Lithuania

Thousands demand president’s resignation

Thousands of protesters rallied near President Rolandas Paksas’ office in Vilnius on Saturday, demanding his resignation amid allegations that he has ties with a businessman involved with organized crime.

Police surrounded Daukantas Square before the rally and searched protesters. Police kept the crowd separated from about 400 Paksas supporters, who rallied on the opposite side of the square. No clashes or arrests were reported, and the crowds dispersed peacefully in the evening. About 4,000 protesters turned out for the rally, police said.

A parliamentary commission was established to investigate alleged presidential ties with organized crime. It is expected to submit a report to lawmakers next month.

The commission asked Paksas to testify last week, but he refused to appear.

Afghanistan

Rocket damages hotel where foreigners stay

A powerful rocket exploded near one of Kabul’s few upscale hotels on Saturday night, knocking some guests from their restaurant chairs and shattering windows across the lobby and in many bedrooms. No injuries were reported.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack has raised concerns about security in Kabul, where rocket and mortar attacks have been fairly rare since the fall of the Taliban regime two years ago.

Police and soldiers from the 5,000-strong NATO-led peace force rushed to the Intercontinental Hotel after the blast and guarded its front door, as some guests quickly checked out in fear of another attack.

Taliban insurgents have launched an increasingly bold campaign throughout the country in recent months, often targeting relief agencies and coalition forces in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

Peru

Reparations proposed for human rights abuses

Peru’s president apologized for the 70,000 deaths from the country’s 20-year battle with the Shining Path insurgency and promised to punish officers that a scathing report blamed for many of the worst abuses.

Alejandro Toledo announced the government would spend $800 million in the next 2 1/2 years on public works in the areas hurt most by the fighting, from 1980-2000. But he didn’t offer individual reparations that victims and human rights groups had sought.

The apology — Toledo’s first about the insurgency — came three months after the government-appointed Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued a nine-volume report that said 70,000 people had died, and that military officers responsible for many of those deaths committed massive human rights abuses.