INDIA Freed Kashmiri Militant Backs Off Threats Against US A prominent Muslim cleric freed by India to end the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane backed off threats against the U.S.,saying he is no Osama bin Laden and that India is the only target in hiscampaign to free Kashmir. Late Friday, Maulana Masood Azhar partially retreated from comments hemade Wednesday in a fiery speech in Karachi, where he told thousands ofpeople that they should destroy the U.S. and India. Published january 12, 2000 Read more | Top CHINA New leaders coming up in Shanghai "I want Muslims to unite against Indian terrorism being inflicted onKashmiri people," Azhar told The Associated Press in a telephoneinterview from his hometown of Bawahalpur. "I am not Osama. I am justfighting for Kashmir." Azhar was freed along with Mushtaq Zargar, an Indian Kashmiri, andAhmed Umar Saeed Sheikh, a Pakistani-born British citizen, on Dec. 31 inexchange for 155 passengers and crew members aboard a hijacked IndianAirlines aircraft. Published january 12, 2000 Read more | Top JAPAN Legislation shall Force the Banks to Change Azhar said the comments in his earlier speech were taken out of context and that he had only warned the U.S. to not involve itself in the disputeover Kashmir. The U.S. accuses bin Laden, a Saudi dissident, of running an international terrorist network. Washington also accuses bin Laden of masterminding thebombings of its embassies in Africa in August 1998. Bin Laden, who is inAfghanistan, denies the charge. Published january 12, 2000 Read more | Top RUSSIA The Duma´s first test for Putin next week "Our struggle is against India," he said. "And fighting to liberate one's own country is not terrorism. Indians committed a crime by seizing the Muslim-majority state of Kashmir. We want it back because it is part of Pakistan. America should have no problem with that." Published january 12, 2000 Read more | Top EU Report On European Union Business And Politics EU leaders call for more trappings of statehood for union. EU leaders seize an obvious opportunity to think big at the beginning of the new millennium. Commission President Prodi calls for an end to EU member states' veto powers, while the German member of the European Court of Justice calls for an EU constitution. Never mind that the EU isn't a country, both leaders say. With a common currency, open borders, a mountain of case law that approximates a constitution and talk of extensive defense cooperation, at least for most members, the EU is already much more than an intergovernmental talk shop. Guenter Hirsch, the German judge, says the EU has "reached the point where it needs a constitution to strengthen its legitimacy." Prodi says the requirement for unanimity in many EU decisions is incompatible not only with a future union of 500 million citizens, but already with the 374 million it already has. Published january 12, 2000 Read more | Top USA Gore is Able to Miss the Nomination WORLD WIDE WAIT: European consumers go slow on electronic commerce. A study prepared for the European Commission by German consumer group Stiftung Warentest finds European consumers still wary of electronic commerce. Some reasons: poor delivery records, fears about data privacy and slow Internet connections. Published january 12, 2000 Read more | Top