Indonesia
President's trip can't calm violence
A peace mission by Indonesia's head of state ended in bloodshed Thursday when police and native Dayaks clashed on Borneo, where hundreds had been slaughtered in ethnic violence.
As many as six indigenous protesters were killed, the Kalteng Pos newspaper quoted local military chiefs as saying. But police said four died in the fighting.
Just minutes after President Abdurrahman Wahid flew out of the region, Dayak protesters threw rocks at riot police who responded with gunfire. Some officers shot into the air, but others fired directly at the demonstrators, witnesses said.
The violence is a further blow to Wahid, who is fending off calls for his resignation over a range of crises and scandals as Indonesia struggles with its uneasy transition to democracy.
Yugoslavia
U.S. troops embroiled in Balkan conflict
U.S. peacekeepers pushed to the edge of Kosovo's border with Macedonia on Thursday a move that places them in the midst of a new Balkan conflict after ethnic Albanian rebels fled one of their strongholds.
Ethnic Albanian villagers said the Americans crossed into Macedonia to take over positions held by the rebels, who have been battling Macedonian forces. U.S. officials denied those claims but acknowledged that there is confusion about the border.
The controversy over the Americans' location underlined the danger that U.S. soldiers may become more involved in border disputes and the deep-seated historical animosity between ethnic Albanians and Slavs.
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