Little progress cited in Iran-EU talks

MADRID -- Top envoys for Iran and the European Union ended talks yesterday with little indication they were closer to resolving a deadlock over Tehran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, but they agreed to meet again in two weeks. "Sometimes we are not able to move the process as we like, but in any case, the atmosphere continues to be very positive," said EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana after meeting with Ali Larijani, Iran's ranking nuclear negotiator. In Vienna, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Tehran to heed the UN Security Council and freeze enrichment, saying Washington was ready for wide-ranging discussions if it complied. (AP)

BOSNIA

BANJA LUKA -- A Bosnian Serb general accused of genocide in the 1992-95 Bosnia war was arrested by Serb and Bosnian police yesterday and was to be transferred to The Hague war crimes tribunal today. Zdravko Tolimir was a close aide of Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic, one of the top fugitives wanted by the United Nations tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands . He is believed to be the chief logistics operative in Mladic's network of supporters. The arrest boosts the prospects of both Serbia and Bosnia for closer ties with the European Union. (Reuters)

POLAND

WARSAW -- A court yesterday convicted 15 police officers of shooting to death nine miners who were protesting a Communist crackdown on the Solidarity movement in 1981. The decision drew loud applause from the packed courtroom in the southern mining center of Katowice. Many sang the Polish national anthem, despite calls from Judge Monika Sliwinska for order. The court ruled that police division leader Romuald Cieslak gave the order to fire on miners during protests at the Wujek and Manifest Lipcowy mines in December 1981, killing nine and wounding 25. (AP)