Ten dead in tunnel fire

Vehicles in the tunnel were engulfed in flames

Authorities say that ten people have died and 80 are still unaccounted for, following the devastating fire in the Gotthard Tunnel through the Swiss Alps

Tunnel security expert Andy Bolton tells us that the tunnel was relatively modern and considered 'fairly safe.'

In an exclusive interview, Jeffrey Donaldson, the Ulster Unionist who has been the leading critic of the Good Friday agreement, says that David Trimble should not lead his ministers back into the Northern Ireland Executive unless the IRA has decommissioned all its weapons by February 2002.

Israeli forces have withdrawn from the town of Beit Rima which they have occupied for more than 24 hours. Official reports on Israel radio say that several people have been arrested, and that a number of houses belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine have been destroyed. The report concedes that there were six Palestinian casualties. The Palestinians themselves accuse the Israelis of a brutal assault on the town: five victims' funerals took place in Ramallah this morning, and according to one report, a crowd of several thousand chanted 'Bin Laden do it again in Tel Aviv.'

Mustafa Barghouti from the Palestinian Medical Relief Committee has been at the funerals this morning and he describes the anger at what they see as a massacre.

The strains and stresses of a long bombing campaign in Afghanistan are beginning to show in neighbouring Pakistan. One unconfirmed report suggested that thousands of armed tribesmen were gathering near the Afghan border, apparently ready to join forces with the Taleban. At the same time, a large conclave of exiled Afghan leaders, who have been meeting in Peshawar, have asked for an end to the American bombing campaign. Najam Sethi, editor of the Friday Times in Lahore, explains these latest developments.

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