Kidnappers free leading Russian oil executive

MOSCOW -- Nearly two weeks after he was abducted on his way to work, a top Russian oil executive was freed unharmed outside the gated entrance of his home Wednesday.

Details surrounding the kidnapping of Sergei Kukura, chief financial officer of the powerful Lukoil energy company, were sketchy.

Criminal groups have targeted Russian business executives in the past, but lawmakers here were surprised that an official with a company of Lukoil's stature was targeted. The question of why Lukoil was taken in the Sept. 12 kidnapping dominated Russian media, which offered numerous theories ranging from a bid to obtain the company's business secrets to infighting between different Lukoil factions.

Talks called off as Israeli siege on Arafat continues

JERUSALEM -- Palestinians called off talks set for Wednesday to end a weeklong Israeli siege of Yasser Arafat's office in the West Bank town of Ramallah, complaining that Israel would not allow international negotiators to meet Arafat first.

Israel maintained its grip on the ravaged compound while easing curfew restrictions in other parts of Ramallah, defying a U.N. Security Council resolution and pressure from the United States, Europe and the Arab world to pull back.

One consequence of the siege is a halt to efforts to reform Arafat's regime, said a top official, Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, is Arafat's deputy and has been mentioned as a possible prime minister if the Palestinians decide to appoint one to take over some of Arafat's duties in the framework of reforms.

But Abbas said there can be no talk of reforms "while our president is under such cruel and unprecedented aggression."

Wife of airport gunman denies terror connection

CAIRO, Egypt -- An Egyptian immigrant who killed two people at Los Angeles International Airport wasn't tied to terrorist organizations and didn't apply for asylum in the United States, his wife said Wednesday.

Hesham Mohamed Hadayet opened fire at Israel's El Al ticket counter in July, killing two people before he was fatally shot by one of the airline's security guards.

Hadayet's wife, Hala El-Awadly, was responding to a Wednesday report in the Los Angeles Times that quoted U.S. immigration officials as saying Hadayet applied for political asylum in 1992. The report said Egyptian authorities suspected he was affiliated with the outlawed Islamic militant group al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya.

Colombian paramilitary boss promises surrender

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Right-wing paramilitary chief Carlos Castano, wanted by the United States for drug trafficking, insisted Wednesday he is innocent but imposed conditions for his surrender to U.S. authorities.

Colombian authorities, meanwhile, called on the United States to seek the extradition of leaders of the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, if Washington is serious about fighting drug trafficking.

The appeal came a day after the U.S. government said it wanted to extradite Castano, leader of a paramilitary force which has been battling rebels who also profit from drug trafficking.

Subway strike damages London's commutes

LONDON -- Commuters struggled to get home Wednesday night during another one-day subway strike and a business leader warned the shutdown of London's Tube would damage businesses and Britain's image.

"It is time to worry and to fear a return to the bad old days, when a minority in a union can force misery on millions," said Digby Jones, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry.

He was referring to public sector strikes in 1978-79, during what became known as the "Winter of Discontent." Garbage piled up in the streets and corpses went unburied during those strikes, which helped topple the Labor government of James Callaghan and bring Margaret Thatcher to power.

--From wire reports