Leader of Peruvian siege, 90 backers surrender

Andahuaylas, Peru

The leader of a Peruvian paramilitary nationalist group that seized a police station, took 10 officers hostage and allegedly killed four more surrendered last night as security forces besieged his followers still barricaded in the building, officials said.

Former army Maj. Antauro Humala and about 90 followers were in custody in the Andean town of Andahuaylas, about 275 miles southeast of the capital, Lima, after surrendering to National Police Chief Felix Murazzo, a spokeswoman for Interior Minister Javier Reategui said.

The spokeswoman said about 35 followers remained in the building with hostages.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Protesters crowd streets for third day

Thousands of Argentines angered over safety lapses at a nightclub where a fire killed 183 people, many of them teenagers, marched through capital streets yesterday holding pictures of the victims and demanding the resignations of key city officials.

The father of one victim reportedly set himself on fire during the protest before other demonstrators doused the flames, according to news reports.

The third straight day of protests over the fire during a rock concert Thursday came as forensic experts studied whether a flare launched by an audience member lit foam on the club's ceiling, asphyxiating many with choking fumes.

Many in the crowd of 4,000 or so protesters said that Buenos Aires Mayor Aníbal Ibarra should be held accountable and that new citywide reforms should be imposed on all clubs.

Jakarta, Indonesia

Sources: North Korea sold guns to Muslims

North Korea sold more than 10,000 rifles and other weapons in 1999 and 2000 to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest pro-al-Qaida militant group in the Philippines, according to Southeast Asian security sources.

Between 1999 and 2002, North Korea also tried to sell submersible vessels to the Muslim group, which is fighting for independence for Mindanao in the southern Philippines, the sources said. North Korea's submersible infiltration craft are believed to be capable of carrying suicide bombers and other insurgents to coastal areas near targets.

Algiers, Algeria

Leader of Islamic rebel group killed

Chaabane Younes, the leader of Algeria's second-largest Islamic rebel group, has been killed and its former leader, Nourredine Boudiafi, arrested, dealing a fresh blow to radical Muslim militants fighting the secular government, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.

The blows to the Armed Islamic Group came six months after the killing of Nabil Sahraoui, leader of the larger and more active Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat.

The Armed Islamic Group, which used to include thousands of fighters, was Algeria's top rebel group until a few years ago. Known for deadly attacks on security forces and civilians at the height of the Islamic insurgency in the mid-1990s, it has been weakened by internal dissent and has not claimed responsibility for attacks in recent years.

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Nurse killed; involved in coming-of-age rites

A group of young South African men taking part in coming-of-age rituals that would include circumcision turned on their nurse and killed him, a health-department official said yesterday.

The official said the men, aged 18 to 25, beat the man to death with sticks Friday after complaining they were not being properly looked after during their initiation ceremonies. In recent years the practice of circumcision has come under scrutiny as dozens of males have been accidentally killed or mutilated by amateur elders who have seized on the tradition as a way to make money.