world

US seizes, then releases missile shipment from North Korea to Yemen

By Alyson Brodsy and Pauline Jelinek · Wednesday, Dec. 11,2002 11:52 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Ending an embarrassing faceoff with Yemen, Bush administration officials said Wednesday they secured an agreement from the Arab nation to no longer buy Scud missiles from North Korea. But the understanding was not reached until after the United States was forced to release to Yemen a vessel containing North Korean-made missiles.

Chile and US agree on accord

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, Dec. 11,2002 11:50 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Chile and the United States reached an agreement Wednesday for a free trade accord that will allow more than 85 percent of Chilean goods into the country tariff-free in the first year.

Iraqi report review could take weeks

By Alyson Brodsy and Barry Schweid · Wednesday, Dec. 11,2002 11:50 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. weapons experts are taking an accelerated but thorough look at Iraq's 12,000-page weapons declaration with the aim of providing the chief United Nations inspector with an assessment by Friday. The four other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Britain, France, China and Russia -- received copies of the declaration from the United States and are also putting it under close scrutiny.

Ship carrying missiles intercepted

By Abdullah AlShihri and Tom Raum · Wednesday, Dec. 11,2002 12:31 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- A ship carrying a dozen Scud-type missiles from North Korea was intercepted in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday, U.S. officials said. They said the missiles were believed to be headed for Yemen. The ship was stopped and boarded about 600 miles east of the Horn of Africa, the officials said.

US seeks 'diplomatic solution' with North Korea

By Abdullah AlShihri · Wednesday, Dec. 11,2002 12:28 a.m.

SEOUL, South Korea -- Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Tuesday that Washington would seek a "diplomatic solution" to North Korea's nuclear weapons program. North Korea reiterated its rejection of a U.N. watchdog's appeal to abandon its nuclear program and to accept foreign inspections.

Palestinian court frees alleged terrorist

By Abdullah AlShihri and Sam Dagher · Tuesday, Dec. 10,2002 10:54 p.m.

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- The Palestinian high court on Tuesday ordered the release of the alleged mastermind of a clandestine shipment of Iranian weapons to the Palestinian Authority, but it appeared unlikely he would be set free soon. The defendant, Fuad Shobaki, is being held under British supervision at a Palestinian jail in Jericho, the only West Bank town not under Israeli occupation.

Rumsfeld" Horn of Africa is key partner in war on terrorism

By Abdullah AlShihri and Robert Burns · Tuesday, Dec. 10,2002 10:53 p.m.

ASMARA, Eritrea -- Sharpening the U.S. focus on the Horn of Africa as a haven for terrorists, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld arrived in the Eritrean capital on Tuesday to discuss expanding military cooperation and to visit American troops training in neighboring deserts. Rumsfeld was visiting Ethiopia and Djibouti as well as Eritrea. The three impoverished nations are neighbors in an unstable region that lies across the Red Sea from Yemen, the ancestral home of Osama bin Laden.

US skeptical over Iraqi arms

By Abdullah AlShihri and Sandra Sobieraj · Tuesday, Dec. 10,2002 12:31 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Underpinning the U.S. review of Iraq's 12,000-page arms declaration, "there's skepticism and there's fear" about Saddam Hussein's nuclear ambitions, President Bush's spokesman said Monday.

United files for bankruptcy

By Alyson Brodsy and Dave Carpenter · Tuesday, Dec. 10,2002 12:16 a.m.

CHICAGO -- United Airlines made the largest bankruptcy filing in aviation history Monday, saying it was the only way to keep the world's No. 2 airline flying after two years of heavy losses. The Chapter 11 filing was the sixth-largest ever as measured by assets. The suburban Chicago-based company has lost $4 billion in the last two years due to a slumping economy, flawed business strategies and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. It faced debt payments of $875 million later this week.

Serbian election invalidated after low voter turnout

By Abdullah AlShihri and Jovana Gec · Monday, Dec. 9,2002 11:49 p.m.

BELGRADE, Yugoslavia -- Serbia headed for a major political crisis after it failed a second time to elect a president, with supporters of the top vote-getter vowing on Monday to challenge the outcome. Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica claimed he was robbed of victory because of irregular voter lists. His backers said they would mount an appeal.

Officials release computer-generated sketches of suspects in Kenya attacks

By Abdullah AlShihri and Lubaina Kher · Monday, Dec. 9,2002 11:48 p.m.

MOMBASA, Kenya -- Police released computer-generated images Monday of two men believed to have taken part in the Nov. 28 attacks on two Israeli targets in Kenya. The images of the unidentified men -- one bearded with a receding hairline, the other with a shaven face and head -- are based on information from witnesses, said Deputy Commissioner of Police William Langat. He said Kenyan police believed the men are in their 30s.

Bombs wound 200 in Bangladesh

By Abdullah AlShihri and Farid Hossain · Sunday, Dec. 8,2002 10:47 p.m.

DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Bombs tore through four movie theaters packed with Muslims celebrating the end of Ramadan Saturday, killing at least 17 people and wounding 200, police and witnesses said. The bombs went off within 30 minutes of each other starting at about 6 p.m., and were believed to have been planted in the projection rooms of the theaters, a police official said on condition of anonymity. Many of the victims were injured by falling bricks or steel.

More attacks threatened by al Qaeda

By Abdullah AlShihri and Maggie Michael · Sunday, Dec. 8,2002 10:46 p.m.

CAIRO, Egypt -- al Qaeda threatened faster, harder strikes against the United States and Israel in a statement attributed to the group that appeared on a militant web site Sunday. "The Jewish Crusader coalition will not be safe anywhere from the fighters' attacks," the audio statement said, using a term common among Islamic militants for what they see as a U.S.-Israeli alliance.

Iraq defends its claim

By Abdullah AlShihri and Charles J. Hanley · Sunday, Dec. 8,2002 10:44 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A top advisor to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein challenged Washington to put forward any proof that Baghdad's account of its chemical, biological and nuclear programs was inaccurate, as Iraq's voluminous report was flown Sunday to the United Nations headquarters.

Bush meets with Kenya, Ethiopia leaders

By Alyson Brodsy · Friday, Dec. 6,2002 12:31 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush, meeting with leaders of Kenya and Ethiopia, expressed his condolences Thursday for last week's attacks on Kenya, and pledged to join with the Horn of Africa nations to combat terrorism. Flanked by President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia in the White House Cabinet Room, the president said, "We welcome two strong friends of America here. Two leaders of countries which have joined us to fight the global war on terrorism."

3 killed in McDonald's explosion

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Dec. 5,2002 11:44 p.m.

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Explosions ripped through a McDonald's restaurant and a car dealership Thursday in eastern Indonesia, killing three and wounding two, police said.

Peace talks end in breakthrough

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Dec. 5,2002 11:43 p.m.

OSLO, Norway -- Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers agreed Thursday to develop a government that would give the rebels regional autonomy, a breakthrough decision capping months of efforts to end 19 years of fighting.

Bush believes al Qaeda behind bombing

By Abdullah AlShihri and Sandra Sobieraj · Wednesday, Dec. 4,2002 11:53 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Voicing fresh terrorism fears that stretch from Africa to the Middle East, President Bush said Wednesday he believes the al Qaeda network was behind last week's attacks in Kenya and that terrorists have disrupted the Israel-Palestinian peace process. Bush, fielding reporters' questions at a White House bill-signing ceremony, declined to criticize the Israeli government, whose troops fired Tuesday on a taxi at a West Bank checkpoint, killing a 95-year-old Palestinian great-grandmother.

Iraq criticizes palace inspection

By Abdullah AlShihri and Charles J. Hanley · Wednesday, Dec. 4,2002 11:53 p.m.

AL-MUTHANNA STATE ESTABLISHMENT, Iraq -- U.N. monitors Wednesday visited sites associated with mass destruction weapons Baghdad insists it no longer holds. Iraq, meanwhile, criticized the first inspection of a presidential palace, saying it was carried out under U.S. pressure to try to provoke a confrontation. In Baghdad, a senior Iraqi official said Iraq will hand over its report on chemical, biological and nuclear programs on Saturday, a day ahead of the U.N. deadline. The official, Gen. Hossam Mohammed Amin, said the report will not admit to any proscribed weaponry "because, really, we have no weapons of mass destruction."

Korea rejects weapons inspectors

By Abdullah AlShihri · Wednesday, Dec. 4,2002 11:51 p.m.

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea rejected a call by the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency for the communist country to abandon its nuclear weapons program and allow foreign inspections. North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun said the Nov. 29 resolution was "extremely unilateral," the North Korean official news agency KCNA reported Wednesday.