Lebanon Leader Will Walk, But Not Talk

LEBANON'S Rafik al-Hariri, who has resigned as premier, traveled to Damascus yesterday for talks mediated by Syrian leaders to reconcile him with his opponents, but a spokesman said he would not withdraw his resignation.

The billionaire premier said Friday he was stepping down in frustration after two years because his efforts to rebuild the country from the ruins of the 1975-90 civil war were being blocked.

Algerian editor murdered

THE editor of the Algerian daily Le Matin died today, after being shot by suspected Muslim guerrillas on Saturday.

Said Mekbel was the secretary-general of the Algerian Association of Newspaper Editors. The attack came three days after two journalists were murdered at Boufarik in southern Algeria. According to Reporters Without Borders, 26 journalists have been killed in Algeria since June 1993.

Muslim militants have targeted journalists as part of a campaign to overthrow the Army-backed government following the cancellation in January 1992 of a general election, which Islamic fundamentalists were set to win.