World in brief: Vote sustains Zelaya ouster
Tegucigalpa, Honduras – The Honduran Congress on Wednesday quashed the last possibility that ousted President Manuel Zelaya could be returned to office, voting that the coup that deposed him five months ago should stand.
In a daylong session that participants hoped would help ease the international diplomatic crisis engulfing Honduras, members of Congress debated whether Zelaya’s actions as president violated laws and whether he should be allowed to finish his term ending Jan. 27. But there wasn’t that much debate: Most members of Congress had decided against Zelaya long before they arrived at the downtown legislative building.
“Reinstating him would be admitting we did something wrong or illegal, and we didn’t do anything wrong or illegal,” Carlos Kattan, a lawmaker from the National Party, told the Los Angeles Times, referring to the June 28 ouster of Zelaya.
The final tally in favor of a motion against Zelaya’s reinstatement was 111 to 14.
Wednesday’s actions followed elections on Sunday that Honduras’ de facto rulers said would end their nation’s international isolation.
Chechen rebels say they bombed train
Moscow – Chechen rebels took responsibility Wednesday for a bombing last week that derailed a passenger train bound from Moscow to St. Petersburg, killing 26 people and injuring 87 others.
The claim was carried on Kavkazcenter.com, a Web site that often carries information from Islamic rebels seeking independence for the Russian republic of Chechnya.
A spokesman for the investigating committee of Russia’s general prosecutor’s office refused to comment Wednesday on the claim.
Analysts said that the Islamic rebels’ claim, whether true or not, would raise tensions in the Caucasus and lead to an increase in raids and arrests by authorities of ethnic people from the Caucasus region.
Mayor arrested in settlement clash
Jerusalem – Israeli security forces arrested the mayor of a Jewish settlement Wednesday as he and other residents tried to prevent government inspectors from entering the community to enforce new restrictions on building in the West Bank.
The skirmish in Beit Arieh was the most serious in five days of confrontations across the territory between a government that appears intent on limiting settlement growth over the next 10 months and a settler movement determined to defy the effort.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a partial construction moratorium last week under U.S. pressure, and the Obama administration applauded the decision in hope of coaxing the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority to resume peace talks with Israel.
But with the Palestinians refusing to negotiate, the conservative Israeli leader faces the prospect of more right-wing protests with no diplomatic advance to show for it.
The moratorium halts new permits for housing construction across the West Bank. Palestinians call the measure a sham because it will allow nearly 3,000 housing units in various stages of building to be completed and will not prohibit new synagogues, schools and other nonresidential buildings.