BRUSSELS (Reuters) - About 4,000 Turkish Kurds marched through the center of Brussels on Saturday, demanding that Kurdistan is recognized and included in Turkey's entry talks with the European Union, scheduled to start today. The demonstration, organized by the Confederation of Kurdish Associations in Europe, also called on Ankara to free Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who was captured in 1999. Organizers had hoped that 15,000 Kurds living in Europe would march through downtown Brussels, but many buses carrying participants were delayed due to bad weather, police said.

BELGRADE (AP) - Serbia's pro-Western president will demand that Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica explain the detention this week of a leading government critic, his office said yesterday. President Boris Tadic, who also heads the opposition Democrats, said the «unlawful taking into custody, without reasonable doubt, constitutes a violation of human and civil rights,» according to a statement from his office. The carefully worded statement was veiled criticism of conservative premier Kostunica. The government must «provide all details that prompted the detention» and explain the circumstances to the public which is «worried over persecution of political opponents,» it said.

A cruise boat traveling on the Danube River and carrying dozens of tourists caught fire in southern Slovakia yesterday, injuring several people and leaving one missing, rescue services said. The 100-meter Romanian cruise boat was carrying about 50 Norwegian and 30 French tourists among others, when it caught fire while anchored near the town of Sap some 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of the capital Bratislava and was evacuated. The missing person was believed to be a Serbian woman, he added. (AFP)

Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic has asked the European Parliament to examine allegations that the Serb minority's rights are being violated in the UN and NATO-run southern province of Kosovo, his office said on Saturday. In a letter to European Parliament President Josep Borrell, Draskovic asked that «the European Parliament examine the most serious violations of national and civic rights of the Serbs and other non-Albanians» in the disputed province. Draskovic criticized a European Parliament resolution passed on Thursday that condemned Belgrade for what Parliament called «repeated breaches of human rights» in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina. (AP)