Lebanon

Car bomb injures seven

A car bomb early today rocked a predominantly Christian neighborhood in northern Beirut, destroying part of a building and wounding at least seven people, police said.

The explosive left a 7-foot-deep crater in the roadway and shattered windows for several blocks in the New Jdeideh neighborhood.

The target of the attack wasn’t immediately clear, but it came amid political turmoil in Lebanon in the wake of the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and the subsequent withdrawal of Syrian troops to east Lebanon and Syria.

Thousands of Lebanese have been participating in demonstrations for and against Syria since Hariri was killed. Anti-Syrian opposition demonstrations have included large numbers of Maronite Christians.

Witnesses said the car attempted to stop in front of a bingo hall, but security guards asked its driver to move along. The driver then parked the car a short way down the road. Minutes later it exploded.

The bomb blew off the first and second story facades of a building. It also damaged parked cars and shops in the vicinity.

French Guiana

World donors outline aid projects for Haiti

World donors approved $1 billion in aid projects for Haiti on Friday, promising to repair its roads and rebuild its battered power grid, in an effort to help the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation as it prepares for fall elections.

The relief is a confirmation of money pledged last summer, but diplomats attending the one-day summit said assigning specific projects to each nation would increase accountability. In July, donors pledged $1.3 billion for Haiti but less than a fifth of it has been disbursed.

“If a project isn’t going well or according to plan, you’ll know who to ask,” Canadian Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew said at the summit organized by France and held in French Guiana’s capital, Cayenne.

A little more than a year after former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted amid an armed rebellion, Haiti’s roads, schools and hospitals remain in disrepair, undermining faith in the new government. Languishing projects also have meant few new jobs for Haitians.

Jerusalem

Israeli army prepares for Gaza pullout

The Israeli army on Friday barred its citizens from moving into the Gaza Strip and said it would begin removing military equipment from the area over the next two weeks.

Also Friday, Israel welcomed a truce declared by Palestinian militants and promised to hold its fire, but demanded that the Palestinian Authority eventually dismantle the armed groups. In a sign of the challenges ahead, the Popular Resistance Committees, a rogue Palestinian group, said it would not honor the deal.

The Gaza relocation ban, effective immediately, is meant to prevent Jewish settlers opposed to the withdrawal from fulfilling a pledge to bring tens of thousands of supporters.

Israel TV quoted settler leaders as saying they considered the decree illegal and planned to ignore it. A military official said there might be no effective way of knowing if someone entering the strip leaves at day’s end.

Israeli officials said plans have already been drawn up to relocate all forces in Gaza to nearby bases in southern Israel. The Gaza pullout is scheduled to begin in July.

Paris

Russian, EU leaders discuss Iranian nukes

European leaders formed a united front with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, emphasizing their common position on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

At a news conference, Putin and the leaders of France, Germany and Spain said there was no contradiction between Russian nuclear cooperation with Iran and Europe’s efforts to ensure that Tehran is not building nuclear weapons.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that although his country was aiding Iran’s civilian nuclear program, Tehran also must prove that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons.

The informal talks were a chance for the Europeans, led by French President Jacques Chirac, to assure Putin that Europe wants good relations with Moscow and to gently steer him toward greater democracy.

Turkey

Ambassador resigns

The U.S. ambassador to Turkey has submitted his resignation after less than two years on the job, the State Department confirmed Friday, a decision that comes amid tensions between the two countries over the war in Iraq.

U.S. Ambassador Eric Edelman plans to resign from the Foreign Service this summer for personal reasons, said Adam Ereli, a spokesman for the State Department. Ereli said the ambassador “is leaving Turkey on positive, friendly, cooperative terms,” and the spokesman declined to comment on Turkish reports that the ambassador would take a position in the Pentagon.

During a trip to the country earlier this year, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reportedly instructed Edelman to do more to calm anti-Americanism in the Turkish media.