BEIRUT – Anti-globalization and anti-war activists joined Islamic movements at a three-day forum in Beirut on Monday, calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq and the Palestinian territories. “We support the right of the people of Iraq and Palestine to resist the occupations,” said the declaration, read at a press conference by a leading activist, Filipino university professor Walden Bello. The meeting was attended by 260 delegates from 54 countries, including British MP George Galloway. OSSETIANS WARN OF REVENGE ATTACKS AFTER BESLAN

MOSCOW – Leaders of Moscow’s Ossetian community warned on Tuesday that the families of the victims of the Beslan school hostage tragedy could seek revenge unless the hostage-takers were brought to justice. Chechen separatist rebels have claimed responsibility for the school siege in the southern Russian republic of North Ossetia, in which at least 339 people were killed, nearly half of them children. BRITAIN RELEASES ALGERIAN HELD WITHOUT TRIAL

LONDON – An Algerian held without charge since 2001 under British anti-terror laws brought in after the 9/11 attacks on the United States was freed on Monday. Home Secretary David Blunkett said the “certificate” allowing the man, identified only as ‘D,’ to be held would be discontinued because there was insufficient evidence against him. CONVICTED KILLER HANGED IN IRAN

TEHRAN – An Iranian convicted of murdering his wife and two daughters has been hanged in a prison in the northern city of Qazvin, press reports said on Wednesday. The unidentified man had reportedly confessed to having killed his wife four years ago with a blow to the head. He then killed his two daughters. He was sentenced to three years imprisonment for murdering his daughters and death for murdering his wife. The execution was carried out on Tuesday. JITTERY PASSENGERS DELAY MOSCOW FLIGHT

NICOSIA – Passengers aboard a Moscow-bound plane delayed a Cyprus Airways flight for nearly three hours on Monday, after deeming three travelers to be “suspicious.” The three – Russian businessmen – were not allowed back on the flight after all 150 passengers were required to disembark for further security checks. The airline said the trouble started at the departure gate when a Russian woman told staff that she thought an “Arab-looking” man was a potential Chechen terrorist. RABBI TO ESCAPE PROBE OVER DEATH CURSE ON SHARON

JERUSALEM – Israel’s top legal officers on Monday ruled out an investigation into an extremist rabbi who said he was ready to cast a death curse on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over his Gaza pullout plan. Rabbi Yusef Dayan said he was ready to perform a pulsa denura – a Rabbinic curse intended to lead to the death of the recipient – on Sharon, branding the premier a disaster for the State of Israel who had to be stopped. But attorney general Menachem Mazuz and state prosecutor Eran Shendar decided the rabbi’s comments did not constitute incitement. JORDAN BACKS PALESTINIAN UN BARRIER CAMPAIGN

AMMAN – Jordan will back Palestinian efforts to lobby support at the United Nations for a resolution aimed at halting the construction of Israel’s controversial West Bank barrier, government spokeswoman Asma Khodr said on Monday. The Palestinian Authority has been lobbying the Arab bloc to push for a Security Council resolution against the barrier – a move they predict would be vetoed by the United States, but which they hope would nonetheless add to pressure on Israel. JORDANIAN PAPER ‘STOPPED’ BY SECURITY COURT

AMMAN – The editor of Jordan’s Al Majd weekly has accused the state prosecutor of preventing his paper from going to press. Fahd Al Rimawi accused a state security court of acting “without any legal basis” when it allegedly stopped the paper being printed on Sunday. Al Majd is produced at a print shop owned by the pro-government newspaper Al Rai. TURKEY’S KURDISH REBELS CALL FOR UNITY

DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY – The Kurdistan Workers Party (formerly the PKK, now known as KONGRA-GEL) has called for unity in the outlawed group, as it seeks to resume its armed campaign in Turkey after years of isolation in northern Iraq. In a rare act of self-criticism from the group, senior cadre Duran Kalkan told Europe-based Roj TV: “I call on the disgruntled and the offended to come back.” About 40 ranking militants have broken off from the armed group to set up their own party. ERITREA CRITICIZES UN RESOLUTION ON PEACEKEEPING FORCE

ASMARA – Eritrea has criticized portions of a UN Security Council resolution that renewed the mandate of a peacekeeping force deployed on its border with Ethiopia, with which it fought a war between 1998 and 2000. The foreign ministry condemned Resolution 1560 for placing “both the law-abiding party [Eritrea] and the one that completely violates international law [Ethiopia] on an equal footing.”