In the World

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The Palestinians are ready to swap some land with Israel, although differences remain over the amount of territory to be traded, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday after two rounds of U.S.-led indirect peace talks.

The talks began earlier this month, with U.S. envoy George Mitchell shuttling between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Abbas' comments marked the first time a participant has given any details.

Abbas said the first round dealt with borders and security arrangements between Israel and the state the Palestinians hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Israel wants to annex major Jewish settlements in the war-won West Bank and East Jerusalem. In previous negotiations, the two sides agreed that Israel would swap some of its territory to compensate the Palestinians, but gaps remained on the amount of land to be traded. - AP

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey's main opposition party elected an anticorruption crusader as its new leader Saturday, after the former chairman resigned this month over a sex scandal.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu - dubbed "Gandhi Kemal" for his calm demeanor and resemblance to the Indian pacifist leader Mohandas K. Gandhi - stood unopposed for the leadership of the pro-secular Republican People's Party.

As head of the opposition, he pledged to take the party founded by Turkey's revered leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk into power and to fight poverty, unemployment, and corruption. "We will introduce a political ethics law," the 61-year-old former head of Turkey's social security agency said after being formally elected. "Racketeers, pillagers, and swindlers have no place in parliament."

The party suffered a blow earlier this month when former chairman Deniz Baykal was allegedly shown in a video having an affair with a female lawmaker who used to be his aide. The video was said to be secretly taped, and was circulated on the Internet. - AP

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - A small group of supporters carried pictures of ex-Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier on Saturday, calling for the ousted ruler to return and participate in post-quake presidential elections.

About 200 people wound through the Port-au-Prince suburb of Petionville, which was a center of the leader's support. They also carried pictures of his father, the late Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier.

Saturday was the anniversary of the date in 1959 when the father founded his Tonton Macoute secret police. The force killed, tortured, and extorted from countless Haitians. - AP