Cholil Bisri dies
People's Consultative Assembly deputy speaker Cholil Bisri, 62, died on Monday at his residence in Rembang, Central Java, after suffering from a liver ailment and low blood pressure. He is survived by his wife and eight children. A student at the Muslim boarding school founded by Cholil and brother Mustofa, Akhmad Dahlan, said Cholil was found dead by his doctor at 8:40 p.m. "He died in peace," Akhmad said, adding that the National Awakening Party (PKB) politician would be buried on Tuesday near his father in a family cemetery plot. -- JP
Sudan rejects African troop offer
Sudan rejected an offer of African troops to disarm rebels in Darfur as peace talks began in Nigeria, insisting it was capable of neutralizing both progovernment and rebel militia fighting in the western region. Rebels, in turn, said they would not accept disarmament by Sudanese government forces to end an 18-month-old conflict. Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo made the proposal ahead of the talks in Abuja, arguing that Sudanese forces were incapable of disarming the rebels without more fighting in Darfur, where the conflict has already killed up to 50,000 people. -- Reuters
Tigers issue fresh warning
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers issued a fresh warning on Monday to Sri Lankan security forces against supporting renegade rebels and risking the collapse of a Oslo-brokered truce. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in a letter to the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, said security forces had colluded with a breakaway Tiger faction to kill two LTTE members in the island's east last week. The LTTE accused the Sri Lankan army of "accommodating and encouraging the activities of armed groups", and warned that it is a "serious threat to normalcy and maintaining the integrity of the truce", the Tamil website reported. -- AFP
Israel plans 530 settler homes
Israel plans to build 530 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank after Washington softened its opposition to growth in Jewish enclaves, a policy shift Palestinians say will make peace impossible. Israeli political sources said on Monday the construction, together with tenders for 1,000 other homes approved last week by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, would mainly affect settlements near Jerusalem and be in full swing by the end of 2004. Six earthmovers were already hard at work on Monday carving up a rocky hill crest beyond the last line of houses in Har Gilo settlement, sandwiched between two Palestinian villages south of Jerusalem. Officials said about 200 homes would be built there. -- Reuters