Relatives of airline crash victims go to mountains

CUMBAL, Colombia -- Army troops warded off looters who trekked Wednesday to the site where an Ecuadorean airliner crashed into a remote volcano in the Colombian Andes and tried to hold back grieving relatives of the 92 people killed in the crash.

The Boeing 727-100 broke into pieces, most no more than 5-feet long, when it slammed into the fog-covered mountainside on Monday and exploded. Authorities said there were no survivors, and few bodies have been found intact.

Family members began arriving at a base camp used by rescuers and investigators near 15,721-foot Nevado del Cumbal, but a cordon of troops tried to prevent them from making the three-to-four hour hike over slippery paths to the wreckage of the Ecuadorean TAME airliner.

Other soldiers at a checkpoint stopped everyone who descended the mountain who was not a rescuer and searched them for looted goods.

FBI director reassigns head of anti-espionage

NEW YORK -- The FBI director reassigned the acting head of his national security division, one of the bureau's highest-ranking women, over her investigation into whether China tried to recruit a spy against the United States, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller made the decision about a week ago to replace Sheila Horan, people familiar with the decision confirmed for The Associated Press. During 1998, Horan headed the investigation into the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, which led investigators to al-Qaida followers of Osama bin Laden.

Mueller notified Senate oversight committee members, and on Tuesday personally explained his decision during a closed-door Senate briefing. Horan was reassigned to an administrative position.

Milosevic speaks his mind during tribunal

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Slobodan Milosevic, finally allowed to speak in court, defended his actions during the Balkan wars and accused the U.N. war crimes tribunal Wednesday of an "evil and hostile attack" against him.

The former Yugoslav leader asked the tribunal to free him immediately, but said he would return to face trial. "This is a battle I will not miss," he said.

Often waving and pointing his finger at the prosecutors and judges, Milosevic spoke for nearly the full 30 minutes allocated to the defense during a hearing on whether the three indictments against him should be joined in one trial.

During five earlier appearances before a three-judge trial court, Milosevic was silenced every time he sought to give a statement.

Judge Richard May repeatedly turned off his microphone when the defendant refused to be quiet, saying the pretrial hearings were not the place for political speeches.

--From wire reports