World briefs 14A

Hambali may have been planning attack on Bush

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Hambali, alleged mastermind of al-Qaida's campaign of bombings in Southeast Asia, may have been plotting a terror attack against a Bangkok summit President Bush is due to attend, Thailand's prime minister said Saturday.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, set for Oct. 20-21 in the Thai capital, is expected to draw at least 20 world leaders, including Bush.

"The result of investigations show that Hambali came to Thailand not only to seek a safe haven but he also planned to make a move during the APEC meeting," Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters. He refused to elaborate.

China's final two SARS patients released

BEIJING -- They walked from the hospital into the morning sunlight after four months, their gaits tentative but their faces betraying delight -- a college student and a middle-aged woman, China's last two SARS patients, finally going home.

Not a surgical mask was in sight Saturday as government officials and battalions of nurses in crisp white uniforms sent Sun Zheng and Lu Zhiyan on their way. But the celebrations and self-congratulations Saturday were tempered by a message: The struggle to figure out the mysterious disease goes on.

"Our message is this: Stay vigilant," said Han Demin, deputy director of the Beijing Health Bureau. "Is it lurking around, waiting to come back? At this point, we just don't know."

South Koreans split over U.S. alliance

SEOUL, South Korea -- Some 2,000 activists and students rallied near the main U.S. military base in Seoul on Saturday, demanding an end to South Korea-U.S. alliance. Several blocks away, 500 demonstrators marched in support of the Americans.

The protests highlighted the division among South Koreans on how they view their nation's closest ally and biggest trade partner amid tensions over North Korea's suspected development of nuclear weapons.

Although most South Koreans support the U.S. military presence, the deaths of two Korean girls run over by an U.S. military vehicle last year had triggered large anti-U.S. protests throughout South Korea late last year.

New governor takes over in Afghan province

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The powerful governor of a southern Afghan province relinquished power Saturday as part of moves by President Hamid Karzai to assert more control in the provinces and rein in regional warlords.

Gul Agha Sherzai handed power to Yusuf Pashtun in a quiet ceremony at the sprawling governor's residence. Sherzai will become a federal minister of urban affairs.

In the 18 months since the Taliban's fall, Karzai has come under increasing criticism from the international community for failing to assert his authority outside Kabul. Warlords around the country have their own armies and a great deal of power.

-- From wire reports