World Report

MOSCOW (JTA) -- A Russian court sentenced a Chechen refugee to seven and a half years in prison for kidnapping an Israeli teenager who was held in Chechnya for five months before her release.

The court found Bulat Umalatov guilty of abducting Laura Likhtman in 1999.

German officials slam Palestinian textbooks

BERLIN (JTA) -- The leader of Germany's Jewish community joined German representatives to the European Union Parliament in calling for a halt to E.U. funding for Palestinian education projects because some of the money has been used to publish anti-Semitic textbooks.

Some of the $20 million in E.U. funding flows into books that "sow the seeds for suicide bomb attacks," said Paul Spiegel, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

Hezbollah faces trial for 1994 bombing

BUENOS AIRES (JTA) -- Argentina plans to prosecute Iran and Hezbollah for alleged involvement in the 1994 car-bombing of the Jewish community center here, the lead prosecutor in the case told the Forward newspaper.

Juan José Galeano added that the move likely will come at the end of September, when a trial of Argentines with suspected links to the bombing is slated to start.

The attack on the AMIA center killed 85 people and left hundreds wounded.

Belgian head hesitant to alter war crimes law

BRUSSELS (JTA) -- Belgium's prime minister said he is skeptical about changing a law allowing the nation's courts to prosecute foreign officials for human rights abuses committed outside Belgium.

Instead, Guy Verhofstadt suggested that the law be extended to the entire 15-nation European Union. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been sued for war crimes under the 1993 law in connection with his role in the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon.

Vatican side of story: It's the Jews' fault

ROME (JTA) -- The Vatican called for mutual trust between Catholic and Jewish scholars probing the Holy See's behavior during the Holocaust, but again blamed the Jewish side for stalling the study.

The project was halted in July, when scholars demanded access to more of the Vatican's wartime documents.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, leader of the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with Judaism, said last Friday that "tactless comments" emanating last month "from the Jewish side fed a sense of mistrust which has made it almost impossible to continue this bilateral research."

Slovak rock incites fans' anti-Semitism

PRAGUE (JTA) -- Czech Police charged several people with racist crimes after the name of Nazi leader Rudolf Hess was chanted at a private skinhead concert in the city of Pilsen.

Those arrested include three members of a visiting Slovak rock band.

Following dedication, memorial is marred

STOCKHOLM (JTA) -- A monument to Raoul Wallenberg here was defaced by spray paint Saturday morning.

The incident took place less than 24 hours after the memorial was inaugurated by Sweden's king and foreign dignitaries.

A Swedish diplomat during World War II, Wallenberg helped save tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazis.

Russian airlines nix flights to Holy Land

MOSCOW (JTA) -- Six Russian air carriers announced they would cancel flights to Israel because of the ongoing al-Aksa intifada, according to the Russian media.

Scandinavian Airlines, which flies 25,000 tourists to Israel each winter, also recently canceled flights to Eilat.

Jewish Lithuanians hold their 1st congress

MOSCOW (JTA) -- An organization dedicated to Jews of Lithuanian ancestry held its inaugural congress in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Some 300 participants from Israel, Europe and America attended the week-long conference ending today, at which participants focused on religious and cultural matters, as well as Jewish-Lithuanian relations.

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus addressed the group last Friday, which was the conference's first day.