NORTH KOREA

A team of U.S. nuclear experts began a rare visit today to survey the communist country's main nuclear complex ahead of Pyongyang's promise to disable facilities so the nation cannot produce bombs.

The seven-member delegation crossed into the north by land from the border village of Panmunjom, said David Oten, spokesman for the U.S. military in South Korea. They will join two nuclear experts from China and Russia who plan to fly to Pyongyang for a joint survey.

North Korea has shut down its sole functioning nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. It also is supposed to disclose all its nuclear programs and disable its facilities in exchange for economic aid and political concessions.

INDONESIA Magazine loses defamation suit

Indonesia's Supreme Court has ordered Time magazine to pay $106 million for defaming former dictator Suharto by alleging that his family amassed billions of dollars during his 32-year rule.

The May 1999 cover story in the magazine's Asian edition said much of that money had been transferred to Austria before Suharto stepped down amid protests in 1998.

A panel of three judges, including a retired general, on Aug. 31 overturned lower court decisions in Time's favor.

Time spokesman Daniel Kile said in New York that the magazine had not received any notification from the court and stood by its story.

The article alleged that Suharto and his children had $15 billion in 1999.

SOMALIA Shelling kills Mogadishu family

Mortar shells killed a woman and her three children in Mogadishu in the first such attacks in the Somali capital in weeks, witnesses said.

Several other people were injured in the shelling late Sunday, which locals said appeared aimed at the presidential palace.

Remnants of an Islamist group ousted from the capital are blamed for assassinations and roadside bombs targeting security forces.

MOROCCO Final results show secular victory

Morocco's conservative Istiqlal party won the most seats in parliamentary elections, allowing it to form the next government with its current ruling coalition, final results showed.

The Istiqlal, or Independence, party won 52 seats, ahead of the opposition Islamist Justice and Development party, which had 46 seats, the Interior Ministry said.

When it became clear the Islamist party would only take second place, it accused unnamed opponents of buying votes to skew the results.

The government dismissed the claim but said it would investigate.

TURKEY General, president patch alleged rift

Turkey's powerful armed forces chief paid a courtesy visit to his newly elected president after accusations that the general had snubbed him because of his Islamist past.

Gen. Yasar Buyukanit went to the Cankaya presidential palace in Ankara to congratulate President Abdullah Gul in what was their first private encounter since the former foreign minister was elected by parliament Aug. 28.

They greeted each other with a smile and a handshake before a 45-minute meeting.

Turkey's top generals did not attend Gul's swearing-in ceremony nor his first reception as president. Buyukanit has sought to play down the controversy.

From Times Wire Reports