World briefs 3/3/04

Philippines Muslim extremist aboard exploded ferry

MANILA, Philippines -- A man -- listed by the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf as one of its suicide bombers -- was aboard a ferry carrying 899 people that caught fire last week after an explosion, the coast guard chief said Tuesday. But Vice Adm. Arturo Gosingan said there was no indication so far that a bomb caused the blaze that gutted the Superferry 14 shortly after it left Manila on Friday. Police dogs checked the ferry before it departed. One body has been found but at least 134 people remain missing, officials say. Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaida-linked group, claimed responsibility for the incident and identified the "suicide bomber" as Arnulfo Alvarado, 33, the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper reported.

Russian liberals call for election boycott

MOSCOW -- A group of prominent Russian liberals on Tuesday denounced the March 14 presidential election as a farce and urged voters and opposition candidates to boycott the balloting. World chess champion Garry Kasparov and other leaders of Committee 2008: Free Choice said the campaign's heavy tilt in favor of President Vladimir Putin makes it senseless to participate in the election. The committee is also calling on the six candidates challenging Putin to withdraw in protest. Four of the six have support, polls show, in the low single digits, and two say they support Putin. While the lack of a realistic challenger effectively has turned the vote into a referendum on Putin's rule, the Kremlin's main concern now is low turnout.

-- From wire reports