Briefs

Terrorist dead after escape, Manila says

GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited a morgue Monday to look at the bullet-ridden body of one of Asia's most-wanted terrorists and praised security forces for gunning him down.

Indonesian-born Fathur Roman Al-Ghozi, who was regarded as a bombmaking expert, had been convicted of explosives possession, confessed to deadly bombings in Manila, and was accused of plotting terror attacks by the al-Qaida-linked terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.

He escaped from police headquarters three months ago, embarrassing Arroyo and her government. The confirmation of Al-Ghozi's death gives Arroyo a badly needed victory ahead of a visit Saturday by close ally President Bush.

National police Chief Hermogenes Ebdane said Al-Ghozi was shot to death Sunday after he and his companion opened fire on a joint police-military team that tried to stop their vehicle near Pigkawayan town.

LA PAZ, Bolivia - Thousands took to the streets in the capital, chanting antigovernment slogans despite an announcement Monday by Bolivia's president that he will shelve controversial plans for natural gas exports.

The plans to sell gas to the United States and Mexico had already provoked massive protests in recent days in which at least 16 people have been killed.

Radio and TV stations reported six more people were killed in clashes Monday in La Paz. The government, however, did not report any new casualties.

Meanwhile, President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada's decision to abandon the project was followed by criticism from his own vice president, demands that he resign, large demonstrations and a public transportation strike that virtually paralyzed La Paz on Monday. Shops and banks also closed as residents opted to stay home to avoid the violence.

NEW DELHI - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said Monday that it was doubling to $200-million the prevention funds for HIV and AIDS that the Microsoft founder promised India in a visit last year.

The announcement came as a former U.S. diplomat said India must educate its 1-billion people about AIDS or face a crisis.

Education "means talking about sex and intimacy. These are difficult problems in any country in the world, not just in India," said Richard Holbrooke, who heads Global Business Coalition for HIV/AIDS.

"But if you don't do it, millions of people will be infected and every infected person will die, even with treatment," Holbrooke, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said at a conference of government and business leaders Monday.

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Monday to expand the 5,500-strong NATO-led force in Afghanistan to areas beyond the capital, Kabul.

The vote, which had been expected, comes after Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on the world body last month to deploy peacekeepers into regions where increasing lawlessness is causing many Afghans to long for the security that marked the rule of the rigid Taliban regime.

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