Pakistan

Families mourn victims of Christmas attack

Three girls killed in a grenade explosion inside a Pakistani church were buried Thursday, while Christians and Muslims alike denounced the Christmas Day attack that also wounded 13.

Police detained six people, including an Islamic cleric who allegedly told his followers to kill Christians, after the attack on the one-room church in Chianwala that was filled mainly with women and girls.

Two assailants covered in burqas — the all-encompassing garment worn by women in some Islamic countries — tossed the explosives at about 40 Pakistani worshippers, turning a Christmas service into blood-soaked chaos.

About 2,500 people gathered for a memorial service Thursday. Many of the mourners wept as the coffins of the victims, aged 6, 10 and 15, were carried to a cemetery for burial.

Yugoslavia

Outgoing Serbian leader headed for U.N. tribunal

Serbia’s outgoing president will be extradited to a U.N. court to face war crimes charges early next month, the prime minister of Yugoslavia’s dominant republic said Thursday.

Unless Milan Milutinovic surrenders voluntarily, he will be handed over to the U.N. war crimes tribunal when his term expires Jan. 5, Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic said.

Djindjic urged Milutinovic to “establish contact” with the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, and to turn himself in.

Milutinovic has served in the Serbian presidency since 1997. He was indicted for war crimes committed in 1998-99 by Serb security forces in Kosovo, together with his ally, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who is on trial at the court.

Philippines

Rebels suspected in deadly attack

Suspected Muslim rebels ambushed a Canadian company’s workers Thursday in the southern Philippines, killing 12 and injuring 10, the military said.

It was the second deadly attack on Mindanao island this week. On Christmas Eve, a bomb made from an 81 mm mortar shell filled with nail fragments exploded outside the home of a town’s mayor, killing 17 people.

The military blamed both attacks on rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Rebel spokesman Eid Kabalu denied any involvement, saying “We don’t kill innocent people; besides, the MILF is currently negotiating peace with the government.”

London

Boxing Day renews debate about tradition

Thousands of fox hunters and their supporters rode out Thursday for traditional post-Christmas hunts, taunted by protesters who hope to see the sport banned by next year.

The pro-hunting Countryside Alliance said up to 250,000 riders and supporters attended dozens of Boxing Day hunts across the country.

In Winslow, northwest of London, dozens of hunt supporters and opponents faced off across the town’s market square as mounted, scarlet-clad members of the Whaddon Chase Hunt swept through the streets to a chorus of cheers and boos.

Fox hunting polarizes Britain. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government has introduced a compromise bill that would ban hare coursing and stag hunting but allow fox hunting under license in limited circumstances.