World in brief: Militants release British hostage

A British hostage who was captured more than seven months ago by Nigeria’s main militant group was freed on Sunday, a senior military official said.

The captive, Robin Barry Hughes, was handed over to military officials in Nigeria’s southern oil region, said the official, Sarkin Bello. He told the Associated Press in a telephone interview that he had no immediate information about Hughes’ condition, or whether a ransom had been paid.

Earlier Sunday, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta militants said in an e-mail to the AP that they would free Hughes “very soon,” due to the man’s poor health.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

Haiti Senate vote poorly attended

Armed U.N. soldiers, observers and journalists far outnumbered a trickle of voters in Haiti’s capital Sunday as long-delayed Senate elections were held under the threat of unrest.

The elections are seen as a key step in Haiti’s return to democracy and President Rene Preval’s attempts to retool the constitution and fight poverty. The vote, originally slated for late 2007, was canceled after the electoral council was dissolved amid infighting and an alleged assassination attempt on one of its members. Riots then toppled Haiti’s government.

But the success of Sunday’s election was threatened by voter apathy and opposition from former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Fanmi Lavalas party, whose candidates were disqualified by Haiti’s provisional electoral council.

The generally calm conditions were briefly interrupted in the slum of Cite Soleil when Preval’s supporters clashed with a backers of a rival party, accusing that party’s representative of bringing money to the polls to buy votes.

Tehran, Iran

Ahmadinejad backs defense for reporter

Iran’s president said Sunday that an American journalist convicted of spying for the U.S. should be allowed to offer a full defense during her appeal, a day after she was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The message was a sign that Iran’s leadership does not want the case to derail moves toward a dialogue with the Obama administration to break a 30-year diplomatic deadlock.

Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter to Tehran’s chief prosecutor instructing him to personally ensure that “suspects be given all their rights to defend themselves” against the charges. “Prepare for the court proceedings … to observe and apply justice precisely,” the state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.

The letter came a day after Iran announced the conviction and sentence for Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen who was born in the U.S. and grew up in Fargo, N.D. It was the first time Iran has found an American journalist guilty of espionage, and her lawyer said he’ll appeal.

From wire reports