Gaza Strip

Hamas: Attacks will go on after withdrawal

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia made a rare trip Saturday to the Gaza Strip to confer with security officials and political and militant leaders about the future of the volatile region after a planned Israeli withdrawal.

Before the meeting, a top Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, said the militant group would continue attacks on Israelis, despite the withdrawal plans.

The meeting came less than a week after Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Cabinet approved a plan to evacuate settlements and soldiers from Gaza, where 1.3 million Palestinians live in crowded poverty, by the end of 2005. Under the plan, Israel would maintain control of Gaza’s coast, airspace and border with Egypt.

Cameroon

Huge oil pipeline opens in Africa

Central African leaders officially opened the taps Saturday on one of the largest private investments in sub-Saharan Africa: a 663-mile, $3.7 billion pipeline snaking from Chad through virgin rain forests to the Atlantic.

The presidents of landlocked Chad and the coastal nation of Cameroon took turns opening two pumping station valves before a gathering of leaders of other African nations.

Supporters say the project will bring billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs to the two countries. Opponents say the project threatens to pollute farmland and feeds corruption.

Oil companies ExxonMobil, Chevron and Petronas financed the massive project.

Ireland

Amendment to restrict citizenship law passes

Voters have overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to tighten Ireland’s liberal citizenship laws, partial results showed Saturday.

With a third of ballots counted, nearly 80 percent of votes supported an amendment to stop granting automatic citizenship to anybody born on the island of Ireland, a rule unique in the European Union.

The amendment will allow the government to pass a bill that would allow Irish-born children to receive automatic citizenship only if at least one parent is Irish or, in the case of foreign parents, if they have been resident in Ireland for a minimum of three years.