World briefs 01/06/03

Israel test-fires multiple anti-missile missiles

PALMACHIM, Israel -- Sending a message to both Saddam Hussein and its own people, Israel conducted an ambitious test of its anti-missile system on Sunday with the simulated firing of several interceptor missiles at once at incoming rockets.

Israelis have shown growing concern that Saddam would retaliate against them if the United States attacks Iraq as he did during the 1991 Gulf War, and a successful test of the Arrow system might help allay those fears.

During the test, a single missile contrail rose from the Palmachim air base, south of Tel Aviv, over the Mediterranean Sea. Israel TV's military correspondent said only one actual Arrow missile was launched, and then three dummy missiles were fired to test their launchers.

Israel Radio reported that the test was successful, but Army Radio said the test results were still being evaluated.

China declares unmanned space mission a success

BEIJING -- An unmanned Chinese space capsule returned safely to Earth on Sunday, state media said, laying the groundwork for China to attempt later this year to send an astronaut into space.

A successful manned flight would make China only the third country, after Russia and the United States, able to send its own astronauts into space.

The Shenzhou IV capsule landed as planned just after 7 p.m. on China's northern grasslands in the Inner Mongolia region, the official Xinhua News Agency and state television said.

Chinese officials said this week that barring problems with Shenzhou IV, the next launch would be manned -- a possibility that appeared to grow with the reported smooth conclusion of the flight Sunday.

Court upholds death penalty for terror convict

AMMAN, Jordan -- A military court upheld a guilty verdict and death sentence Sunday against a Jordanian-American accused of conspiring to carry out poison gas attacks on American and Israeli targets in the kingdom three years ago.

The ruling came nearly two months after an appeals court ordered a retrial, saying military judges in State Security Court had insufficient evidence to convict Raed Hijazi, 33, last February of possessing arms and manufacturing explosives.

Hijazi stood silently as the verdict was read out in a courtroom guarded by a dozen armed policemen.

Hijazi -- who was born in San Jose, Calif., and carries Jordanian and American passports -- had pleaded innocent to seven charges, including possession of arms and explosives and conspiring to blow up Jordanian sites frequented by American and Israeli tourists during the New Year 2000 celebrations.

Reports: 56 killed in bloody weekend in Algeria

ALGIERS, Algeria -- Islamic militants ambushed a military convoy in northeast Algeria and attacked families near the capital, in a bloody weekend of killings that claimed at least 56 lives, Algerian media reported Sunday.

The ambush Saturday night reportedly killed 43 soldiers and seriously wounded 19, the deadliest assault suffered by the Algerian military in at least five years.

In the other attack, Islamic militants killed 13 people from two families overnight Saturday in Zabana, the official news agency APS reported, citing security services. It attributed the attack to the Armed Islamic Group, the north African country's most radical insurgency.

Lithuanian pilot flys high in presidential runoff

VILNIUS, Lithuania -- Rolandas Paksas, a former prime minister who flew a stunt plane to promote his candidacy, won Lithuania's presidential runoff Sunday, preliminary results showed.

With 99 percent of the votes counted, Paksas had 55 percent, while President Valdas Adamkus had 45 percent. Final results will be announced Friday, the Central Election Commission said.

While Adamkus ran largely on his record, Paksas, 46, mounted an aggressive campaign that included promises of a better life for Lithuanians and a daring stunt flight. He also pledged to keep Lithuania's Western-oriented foreign policy on track.

-- From wire reports