World in brief

S. Korea court ends leader's impeachment

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's Constitutional Court reinstated impeached President Roh Moo Hyun in a historic ruling today, rejecting parliament's effort to oust the embattled leader.

The ruling, broadcast live on national television, took 30 minutes. The Constitutional Court cleared Roh of the charge of incompetence for failing to rein in corruption among several former aides. The court found Roh in violation of election laws, but said the infraction was not serious enough to warrant impeachment.

Roh resumes his executive duties immediately.

South Korea entered uncharted territory in March when Roh became the first president impeached by its legislature, just one year into his five-year tenure.

BEIJING - China sentenced a high-profile dissident to five years in jail Thursday on charges of spying for Taiwan and entering China illegally.

The case of Boston-area resident Yang Jianli has received widespread attention in the United States and Western Europe. Yang, a scholar and former Tiananmen Square activist, was blacklisted after he left China in 1989.

He re-entered the country using a friend's passport in 2002 and was detained in late April of that year in southern China after visiting the northeastern rust belt to study labor unrest.

Mo Shaoping, Yang's lawyer, called the sentence unjust. The family is considering an appeal.

WASHINGTON - Libya will halt military trade with North Korea, Syria and Iran in a move that the Bush administration said Thursday will help stem the spread of dangerous weapons and technology.

The decision, announced by Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton and the Libyan government, follows a promise by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to cease programs for developing weapons of mass destruction.

ATHENS, Greece - A Greek radical group claimed responsibility Thursday for a triple bombing at a police station and warned that some visitors to the Olympic Games - from heads of state to wealthy Western tourists - would be "undesirable."

The proclamation by the group Revolutionary Struggle did not threaten future attacks. But its anger over Olympic security measures could further shake international confidence about the safety of the Aug. 13-29 games.

The group said the May 5 blasts outside the police station in suburban Kalithea showed "vulnerability" and that the "famous dogma of total security is meaningless." The attack caused limited damage and no injuries.

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia's outlawed right-wing paramilitary groups agreed Thursday to move into a 230-square-mile safe haven in the northwest while they negotiate eventual demobilization, government officials said.

Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo signed the pact Thursday with commanders of the antiguerrilla United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, at a paramilitary stronghold, Vice President Francisco Santos said.

The zone will be created in the same region, about 270 miles northwest of Bogota.

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