Missing Servicewoman Was Not Kidnapped, Police Say

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — An American military spokeswoman said yesterday that nothing has been ruled out in the disappearance of an American servicewoman who vanished two days ago, even though the local police chief claim that kidnapping is unlikely. Investigators continued their search for Air Force Major Jill Metzger, 33, who disappeared Tuesday after being separated from a group of servicemen while visiting a department store in Bishkek.”I rule out the theory that the U.S. citizen may have been kidnapped,” Interior Minister Murat Sutalinov told reporters. He said police had received no demand for ransom. Interior Ministry spokesman Nurdin Jangarayev told the Associated Press that Major Metzger and another American servicewoman were recorded on a security camera on Tuesday at a department store in Bishkek. She separated from her companion three minutes later, he said. Police Chief Moldomusa Kongantiyev said Major Metzger had been expected to return to America by the weekend.

— Associated Press

Arrests Are Made

In Beheading Of Sudanese Journalist

Arrests have been made for the beheading of a Sudanese newspaper editor, Mohammed Taha, who was put on trial for blasphemy after reprinting an article that questioned the parentage of the prophet Muhammad, the BBC reported. The death of Taha has alarmed journalists throughout Sudan. Although the country has been governed by strict Islamic Sharia law since 1983 and sheltered Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, even the state-owned paper Sudan Vision was published in black-and-white yesterday, the day of Taha’s funeral, as a mark of respect.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun

In China, Human-Rights Activist Detained

Chinese police have detained an advocate for people with HIV/AIDS, who has fought several high-profile cases. More than 20 plain-clothes policemen arrested Hu Jia, 33, at his home in Beijing, the BBC reported. His wife, Zeng Jinyan, said Mr. Hu’s detention is part of a wider crackdown on human-rights campaigners. Mr. Hu had been collecting information about the detention of activists and had been under house arrest since July. Among those detained last month were: a campaigner against forced sterilization and abortion, Chen Guangcheng, whose lawyers were also detained; a lawyer for the Falun Gong group, Gao Zhisheng, and villagers who accused officials of stealing their land.

— Staff Reporter of the Sun