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  LAST FOREIGN JOURNALISTS IN TIBET EXPELLED

Chinese authorities on Thursday expelled the last two foreign journalists in Tibet. "A high-ranking functionary threatened us with the revocation of our Chinese visas," German Georg Blume said in a telephone interview from Lhasa before he and fellow German Kristin Kupfer were escorted to a train out of Tibet.
Blume, the China correspondent for the weekly German newspaper Die Zeit and the Berlin daily taz, said he and Kupfer, a correspondent for the Austrian magazine Profil, had resisted five days of police calls for them to leave the Himalayan region after demonstrations and violence broke out in Lhasa March 14.
"We were told today in an intimidating manner that if we did not go now, we would encounter large problems, namely over our visas," Blume said Thursday.
Earlier, James Miles, the correspondent for the British Economist magazine was ordered out of Tibet and several Hong Kong journalist were also expelled Monday.
Attempts by the German embassy and EU ambassador in Beijing to persuade Beijing to allow the journalists to remain were unsuccessful.
The violence involving Tibetan pro-independence demonstrators and Chinese forces was touched off by the 49th anniversary of the failed uprising in Tibet against Chinese rule on March 10.
The central government has confirmed 13 deaths during rioting Friday in Lhasa, and the Tibetan government in exile said it had confirmed the death of at least 80 people there. Exile groups have also reported deaths in violence in other parts of Tibet as well as outside the region.

BUSH OKS SUPPLYING ARMS TO KOSOVO

President George W. Bush authorized Wednesday supplying Kosovo with weapons, signaling the establishment of government-to-government relations after recognizing its independence, the White House said.
In a memo to the State Department made public by the White House, Bush said: "I hereby find that the furnishing of defense articles and defense services to Kosovo will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace."
A senior official said the authorization followed US recognition of Kosovo's independence and was part of the normal process of establishing relations with a new government.
The White House said Bush's move would strengthen U.S. security relations with Kosovo, promote security and stability throughout the Balkans and improve Kosovo's capacity to take part in peacekeeping activities, deter terrorists and deal with humanitarian emergencies.
Tensions have been high since Kosovo's declaration of independence, which Serbia says is illegal under international law.
"The actual provision of defense articles or defense services will be considered on a case-by-case basis, including with respect to relevant guidelines and criteria established in the existing Conventional Arms Transfer policy," the White House said. "Each request will also be reviewed to ensure that all legal requirements and constraints existing at the time with regard to the sale, lease, or other transfer are satisfied."		  
     
     
     
 

 

  
     
     
     
 

 

  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 NEWS

  MACEDONIAN, GREEK FOREIGN MINISTERS TO MEET FRIDAY IN BRUSSELS

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki will meet his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis on Friday in Brussels.
The meeting is another attempt for making progress in Macedonia-Greece talks on Athens' disputing of Macedonia's constitutional name, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said late Wednesday.
Milososki-Bakoyannis meeting is initiated by high-ranking US diplomats, the Ministry said.
Earlier, FM Milososki, said that Macedonia would resume to actively participate in talks with Greece under the auspices of Matthew Nimetz.
"We believe that he is still able to offer more adequate ideas that will create room for progress to both sides in the talks over the dispute of Greece with Macedonia's constitutional name", stressed Milososki.