ISTANBUL (AP) - A court in central Turkey has ordered the arrest of nine Turks believed to have received training at Al Qaeda camps abroad, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The nine were held for questioning last week in the central Konya province as part of probes into a string of suicide attacks in November in Istanbul that killed 62 people and an attack this month on a Masonic lodge also in Istanbul. Prosecutors believe the nine were trained by Al Qaeda and the suspects confessed they had received training in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bosnia, Anatolia said.

BANJA LUKA (AFP) - Bosnian police on Saturday were probing the theft of 125 kilos of plastic explosives and detonators from a dam construction firm, fearing they could be used in an attack. “We are very worried. We can’t rule out that this explosive could be used in terrorist attacks,” police spokesman Miroslav Popara told AFP. The Hidrogradnja company, which specializes in dam construction, reported the theft on Friday of the explosives along with 895 meters of wire and 235 detonators from its stores in Pale, outside Sarajevo.

Thousands of protesters sat down in front of the heavily fortified government building Saturday in a demonstration to demand that the Cabinet resign due to allegations of corruption and its failure to improve living standards. The rally began in Tirana’s main square, with opposition leaders appealing for support in their attempt to oust the government. About 5,000 to 6,000 demonstrators took part in the rally, down from up to 20,000 in a similar demonstration a month ago. (AP)

Romanian President Ion Iliescu today begins a three-day official visit to Israel, his first to the Jewish state after he controversially appeared to play down the Holocaust last year. Iliescu is due to meet with his Israeli counterpart Moshe Katzav, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and former Labour government leader Shimon Peres during the visit. But the high point of Iliescu’s trip is likely to be his visit to the Yad Vashem memorial, where he is expected to seek to soothe Jewish sensibilities. (AFP)

Tens of thousands of Kurds in southeast Turkey yesterday celebrated peacefully the Newroz, their traditional New Year which has been marred by tensions and bloodshed in the past. Police stepped up security measures in the region, whose predominantly Kurdish population has often used the day to demonstrate in favor of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a 15-year war against the Ankara government. (AFP)