World digest 01/03/04

Libya seeks reward for opening to inspections

NEW YORK -- Libya's prime minister said his country wants to be rewarded for opening up to nuclear inspections, and stressed that the United States must lift sanctions by May 12 or his government won't have to pay $6 million to each family of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing victims, according to an interview published Friday. Prime Minister Shukri Ghanim told The New York Times that Libya wants to be paid for turning over nuclear materials. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi pledged in mid-December to give up his unconventional weapons programs and to open weapons sites to inspectors. Ghanim told the Times that the North African country wants to accelerate the dismantling of its weapons programs so that Libya could be declared free of the weapons in the next few months.

Mullah of militant group arrested in Norway

OSLO, Norway -- Mullah Krekar, the spiritual leader of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Islam, was arrested Friday on charges of helping a plot to try to murder his rivals in northern Iraq in 2000-01, his attorney told The Associated Press. The charges against Krekar weren't terror-related and a court hearing will take place today, where authorities will ask that he be held for at least four weeks, said public prosecutor Erling Grimstad. Krekar was released from a Norwegian jail in April after a court found insufficient grounds to hold him on terrorism charges. Police dropped the charges in July, but are investigating him on other charges that they refuse to reveal.

China says gas blowout due to negligence

BEIJING -- China blamed negligent gas well workers Friday for an accident that spewed toxic fumes over mountain villages and killed 233 people -- an unusually swift finding that highlights the government's increasing insistence on accountability. State television said in its national evening newscast that investigators had concluded their probe into the Dec. 23 natural gas disaster in southwestern China and that those at fault would be punished. Sun Huashan, deputy director of the State Administration for Work Safety, didn't say who might be punished or what penalties they might face. But he listed a series of errors that allowed a poisonous mix of natural gas and hydrogen sulfide to gush from the state-owned gas well northeast of the city of Chongqing.

Actor files candidacy for Philippine president

MANILA, Philippines -- A Philippine action movie star who is an ally of disgraced former leader Joseph Estrada filed his candidacy for the presidency Friday, presenting what could be the strongest challenge to incumbent Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Hundreds of supporters of actor Fernando Poe Jr., also known as "Da King" and "FPJ," rallied outside the Commission on Elections office, chanting "FPJ! FPJ!" The 64-year-old Poe, who has starred in several blockbusters and was the national "box office king" for several years, has never held office before and has not yet disclosed his platform.

-- From wire reports