uganda to pursue the rebels inside its borders. Sudan agreed to allow Ugandan forces into the country to root out rebel forces, and BBC correspondents say that Mr Mbabazi inferred the agreement between the two countries, which is due to run out on 2 April, may now be extended indefinitely. Sudanese forces are also said to be on high alert. Kidnappings Ugandan forces now face the issue of attempting to free civilian captives - including children - from the LRA. Correspondents say there is a potential danger that LRA leader Joseph Kony may attempt to use the captives as a human shield to prevent Ugandan forces from capturing him and his fighters. The LRA has been fighting Ugandan President Museveni for the past 16 years in north of the country, and want to replace the constitution with the Bible's Ten Commandments. The LRA is said to have abducted up to 12,000 children and turning them into soldiers or, in some cases, concubines. Hindu hardliners in Indian-administered Kashmir are enforcing a 48-hour strike in Jammu to protest against a militant attack on a temple that killed 10 on Saturday. Activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that leads India's coalition government, joined supporters of other hardline Hindu groups on the streets of Jammu to enforce the strike. Groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajraing Dal and Shiv Sena have patrols out on city streets ensuring shops and other business establishments remain shut. Security forces are patrolling Jammu's Muslim- majority districts to protect their residents from possible Hindu backlash to Saturday's attack on the 150-year old Raghunath temple. Two suspected militants and four temple guards died in the attack, as well as four civilians who were caught in the crossfire. Twenty others were wounded. Reports say five are in a critical condition. No group has yet admitted responsibility for the apparent attempt to seize the temple, but police are blaming Muslim militants. Israel has said its air strikes on suspected Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon were a warning signal to Syria. Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said the guerrillas could not have launched recent attacks on Israel without the knowledge and approval of Syria, which has a large military contingent in the country. Hezbollah fighters are reported to have fired mortars and rockets on at least three Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms border area on Saturday. "We do not want to open a new front, we do not want an escalation but this operation could not have taken place without the knowledge and authorisation of Syria," Mr Ben Eliezer said. Witnesses described heavy smoke rising from one Israeli military post after the Hezbollah attacks. Israeli jets responded by firing several air-to-surface missiles and Israeli artillery reportedly shelled the outskirts of Hasbaya, a town on the Lebanese side of the border. There were no reports of casualties. Flashpoint It was the first Israeli raid on southern Lebanon since late January. A Hezbollah statement said the guerrilla attacks were part of the organisation's campaign to "liberate" the area from Israeli control. An Israeli army spokesman said it was a deliberate attempt to escalate the conflict. "Hezbollah wishes in a crude and violent fashion to heat up the area and provoke Israel," said Lieutenant Colonel Olivier Rafowicz. The Shebaa Farms have been a flashpoint since Israel pulled out of Lebanon in May 2000. Israel seized the farms in 1967 from Syria, but Lebanon claims the area as its territory. The Angolan army has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Unita rebel movement, paving the way to a formal ceasefire after 27 years of civil war. Military officers representing both sides of the bitter conflict embraced after the signing ceremony in the town of Luena, about 770 kilometres (480 miles) south-east of the capital, Luanda. The US ambassador to Angola, Christopher Dell, predicted that real peace was finally in sight as both sides had come to the table freely and neither side felt the agreement had been imposed on it. But some doubts remain given divisions within the rebels after the recent death of their veteran leader, Jonas Savimbi, and the battle for control of Angola's lucrative diamond trade. The memorandum came after two weeks of secretive and at times controversial negotiations US President George Bush has urged the besieged Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, to do more to stop attacks on Israelis by militants. "I believe Chairman Arafat can do a lot more to prevent attacks," Mr Bush said, in his first comments on the crisis since Israeli troops stormed Mr Arafat's compound in Ramallah on Friday. "He needs to stand up and condemn in Arabic these attacks," Mr Bush said, after making a flurry of phone calls to world leaders to discuss the crisis. Speaking from his Texas ranch, Mr Bush said he had been assured by the Israeli Government that Mr Arafat "won't be harmed". Referring to Mr Arafat's security apparatus, Mr Bush said "they have got to do a much better job of preventing people from coming into Israel to blow up innocent people". While acknowledging Israel's need to defend itself, he also urged the Israeli Government to "make sure that there is a path to peace". World leaders have been paying tribute to Britain's Queen Mother, who died on Saturday at the age of 101 after seeing out the 20th century. US President George W Bush was "deeply saddened" by her death, the White House said, while UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said she had "won a special place in the hearts of countless people" worldwide. Tributes poured in from many Commonwealth countries, including Canada and Australia where her daughter Queen Elizabeth II is monarch. But they also came from other monarchies and republics, including old allies such as Russia and France who recalled her morale-boosting role during the Second World War. "In Russia people knew Her Majesty well, and highly valued her contribution to the collective efforts of the anti-Hitler coalition," said President Vladimir Putin. President Jacques Chirac said that the French had come to love her when occupied France and Britain had fought against Hitler. "The kindness of her smile created one of the most loved faces of our times," he wrote in a personal letter to the Queen. The Queen Mother's wartime work was also remembered by South African President Thabo Mbeki who praised her for setting "an example to the world in resisting racial tyranny as they did in the war against Hitlerism". Britain is in mourning for Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. With her daughter, the Queen, by her side in Windsor's Royal Lodge, the Queen Mother died peacefully in her sleep on Saturday afternoon at the age of 101. Her coffin will be moved to the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Great Park on Sunday afternoon. The Prince of Wales - said to be "devastated" - has arrived at Windsor with Princes William and Harry after cutting short a skiing holiday in Switzerland. Royal advisers are meeting to finalise arrangements for her funeral in Westminster Abbey. Special prayers have been said at churches across the country, while the Queen and senior members of the Royal Family held a private service in Windsor Castle. In his Easter Sunday sermon, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey gave thanks for the Queen Mother's life. He said: "Our thoughts and prayers this morning are with the entire Royal Family, but especially with the Queen, who has lost first a sister and now a much-loved parent in a matter of weeks." Voting has opened in Ukraine in elections for a new parliament. Thirty-three parties are contesting the seats in the parliament, known as the Rada, but only a handful will pass the 4% electoral threshold. The main battle is between the so-called Party of Power, led by the chief of the presidential administration, and an alliance of opposition movements headed by the former prime minister. This election campaign, the third in the 10 years since independence, has been branded the dirtiest in Ukraine's history. Various watchdogs - both domestic and international - have complained about the media bias and a dirty tricks campaign on the part of the authorities. Prominent candidates were arbitrarily struck off the established electoral lists and the last day before the vote was marred by the killing of a leading candidate in the west of the country. It may be unrelated to the election, but it has certainly raised the tension ahead of it. An unprecedented 1,000 international monitors are preparing to observe the vote at the polling stations across the country - as are 25,000 local volunteers. Fears of a possible rigging of the election results are high and there have been reports of missing ballot papers and coercion of voters. The main opposition grouping, led by the former Prime Minister, Victor Yushchenko, is afraid it will be denied the clear victory that is needed to push through stalled market reforms. The pro-presidential parties accuse it of pursuing a western agenda and a personal vendetta against the President, Leonid Kuchma. Some opposition politicians have vowed to start impeachment procedures if they muster a majority in the new parliament. The president is implicated in a series of scandals ranging from the killing of a prominent journalist to an illegal sale of arms to Iraq. His fight for political survival is being closely watched by the West and Russia, who have been pulling Kiev in different directions. This has created resentment among Ukrainian voters, who say they want to be left alone to decide their role in future. Pope John Paul II has issued an urgent appeal for peace in the Middle East, saying in his Easter Sunday address that "nothing is resolved by war". Addressing a crowd of 50,000 pilgrims in St Peter's Square in Rome, he said it seemed that "war has been declared on peace". "No one can remain silent and inactive, no political or religious leader," he said. Plagued by Parkinson's disease and arthritis, the 81-year-old pontiff has nonetheless insisted on making his traditional Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) Easter address. "With trepidation and hope I ask you to proclaim that Jesus is truly risen, and to work so that his peace may end the tragic sequence of attacks and killings that bloody the Holy Land, plunged again in these very days into horror and despair," he said. The Pope went on to say it was not enough merely to denounce violence. "Practical acts of solidarity are needed to help everyone rediscover mutual respect, and to return to frank negotiations," he said. A powerful earthquake has shaken Taiwan, killing at least four people and injuring more than 200. The tremors were felt across the island. In the capital Taipei, several buildings collapsed, and frightened people ran out of homes and churches. Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said the quake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, was centred near Hualien, 180 kilometres (108 miles) east of Taipei. The tremors are being described as the worst to hit the island since the 1999 earthquake that killed 2,400 people and left 100,000 homeless. The Prince of Wales and his sons have been paying their respects to the Queen Mother at Windsor. Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry joined the rest of the Royal Family at an evensong service in the Royal Chapel. They arrived at Windsor Castle on Sunday afternoon after cutting short their skiing holiday in Klosters, Switzerland. After flying in to RAF Northolt, they travelled by car to Windsor and spent some time with the coffin at the Royal Lodge before it was moved to the chapel. The Queen had given the heir to the throne and his eldest son permission to fly on the same plane, something normally forbidden under royal protocol. They are to drive back to their Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire on Sunday evening. Riot police on horseback have clashed with protesters outside Australia's Woomera refugee centre as demonstrators once again marched in protest at the government's immigration policy. Seven protesters were arrested. In total, 30 people have been detained during a weekend of protests which saw 50 asylum seekers escape when activists stormed the remote desert compound on Friday. Ten of them are still on the run and concern is growing for their safety as they try to survive in the difficult outback terrain around the camp, 450 kilometres (280 miles) north-west of Adelaide. Superintendent Wayne Bristow said it was "a tragedy waiting to happen". "This is a desert area, these people had no knowledge of it," he said. Temperatures at this time of year can rise to 30C, falling to below 10C at night. However, protesters say some of the fugitives have already reached major cities, where they are being harboured by sympathisers. Afghan officials say a traditional council of leaders - a Loya Jirga - will meet between 10 and 16 June to choose a new transitional government. More than two-thirds of the 1,450 Loya Jirga members will be elected to the body. The membership will include at least 160 women. The head of the organising commission, Ismail Qasimyr, said Afghanistan's ex-king, Mohammad Zaher Shah, would return from exile on 16 April to call the assembly into session. "You see for the first time in our national life, our modern history, a loya jirga that has and enjoys the most and broadest legitimacy," said Qasimyr, a specialist in constitutional law. The new transitional government is scheduled to take over from the interim administration led by Hamid Karzai and to govern for 18 months until elections are held. Mr Karzai's administration is due to bow out of office on 22 June. It has been given 53 seats in the Loya Jirga. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has made it clear that he intends to legitimise his rule through a referendum. The poll will give Pakistanis an opportunity to say if they want him to stay on as their president for another five years after parliamentary elections scheduled for October. A date for the referendum is expected to be announced within a week. General Musharraf, who led a bloodless coup in October 1999, ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's elected government, charging it with corruption and abuse of power. In recent weeks, he has met the leaders of some of Pakistan's political parties to sound them out on his referendum plan. Some political groups have offered their support, but the political parties of Nawaz Sharif and another former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, have described it as an attempt to legitimise the role of the military in any future civilian set up. Pakistan's independent human rights commission has called it a farcical exercise, and has urged General Musharraf to restore an undiluted democracy by holding free and fair elections. Jordan has summoned the Israeli ambassador and threatened unspecified measures in protest at the assault on the headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Jordan's Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher told the Israeli Ambassador, David Dadonn, that "if Israel pursues its actions against the Palestinians and does not immediately withdraw (from the territories) Jordan will take measures". He also formally asked the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to send an international military force immediately to the Palestinian territories. Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, but there have been angry anti-Israeli demonstrations in the past few days in the capital, Amman, and in Palestinian refugee camps. A Jordanian Government official quoted by the French AFP news agency said that "breaking off diplomatic ties is a measure that Jordan will only take if it is forced to do so, because a dialogue under the current circumstances is vital and only Jordan can undertake it". Correspondents say Jordan could further downgrade its representation in Israel, ask the Israeli ambassador to leave or suspend ties. Jordan delayed the departure of its new ambassador to Israel in October 2000 in protest at Israel's crackdown on the Palestinians. A suicide bomb attack has killed 15 people in a crowded restaurant in the Israeli port city of Haifa. Up to 30 people were injured - several of them critically - in the explosion. The bomber was also killed. It was the fourth such attack since the start of the current Jewish Passover holiday. Less than two hours later, another suicide bomber atacked an office for paramedics in the Jewish settlement of Efrat, south of the West Bank town of Bethlehem. At least four people were reported to be wounded, one critically. The bomber was killed. An Israeli police commander at the scene in Haifa said it had been a suicide bomb attack. The blast coincided with an intensification of the Israeli siege of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat inside his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah. Israel has now declared Ramallah a closed military area and has ordered all journalists to leave. As the conflict reached a new intensity, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to broadcast a state address on Sunday at 2030 (1730GMT). Two Palestinian militant groups - Hamas and Islamic Jihad - claimed responsibility for the Haifa blast. A witness, Shimon Sabag, told Israel Radio: "Watching people on fire is just horrible. I heard an explosion, I went into the gas station and I started to deal with the injured people. "I couldn't deal with the critical injuries so I turned to the moderate. I tried to put out the fire. Even the moderate injured were on fire." Another witness said the blast had blown a hole in the ceiling of the restaurant, which was close to a petrol station.