KANDAHAR (AP) - Afghan insurgents threatened yesterday to kill a Turkish hostage by the end of the day unless authorities release 18 Taleban prisoners, Mullah Akim Latifi, a rebel spokesman said. But Asadullah Khan, the governor of the province where the Turkish road engineer was abducted on Thursday, said no decision had been made on whether to accept the kidnappers’ demands. And a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Afghan and US-led coalition forces were trying to find him. The engineer, Hasan Onal, and his Afghan driver were abducted while returning to a camp for construction workers repairing the Kabul-Kandahar highway. The driver was released on Friday with a ransom note.

SKOPJE (AP) - The prime minister of FYROM announced on Saturday that he has replaced four Cabinet ministers, citing their alleged ineffectiveness at improving the economic situation in the impoverished country. “It is a fact that we haven’t had good results in our fight against unemployment,” Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski said, referring to his decision to dismiss the four ministers. He also said the government has “left an impression of indecisiveness, slowness and unwillingness to take risks.” Crvenkovski replaced the ministers of justice, finance, economy and transport and communications.

Four children died and seven were injured in southeastern Turkey yesterday after discarded ordinance exploded in a village bordering Iraq, military officials in the region told Reuters. The children, aged between seven and 14, died after tampering with an unexploded shell while playing in a field near Sirnak, located in Turkey’s turbulent southeast, the focus of a decades-long war between Kurdish militants and the Turkish army. (Reuters)

The frontrunner in Serbia’s upcoming presidential elections called on Saturday for a compromise among the feuding politicians in the pro-democracy bloc that ousted Slobodan Milosevic three years ago. “Serbia wants peace and unity, especially among those who are politically close,” said Dragoljub Micunovic, a veteran politician who is the candidate of the ruling pro-Western coalition. “I offer compromise — and a smile, not a frown,” Micunovic added. The November 16 vote will be Serbia’s third attempt since last fall to elect a head of state. Two previous attempts failed because of low turnout. (AP)

Authorities in FYROM on Saturday launched a 45-day amnesty for people to hand in illegal weapons. The amnesty will give people owning illegal arms until December 15 to hand in weapons without the usual heavy punishment meted out for the offense, authorities said. The collected weapons will be destroyed 90 days after the end of the operation, supervised by the European Union’s 400-strong peacekeeping force deployed in FYROM, Concordia. (AFP)