Spain outlaws Basque party on terrorism fear
MADRID, Spain ÷ Parliament overwhelmingly approved a legal ban against a Basque political party yesterday after a judge ordered its offices closed, accusing it of complicity in the "crimes against humanity" of the outlawed separatist group ETA.
Parliament's lower house voted 295-10 asking the government to initiate proceedings for the Supreme Court to declare the radical Basque party Batasuna illegal.
The move tightened the noose around the party, which has seven seats in the Basque regional assembly following passage of a law in June allowing the court to outlaw parties deemed to be actively or tacitly supporting terrorism.
The parliamentary motion was passed during a special session convened during summer recess, with Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and his entire Popular Party government present.
"Batasuna is a mask of ETA that justifies ETA's crimes," Luis de Grandes, member of the ruling Popular Party, told the session.
Parliament acted hours after Judge Baltasar Garzon, Spain's most prominent anti-terrorism crusader, ordered Batasuna's activities suspended for three years.
Batasuna's offices will be closed and the 24-year-old party will be barred from calling public demonstrations or political rallies or receiving a share of electoral funds, according to Garzon's 375-page order.
The party also cannot run in municipal elections scheduled for May of next year.
But lawmakers representing the party will be allowed to serve out their terms in the 75-member Basque regional parliament.
The party won 10 percent of the vote in the last Basque regional election in May 2001, and the next regional poll must be called by May 2005. The party also has nearly 900 town councilors in the three Basque provinces and neighboring Navarra.
Although Batasuna denies any links with ETA, the government alleges that the party is a key part of the armed group's shadowy network of commandos, fund-raising activities and recruitment operations.
Authorities also accuse Batasuna of fomenting street violence by radical Basque youth groups through its strong anti-Spanish stances and its refusal to condemn ETA's attacks.
McAfrika burger compromise will relieve starving
OSLO, Norway ÷ Humanitarian groups criticized McDonald's for a new sandwich called the McAfrika, saying the offering is poorly timed because millions of Africans are facing starvation.
But aid officials yesterday welcomed an agreement by the fast-food restaurant chain to inform customers about the potential famine in southern Africa and tell them how they can help, Tarje Wanvik of the group Norwegian Church Aid said yesterday.
McDonald's was stung by bad publicity in the Norwegian media last week when it announced that the new sandwich, made of beef and vegetables and wrapped in pita bread, will be sold at 15 restaurants in Oslo.
The sandwich was advertised as being based on African recipes.
"There was nothing wrong with the name. It was the timing," Wanvik said. "They launched it just as a famine in Africa is starting."
Aid groups fear that as many as 13 million people are in danger of starvation in several southern African nations.
They called the U.S. fast food giant's campaign "distasteful."
McDonald's Norway spokeswoman Margaret Brusletto said McDonald's was "very happy with the solution that was reached" with Norwegian Church Aid and the Norwegian Red Cross.
She said the groups would be able to put collection boxes inside restaurants where McAfrika is sold and promote their campaigns with tray liners and posters.
Face lift and eye job leaves another dead
MIAMI ÷ Three patients have died since 1997 following routine cosmetic surgeries at a south Florida clinic, the latest one this month, records show.
Olga Myers, 42, of Hollywood, Fla., died Aug. 7 when taken off life support.
She had been in a coma for a week after undergoing a face lift and eye job from Dr. Alton E. Ingram Jr. at the Cosmetic Surgery Center in Hollywood.
Ingram has since left the clinic and has declined to comment on the case, citing doctor-patient confidentiality.
The clinic's director, Dr. Richard Edison, was out of the office yesterday, but an employee at the center said he has no comment.
Different doctors performed the two other procedures at the clinic that involved patients who later died.
Ronald Jones went to the clinic for an eyelid job in 1997 so his glasses would fit better, but stopped breathing while under heavy sedation during the procedure.
Jones' family sued Edison and the clinic in 2000.
