DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) - Dozens of mayors from Turkey’s troubled southeast could face up to 10 years in jail for sending a letter to Denmark’s prime minister, a court indictment showed yesterday. A state prosecutor has charged 56 mayors with “knowingly and willingly helping” the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) when they urged Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen not to close the Danish-based Kurdish broadcaster Roj TV. No date has been set for the trial and the criminal court must still accept the charges for the case to go ahead.

SOFIA (Reuters) - Almost half of Bulgarians believe their country is not ready to join the European Union next year because their political leaders lack the will to push through reforms, a poll showed yesterday. A poll conducted by the state-funded agency NPOC showed 48.2 percent of Bulgarians think the country is not ready for entry, against 36.9 percent who considered it prepared. “Bulgarians are skeptical, because they are not convinced politicians are making enough efforts to prepare the country for EU entry,” Lilia Yordanova, director of NPOC, told Reuters.

Romanian officials yesterday welcomed an Amnesty International report they said underpinned Bucharest’s claim to have never helped US rendition of security suspects. “I think the report by this human rights organization reflects a reality also confirmed by the (Romanian) parliamentary committee’s conclusions,” Norica Nicolai, the head of the investigation of alleged CIA flights told AFP. “Romania never housed CIA detention centers,” she said. (AFP)

Australia’s highest court yesterday dismissed a bid by accused Serbian war criminal Dragan Vasiljkovic to block his extradition to Croatia. Vasiljkovic is accused of ordering the torture, killing or expulsion of Croatian prisoners of war and civilians while commanding a rebel Serb paramilitary unit in Croatia in the early 1990s during the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia. The 51-year-old Australian citizen, also known by the pseudonym “Captain Dragan,” has been held in a Sydney jail since January 20 pending extradition on the charges, which carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence. (AP)

Serbia could sign a key pre-membership deal with the EU by the end of the year if the authorities arrest top war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic soon, an official said yesterday. Tanja Miscevic, government official in charge of EU talks, said that Serbia has worked to implement the reform requested by the bloc, despite the suspension of negotiations earlier this year over Mladic. “We have been working on all the priorities, including the judicial and administrative reform,” Miscevic said. (AP)