Helicopter crashes after engine trouble
A U.S.-led coalition helicopter crashed Sunday in southeastern Afghanistan after reporting engine failure, a coalition statement said. An official said the helicopter was not shot down.
“It was not enemy fire related,” said Col. Tom Collins, spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force. “The pilot was able to radio in that he was having engine problems. We’re confident it was not due to enemy action.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were on board or what type of helicopter it was. The coalition has launched a search and rescue operation for the helicopter and its occupants, said U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. David Accetta.
“For the safety of the people on board, we will not release the number of people on board until rescue operations are complete,” Accetta said. “Rescue operations are under way.”
MANAGUA, Nicaragua
Ex-leader spent millions abroad
Former Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman acknowledged for the first time Saturday that he spent $1.8 million in government money on jewelry and meals, mostly while he was abroad seeking aid following the devastation of Hurricane Mitch in 1998.
The spending included a honeymoon trip, $37,630 worth of crafts bought in India, and $9,360 in jewelry. Aleman suggested they were justifiable travel expenses because his trips coincided with an inflow of aid after the hurricane.
“Investments of $1.9 billion were brought to the country,” Aleman told the Spanish-language network Univision at his ranch 30 miles southwest of the capital, Managua.
In 2003, Aleman was convicted of money laundering and embezzlement during his 1998-2002 presidency. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison but was later granted parole.
TEHRAN, Iran
Syrian leader meets with Ahmadinejad
Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived in Iran on Saturday to discuss Iraq and other Middle East issues with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, state-run television reported.
Assad was given a red carpet welcome at the Presidential Palace in Tehran, the report said.
The United States has accused both Iran and Syria of not doing enough to stop militants from crossing from these countries into Iraq to join the insurgency. Both have rejected the charges.
This is Assad’s fifth visit to Iran since he took office in 2000.
Iran and Syria have long been close allies. During the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, Syria was the only Arab country that supported Iran.
MASERU, Lesotho
High turnout for party elections
Long lines of people braved a blistering sun Saturday to cast their vote in tight elections pitting Lesotho’s ruling party, which has brought stability to the mountain kingdom, against a new rival set up on a platform of change.
The mood was peaceful and turnout appeared high, with significantly large numbers of people showing up at the 2,500 polling stations throughout the southern African country, which is one of the poorest and has one of the highest incidences of AIDS in the world.
The Lesotho Congress for Democracy, which has governed for the past decade, won a landslide victory in 2002. But Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili faces a tough challenge from the four-month-old All Basotho Convention party led by Tom Thabane, the former minister of communications, science and technology.
“I am confident that I will win the elections because of the people,” Thabane said. “They want change. Everybody wants change, and we are the symbol of change,” he said as he cast his vote at his constituency just outside Maseru.