World digest 07/15/03

Bombing suspect escapes Philippine jail

MANILA, Philippines -- An Indonesian man who allegedly confessed to involvement in bombings in Manila that killed 22 people escaped from jail early Monday along with two other suspected Muslim extremists, police said.

Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, a reputed leader of Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, and the other two men escaped from police custody, national police chief Hermogenes Ebdane said.

The escape took place before dawn from the heavily secured command building at Camp Crame, the national police headquarters in Manila. Ebdane said three policemen guarding the three were being investigated.

Police say Al-Ghozi has confessed involvement in the five Dec. 30, 2000, bombings in Manila. His confessions have been used to file charges against alleged co-conspirators, including Saifullah Yunos, who pleaded guilty to helping plan the attacks.

German general heads Bastille Day parade

PARIS -- In a gesture of European unity, a German general headed France's Bastille Day military parade Monday for the first time. Thousands of security forces oversaw the march after President Jacques Chirac survived an assassination attempt a year ago.

Police arrested six protesters. It is illegal to stage demonstrations during the parade.

Bastille Day, the equivalent of July 4 in the United States, commemorates the storming of Paris' Bastille prison by angry crowds in 1789, sparking the French Revolution that rid France of its monarchy.

Gen. Holger Kammerhoff opened the march by leading 120 troops from the five-nation Eurocorps down the famed avenue to the Place de la Concorde, underscoring the close ties between France and Germany and the goal of closer European unity. Germany fought two wars with France in the last century.

Two gored at final bull run of San Fermin festival

MADRID, Spain -- An American and a Spanish runner were gored and at least four other people were hospitalized on Monday after the eighth and final running of the bulls at Pamplona's San Fermin festival.

The American, identified as Robert Fluhr, 27, of Arkansas, was gored in the buttocks. He was hospitalized in one of Pamplona's main hospitals and underwent surgery. Jose Lorente Garcera, a 30-year-old from Valencia, was gored in the right leg. Both were in serious condition, according to hospital staff.

The fiesta dates back to the late 16th century. Running bulls through the town began as simply the easiest way to get them to the ring for bullfights, but eventually daredevils started running in front of them.

Bomb explodes at Indonesia's Parliament

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A bomb shattered glass and damaged a wall in Indonesia's Parliament building on Monday, just days after police arrested nine Islamic militants suspected of planning fresh terror strikes.

No one was injured in the blast, which came as the legislature was closed for the summer recess. It was the latest in a series of small bombings in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

No group claimed responsibility.

Chinese tycoon gets prison on fraud charges

BEIJING -- A tycoon once ranked by Forbes magazine as China's second-richest businessman was convicted of fraud and bribery and sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison, an assistant to his attorney said.

Yang Bin was arrested in October soon after he had been picked by North Korea to run a special economic zone there.

China's official Xinhua News Agency reported that he was also fined $278,000. His company was fined $720,000, it said.

Yang reputedly built his fortune through growing orchids and real estate, but authorities accused him of shady business deals.

-- From wire reports