World briefly
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, August 16, 2006
A man accused of leading a violent Tijuana crime family that allegedly smuggled hundreds of tons of cocaine and marijuana into the United States was captured by the U.S. Coast Guard while deep-sea fishing off Baja California, officials said Wednesday. Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, 36, nicknamed “The Wildcat,” was taken into custody aboard the U.S.-registered boat “Dock Holiday” in international waters about 15 miles off the Baja California peninsula, U.S. authorities said. He was traveling under an alias, but confessed his identity to his captors, officials said.
Afghanistan: Opium production
Opium cultivation in Afghanistan has hit record levels – up by more than 40 percent from 2005 – despite hundreds of millions in counternarcotics money, Western officials told The Associated Press. A Western anti-narcotics official in Kabul said about 370,650 acres of opium poppy was cultivated this season – up from 257,000 acres in 2005 – citing their preliminary crop projections. The previous record was 323,700 acres in 2004, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.
India: Grenade hits Krishna temple
A grenade exploded in a Hindu temple owned by the International Society of Krishna Consciousness on Wednesday, killing at least four people and leaving 40 others injured, mainly in a stampede that followed the blast, police said. The attack in Imphal, the capital of Manipur state, came during a major Hindu festival – the birthday of the god Krishna, said police officer Kasim Ali. The injured included an American and three other foreign nationals, an army officer said.
Lebanon: Friendly officer arrested
A Lebanese general was ordered arrested Wednesday for appearing in a videotape drinking tea with Israeli soldiers who had occupied his south Lebanon barracks during their incursion into the country. Brig. Adnan Daoud was summoned and ordered held for questioning, the Interior minister said. Daoud is commanding officer of the 1,000-strong joint police-army force that had positions in southern Lebanon and was based in Marjayoun. The Lebanese garrison, which is lightly armed, did not resist the Israeli force that moved armor into the base.
From Herald news services
