PERSIAN GULF

U.S. SPY PLANE CRASHES, KILLING PILOT

BAGHDAD, Iraq – An American U-2 spy plane crashed while returning to its base in the United Arab Emirates yesterday, killing the pilot after a mission in support of American troops in Afghanistan. The aircraft crashed in the Emirates while approaching the base to land, a Pentagon official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the operation. Early reports gave no indication of any hostile fire, but it was too soon to be certain why it crashed, the official said.

The U-2 is a single-seat, single-engine reconnaissance plane that operates at an altitude of more than 70,000 feet and has been used in every major conflict America has fought since the aircraft went into service a half-century ago. Flying beyond the range of most surface-to-air missiles – the pilot must wear a full-pressure suit similar to those used by astronauts – the U-2 was famously shot down in 1960 over the Soviet Union. With its bicycle-type landing gear and the challenges of handling the aircraft at low altitudes, the U-2 requires a high degree of precision during landing. A second pilot normally “chases” the U-2 while it lands, assisting the pilot by providing information on altitude and runway alignment.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

AFTER LATEST KILLING, OPPOSITION CALLS FOR PRESIDENT TO RESIGN

BEIRUT, Lebanon – The Lebanese opposition stepped up calls for its pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, to resign yesterday after the assassination of an anti-Damascus critic, the second such killing in three weeks. The opposition also called for a strike during his funeral. A former Communist Party leader, 67-year-old George Hawi, was killed by explosives placed under his car seat that detonated as he was being driven in Beirut on Tuesday. His killing came as the anti-Syrian opposition prepared to take power after winning a parliamentary majority in the staggered elections that ended Sunday. Opposition figures quickly blamed the assassination on Syrian agents and their allies in the Lebanese security services, as they did the June 2 slaying of the anti-Syrian journalist Samir Kassir and the February 14 killing of the former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

– Associated Press

ISRAEL HINTS IT WILL RETURN TO POLICY OF ‘TARGETED KILLINGS’

JERUSALEM – Israel hinted yesterday it was returning to a policy of “targeted killings” of Palestinian Arab terrorists, a practice it had largely abandoned under a truce struck four months ago. It appeared that the immediate threat of assassination applied only to members of Islamic Jihad, which has claimed responsibility for recent attacks against Israelis. Israeli security officials confirmed yesterday that a missile strike in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday had been an attempt to kill an Islamic Jihad member they did not identify. “Any means to neutralize this organization are relevant and possible,” the Israeli minister for public security, Gideon Ezra, told reporters.

– Los Angeles Times

EAST ASIA

U.N. ENVOY OFFERS TO MEET WITH NORTH KOREAN LEADER

SEOUL, South Korea – The main American envoy on the North Korean nuclear issue said in a message posted yesterday that he hopes to meet the reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Il – an unusual conciliatory gesture toward the leader President Bush has labeled a tyrant. The statement from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill came as the two Koreas met in high-level reconciliation talks and follows comments from Mr. Kim earlier this month that he harbored no ill will toward Mr. Bush and would, in fact, find him “interesting to talk to.”

“I’m more than willing to meet Chairman Kim Jong Il and hope to meet him,” Mr. Hill said in a message posted on a Web site run by the U.S. Embassy in Seoul.

Also yesterday, the State Department said Washington will provide 50,000 tons of food to North Korea in a humanitarian decision the Bush administration said is unrelated to stalemated efforts to get Pyongyang to end its nuclear weapons program.

– Associated Press