World Digest
Canada's new leader will work on U.S. ties

	TOM HANSON / AP Paul Martin talks to delegates yesterday at the Liberal leadership convention in Toronto. He soon will become Canada's prime minister.
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Paul Martin, elected leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party on Friday, will soon take over as prime minister from Jean Chrétien, whose ties with President Bush were cool from the start and deteriorated over Canada's decision not to take part in the war on Iraq. Last year Chrétien's press chief was forced to quit after calling Bush a moron.

"We have to be much more sophisticated in our dealings with the U.S.," Martin said.

Canada accepts about 300,000 immigrants a year — some from nations where people have expressed hostility to the United States — and critics say the country could become a staging ground for anti-U.S. militants.

"There is no doubt about the importance of national security," Martin said. "It's not simply an American issue, it's a Canadian issue as well, and we will exercise our responsibilities in that area.

"I do not believe this extends to coordinating or harmonizing immigration policies. Immigration is incredibly important to this country ... It's a very rich part of our nation and it will remain fully within a Canadian decision-making capacity."

Palestinian boy, 14, killed

in clashes with Israeli troops

NABLUS, West Bank — Israeli troops shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy in clashes yesterday at a village near the West Bank city of Nablus, military sources and residents said.

Israeli military sources said soldiers on patrol in Beit Faruk village east of Nablus shot a rubber bullet and killed a Palestinian who was about to throw a gasoline bomb at them.

Local residents identified the Palestinian as Ahmed Hanani, 14, and said he had been near other youths who were throwing stones. A medic said the boy was shot in the stomach.

Maoist rebels in Nepal kill brigadier general, three soldiers

KATHMANDU, Nepal — A brigadier general and three soldiers were killed yesterday when Maoist rebels, fighting to replace the constitutional monarchy with a communist republic, ambushed an army patrol.

Brig. Gen. Sagar Bahadur Pandey was the most senior army officer to be killed since the rebels launched their armed revolt, in which more than 8,100 people have died since 1996.

Explosion in Bogotá pub injures dozens of people

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — An explosion ripped through a crowded pub in an upscale neighborhood of Colombia's capital yesterday, wounding at least 42 people.

The explosion at the popular Bogotá Beer Company opposite a shopping mall in the city's prosperous north at about 10 p.m. was thought to be from a bomb or grenade, police said.

It also was possible that a propane tank exploded at the bar.

Police did not say if they had any suspects for the possible attack. Left-wing rebels, far-right paramilitaries and common criminals have all planted bombs in public places.

A car bomb killed at least six people in a Bogotá commercial district in October. Authorities blamed Marxist guerrillas for a huge bomb that killed 36 people at the city's exclusive Nogal Club in February.

British allow two U.S. ships to stay despite fear of toxins

LONDON — Two more condemned U.S. Navy ships will be allowed to dock in Britain for the winter — despite environmentalists' concerns they contain toxic materials — because it is too risky to return them to America, the government said yesterday.

The ships, Canopus and Compass Island, are currently crossing the Atlantic and will join two other rusting vessels, Caloosahatchee and Canisteo, at the Able U.K. shipyard in Hartlepool, in northeast England.

Able U.K. won a contract to dismantle 13 ships from the U.S. reserve fleet moored on the James River in Virginia.

But after protests from residents and environmentalists, who say the ships contain tons of asbestos, PCBs and other toxins, a British court barred work on the vessels until legal challenges are heard next month.

Leader in Rwandan genocide surrenders with 103 troops

KIGALI, Rwanda — The leader of a rebel group that includes fighters who participated in Rwanda's 1994 genocide has surrendered to government forces.

Maj. Gen. Paul Rwarakabije, commander of the rebel Army for the Liberation of Rwanda, and 103 of his fighters surrendered to Rwandan government forces Friday.

"We see clearly that the use of a gun is not the best solution," Rwarakabije said after arriving in Kigali yesterday aboard a Rwandan army helicopter. "We have now decided that we can use peaceful means to solve any outstanding issues."

Rwarakabije's Congo-based rebel group includes ethnic Hutu fighters implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed more than 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Police say breakup prompted killing spree that claimed 65

BEIJING — Police said yesterday that an ex-convict suspected in the stabbing murders of 65 people "desperately wanted to retaliate against society" after his girlfriend broke up with him.

Yang Zhiya, who was arrested Nov. 3, allegedly went from city to city on his killing spree, sometimes traveling between towns by bicycle.

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