Colombia extradites top female rebel commander

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombia extradited to the United States on Wednesday a top member of the South American country's main rebel group, a woman known by the nom de guerre of Sonia and accused of running the insurgents' drug trafficking business. There was extraordinary security around Omaira Rojas, who also was suspected of managing the finances of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. A U.S. federal judge in Washington indicted her in December 2003 on charges of drug trafficking and supporting illegal activities.

Egyptian demonstrators question reform efforts

CAIRO, Egypt -- Parliament on Wednesday agreed to amend the constitution to allow for Egypt's first multicandidate balloting for president -- a move opposition supporters denounced as a tactic to ensure that the Mubarak family retains power. "The amendment is dubious, and will serve the father and his son," about 200 protesters chanted outside the assembly, referring to widespread expectations that either President Hosni Mubarak or his 40-year-old son, Gamal, 40, will stand in the September polls. The 454-member parliament unanimously approved the president's request to amend the constitution, the semiofficial Middle East News Agency reported.

Crash of anti-narcotics helicopter kills 11

MEXICO CITY -- A federal government helicopter searching for gunmen protecting drug plantations crashed into a mountain in southern Mexico on Wednesday, killing all nine soldiers and two pilots onboard, authorities said. The crash occurred Wednesday morning in the isolated mountains near the town of Tlapa, about 130 miles southeast of Mexico City. The cause was under investigation, but another federal helicopter flying in the region earlier was hit by gunfire from the ground, according to a statement from the federal attorney general's office. The pilot of that first chopper was able to land without incident at a nearby airstrip.

Former prime minister surrenders to tribunal

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Kosovo's former prime minister surrendered to the U.N. war crimes tribunal Wednesday, a day after the ethnic Albanian resigned to face charges stemming from the province's fight for independence from Belgrade. Ramush Haradinaj arrived at the U.N. detention unit under police escort following a special flight from Pristina. He is to face charges of atrocities committed during the 1998 to 1999 war between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serb forces. Tribunal spokesman Jim Landale confirmed Haradinaj, 36, was in U.N. custody, but declined to give details of his arrival.

German-born Turk claims torture at Guantanamo

BREMEN, Germany -- A German-born Turkish man held at the U.S. prison camp for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay had his head forced under water, was tortured with electric shocks and was sexually humiliated by female interrogators, his attorneys said Wednesday. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Attorneys for Murat Kurnaz, 22, said recently obtained declassified U.S. intelligence documents point to his innocence and show that their client is being held even though the United States knows he has no connection to al-Qaida.

Killing of Chechen rebel leader leaves Basayev

MOSCOW -- The killing of top Chechen rebel Aslan Maskhadov leaves the insurgency largely in the hands of Shamil Basayev, the most brutal of the warlords -- a development that could undermine any chance of peace even as the Kremlin celebrates a success in the long conflict. On Wednesday, there was uncertainty over what the death might mean, with Russia facing the fundamental question of how much an insurgency depends on its leaders -- a dilemma faced by Israel in the targeted killings of key Palestinian militants and the United States in the hunt for the top men in al-Qaida. Russia hopes the Chechen insurgency might be hobbled, with a series of militant leaders systematically eliminated over the years.