Today's other stories in brief
Saudis claim to have foiled al-Qaeda plot
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia said yesterday it had foiled an al- Qaeda-linked plot to attack oil facilities and military bases, arresting more than 170 suspects, including some trainee pilots preparing for suicide operations.
The interior ministry said police seized weapons and more than 20 million riyals (€3.7 million) in cash from seven armed cells.
"Some had begun training on the use of weapons, and some were sent to other countries to study aviation in preparation to use them to carry out terrorist operations inside the kingdom," a ministry statement said. - (Reuters)
Top terrorist captured, says US
WASHINGTON - The US defence department said yesterday it had custody of one of al-Qaeda's most senior and most experienced operatives, an Iraqi who was attempting to return to his native country when he was captured.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the captive is Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi. He was handed over to the Pentagon by the CIA, Mr Whitman said, but he would not say where or when al-Hadi was captured or by whom. - (AP)
Blair 'will not quit before elections'
LONDON - Downing Street yesterday intervened over speculation about Tony Blair's resignation as prime minister by confirming that he would not announce his resignation before the May 3rd Welsh, Scottish and local English elections.
The prime minister's official spokesman took the unusual step of dismissing claims he was planning a May 1st announcement - the 10th anniversary of the 1997 victory - as "wrong". - (PA)
Appeal court acquits Berlusconi
MILAN - An appeal court yesterday acquitted former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in a corruption case, upholding an earlier acquittal in one of several cases faced by Italy's richest man.
"The crime does not exist and he did not commit the crime," the presiding judge said.
In March, prosecutor Piero De Petris had asked for a five-year jail sentence for the media magnate, accused of bribing judges.
"It was time for justice to be done. I have been waiting for 12 years for this moment. I had had enough of it," news agency Ansa quoted Mr Berlusconi as saying.
- (Reuters)
Three Eta suspects arrested in UK
SHEFFIELD - Three people suspected of being members of the violent Basque separatist group Eta were arrested yesterday in south Yorkshire in an operation that linked Spanish, British and French police, the Spanish interior ministry said.
The suspects, named as Zigor Ruiz Jaso, alias "Lukas," (28), Inigo Maria Albisu Hernandez (23) and Ana Isabel Lopez Monge (36) were arrested in Sheffield on instructions from top Spanish anti-terror judge Baltasar Garzon, the statement said. - (PA)
17 die as Russian helicopter downed
MOSCOW - Seventeen people died when a military helicopter with troops on board was shot down in Russia's volatile province of Chechnya yesterday, Interfax news agency quoted unnamed military sources as saying.
The helicopter was shot down by Chechen rebels when Russian troops were carrying out an operation near the town of Shatoi in southern Chechnya, the agency said - (Reuters)
Chinese sex slave damages rejected
TOKYO - Japan's top court has rejected compensation for two Chinese women who claimed Japanese soldiers had used them as sex slaves during the second World War. The rulings will effectively halt a raft of wartime damages cases.
- (Reuters)