Terror suspects ordered extradited

A judge Monday ordered three men extradited to the U.S. to face charges in an alleged plot to attack New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, and a confidential U.S. document said they planned to seek help from Iran.

Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls rejected without comment a defense argument that the men could not be extradited on conspiracy charges under Trinidadian law.

Taped conversations between the alleged conspirators show they planned to seek Tehran’s help in a strike intended to dwarf the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to a 28-page document signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall C. Miller and delivered to lawyers here.

“We can try to send someone to Iran to get the movement, the revolutionary movement, and they can discuss that plan there,” Trinidadian suspect Kareem Ibrahim, an Islamic cleric, was quoted as saying in the confidential report, which was shown to the Associated Press.

Attorney Rajiv Persad, who represents Ibrahim and Kadir, said he had to speak to the men before deciding whether to pursue an appeal.

MOGADISHU, Somalia

Troops kill civilian during arms hunt

Ethiopian troops conducting a house-to-house search for weapons opened fire Monday, killing one civilian, after gunmen threw hand grenades at soldiers, witnesses said.

Somalia’s fragile government has tried a voluntary program to get arms out of the hands of civilians. But the program has not had much success in a city torn by anarchy and bloodshed in the past 16 years.

“Ethiopians opened fire. I saw one dead woman who had a small shop in the area,” said resident Mohamed Osman Abdi.

Increasingly, the capital seems seized by Iraq-style guerrilla war. Islamic militants vowed to wage an insurgency when they were toppled in December by Ethiopian troops supporting the government.

ZAGREB, Croatia

Residents step up to save Dubrovnik

Residents joined hundreds of firefighters Monday to beat back a wildfire that threatened to consume the medieval city of Dubrovnik, a popular tourist destination famed for its churches, monasteries and palaces.

The effort helped avert a disaster for Dubrovnik – known as the “pearl of the Adriatic” – during the height of summer holiday season. Most tourists were not affected by the fire because the majority of hotels are situated along the coast.

Strong winds helped the flames spread swiftly through the woods outside Dubrovnik on Sunday. The line of fire above the city was about 13 miles long at one point.

Dubrovnik, founded in the seventh century, has been on UNESCO’s list of protected world cultural heritage sites since the 1960s.