World / Nation Briefs - Venezuela Strike Leader Arrested - The killings of three dissident soldier: Not Political
COMPILED FROM NEWS DISPATCHES
February 20, 2003 Vatican Files on Nazis The first documents from newly opened Vatican archives dealing with the Roman Catholic Church's relations with Germany on the eve of World War II are beginning to emerge, including a letter seeking papal intervention against the Nazis written by a famed Jewish convert to Catholicism, Edith Stein. The letter's existence has been known for decades - Stein wrote about it before she was killed at Auschwitz in 1942 - but its text was published for the first time yesterday in the Italian paper Corriere della Sera. Other documents from the era are also coming to light, including one some historians say proves the Vatican did intervene on behalf of the Jews: a document from 1933 that shows the Vatican ordered its diplomats in Germany to warn Hitler's government not to persecute Jews. The documents have become available following the Vatican's decision to open its prewar archives to scholars years ahead of schedule to deflect criticism that it was silent in the face of the Holocaust.
Muslim Leader Expelled Norway said yesterday that it planned to expel the founder of a radical Kurdish Islamic group who is suspected by Washington of having links to the Iraqi government and the al-Qaida terrorist network. Mullah Krekar, leader of Ansar al-Islam, was given two weeks to leave Norway and three weeks to appeal the ruling. Krekar has denied he or his group has any links to terrorism. Officials said they wanted Krekar, who has had refugee status in Norway since 1991, sent to Kurdish-held northern Iraq. Amnesty International called the plan irresponsible, saying Oslo should test its suspicions that Krekar has links to terrorism in court rather than send him home.
S. Korea Tightens Security A subway fire that killed more than 125 people Tuesday in South Korea is forcing officials to strengthen safety measures on trains. Officials with the subway system in Taegu, the country's third-largest city, promised to install emergency lighting, increase the number of exit signs, make car interiors flame-resistant and heighten security. The city government also said it would increase the number of guards, set up security cameras and quickly run a series of fire drills in subway stations. Police, meanwhile, said the blaze was ignited by a suicidal man who did not want to die alone. Kim Dae-han, 56, who was hospitalized with light burns, told authorities "he decided to die with others in a crowded place," said police Lt. Cho Doo-won.
Sex Abuse Lawsuits Upheld A judge refused yesterday to dismiss more than 400 sexual abuse lawsuits against the Boston Archdiocese, rejecting arguments that the Constitution bars the courts from interfering with church operations. The lawsuits allege church officials were negligent in their supervision of priests accused of molesting children. Church lawyers had argued that the court does not have jurisdiction over cases involving the relationship between a church supervisor and a priest because that involves church policy, which is protected by the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion. But Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney said: "The cases ... do not lure the court into involving itself in church doctrine, faith, internal organization or discipline." Sweeney dismissed claims that church supervisors were negligent in their ordination of a priest or their failure to remove a priest from the priesthood, saying those were "purely ecclesiastical matters." She also rejected arguments that because a priest is a priest 24 hours a day, church supervisors can be held liable for anything he does.
Killings Not Political Venezuela reeled yesterday from the killings of three dissident soldiers and a protester opposed to President Hugo Chávez, as police and grieving relatives split over whether the homicides were political. Police said about 12 unidentified armed men kidnapped the four victims Saturday as they were leaving a protest. The last two bodies were found Tuesday. Police said the motive for the killings appeared to be revenge, not politics. They cited an alleged scuffle between the slain soldiers and a fellow protester, who has become the lead suspect. Relatives of the victims slammed the probe as corrupt and said the four were clearly killed for their protests against Chávez.