World in brief

Warrant issued for son of Thatcher

MALABO, Equatorial Guinea - Equatorial Guinea has requested international arrest warrants for Mark Thatcher, son of the former British prime minister, and other British financiers accused in an alleged coup plot in this tiny oil-rich nation, the deputy premier said Saturday.

The warrants are necessary before extradition can be sought, but Deputy Prime Minister Ricardo Mangue Obama Nfube said Equatorial Guinea was studying whether to seek the handover of Thatcher, who was arrested Wednesday in South Africa.

Nfube said Equatorial Guinea had asked for "international arrest warrants for all responsible in this coup d'etat."

Nfube named Thatcher, the 51-year-old son of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, financier Eli Calil and Simon Mann. Mann, a former Etonian, British Special Forces operative and noted mercenary in Africa, was convicted Friday in Zimbabwe in an arms deal connected with the alleged plot.

AL-FASHER, Sudan - Security has improved in camps in Sudan's violence-torn Darfur region, but displaced villagers still face attacks and abuse when they leave their camps, a U.N. team said Saturday as it completed a mission that could determine whether Sudan is hit with international sanctions.

Darfur rebels, meanwhile, said government forces and Arab militiamen continue to bomb and torch villages and kill civilians - with attacks on six villages in the past three days, including one that killed 64 people. The rebels said they would hold a 24-hour boycott of peace talks with the Sudanese government to protest.

The United Nations has given Sudan until Aug. 30 to start acting to stop the militiamen or else face possible sanctions. Khartoum has said it is trying to restore security and denies any links to the militiamen.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's bid to stay in office three more years was assured in a dramatic about-face Saturday when political rival Prime Minister Rafik Hariri bowed to Syrian pressure and proposed a constitutional amendment allowing the head of state to extend his term.

The amendment, adopted at a 20-minute extraordinary Cabinet meeting Saturday, will be sent to Parliament, where pro-Syrian legislators hold a large majority. Lahoud's term expires in Nov. 24, and Parliament was expected to meet as early as next week to pass the amendment, extending the president's term without an election.

The president's supporters have said the security and political conditions in the Middle East demanded Lahoud stay in office. Lahoud's opponents have said there was nothing urgent that required the country to amend its constitution.

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. and Afghan troops killed a Taliban commander and detained 22 suspected Taliban fighters during a major search operation after a gunbattle in a southern Afghan mountain range, officials said Saturday.

Also, a renegade warlord - a Pashtun who goes only by Amanullah - was taken into custody weeks after a clash with a powerful rival in the west of the country, as authorities struggle to improve security for October elections.

Mullah Rozi Khan, a Taliban commander in Zabul province, was killed after troops surrounded rebels in Ghazoi village Friday evening, said Asadullah Khan, governor of Ghazni province.

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