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World in brief
Compiled from Times wires Colombian official: 200 rebels killedBOGOTA, Colombia -- The Colombian air force bombarded two rebel camps in northwest Colombia, killing an estimated 200 insurgents, the air force commander said Friday. The claim could not be immediately verified. "We know we have hit them very hard; they have a high number of deaths. Intelligence reports indicate there were 200 killed," air force Gen. Hector Fabio Velasco said without elaborating. Government forces have not been sent to the forested, mountainous area in northwest Colombia, which is heavily mined, Velasco said. While there was no body count to substantiate the claim, an aerial bombardment can inflict heavy casualties if the rebels -- who aren't known to possess surface-to-air missiles -- are caught in the open. Elsewhere . . .CHINA: China freed Wan Yanhai, the country's leading AIDS activist, after an international uproar followed his Aug. 25 arrest by national security officials for revealing state secrets. Wan said he was released after confessing to the offense. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: A riot in an overcrowded Dominican prison left at least 27 inmates dead and 48 injured, 12 critically, authorities said. Most of the deaths were from smoke inhalation. The riot erupted in La Vega, 75 miles northwest of Santo Domingo, after officials announced a surprise weapons inspection. Several inmates became violent after guards entered the first cell, army chief Luciano Diaz said. IVORY COAST: Rebel soldiers dug in at two Ivory Coast cities a day after the government said it had crushed a bloody coup attempt. President Laurent Gbagbo cut short his visit to Rome and returned to bring security after the deadliest military uprising in three years of unrest. Gbagbo said the army had neutralized the insurgents in Abidjan and would move toward the cities to the north still held by the rebels. LIBERIA: A chauffeur for Liberian President Charles Taylor's son was beaten to death after damaging his employer's car. Isaac Gono was ordered killed after he hit a dog and scratched the car, Gono's fiancee Muna Tarpeh said. She said Taylor's son, Charles "Chucky" Taylor, ordered the killing. The government blamed a junior commander in the elite Anti-Terrorist Unit headed by the younger Taylor. NIGERIA: Militants captured seven foreign-owned oil facilities and threatened to invade dozens more in a bid to force Nigeria's government to change election boundaries they say favor a rival tribe. Hundreds of young men and women from the Ijaw tribe on Thursday invaded six oil pipeline stations belonging to Royal-Dutch Shell and one run by ChevronTexaco. PORTUGAL: Abu Salem, an alleged terrorist mastermind and Mafia boss who is one of India's most wanted men, was arrested in Portugal. Salem is accused by Indian police of being involved in the country's worst bombing attack, which killed 257 people in Bombay in 1993. TURKEY: Islamic leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's most popular politician, was barred from running in November elections. The High Electoral Board ruled Erdogan cannot run on Nov. 3 because he was convicted of reading a poem that the court said incited religious hatred. Turkish laws disqualify candidates with criminal records.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
