ANKARA (AP) – Turkey’s foreign minister yesterday criticized Austria for allowing a wanted Kurdish rebel to fly to northern Iraq instead of being returned to Turkey and accused European allies of undermining the fight against terrorism. Turkey on Wednesday summoned the Austrian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry where she was handed a note formally objecting to Vienna sending Ali Riza Altun to northern Iraq, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said. Altun is allegedly in charge of the Kurdish rebel group the PKK’s finances in Europe. Gul said Altun was on an Interpol wanted list and had been detained by Austrian authorities for traveling on a false ID. “But he was placed on a plane and sent to Iraq,” Gul told reporters. “This is a grave error and unacceptable. We strongly protested this and asked for an explanation. This corrodes the foundations of international cooperation against terrorism.”

BUDAPEST (AP) – A tourist bus collided with a truck and crashed onto train tracks in southern Hungary in the early hours of yesterday, police said. The truck driver and six bus passengers were killed, and 16 people were injured. The bus was in a head-on collision with a German-registered car transporter, then crashed through a fence.

Bulgaria’s parliament closed legal loopholes yesterday that allowed property developers to build holiday flats in “protected” wilderness areas. The changes to environmental legislation mean the protected status of the areas can no longer be challenged and all ongoing suits of that kind must be dropped. “The protected status of nature reserves, wilderness areas, national parks, and historical heritage sites cannot be contested in court,” the amendments to the legislation read. (AFP)

Croatia’s efforts to join the European Union are on track but the most complex issues lie ahead, Vincent Degert, the European Commission’s envoy in Zagreb, said yesterday. “The overall assessment is that talks are progressing according to schedule. We now have a clear picture of Croatia and what needs to be done in all of the 33 (negotiating) chapters,” Degert told Reuters. Croatia opened six new chapters in June, bringing the number to 12 and moving well ahead of fellow candidate Turkey, which also started talks in October 2005. (Reuters)