Jerusalem: Plan to expel Arafat infuriates Palestinians

Palestinian officials were outraged Saturday by an Israeli television report claiming the army had a contingency plan to expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat by force.

The report, which did not cite any sources, said the plan had been approved in principle by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and entailed a raid on Arafat’s Ramallah compound by special forces who would ensure he was not harmed during the operation.

“We denounce the mere thinking of such despicable ideas,” said Palestinian minister Saeb Erekat, speaking from Cairo, Egypt.

Aides to Sharon have said they will stand by a commitment to Washington not to injure Arafat, but they have not ruled out expelling him.

Cuba: Pakistan wants U.S. to release countrymen

Pakistan is seeking the release of some of the 58 Pakistanis held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, because they are not hardcore al-Qaida members, a senior official said Saturday.

Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said a team of Pakistan anti-terrorism experts had visited Guantanamo recently to interrogate Pakistanis and others held there. Most of them were not al-Qaida members but simply ordinary people who went to Afghanistan to fight for the Taliban during last year’s U.S. military campaign, he said.

He hinted at the possible release of some of the prisoners, but did not say how many or when.

Paris: Doubts about Napoleon spur call for DNA test

For decades, the fate of Napoleon Bonaparte has been debated and studied. Now a French historian says a DNA test could end the doubts.

Historian Bruno Roy-Henry believes British authorities may have removed Napoleon’s remains before his coffin was returned to France in 1840 and that the body under the gilded dome of Les Invalides is that of another man.

But France’s Defense Ministry has refused, at least for now, to allow a DNA test, which Roy-Henry contends would put an end to all questions about the identity of the body in Napoleon’s Tomb.

“The simplest way to put an end to all of this is a DNA test, but it has been refused,” said Roy-Henry. “So I have deduced that there is something to hide.”

In a July 21 letter to the historian, the Defense Ministry said there was insufficient evidence to warrant the test.

United Nations: U.N. inspector unsure about Iraq’s weapons

As the United States threatens possible military action against Iraq, the chief U.N. weapons inspector says he can’t say with certainty that Baghdad actually has weapons of mass destruction.

Hans Blix said inspectors still have “many open questions” about Iraq’s capability.

“If we knew if we had real evidence here that they have weapons of mass destruction we would bring it to the Security Council,” he said Friday.

The United States has accused Iraq of trying to rebuild its banned weapons programs and of supporting terrorism, and has called for Saddam Hussein’s ouster.

Indonesia: Independence Day blasts injure 15 people

An assailant hurled a hand grenade into a crowd celebrating Indonesia’s Independence Day in the troubled province of Aceh on Saturday, injuring 13 people, police said.

Another explosion badly injured two men in Kuta Baru village on the outskirts of Banda Aceh, witnesses said.

The first blast occurred on a soccer field in Banda Aceh about an hour before an Independence Day ceremony was to begin, police said. None of the injuries was serious.