BRATISLAVA - Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said yesterday no connection should be made between the death sentence imposed on Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan and Turkey’s bid to join the European Union. The EU, which made Turkey an entry candidate in 1999, has demanded that Ankara abolish capital punishment and adopt other human rights reforms before accession talks can begin. During his two-day visit to Slovakia, Sezer noted changes planned or already made to abolish the death penalty in most cases but said the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Ocalan, presently on death row, was a separate issue. (Reuters)

THE HAGUE - Slobodan Milosevic’s trial at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague was delayed for 24 hours yesterday after a small fire forced officials to whisk him back to prison and evacuate the building. Hundreds of officials, visitors and journalists were evacuated from the building after a frying pan in a second-floor canteen caught fire while officials ate breakfast. Milosevic was taken back to the court’s Hague detention center. (Reuters)

Romanian President Ion Iliescu yesterday urged civil servants to help weed out corruption by alerting their superiors if someone higher up asks for a bribe or other illegal favor. The president’s plea was the latest in statements on rampant corruption, which US officials say threatens to destabilize Romania and prevents it from qualifying for membership in European organizations, including the European Union. “If an official asks for a bribe, he should be seized by the collar and fired,” Iliescu said. “The person who was asked to pay a bribe should be the first to sound the alarm.” (AP)

Posters in support for war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic were yesterday plastered around the Bosnian town of Foca following last week’s failed raids by NATO troops to capture him. Posters were pasted over a billboard which previously advertised a US reward of up to 5 million dollars (5.7 million euros) for the capture of Karadzic and former Bosnian-Serb military chief Ratko Mladic. “Until death and doomsday, we are going to defend brother Radovan,” said the new posters, sporting a black-and-white picture of Karadzic. The message was written in Serbian. (AFP)

Four ethnic Albanians were arrested yesterday on suspicions they planted an explosive device in an ethnically tense southern Serbian region, Yugoslav police said. The four are suspected of placing 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of explosives Sunday in downtown Bujanovac, just across the border from Kosovo. Police discovered the device before it exploded. The package, which was placed in a concrete flower pot next to a pedestrian street crossing, could have caused substantial damage. The four, ages 18 to 21, were jailed for 30 days pending an investigation, a police statement said. (AP)