World Briefs
April 7, 1996
Web posted at: 9:00 p.m. EDT (0100 GMT)Arafat seeks support in Saudi Arabia
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat met with Saudi leaders Sunday to try to persuade them to aid his efforts to end Israel's closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Saudis have long supported the Palestinians, but cut financial aid in 1990 when Arafat publicly supported Iraqi President Saddam Hussein after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Arafat has since distanced himself from the Iraqi leader.
Chirac calls for Mediterranean summit
CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- French President Jacques Chirac called for a summit of the heads of Mediterranean states, saying that France and Egypt should be the "motors" of a "pact of stability, peace, prosperity and development."
Chirac made the proposal at a press conference with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Chirac came to Cairo after stopping in Lebanon.
Chirac and Mubarak called for resumption of peace talks between Israel and neighboring Arab states, and discussed allegations by the United States that Libya is building a massive underground chemical weapons plant.
Bosnian excavations unearth bodies
MRKONJIC GRAD, Bosnia (CNN) -- Excavations at a mass grave site in northwestern Bosnia have uncovered seven bodies so far. The remains are believed to be those of Bosnians killed in Mrkonjic Grad near the end of last year, when it was controlled by Bosnian Croats.
Officials from the International Red Cross and the NATO-led Implementation Force are overseeing the excavation.
Greece re-enacts 1896 Olympic games
ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- There were marching bands and fireworks Sunday as 30,000 people gathered at the birthplace of the Olympic Games to celebrate their 100-year history and add another event in the countdown to the summer games in Atlanta.
Athletes from the original 10 countries vied on Saturday night for olive wreathes and silver and bronze medals -- there were no gold medals in 1896 -- at the Panathenian Stadium, where Sunday's revelry also was held.
The crowd, which included dignitaries and sports luminaries, bid the Olympic torch a raucous farewell as runners left the stadium for a tour of the Greek islands. The torch eventually will make its way to Atlanta.
The celebration showed a lessening of bitter Greek feelings over not being chosen to host the 1996 Olympics. Greece had vowed to shun 100th anniversary celebrations and even considered refusing to provide the Olympic flame for Atlanta.
Bosnian Serbs may be barred from aid conference
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNN) -- Carl Bildt, the man in charge of civilian rebuilding in Bosnia-Herzegovina, has threatened to bar the Bosnian Serbs from an upcoming conference because they failed to release all prisoners of war by last Friday's deadline.
According to the peace accord signed near Dayton, Ohio, the former warring factions must release all POWs to qualify for international aid.
Nations that attend the meeting in Brussels are to start shaping aid packages for Bosnia.
Yesterday's Briefs
