Officials seek larger Afghan police effort

BERLIN - Germany's foreign and interior ministers said the size of the European Union's police training mission in Afghanistan should be doubled, and offered in an article published yesterday to double Berlin's contingent. The EU has said the mission should be fully up and running by April after months of difficulties. Nearly 200 police trainers are due to be deployed. "After a difficult initial phase, the European police mission, Eupol, is finally finding its feet," Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wrote in a joint commentary for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper. "Beyond this, we advocate doubling the personnel of Eupol and will make corresponding proposals to our European colleagues," they added. The EU started its police training mission last June to supplement 500 American specialists in the country training the Afghan police. NATO officials complain the weakness of the Afghan police force is undermining efforts to stabilize the country. (AP)

MERIDA - Investigators began retrieving the bodies of 46 people who died in a plane crash in the Venezuelan Andes as victims' relatives mourned their loved ones during a Sunday Mass. Forensic specialists brought six body bags down from the crash site, a steep slope 13,500 feet above sea level, General Ramon Vinas, Venezuela's civil aviation director, said. The twin-engine ATR42-300 crashed and burst into flames Thursday in the Sierra La Culata National Park, shortly after taking off from the Andean city of Merida on a flight to Caracas. Three crew members and 43 passengers were aboard. It could take weeks to recover and identify all the bodies through DNA testing, said Noel Marquez, director of Merida's emergency management agency. (AP)

YEREVAN - Thousands of opposition supporters protested in Armenia's capital yesterday, demanding a rerun of the disputed presidential vote and denouncing the detention of several allies in their confrontation with the government. More than 20,000 people protested for a fifth day in a central square where the opposition has maintained a round-the-clock vigil, and hundreds broke away to march through the streets in the early evening. A warning from the outgoing president raised concerns that police could seek to disperse the demonstrators. Supporters of opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian say Tuesday's election was rigged and are demanding a new vote. The government says Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian won the presidency fairly . (AP)

BEIJING - A Chinese court has sentenced three people to life in prison and handed jail terms to another 14 for their roles in a coal mine explosion that killed 105 miners late last year, Xinhua news agency reported today. Those sentenced to life included a manager at the Xinyao Coal Mine and an investor in the mine in the northern province of Shanxi, where a gas blast tore through the shaft on Dec. 5. At the time of the explosion, 128 miners were working - more than the maximum 60 allowed. The company increased output and expanded production to new coal beds without approval, said the Xinhua report. (Reuters)