In the World
Extradition OKd for hacking in U.S.
LONDON - Britain's top law enforcement official said yesterday that he would allow the extradition of a Briton accused of hacking into U.S. military computers after the Sept. 11 attacks.Home Office Secretary Alan Johnson said new medical evidence submitted by lawyers for Gary McKinnon was not convincing enough to merit blocking his extradition to the United States.
McKinnon's supporters say the 43-year-old suffers from Asperger's syndrome and risks suicide if he is sent to a U.S. prison. Johnson said he had not seen enough to "demonstrate that sending Mr. McKinnon to the United States would breach his human rights." McKinnon's lawyers requested time to appeal.
- AP
Clan heir charged in attack killing 57
MANILA, Philippines - The heir of a powerful clan was charged yesterday in connection with the Philippines' worst political massacre, an ambush in which 57 people were slain.Three witnesses, who escaped because their car was at the tail end of the election convoy that was attacked in a southern province Nov. 23, said they saw Andal Ampatuan Jr. and about 100 gunmen stopping cars, prosecutor Al Calica said.
Ampatuan, who turned himself in last week, has denied the charges. He is the scion of a clan allied with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that has ruled Maguindanao unopposed for years. His father, the family patriarch, and six other family members also are considered suspects but have not been charged.
- AP
Libya convicts two Swiss men
TRIPOLI, Libya - A Libyan court convicted two Swiss businessmen of violating residency and labor laws and sentenced them to 16 months in jail and a $1,500 fine, officials said.The two were detained in July 2008 on alleged visa violations, days after Swiss police arrested Hannibal Gadhafi and his wife for allegedly beating up their servants in a Geneva luxury hotel. The official said the two were tried by a court in Tripoli.
Businessmen Max Goeldi and Rachid Hamdani were handed over to the Swiss Embassy in Tripoli in November, triggering expectations they would be released and allowed to return home.
Yesterday's speedy trial came two days after the Swiss approved a ban on minarets. Although the Swiss government opposed the initiative, the move has sparked an outcry across the Muslim world, including Libya.
- AP
Elsewhere:
Italy took in two Tunisian inmates as a "concrete political sign" of its commitment to help Washington close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and said it may take more inmates. Washington gave a list of names, which Rome is studying, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said.
Sri Lanka gave permission to nearly 127,000 Tamil refugees to leave squalid government camps where they have been detained since the country's civil war ended six months ago. Rights groups called the detention an illegal form of collective punishment for the ethnic group.
