ANKARA (Reuters) – A military court yesterday remanded in custody the leader of Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party over charges that a fake health report enabled him to avoid military service, his party said. The ruling puts fresh pressure on the Democratic Society Party (DTP), which is facing the prospect of being closed down in a separate court case after prosecutors charged it with ties to outlawed Kurdish guerrillas. The court decision came after police detained DTP leader Nurettin Demirtas, 35, on Monday night as he disembarked his plane in Ankara after flying in from Germany. “Our party has become a target... Those engaged in politics should not have their path blocked,” former DTP leader Ahmet Turk told a news conference. The EU, which Turkey seeks to join, has urged Ankara not to shut down the DTP but have also said the party must distance itself from PKK militants.

PRISTINA (AP) – A top UN official who is being investigated for his ties with Kosovo leaders left the province yesterday after being told his contract would not be renewed, a UN official told The Associated Press. Retired US Army General Steven Schook, whose term as deputy head of the UN’s Kosovo mission officially ends December 31, will not be invited back to serve in the mission, a UN official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the case was still pending. The official gave no reason for Schook being asked to leave, and offered no details of the investigation.

The Netherlands will block moves to speed Serbia’s bid to join the European Union unless Belgrade hands over indicted war criminal Ratko Mladic to the UN tribunal in The Hague. Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen yesterday said Serbia should not be offered fast-track membership in return for allowing the independence of the breakaway province of Kosovo, which the Albanian majority is expected to proclaim next year. He said he would not sign an agreement advancing Serbia’s membership bid unless former Bosnian Serb military commander Mladic – charged with genocide – is handed over. (Reuters)

The death toll from the sinking of a boat overloaded with illegal immigrants off southwest Turkey climbed to eight as another body was found late on Monday, the Anatolia news agency reported. The body was recovered by the coast guard in the Aegean Sea off the popular resort of Bodrum, where the small 6-meter (20-foot) boat, packed with 17 people, capsized early Monday. (AFP)