War crimes trial to move to Hague

A U.N.-backed court on Monday authorized the transfer of ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor to an international tribunal in The Hague that will try him for war crimes.

The court did not say when Taylor might be sent to the Netherlands.

The directive formally endorses a U.N. Security Council authorization Friday for Taylor’s transfer overseas. The Sierra Leone tribunal requested that the trial be moved out of fear the presence of a man once one of the region’s most feared warlords could still spark unrest in West Africa.

The Sierra Leone Special Court will conduct the trial, with the Netherlands supplying the courtroom.

Taylor faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from his alleged backing of Sierra Leonean rebels, who terrorized victims by chopping off body parts during the 1991-2002 civil war. He pleaded not guilty at an April 3 arraignment.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka

Plea asks rebels to resume talks

The Sri Lankan government urged separatist rebels Monday to resume stalled peace talks before the country descends into all-out civil war.

The appeal came amid a sharp spike in violence across this Indian Ocean nation, with government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels engaging in a bloody campaign that has left dozens dead in just the past few days.

A statement from the government agency that oversees the peace process said it wants to “engage the LTTE (rebels) in talks so as to address the root causes of the conflict that may have contributed to it to take to arms and the path of terrorism.”

The statement urged the rebels “to re-enter negotiations” either directly or through Norwegian facilitators who brokered the country’s oft-violated 2002 cease-fire.

MONTERREY, Mexico

Document fraud suspect arrested

Mexican authorities have arrested the leader of a far-flung ring that allegedly made and distributed forged immigration and identification documents in the U.S., American officials said Monday.

Pedro Castorena, 42, was arrested Saturday in Guadalajara, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.

The arrest of Castorena, who allegedly headed a ring that counterfeited and distributed such documents as resident alien cards, Social Security cards and American driver’s licenses, “deals a serious blow to one of the largest fraudulent document organizations in the United States,” said Julie Myers of the Department of Homeland Security.

SHANGHAI, China

China has moon date, official says

China plans a manned lunar mission by 2024 that will include a walk on the moon’s surface, a top Chinese scientist was quoted as saying in a Hong Kong newspaper.

The announcement by lunar program vice director Long Lehao shows long-term preparations are moving ahead for the country’s ambitious space exploration program.

The program went into overdrive following China’s first successful manned space mission in 2003 and may include a spacewalk by an additional manned mission next year.

Named “Chang’e” after a mythical Chinese moon-inhabiting fairy, the lunar program will begin with the launch next spring of a 2-ton moon orbiting satellite, the program’s chief scientist Ouyang Ziyuan was quoted as saying in the official Shanghai Daily newspaper.