LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I want to ask people who hate me and those who love me to review the past three years and answer if you have seen anything changed for the better."
Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra,
to supporters on the third anniversary of a coup that ousted him Article, this pagePakistan to indict 7 in Bombay attacks
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A Pakistani court will indict seven suspects in the Bombay attacks in the coming week, but India needs to provide evidence against the head of a banned Islamist group that Pakistan is investigating in the plot, a top official said Saturday.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik's statements appeared designed to assure India that Pakistan is serious about bringing to justice the perpetrators of the November siege that killed 166 people and ratcheted up tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals.
"I want to tell India that we want to be your friend," Malik told reporters in Islamabad.
He also said Pakistan was formally investigating Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, a founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba - the first apparent confirmation that he was being probed in the attacks in Bombay, also known in India as Mumbai. Saeed now heads Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a purported charity banned by Pakistan after the U.N. declared it a front for Lashkar.
"He has been included in the investigation," Malik said.
He said Pakistan has turned over a list of requests for additional evidence from India - especially forensic support and information about Saeed.
Colombia rebel to face charges in U.S.
BOGOTA, Colombia - A captured leftist rebel who unwittingly helped officials rescue 15 hostages - including three American military contractors - was bundled aboard a plane to Florida on Saturday to face charges of terrorism in a U.S. federal court.
Prosecutors say Nancy Conde Rubio, 37, led a finance and supply operation for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
She is also the former girlfriend of rebel Gerardo Aguilar, who helped keep watch over the hostages. Aguilar, alias "Cesar," was extradited to the U.S. in July.
Colombia also sent another woman and eight men to face charges in the United States related to drug trafficking. Authorities said 152 Colombians have been extradited to the U.S. over the past year.
U.S. prosecutors say Conde negotiated shipments of everything from assault rifles to condoms for distribution to about a third of the estimated 9,000 rebel fighters, including the 1st Front, which held the hostages.
Tourist injured in Beijing knife attack
BEIJING - A man attacked a French tourist with a knife Saturday near Beijing's Tiananmen Square in the second knife attack in the area in two days, state media reported.
The woman was slightly injured and was taken to a hospital, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It did not identify her.
China's capital has been tightening security ahead of the country's Oct. 1 celebration of 60 years of communist rule.
Just hours before the attack, the area had been shut down for a military parade rehearsal, with armed tactical police units and paramilitary police lining avenues around the square.
On Thursday, another knife-wielding man stabbed two guards to death and wounded 14 in the same area.
There was no immediate indication that the two attacks were related.
Xinhua said patrolling policemen caught the man at the scene. A woman who answered the phone at the Dashilan police station said she was not clear about the attack.
3 held in Iraq stolen antiquities case
BAGHDAD - Authorities in northern Iraq have arrested three men on allegations that they were trying to traffic stolen antiquities, including the bust of a Sumerian king, a local army commander said Saturday.
The three were arrested in a sting operation after attempting to sell one of the artifacts for $160,000 to an undercover intelligence officer of the Iraqi Army's 12th division in a village southwest of Kirkuk, division commander Maj. Gen. Abdul Amir al-Zaidi told reporters.
The sting operation, which took place about two weeks ago, was set up based on intelligence from local residents, he said.
"The duty of the Iraqi army is not only to chase the terrorists but also to protect state treasures," he said.
In total the men had eight pieces from the Sumerian period, which dates from about 4000 B.C. to 2000 B.C., that they were trying to sell.
A fourth man is still being sought in the case, al-Zaidi said. He gave no further details.
- COMPILED FROM ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE PRESS SERVICES
Front Section, Pages 12 on 09/20/2009