Syria casts doubt on Hariri probe

The inquiry's finding that Syria must have known about — and may have been involved in — Rafik Hariri's Feb. 14 assassination has "completely collapsed" because of the revelation, said Ibrahim Daraji, spokesman for the Syrian inquiry into Hariri's murder.

Daraji spoke at a news conference alongside Husam Taher Husam, the man who had claimed in an interview on Syrian state television late Sunday that Hariri's family had bribed him to accuse top Syrian officials of Hariri's murder.

He claimed that he was the witness identified in the report as a former employee of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon, who had delivered crucial information about the purported involvement of the Lebanese and Syrian intelligence services in Hariri's slaying.

The U.N. investigation, led by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, confirmed Husam was a witness who had voluntarily approached the commission. A U.N. statement released in Beirut Monday said the commission "does not offer, and has never offered or provided, any compensation in exchange for information."

Pro-Kremlin party apparent winner

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday hailed Chechnya's first parliamentary election since federal troops reinvaded six years ago, as preliminary results showed the pro-Kremlin party winning a strong majority.

Doubts persisted, however, over the vote's legitimacy.

Sunday's election — Chechnya's fourth in 2 ½ years — is a key part of the Kremlin argument that normalcy is returning to the restive Caucasus region, which has fought two separatist wars in the past decade.

But pro-Moscow Chechen President Alu Alkhanov conceded that the vote was flawed, telling reporters in the Chechen capital of Grozny that it would be years before the region would hold truly democratic elections.

U.S. might block sale of boats, planes

Spain agreed Monday to sell 12 military planes and eight patrol boats to Venezuela in a $2 billion deal that the United States has threatened to block.

The State Department repeated reservations about the sale because the planes and boats carry U.S. parts and technology, but Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono joined Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez in saying the sale should not concern Washington.

"Is there some rule that prohibits this sale? ... There is no international embargo," Bono said at the signing ceremony.

Spain is selling 10 C-295 transport planes and two CN-235 patrol planes, as well as four ocean patrol boats and four coast patrol vessels. It is Spain's largest defense deal.

Also

Mine toll rises: Anxious relatives demanded to be allowed into a coal mine Monday in Qitaihe, China, after an explosion Sunday killed at least 138 miners and left 11 others missing.

House arrest: Myanmar's military government has extended the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader who has spent much of the past 16 years in detention, her political party said Monday.

Cheetahs safe: Two cheetah cubs held captive and abused at a remote village restaurant in eastern Ethiopia are in the custody of a government veterinarian and U.S. troops, a senior official said Monday.

Compiled from The Associated Press