Guatemala: Ambassador recalled after U.S. comments

Guatemala has recalled its U.S. ambassador to protest an American official’s sharp criticism of President Alfonso Portillo’s government.

In comments to Guatemala’s legislature late Thursday, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich said Guatemala has serious problems with corruption and drug trafficking and has one of the region’s spottiest human rights records.

Foreign Minister Gabriel Orellana said Friday night that Ambassador Alvaro Colom had been ordered to return from Washington for discussions of Reich’s comments.

Orellana said Colom was recalled because Reich’s comments “weren’t correct and were made without a second thought.”

Turkey: Constitution talk by Kurds angers Turks

Rival Iraqi Kurdish groups have reviewed a draft constitution for Iraq in the event Saddam Hussein is ousted by the United States, but said it’s not a first step toward forming an independent Kurdish state.

Word that a constitution was even being considered outraged Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit who warned that Iraqi Kurds were “out of control.”

Turkey is fearful that a U.S. military operation might open the door for a Kurdish state in northern Iraq a move it says could spark renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels who waged a 15-year war in southeastern Turkey.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party which together control most of northern Iraq discussed the draft during a meeting last week, PUK official Bahroz Galali said.

“This is only a draft,” Galali said.

Malaysia: Royal family member’s wife kidnapped, killed

The wife of a Malaysian royal family member was found dead near a waterfall her hands and legs bound nearly a week after she was kidnapped, police said Saturday.

Seven people have been arrested in connection with the death of Hazliza Ishak, 26. Her body was found late Friday near a waterfall in the northern state of Perak.

She was abducted by a group of men last week, the police official said on condition of anonymity.

Hazliza was the second wife of 62-year-old Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa, who is second in line to take over as sultan of Perak state.

Philippines: Marines, rebels clash; at least 11 soldiers die

Fierce clashes between Philippine marines and Abu Sayyaf rebels on the southern island of Jolo left at least 11 soldiers dead and 26 others wounded, military officials said Saturday.

Government bombers and attack helicopters took turns blasting suspected positions of an Abu Sayyaf faction believed to be holding hostage four female Jehovah’s Witnesses, the officials added. There were no immediate reports on rebel casualties.

The women were snatched Aug. 20 while selling Avon cosmetics in a remote village on the troubled island. There were no reports about the women’s fate. Three Indonesian tugboat crewmen are also being held by the Muslim extremist guerrillas.