Pakistan

Long-range missile successful in test

Pakistan on Tuesday successfully test-fired the most advanced missile in its arsenal, capable of delivering a nuclear warhead deep inside rival India.

The missile has a range of 1,250 miles, meaning it could easily hit Bombay, New Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur and other major Indian cities.

Pakistan made certain to inform India in advance, and the test was not likely to damage relations that are rapidly improving. India’s external affairs and defense ministries declined comment on the test.

The timing seemed more linked to internal Pakistani politics, with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf facing anger at home over an investigation into a black market run by rogue Pakistani scientists that allegedly sold nuclear know-how to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Many Pakistanis feel the scientists have been made scapegoats and accuse Musharraf of jeopardizing the nation’s nuclear program under pressure from the West.

Turkey

Suicide attackers stage attack on Masonic lodge

Two suicide attackers stormed a Masonic lodge Tuesday, opening fire with automatic weapons and setting off explosions that killed one person and wounded five, officials said.

One of the attackers also died and one was injured in the assault, which comes months after four suicide bombings blamed on al-Qaida killed dozens of people in Istanbul.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, said Gov. Muammer Guler.

West Bank

Palestinian ship hijacker dies in U.S. custody

Abul Abbas, the Palestinian mastermind of the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro passenger ship in which an American tourist was killed, has died in U.S. custody in Iraq, Palestinian and U.S. officials said Tuesday. He was 56.

Abbas’ small Palestine Liberation Front commandeered the Italian cruise ship, demanded the release of 50 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and threw an elderly wheelchair-bound Jewish American tourist, Leon Klinghoffer, overboard after shooting him.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said that Abbas died Monday, “apparently … of natural causes.” He said there would be an autopsy.

Abbas was captured in southern Baghdad by U.S. forces in a raid in April, and lived the last 11 months of his life in American custody.

Haiti

Advisory council picks new prime minister

Haiti’s U.S.-backed advisory council picked a former foreign minister as the new prime minister on Tuesday, a step toward forming a transitional government in this troubled nation.

Gerard Latortue’s appointment by the Council of Sages came as U.S. Marines said they would help Haitian police disarm the general population. The new program, set to begin later this week, will appeal to rebel groups and supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide who have demanded weapons be taken away from their enemies.

Unrest hit the capital again Tuesday as Aristide loyalists set up flaming barricades and stoned cars. There were no reports of serious injury.

Tokyo

Three Tenors considered for festival performance

North Korea may invite the Three Tenors to perform at its annual spring festival next month, a pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan reported Tuesday.

“We aspire to develop our festival into a world-class event. For example we are considering a program bold enough to invite the so-called Three Tenors: Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo,” said Song Sok Hwan, North Korea’s chief organizer for the festival.

North Korea’s April Spring Friendship Art Festival, timed to celebrate the April 15 birthday of national founder and late President Kim Il Sung, is the largest international event hosted by the isolated communist state every year.

For this year’s festivities, North Korea plans to invite 700 musicians and other artists from 40 countries, Song was quoted as saying.