European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 31, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday March 312007 stars and stripes Page 13 Zimbabwe opposition denies terrorist Label by Angus Shaw the associated press Harare Zimbabwe Zimbabwe main opposition party denied it was Stock piling weapons or waging a terror Campaign As state Media reported that police had seized weapons and explosives at the party Headquarters during a raid the top Leader of the movement for democratic change was freed after being held by police for several hours after wednes Days raid party officials added thursday police4enied arresting Morgan tvs Angira As he prepared to talk to reporters about a wave of political violence that left him briefly hospitalized at a news conference thursday opposition lawmaker Felix Mash said he and dozens of others arrested wednesday were beaten and kicked by police wielding riot Sticks tvs Angira was not beaten and was released after several hours detention to go to his doctor because he still was suffer ing dizzy spells from alleged police beat Ings earlier this month party officials told reporters there were fears at earlier this month that Tsyva Girais Skull had been fractured tvs Angira did not appear at thursdays news conference police arrested some 60 people in wednesdays raid including people with no connection to the opposition party who rented office space in its six Story Harvest building Headquarters Sendai Biti Secretary general of the movement for democratic change said at the news conference Biti said Many still were being held but he did not know How Many tvs Angira several people were released thursday morning including Mash Mash said those arrested were taken to police Headquarters where they made us lie on our bellies and beat our bellies but Tocks and feet police told state Media that they had seized weapons and explosives and arrested 10 activists at the party Headquarters in Harare on state television on wednes Day night police displayed explosives detonators and two handguns that they alleged were found at the Home of two arrested opposition officials police spokesman Wayne Blu Dziena said police found 53 Sticks of dynamite and 35 detonators in the Harare Home of one of the officials Pieniel Denga state television reported wednesday night that some of the seized explosives were of the Type the United states sold to the Zimbabwe National army in the 1980s president Robert Mugabe has accused Western nations especially former colonizer Britain of arming his opponents charges they deny police spokesman Blu Dziena said the dynamite was similar to that used in a Gaso line bombing on a train Friday in which five people were injured the Herald a government newspaper reported that suspected opposition opera Tives on wednesday mounted an unsuccessful petrol bomb attack on two gasoline tank ers near the Eastern City of mature the ninth alleged petrol bombing this month the tankers failed to ignite the newspaper reported the Mac does not have any Arsenal of weapons or armed movement the Story is not credible Tsyva Girais aide Eliphas  said he said the opposition was not waging an armed terror Campaign against the government As police claimed police had said they arrested a total of 35 opposition Mem Bers in recent Days saying they belonged to democratic resistance committees doubt cast on 1967 pow killings Brussels Belgium a pair of former in peacekeepers who witnessed the 1967 Ara israe i War have cast doubt on claims that israelis executed egyptian prisoners of War in the area where they were stationed an Issue that has sparked a diplomatic Row Between Israel and Egypt capt Milovan Zorc and Mio Bor Stosic a Mili tary Liaison official were members of the Yugo slav reconnaissance battalion that formed part of the 3400strong in emergency Force deployed As a Buffer Between Egypt and Israel they said that if an israeli unit had killed some 250 pos near the egyptian town of Learish they would Likely have come to know about it three hostages freed in France Saint Mande France three armed and hooded robbers held up a Post office in a Paris suburb on thursday tying up three hostages be fore fleeing empty handed when the Alert was raised officials said the three postal employees two men and a woman were freed by police unharmed with no shots fired officials said the hostages had been tied to chairs at their office in Saint Mande East of Paris Ermiss Bolivia faces drug charges la Paz Bolivia a former miss Bolivia has been arrested on charges of carrying 18 pounds of cocaine while boarding a flight to the brazilian Border officials said wednesday police said that Roxana Arias Becerra 32 miss Bolivia 1993 was arrested in Santa Cruz Al trom Pillo Airport As she boarded a plane tues Day police discovered the cocaine hidden in a false Bottom of Becerral Nylon Duffel bag the former Beauty Queen said she had just bought the bag in a local Street Market and was unaware of the drugs inside according to the bolivian newspaper Al Deber a detainees said tortured in Russia Moscow russian la enforcement Agen cies have tortured three former Guantanamo in mates and subjected them and four others to continual harassment and abuse a us based rights group said in a report thursday russian Interior ministry declined to com ment on the accusations the seven were detained by us forces in Afghanistan on suspicion of fighting for the Taliban they were released from Guantanamo Bay in 2004 and some were briefly jailed upon returning to Russia before being released after investigators said they found no evidence of Taliban involvement from the associated press Book discusses shrine secrecy Japan quietly honoured its top War criminals new documents reveal by Mari Yamaguchi the associated press Tokyo the japanese government decades ago secretly led efforts to Honor top War criminals at a Tokyo War shrine according to new documents released this week that undermine Tokyo stance that their enshrinement is a religious matter unrelated to politics Masukuni shrine which honors japans 25 million War dead is a diplomatic flashpoint Between Japan and its neighbors China and South Korea which see the shrine As a Symbol of japans militaristic past Classa War criminals executed for their role in world War ii were enshrined at Masukuni in 1978 but the government insisted it had no influence in the matter because the shrine is an inde pendent religious institution the chinese Side was represented by he Zhengyu director general of the chinese foreign ministry asian affairs department it said some 808 government and shrine documents made Public in a Book released wednesday titled a new edition of materials on the Masukuni shrine Issue indicated however that the government was instrumental in having the officials honoured there judging from the documents it was the health ministry that made the first move said Chi Fuyu Hiyama an official at the National diet parliament Library that published the 1200page Book the health ministry which was in charge of the War dead provided a list containing the names of executed Classa criminals including wartime Leader Hideki top according to a Jan 311969 Masukuni document Classa criminals can be honoured but the process must be carried out secretly the shrine document said citing an agreement with the ministry announcement should be avoided it added it took another nine years before the shrine added the 12 Classa War Crimi nals to the list of honoured War dead the decision was apparently delayed by a series of meetings and discussions among shrine officials japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe raises his hand to speak during a committee meeting at parliament in Tokyo on March 2 this week Abe rejected an inference made in the Book a new edition of materials on the Masukuni shrine Issue that the government decades ago secretly led efforts to Honor top War criminals at the shrine he repeated the governments position that it was the shrine that made the final decision and that the process did not violate the separation of religion and state the Book confirmed the govern ments initiative to enshrine War Crimi nals through Active interaction with the shrine said Koichi Nakano an associate professor of political science at to Kos prestigious Sophia University it shows the process involved a Seri Ous problem of separation of state and re Ligion he said prime minister Shinzo Abe however rejected the books inference that the government led the enshrinement and said thursday that the ministry had Only provided the information at the request of the shrine he repeated the governments Posi Tion that it was the shrine that made the final decision and that the process did not violate the separation of religion and state i do not think there is any problem Abe told reporters it is the shrine that carried out the enshrinement asked if the new finding would have any Impact on chinese Premier Wen Jia Baos visit next month Abe said i doubt it japans ties with China had soured under abes predecessor Junichiro Koizumi who had repeatedly visited the shrine despite chivas protests the Bilat eral relations have improved since Abe took office last september and he has not visited the shrine since in Seoul South Korea foreign minis try spokesman Cho Heeyong urged Japan to take responsible Steps Over the books revelations but did not elaborate the Book currently Only available to members of parliament is expected to be made available for Public viewing at parliament government agencies and offices next month Hiyama said the Book also contains 15 documents related to us policy on the shrine Dur ing its postwar occupation of Japan collected during the occupation by William Woodard a general Headquarters of the Allied forces religion expert Hiyama said the Library compiled the Book following a growing number of in quiries from lawmakers on Masukuni