World Scene

BELARUS

KGB says American lacks immunity

MINSK — The United Nations demanded that Belarus free an American arrested in the ex-Soviet republic, but the country’s spy service, the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB), yesterday insisted that the man is not protected by diplomatic immunity.

KGB spokesman Alexander Bazanov said Ilya Mafter, a long-term employee of the Open Society Institute who also was working on a project organized by the U.N. Development Program, had set up an illegal communication facility and earned about $100,000 in illegal revenue in six months.

The institute said Mr. Mafter was working on a project in collaboration with the Belarusian Ministry of Education to help expand Internet service.

THAILAND

Government calls deaths unintentional

TALOH MANOH — Villagers yesterday buried some of the 78 Muslims who died in military custody after a protest in troubled southern Thailand, while authorities insisted at a briefing for diplomats that the detainees were not intentionally mistreated.

The deaths occurred after a protest on Monday outside a police station in Narathiwat province turned violent, with at least seven persons killed, apparently shot by security forces. Then, as 1,300 people were rounded up and detained, 78 suffocated or were crushed to death when they were packed tightly into military trucks, officials said.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has defended the security forces, saying they acted appropriately in breaking up the riot. He conceded that mistakes were made in transporting detainees.

SPAIN

Suspected terrorists arrested in bomb plot

MADRID — Spanish police have arrested 13 suspected Islamist terrorists thought to be linked to militants who plotted to bomb the High Court, Spanish press reported yesterday.

Arrests were made in Madrid, Cadiz and Valencia, according to the Web site of newspaper El Mundo. An Interior Ministry spokesman could not be reached for comment.

From wire dispatches and staff reports