TIRANA (AP) - Police said yesterday they had seized an apartment belonging to a man alleged to have worked with Osama bin Laden on setting up terror networks in Albania. On Wednesday, police took control of a three-room flat belonging to Abdul Latif Saleh, who holds Jordanian and Albanian citizenship, in Kukes, 200 kilometers northeast of the capital Tirana, a statement said.

BUCHAREST (AP) - Romanian authorities yesterday ordered two television stations to take their reality TV shows off the air because they infringe on individuals’ privacy rights. The two shows — “Betrayed in Love” and “Taxi Driver” — target “ordinary people who don’t hold public office and are often harassed, humiliated or put in undignified situations,” the National Audio-Visual Council, which regulates Romania’s television and radio market, said in a statement. The council added that, according to licensing rules, stations must show respect for human rights.

Turkish Minister of State Kursad Tuzmen said yesterday that Iraq had two days to pay its debts or it would no longer get fuel from Turkey. “If no progress on the subject of payment is reached by the 21st [January], we will stop forwarding fuel to Iraq,” Tuzmen said. (AP)

Romania will give a total of 170,000 lei ($56,700 or 47,200 euros) in compensation to victims of a mine explosion that killed seven and injured five and their families, authorities said yesterday. The blast last week was caused by a short-circuit in faulty electric cables and an accumulation of methane in the 800-meter deep shaft. (AP)

Human Rights Watch has criticized Montenegro’s judiciary for its handling of the war crimes case of the 1992 deportation and subsequent execution of a group of Bosnian Muslims. The report by the New York-based group, made available to AP yesterday, said the case illustrated ineptness and lack of independence in the tiny Balkan republic’s judiciary. Montenegro’s police went on trial in October for the 1992 deportation of 34 Bosnian Muslims that led to 28 of them being killed. (AP)

Bulgaria elected a new chief prosecutor yesterday, which analysts hailed as key to overcoming rampant graft and organized crime, the key obstacle to its plan to join the EU next year. The Supreme Judiciary Council elected Boris Velchev, a 43-year-old associate professor of criminal law, to replace Nikola Filchev, who diplomats say blocked progress in the country’s feeble judicial system. (Reuters)

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, will take part in a charity benefit in Bucharest next week to help “the underprivileged children of Romania and Europe,” event organizers said yesterday. Rowling will attend a fundraising dinner next Wednesday with celebrities, including Romanian gymnastics champion Nadia Comaneci. (AFP)