The rest mostly ranking officers fled with their families to Israel or other countries

The rest, mostly ranking officers, fled with their families to Israel or other countries.Military Prosecutor Nasri Lahoud said last week that a total of 2,929 people suspected of collaborating with Israel have been arrested since last May More than 800 accused are still awaiting trial.. An Indonesian soldier was arrested on suspicion of murder when he tried to sneak into East Timor disguised as a businessman, a UN spokesman has said. An Indonesian soldier was arrested on suspicion of murder when he tried to sneak into East Timor disguised as a businessman, a UN spokesman has said.
The soldier attempted to cross the border during a family reunion held on the frontier with Indonesian-held West Timor on Saturday, said Antero Lopes, a spokesman for the UN police force.”He was carrying a briefcase and said he was a businessman, but an East Timorese police officer identified him and he was taken into custody,” said Lopes.The man, an East Timorese serving as a private in the Indonesian army, is suspected of committing at least one murder in the Maliana district during the events of September 1999.At the time, pro-Indonesian militia gangs and the Indonesian military waged a campaign of violence and destruction in East Timor after its people voted overwhelmingly for independence in August 1999.Maliana district, which borders West Timor, was the site of some of the worst atrocities committed during this period.The UN administration in East Timor has estimated over 1,000 people lost their lives during the violence. Although trials of militia have begun in East Timor, to date no member of the Indonesian military has been prosecuted.The soldier was taken into custody in Maliana before being transferred to the capital Dili..

The gun-toting teenage twins who led a ragtag band of guerrillas in Burma’s jungles until surrendering last week miss their parents and want to stop fighting and go to school. The gun-toting teenage twins who led a ragtag band of guerrillas in Burma’s jungles until surrendering last week miss their parents and want to stop fighting and go to school.
Johnny and Luther Htoo, believed to be 14 or 15, led the God’s Army ethnic Karen guerrilla group for years in skirmishes against the Burmese military, with scores of followers believing the boys had mystical powers and were impervious to bullets.The twins and 12 others surrendered to Thai authorities after a crackdown by border patrols cut off their food supplies. Their fighting days are over, they told reporters in Thailand. “We want to be reunited with our parents and to further our studies,” said Luther, the tougher-looking, chainsmoking twin. “Life here is better than in the jungle.”Luther did most of the talking as long-haired Johnny looked on shyly Their parents are in a refugee camp in Thailand. Through an interpreter, the twins denied they had magical powers, but Luther added: “God sent us to be the leaders to fight against the Burmese.”"Even though we suffered a lot of casualties, God is still with the Karen,” he said.

“If God had not helped us we would all have died.” Asked why he had fought, Luther said: “Our relatives were killed and hurt by the Burmese.”He said he was familiar with M-16 and AK-47 automatic rifles and he admitted he had killed many Burmese troops.The twins said God’s Army was formed four years ago with 150 members, but had stopped fighting after its base was overrun by Burmese soldiers in 1998. They had spent two years trekking up and down the border with Thailand, mainly on the Thai side, “mucking around and shooting at birds”, Luther said.Johnny, who has a tattoo on his left arm, said his hair was long because he believed he would fall ill if it was cut. The twins are also vegetarians, believing meat could harm them.Asked if he wanted to return to being a soldier, Luther said: “No.” But he did vow never to give up smoking.The Ratchaburi provincial governor, Gomate Daengthongdee, could not say whether the twins would get their wish to rejoin their parents. Thai officials are investigating whether the twins were involved in violent attacks in Thailand blamed on God’s Army. Mr Gomate said if the twins were not implicated, they would be treated as civilian refugees.There are some 140,000 refugees from Burma in Thai camps.

Most are ethnic Karens who fled fighting between Burmese government forces and the autonomy-seeking Karen guerrillas.. Nepal’s Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was re-elected president of the ruling Nepali Congress party with 64 percent of the votes, defeating a rebellion within the party, officials said today. Nepal’s Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was re-elected president of the ruling Nepali Congress party with 64 percent of the votes, defeating a rebellion within the party, officials said today.
Koirala secured 936 votes against 507 for his competitor, Sher Bahadur Deuba, according to an unofficial count of Monday’s vote. The third candidate for president, Ramhari Joshi, received only 10 votes during the party’s General Convention.”I concede my defeat and I have already congratulated Prime Minister Koirala,” Deuba told reporters.Deuba led a dissident group in the Nepali Congress party that last month attempted to oust Koirala from the prime minister’s office. That attempt failed when some of the rebel members changed their mind during a confidence vote. The faction then tried to challenge Koirala’s role as party leader.Deuba has accused Koirala of failing to deliver the promises the party had made to the voters such as reducing crime and ending a Maoist insurgency that has killed 1,500 people in the past five years.The Maoist guerrillas, who model themselves after Peru’s Shining Path guerrillas, are demanding an end to Nepal’s constitutional monarchy and the feudal social structure that remains in parts of the country.Koirala, who came to power in March 2000 after forcing his predecessor from office in tactics similar to Deuba’s, has been prime minister twice previously.