PERSIAN GULF

AT LEAST 20 PILGRIMS KILLED AS BUILDING COLLAPSES IN MECCA

MECCA, Saudi Arabia – With spotlights, cameras, and microphones, rescuers searched for survivors of an eight-story building collapse that killed at least 20 people yesterday, the latest tragedy to mar the annual gathering of millions of Muslims in Islam’s holiest city. The Interior Ministry said 59 people were injured, but nobody would say – or knew – how many more were trapped in the rubble of Lulu’at al-Khair, which housed shops and restaurants and was rented out as a hostel during pilgrimages.

– Associated Press

IRAN STANDS UP CHIEF U.N. INSPECTOR, FAILS TO SHOW FOR TALKS

VIENNA, Austria – A defiant Iran rebuffed the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency yesterday, failing to show up for a meeting to discuss Tehran’s plans to move closer to uranium enrichment within days. Diplomats close to the agency described the move as unusual and suggested it was at least partly triggered by criticism of Tehran by agency head Mohamed ElBaradei during a Wednesday meeting with Iranian envoys.

In Washington, Secretary of State Rice signaled yesterday that time was running out for Iran. “When it’s clear that negotiations are exhausted, we have the votes” to take Iran before the Security Council for possible punishment, Ms. Rice told reporters in Washington.

– Associated Press

MIDDLE EAST

PALESTINIAN TERRORIST ACCUSED IN KIDNAPPING BRITISH FAMILY FREED

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Palestinian Arab authorities yesterday released a terrorist held in connection with the kidnapping of a British family in Gaza, a day after his followers went on a rampage and smashed holes in a wall along the Egypt border. The Gaza-Egypt border crossing was calm, a day after two Egyptian troops were killed in the melee. Palestinian security officials refused to comment on why they released Alaa al-Hams, a militant from the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, which is affiliated with the ruling Fatah Party.

– Associated Press

CENTRAL ASIA

SUICIDE BOMBING KILLS 10 AFGHANS DURING U.S. AMBASSADOR’S VISIT

KABUL, Afghanistan – A suicide bomb exploded in a crowded market yesterday in an Afghan town just a few hundred yards from where the American ambassador was meeting with local leaders. Ten Afghans were killed and 50 wounded. Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann was not hurt in the blast. A purported Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility and said the insurgents hoped to kill “high-ranking Americans.”

Yesterday’s attack occurred in Tirin Kot, capital of mountainous Uruzgan province, which has seen some of the fiercest Taliban fighting in the past year. The bomb detonated in a market where townsfolk were trading sheep, vegetables, and other local goods – about 500 yards from the home of the provincial governor, where the ambassador was meeting local officials, the deputy provincial governor, Abdul Aziz, said. It was unclear if the attacker purposely detonated the bomb or if it blew up prematurely.

– Associated Press

SOUTH ASIA

PAKISTAN SAYS SECRETIVE NUCLEAR NETWORK OF SCIENTIST DISMANTLED

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan said yesterday it had taken all “appropriate action” to break up the underground nuclear network run by its former chief nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri made the remarks one day after a British newspaper alleged Mr. Khan’s network may still be in operation. The Guardian report cited an unidentified European Union source. “Pakistan is very sorry and is very upset and has taken all appropriate action in dismantling the underground network,” Mr. Kasuri said. “Dr. A.Q. Khan has fallen from the high pedestal that he had,” he said, adding that Mr. Khan had already been “treated very harshly.”

– Associated Press

EAST ASIA

CHINESE ANTI-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZER CONVICTED

BEIJING – A businessman who led thousands of investors in a campaign against the government seizure of valuable oil fields in northern China was convicted of organizing illegal protests and sentenced to three years in prison yesterday, relatives said.

The ruling against Feng Bingxian, 59, was the culmination of a prolonged and closely watched battle in Shaanxi province that had emerged as a test of President Hu’s willingness to protect private property rights – a principle the Communist Party recently enshrined in its constitution as part of its drive to build a market economy. Mr. Feng was one of about 60,000 private investors who developed oil wells in Shaanxi with the blessing of local officials in the mid-1990s. But the officials confiscated the wells in 2003 after they began showing steady profits, and the investors filed a landmark lawsuit against the government last year.

The fight over the wells, said to be worth as much as $850 million, attracted widespread coverage in state press, and Mr. Feng became known as an unofficial spokesman for the investors and one of the country’s leading advocates of private property rights.

– The Washington Post

CENTRAL AMERICA

PRISON SHOOTOUT IN HONDURAS KILLS 13, INJURES MORE THAN TWO DOZEN

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – A shootout between inmates at Honduras’ biggest prison left at least 13 inmates dead and another 30 wounded yesterday, officials said. The confrontation began at the National Penitentiary on the outskirts of the capital, Tegucigalpa. Security Minister Armando Calidonio said police and guards had restored control at the facility, and that at least one of the wounded inmates suffered serious injuries.

“The confrontation was between two rival groups of prisoners who fired shots at each other in a territorial dispute,” Mr. Calidonio told the Associated Press. He said officials had yet to determine how inmates got guns into the National Penitentiary, but said police are “intensively investigating” the clash.

– Associated Press

WESTERN EUROPE

BRITISH COURT RULES SUSPECTED AL QAEDA MEMBER MAY BE EXTRADITED

LONDON – A British court ruled yesterday that a suspected Al Qaeda member can be extradited to America to stand trial for allegedly plotting to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon.

The ruling came after the American government reassured the court that the British defendant, Haroon Rashid Aswat, 31, would be tried at an American federal court, not a military tribunal, and that he would not be designated an “enemy combatant.” The American government has used that label to detain suspected terrorists at military detention centers such as Guantanamo Bay.

British Home Secretary Charles Clarke now has up to two months to approve the extradition.

– Associated Press