World in brief: Embattled leader refuses to quit

Shaking with fury, Israeli President Moshe Katsav rebuffed growing calls for his resignation Wednesday, saying accusations he committed rape and other crimes were “poisonous, horrible lies” that were part of a broad conspiracy against him.

Katsav asked parliament to temporarily suspend him from office while he fought to clear his name. But momentum was building for lawmakers to open unprecedented impeachment proceedings against the president, and top officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, urged Katsav to stop clinging to office and allow the nation to heal.

The presidency, a mainly ceremonial post, was traditionally filled by statesmen and national heroes who were expected to serve as the moral light of the country. Accusations that Katsav used his position to force himself on female employees have infuriated Israelis.

MOGADISHU, Somalia

Mortar attack kills two at airport

Gunmen launched mortars Wednesday on Mogadishu International Airport, killing at least two people a day after powerful troops from neighboring Ethiopia began withdrawing from this chaotic nation.

Also Wednesday, U.S. defense officials said the United States launched an airstrike earlier this week in Somalia against suspected terrorist targets – the second such attack this month.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the strike was carried out in secret by an Air Force AC-130 gunship earlier this week, provided few details and were uncertain whether the intended target was killed.

Wednesday’s mortar attack in Mogadishu came as Ethiopian troops began pulling out after helping the Somali government drive a radical Islamic militia out of the capital and much of southern Somalia.

ATHENS, Greece

Militants say they attacked embassy

A Greek militant group has claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy in Athens earlier this month, blaming American policy in Iraq and the Middle East for the strike.

The far-left group Revolutionary Struggle issued a statement to the weekly Pontiki newspaper, its publisher Dimitris Benekos said Wednesday. He said the statement would be published today and police said forensic experts were examining the document.

There were no injuries in the Jan. 12 attack, which caused minor damage. The strike using a rocket-propelled grenade alarmed authorities, who fear a possible resurgence of Greek militant attacks that were common in the 1980s and 1990s.