JAMAICA: Island sets new record for homicides, with 1,136 slain in 2001 KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - Jamaica reported a record 1,136 homicides this year, fueled by drug trafficking and gang violence, police said Monday. The toll was a 28 percent increase over last year's 887 slayings. The former record in the Caribbean country of 2.6 million people was 1,038 killings in 1997. Detective Sgt. Jubert Llewellyn blamed the increase on an influx of drugs in Jamaica and said the country is increasingly being used by traffickers as a transshipment point. Another factor was fighting between gangs with clashing political loyalties in the capital, Kingston. Defense Minister Peter Phillips announced the government plans to recruit 1,000 new police officers to the 10,500-officer force to implement anti-crime measures he plans to announce in January. The government also will be working to recruit an unspecified number of soldiers, Phillps said Monday. The army has about 3,000 soldiers, but the government will not give a specific number. Gang fighting in West Kingston flared in May, leaving 71 people dead in several weeks. In July, 28 others were killed in a few days of gunfights when police and soldiers moved into a neighborhood that is a stronghold of the political opposition KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - Three Jamaican musicians face obscenity charges for allegedly using foul language during a concert last week, police said Monday. Oneil "Elephant Man" Bryan was charged Monday, police said in a written statement, and is to appear in court on Jan. 16. Police have not yet issued summonses to Rodney "Bounty Killer" Pryce and Desmond "Ninjaman" Ballintine, who also face charges. All three performed at a Dec. 26 concert in Portmore, a community on the outskirts of Kingston. They perform dancehall, a hybrid of reggae and rap. Pryce and Ballintine were convicted in November of using profanity at a concert in July. They were put on nine months of probation. It wasn't immediately clear what maximum penalty the musicians might face if found guilty.