BUCHAREST (AP) - President Ion Iliescu yesterday lashed out at an Israeli newspaper, saying it committed fraud when it quoted him as saying the Holocaust was not unique to the Jews. The comments outraged the Israeli government, which protested to Romania. Iliescu responded with a letter to Israeli President Moshe Katzav, saying he had never meant to downplay Jewish suffering during the Nazi era with his comments. Emil Boc, the opposition Democratic Party’s deputy leader, said he would try to have the president suspended — a move unlikely to succeed. The president’s press office yesterday issued a statement accusing the newspaper of intentionally distorting the interview.

BUCHAREST (AP) - Romanian police are investigating a couple on charges they kept their daughter confined to a small, dark room for 19 years, police said yesterday. Police are investigating Jozsef and Vera Hathazi on charges they deprived their daughter Edit, now 38, of her liberty during the confinement, which allegedly began when Edit Hathazi as a 19-year-old gave birth to a daughter out of wedlock, police spokeswoman Andreea Buzsi said. Police found Edit two weeks ago when they visited the family home because her identity documents had expired.

The attorneys and brother of imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan called yesterday for an independent panel of doctors to examine Ocalan, saying he has been complaining about health problems. Attorney Dogan Erbas said he last met with his client on Aug. 6 and that Ocalan complained about breathing problems, congestion, and symptoms of bronchitis. “His condition has worsened,” Erbas said in a telephone interview. “An independent team of doctors should check his health.” (AP)

NATO yesterday began a monthlong military exercise that aims to show that the alliance is able to reinforce its peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and Kosovo with reservists, a statement said. More than 6,000 reserve soldiers from NATO and its partner countries will be deployed as part of the exercise, aimed at “sending a clear message of the (alliance’s) resolve and commitment to maintain peace and stability in the overall Balkans region,” the NATO statement said. (AP)