New Year's celebrations free of terror attacks

New York (Reuters): Officials and security forces around the world could breathe sighs of relief on the first day of 2003 after tight security prevented incidents at major New Year's events.

However, a grenade attack killed nine people in an active Moro rebel area of the Philippines and a fireworks explosion in Mexico killed at least 28 people.

At least 10 people were killed as the Philippines rang in the New Year, with the grenade attack and celebratory gunfire to blame, police and officials said.

More than 400 were injured in separate incidents involving fireworks but officials said the figure was lower than previous years.

In the south of the mainly Roman Catholic country an unidentified man threw a grenade into a street full of firecracker vendors, killing at least nine and wounding more than 30. It was not clear who was behind the attack in a region where Moro rebels are known to be active.

In Veracruz, Mexico, an explosion and fire in a street market packed with fireworks stalls killed 28 people and injured more than 50 in the port city of Veracruz.

In New York City, as many as one million people, screened for alcohol, drugs and weapons by police using metal detectors, shed their backpacks and baggage and screamed and sang as the traditional crystal ball dropped at One Times Square.

Thousands of extra police were on duty; mailboxes and trash cans were removed and manhole covers were welded shut.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and disabled actor Christopher Reeve officiated at the dropping of the ball. Bloomberg had assured New Yorkers that Times Square, often called the crossroads of the world, would be secure for them.

At Camp Doha in the Kuwaiti desert, American soldiers potentially just months away from a war in neighboring Iraq, welcomed 2003 with alcohol-free beer in line with local sensitivities of the conservative Islamic country.

Daubed in luminous paint and blowing on whistles, 50,000 revelers descended on London's Millennium Dome to dance.

The crackle of fireworks vied with the throb of dance music at what dance scene organizers Ministry of Sound billed as Europe's biggest club night.

The Millennium Dome, built in 1999 to resemble the orb and rays of the first rising sun of the millennium, came to life at midnight as the fairground rides shut down and 50 DJs started up, competing on five separate dance floors to throw the crowd into a frenzy.

Celebrations throughout the country were overshadowed by fears of a possible terror strike. Scotland Yard said 2,000 police officers were patrolling the capital's streets with antiterror squads on a heightened state of alert.

The closure of London's Trafalgar Square, which usually draws up to 60,000 party-goers, put a dampener on festivities in the capital, which had no official celebrations planned.

With memories still fresh of the Bali bombings that killed more than 190 people in October, two-thirds of Indonesia's police force were deployed around the world's biggest Muslim nation, guarding shopping and entertainment centers, mosques, churches and public facilities.

In the capital, Jakarta, key roads were closed for a street party, but despite tight security thousands of Indonesians turned out to see in 2003.

In Sydney, the 700,000 people who showed up to celebrate drew praise from Lord Mayor Frank Sartor.

"They didn't listen to the doomsayers, we didn't listen to the malcontents: we wen) on and celebrated and had a great party," he said of the celebration.

Police banned cars from the central business district and blocked streets for a party that culminated in a massive fireworks display over the harbor.

After a year of drought, brush fires, the Bali bombings that killed up to 90 Australians and talk of terrorism, Sartor said it took courage to party openly.

Cars were banned around the famed Champs Elysees of Paris, where up lo 300.01)0 revelers were expected.

An extra 1.000 policemen were deployed in the French capital, bringing the total to around 5,500.

Security fears were multiplied by arrests of suspected Islamist militants in and around Paris this month.

In Russia, 250,000 policemen patrolled tile streets to prevent violence among tens of thousands of people partying outside despite the extreme cold.

Moscow's City Hall banned shops from selling alcohol in the town center to prevent drink-fueled violence such as marred Russian soccer World Cup crowds in the summer.

In Berlin, about one million Germans marked the new year in a 1.5-mile (2.5-km) street party on both sides of the landmark Branden burg date.

An anti-American candlelight vigil in Seoul. South Korea, that organizers had predicted woald attract one million brought, only 12,000 to protest against the U.S. military for the deaths of two girls killed in an accident by an American army vehicle.