Paris

Police misplace bag of plastic explosives

Police at Paris’ top airport lost track of a passenger’s bag in which plastic explosives were placed to train bomb-sniffing dogs, police said Saturday. Warned that the bag may have gotten on any of nearly 90 flights from Charles de Gaulle, authorities searched planes upon arrival in Los Angeles and New York.

French police said the explosives were harmless and there was no chance of their going off, since no detonators were connected to them.

More than 300 passengers were evacuated and their luggage searched when their Air France flight from Charles de Gaulle arrived in Los Angeles late Friday the U.S. Transportation Security Administration said.

West Bank

Palestinians say Israeli raids hampering peace

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia condemned continuing Israeli military raids, saying Saturday that they were hampering efforts to restart the peace process.

Hopes have been high that the peace process, stalled by four years of violence, would take off after Palestinian presidential elections on Jan. 9 to replace Yasser Arafat.

On Saturday morning Israeli troops raided the West Bank city of Tulkarem, arresting a senior Hamas militant, the army and witnesses said.

“Unfortunately, Israel continues with its assassinations,” Qureia said at the weekly Palestinian Cabinet meeting. “It is therefore sending a clear message that it does not want to give a chance for things to quiet down and bring the (peace) process back on track,” he said.

Berlin

Germans arrest fourth suspect in Allawi attack

A German judge on Saturday allowed the continued detention of three men suspected of planning an attack on Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi during his visit to Berlin this week, while a fourth suspect was arrested in the capital, the prosecutors’ spokesman said.

The judge in Karlsruhe issued a formal arrest warrant based on suspicion of belonging to an international terrorist group, allowing authorities to continue holding the men, who were picked up on Friday — hours before Iraqi leader Allawi met German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

The men are believed to belong to Ansar-al-Islam, which has mounted attacks on U.S. and allied forces in Iraq since last year’s U.S.-led invasion.