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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Extradition sought for ex-president

The Spokesman-Review

President Evo Morales called on the Bush administration to extradite former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who fled to the United States amid an uprising that left about 60 people dead after a military crackdown on demonstrators.

“I am calling on, asking, my colleague Bush and his government to do justice together for the people,” said Morales after presiding over a memorial ceremony for the victims of a separate street clash in February 2003 that left more than 32 dead.

Lozada could face a trial for the civilian deaths. He is currently living in Washington after fleeing Bolivia in 2003.

The protests against Lozada surged in October 2003 when mainly poor Indians flooded the streets opposing the president’s free-market policies and a plan to send natural gas to California in a pipeline through Chile.

West Hartford, Conn.

Former governor likes prison work

Former Gov. John G. Rowland said Monday he would give up life in politics and possibly pursue the kind of work he did in federal prison, teaching inmates job skills and providing counseling.

“When you lose your freedom, it’s a very humbling experience,” he told the Associated Press during an interview in his home. “It puts a different perspective on things.”

The three-term Republican returned to Connecticut three days after finishing a prison sentence for corruption. Rowland, 48, served more than 10 months of a yearlong sentence at a prison camp in Pennsylvania.

Rowland has been mentioned as a mayoral candidate in his native Waterbury, where he has remained popular. Asked about running, Rowland said, “No, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Istanbul, Turkey

Bomb blast injures 15 in supermarket

A bomb exploded at an Istanbul supermarket during Monday’s afternoon rush, injuring 15 people. A Kurdish news agency reported that a Kurdish militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, which came days after a fatal bombing at an Internet cafe in the city.

In an e-mail, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons Organization said it carried out both attacks in response to Turkey’s policies toward the Kurdish people, the Firat News Agency said on its Web site.

Turkey maintains its military drive against the autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels and does not recognize its sizable Kurdish population as an official minority.

Nairobi, Kenya

Two ministers quit amid scandal

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, facing mounting pressure to respond to allegations of high-level government corruption, announced the resignations of his energy and education ministers Monday, saying the two had left so that investigations of the scandals could proceed.

Kibaki won elections in 2002 promising to root out the corruption that had become endemic under the 24-year rule of his predecessor.

Now, Kibaki is accused of allowing the old ways – and even some discredited figures from the previous government – to hold sway.

Kiraitu Murungi, who was energy minister, has been linked to several multimillion-dollar scandals. George Saitoti, who was education minister, has been implicated in Kenya’s biggest financial scandal.

The finance minister resigned a week ago in a scandal linked to Murungi and implicating the president’s personal assistant, Alfred Gitonga. It was announced Monday that Gitonga’s contract would not be renewed.

Compiled from wire reports