BRUSSELS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac cautioned yesterday that Turkey might never reach the standards required for European Union membership and the bloc might have to find an alternative way to tie it to Europe. He reaffirmed that he fully supported opening accession negotiations with Ankara, as recommended by the executive European Commission, and hoped it would eventually join the 25-nation bloc. But in what appeared to be a nod to widespread hostility to Turkish membership in France, which has dented his popularity, he told a news conference at an EU summit that the outcome of the process was uncertain.

ANKARA (AFP) - Kurdish officials in Turkey yesterday refuted allegations that German tanks had been used against civilians in the southeast of the country during a 15-year rebellion by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). They were speaking to members of a German parliamentary delegation made up of members of the Greens, part of the ruling coalition in Germany. “The mayors of towns in the region told us that German tanks had not been used against (Kurdish) civilians,” said a member of a delegation who did not wish to be named. The lawmaker also said his delegation, which visited Sirnak, Cizre and Idil — all near the Syrian border — found no evidence of the use of German tanks in the region.

Serbian police will take over the country’s borders from the army of Serbia and Montenegro as of January 1, the Interior Ministry said yesterday. “In the first phase, the police will take over tasks of guarding the state border with Hungary” in the north, a statement carried by Fonet news agency said. (AFP)

The remains of 456 Muslim inmates of Serb detention camps during the 1992-95 war have been exhumed from a mass grave in northwestern Bosnia in just over two months, an official said yesterday. (AFP)

Beef sold in Bulgaria since June 2004 has not been certified free of mad-cow disease because the test used is not officially recognized by the EU, Roumen Valchovski, a virus expert and medical doctor, said yesterday. “Beef and sheep meat has been tested but certificates were not issued due to the fact that the test used has not been officially recognized by the European Union. Tons of meat went to the market in violation of European norms,” Valchovski told AFP. (AFP)