Torture widespread in Palestinian jails

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- One detainee told of being beaten with pipes and having a screwdriver rammed into his back. Another said interrogators tied his hands behind his back then lifted him into the air by his bound wrists.

Two human rights groups on Monday decried widespread torture of political opponents by bitter Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah, and Associated Press interviews with three victims and a doctor backed the reports of abuse.

The findings emerged as the two sides carried out fresh arrest sweeps in the West Bank and Gaza -- highlighting deep tensions in the Palestinian territories after a flare-up in violence over the weekend.

In the West Bank on Monday, the security forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rounded up more than 50 suspected Hamas supporters, including mosque preachers and intellectuals, in retaliation for a similar sweep of Fatah loyalists in Gaza, set off by a bombing that killed five Hamas members Friday.

Hamas violently seized power in Gaza in June 2007, leaving the Islamic militant group in charge of the coastal territory and Abbas' forces controlling the West Bank.

The Palestinian human rights group Al Haq said Monday that arbitrary arrests of political opponents have been common since Hamas' takeover of Gaza, with each side trying to defend its turf.

"Arrests for political reasons haven't stopped for a second," Al Haq director Shawan Jabarin told reporters. He estimated that before the latest sweeps, more than 1,000 people had been seized by each side.

An estimated 20 to 30 percent of the detainees suffered torture, including severe beatings and being tied up in painful positions, said Jabarin, citing sworn statements from 150 detainees.

He said three died in detention in Gaza and one in the West Bank.

Paris investigates sharing electric cars

PARIS -- Parisians and tourists so eagerly embraced a citywide bike sharing plan launched a year ago that the mayor is setting his sights on a four-wheeled version: electric cars.

Under the plan, a driver could pick up a car on the Left Bank, snake up the slopes of Montmartre, then drop it off -- and only pay for the minutes spent behind the wheel. But cars, even electric, are already proving more divisive than bikes.

With the price of gas steadily rising and Paris parking a permanent headache, some drivers are delighted by the new project. Others, though, see it as a step backward, fearing it could mean more traffic and dependence on cars in an already congested city.

The program dubbed Autolib' will launch in late 2009 or early 2010 with a fleet of 4,000 electric cars -- 2,000 within Paris and 2,000 in the city's suburbs.

Abeykoon Kapugoda, 50, a maitre d'hotel who lives in the suburb of Villejuif, owns a car. But within Paris, he prefers to take the bus because he finds parking a headache.

"If it's easy to park at Autolib' stations, I would use that," he said, as he waited for his bus. "And I would definitely prefer to drive a car that doesn't pollute."

Car-sharing is a growing trend in many countries, with private companies such as Zipcar flourishing in cities in the U.S. and elsewhere as gas prices go up. Autolib', however, will be run by the city of Paris.

Turkish officials link bombings to rebel Kurds

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan served as a pallbearer at a funeral Monday for some of the 17 people killed by bombs in Turkey's biggest city, an attack the government blamed on Kurdish rebels who have targeted civilians in the past.

The rebel Kurdistan Worker's Party immediately denied responsibility and attributed Sunday's attack to "dark forces" -- hard-line Turkish nationalists who allegedly seek to foment chaos to strengthen the political influence of the military.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, and Turkey is home to a variety of violent groups besides the PKK, including Islamic extremists and alleged coup plotters with ties to the secular establishment.

At the funeral, thousands of mourners surged around 10 coffins draped in the red and white Turkish flag at the foot of a mosque in Gungoren, a mostly residential neighborhood near Istanbul's international airport that houses many poor migrants.

Erdogan said the bombings -- the deadliest against civilians in five years -- appeared to be a reprisal for air raids on PKK positions in northern Iraq, as well as a cross-border ground offensive by the Turkish military in February.

"Unfortunately, the costs of this are heavy," Erdogan said. "The incident last night is one of them."

Some analysts agreed.

"The PKK seems to be the most likely instigator if you look at the type of explosives and the bomb mechanism used," Sedat Laciner of the Ankara-based International Strategic Research Organization told NTV television.

"The terrorist organization has been trying to stage attacks that would shock people at times of high tension, especially recently."

Serb ultranationalists plan huge rally in attempt to prevent Karadzic's extradition

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Ultranationalists are planning a huge anti-government rally in Serbia's capital Tuesday evening, and Radovan Karadzic's lawyer predicted the government will try to whisk the arrested war crimes suspect off to the U.N. tribunal before the protest.

Belgrade was rife with fears there could be clashes in the streets Tuesday evening as the ultranationalists plan to prevent the extradition of the ex-Bosnian Serb leader to the U.N. tribunal at The Hague, Netherlands.

The rally organizers -- the right-wing Serbian Radical Party -- are busing Karadzic's supporters in from all over Serbia and Bosnia where Karadzic is revered by many as a wartime hero who helped create the Bosnian Serb mini-state after the bloody 1992-95 war.

The last time the nationalists organized a rally against Western countries that recognized Kosovo's independence in February, the U.S. Embassy was partly burned and protesters went on a looting spree, smashing shops and McDonald's restaurants in Belgrade.

"The protest is against the treacherous and dictatorial regime" of Serbia's pro-Western President Boris Tadic which arrested Karadzic last week after nearly 13 years on the run, Radical Party leader Aleksandar Vucic said.

Ivana Ramic, the spokeswoman for the court in Belgrade dealing with Karadzic's case, told The Associated Press on Monday that his appeal against the extradition to the U.N. court had not arrived by the time the court had closed for the day.

In case the appeal doesn't arrive within a "reasonable timeframe," Ramic said, the court's investigative judge will rule on Karadzic's extradition.

Karadzic's lawyer Svetozar Vujacic said he mailed the appeal at the last possible moment late Friday, trying to delay Karadzic's extradition to the U.N. tribunal until after the rally.

Officials say Zimbabwe talks have broken off

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Officials close to the Zimbabwe power-sharing talks say negotiations in South Africa have broken off.

Two officials, who insisted on anonymity because all parties agreed to a media blackout during the talks, say the chief negotiators for Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe are flying home Monday.

The talks between Zimbabwe's ruling and opposition parties began Thursday.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the most votes in March elections but pulled out of a June runoff following months of state-sponsored violence. Mugabe ran alone and declared himself winner.

Female suicide attackers kill 57 in Iraq

BAGHDAD -- Suicide bombers, including at least three women, struck Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad and Kurdish protesters in the northern city of Kirkuk on Monday, killing at least 57 people -- a brutal reminder that mass gatherings remain vulnerable despite vast improvements in security.

The attacks came even though the U.S. has stepped up efforts to recruit and train women for Iraq's police force and enlist them to join Sunnis fighting al-Qaida. Insurgents increasingly use female bombers because their billowing, black robes easily hide explosives and they are less likely to be searched.

U.S. military figures show at least 27 female suicide bombings this year, compared with eight in 2007.

Monday's attacks tapped into two different sets of fears.

The three nearly simultaneous bombings in Baghdad undermined public confidence in recent security gains that have tamped down sectarian bloodshed. The attack in Kirkuk, 180 miles to the north, showed that ethnic rivalries can turn into mass slaughter in a city that is home to Kurds, Turkomen, Arabs and other minorities.

The U.S. military blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for the Baghdad bombings. It was still investigating the Kirkuk attack, underscoring the more complicated nature of the tensions there. But city police spokseman Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir said the terror network was behind that attack as well.