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In brief

By Times Wires
Published October 26, 2006

Prosecutors want Iranian ex-president

Argentine prosecutors asked a federal judge Wednesday to order the arrest of former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani and seven others for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center that killed scores of people.

The decision to attack the center "was undertaken in 1993 by the highest authorities of the then-government of Iran," prosecutor Alberto Nisman said.

He said the actual attack was entrusted to the Lebanon-based group Hezbollah.

The worst terrorist attack ever on Argentine soil, the bombing of the Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires killed 85 people and injured more than 200 when an explosive-laden vehicle detonated near the building.

Iran's government has vehemently denied any involvement.

Rafsanjani was Iran's president from 1989 to 1997.

Pinochet said to have millions in Hong Kong

Former dictator Augusto Pinochet may have stashed millions of dollars in gold in a Hong Kong bank, the government said Wednesday. Newspapers put the total at some $160-million, but a lawyer and spokesman for the former Chilean dictator denied it.

The government of President Michelle Bachelet, who was tortured at a detention center during Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship, said it was investigating the reports.

Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley said the Chilean government received information about the account "through one of our diplomatic missions abroad several days ago." He said the information includes photocopies of documents, which were relayed to a judge and to the State Defense Council, an agency with the mission of defending the state's interests.

Shell shuts down seized oil platforms

Angry villagers seized three Shell oil platforms in the volatile Niger Delta on Wednesday, forcing production to be shut down at each, the company said.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC officials declined to say how much oil had been cut off after the platforms were attacked. Chevron Corp. said it shut down a platform in the area as a precaution.

Shell said in a statement that members of the Kula community living near Shell's Ekulama 1, Ekulama 2 and Belema oil pumping stations invaded the facilities Wednesday, accusing the oil giant of failing to meet the terms of an agreement to provide them aid.

It was not immediately clear what happened to the people who were working on the Shell platforms at the time.

Venezuela, Guatemala locked over U.N. seat

Venezuela and Guatemala on Wednesday were unable to break the stalemate over which Latin American country should join the Security Council next year, and the General Assembly completed its 41st round of inconclusive balloting on the issue.

Diplomats expressed hope that a meeting in New York today between the foreign ministers of the two countries could lead to the choice of a compromise candidate.

[Last modified October 26, 2006, 02:32:34]