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World in brief
Compiled from Times wires 3 houses of terror suspects blown upJERUSALEM -- Israel demolished three houses of Palestinian terror suspects Wednesday, while in the West Bank town of Ramallah troops maintained a siege of Yasser Arafat's headquarters for a seventh day. Israeli troops blew up the house of Abdel Khaled Natche, the leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas in Hebron. Soldiers gave family members 10 minutes to remove belongings before a huge explosion leveled the two-story structure. Troops also blew up the house of Diab Shweiki, the fugitive leader of the Islamic Jihad in Hebron. A third house was leveled in nearby Dura. The three-story building was the family home of brothers Anis and Iyad Amoura, members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a militia linked to Arafat's Fatah movement. Kidnappers free Russian oil company executiveMOSCOW -- Kidnappers freed a top executive of Russia's biggest oil company after holding him hostage for nearly two weeks, the company said Wednesday. Sergei Kukura, chief financial officer for Lukoil, has been released, company spokesman Mikhail Mikhailov said. He refused to provide any further details. The Russian Interior Ministry had no comment. "Kukura came home by himself, according to our information," Moscow regional prosecutor Alexander Mitusov was quoted as telling the Interfax news agency. "No ransom was paid for his release." Kukura, 48, was on his way to work on Sept. 12 when his Mercedes was stopped at a railroad crossing by masked men carrying Kalashnikov rifles. Russian newspapers reported the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $3-million and 3-million euros. Ukrainian president meets opposition leadersKIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's president met Wednesday with opposition leaders demanding his ouster but agreed only to have Parliament investigate U.S. allegations that he approved the transfer of military technology to Iraq. President Leonid Kuchma temporarily defused an escalating political standoff by meeting with lawmakers from the four main opposition parties who occupied part of his administration building Tuesday and launched a hunger strike. But he refused the lawmakers' written demand to step down or call new elections. The opposition accuses Kuchma of complicity in the disappearance and killing two years ago of an investigative journalist, allegations that the president has denied. The opposition also blames him for the nation's pervasive crony capitalism, endemic graft and electoral fraud. Adding to the president's troubles, the U.S. State Department said Tuesday it had authentic audiotapes provided by a former Ukrainian security official indicating that Kuchma personally approved the transfer of a radar system to Iraq in violation of U.N. sanctions. The Ukrainian government denied that arms were sold to Baghdad. Indian soldiers brace for religious violenceGANDHINAGAR, India -- Soldiers moved into position Wednesday to prevent religious rioting in western India after gunmen killed 32 people at a Hindu temple. India blamed Pakistan, which said it wasn't connected with the gunmen, who Indian authorities said belonged to a previously unknown group called Tehreek-e-Kasas, or Movement for Revenge. Those killed at the Swaminarayan Temple on the outskirts of Gandhinagar included at least one government commando, two police officers and the two attackers. Seventy-four people were wounded. There were fears that the allegation against Pakistan, an Islamic nation, could set off attacks against Muslims in the state of Gujarat, where the temple is located. At least 1,000 people were killed in Gujarat, most of them Muslims slain by Hindus, in riots after Muslims attacked Hindus on a train in February.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
