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World in brief

Divers from FSU search Aruba cavern for U.S. teen

By wire services
Published July 10, 2005

ORANJESTAD, Aruba - Forensic divers from Florida State University searched an underwater cavern Saturday on the northern tip of Aruba for a missing Alabama teenager, but turned up no sign of the young woman.

Later, the team from Florida State planned to search a lagoon using remote controlled sensors. They planned to check other sites suggested by local authorities over the next two days, said Dale Nute, a forensic scientist who was helping coordinate the effort.

"If we find something, we will call the police and bring it out to them," Nute said.

The search of the cavern and lagoon comes as a Texas group that has also searched for Natalee Holloway prepared to abandon its effort within days unless they find some sign of the teenager.

Holloway, 18, vanished in the early hours of May 30, hours before she was to catch a flight home after a five-day vacation celebrating her high school graduation with 124 classmates.

Joran van der Sloot, a 17-year-old who was with Holloway the last night she was seen in public, has been detained in connection with her disappearance.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - The voters of Kyrgyzstan will vote Sunday to elect a successor to the president who three months ago fled out the back door of the White House here as protesters clambered over the fence in front.

Voters and analysts have said the new president will likely be Kurmanbek Bakiyev, a polished opposition leader who once served as prime minister to Askar Akayev, the president whose 15-year rule ended abruptly March 24 when he fled the country with his family, whose growing and conspicuous wealth had fueled public outrage.

Bakiyev, who became acting president in March, may have sewn up the win weeks ago by coaxing his main rival to join his ticket on a promise of becoming prime minister.

RAMALLAH, West Bank - A special Mideast envoy on Saturday began a series of meetings with Palestinian and Israeli leaders as part of his effort to put together a three-year plan for Palestinian economic recovery to be funded by the international community.

Senior Israeli officials, meanwhile, said the forced evacuation of Gaza settlements will begin Aug. 17, giving a starting date for the first time for the pullout. The officials said settlers who ignore orders to leave by that deadline will suffer financial losses.

The aid package was endorsed Friday by the G-8 summit. The envoy, James Wolfensohn, said he would present the plan to the international community in September.

The money - as much as $3-billion a year - would start flowing in about six months, after Israel has completed its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Wolfensohn told reporters Saturday.

[Last modified July 9, 2005, 23:35:17]