World Scene

SOUTH KOREA

Top diplomat quits in row over U.S.

SEOUL — Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yoon Young Kwan resigned today in connection with a debate ignited when some of his ministry officials criticized President Roh Moo-hyun’s policies toward the United States.

“The president accepted the resignation tendered by Minister Yoon for his being unable to properly carry out his duties of supervising a series of incidents that took place in the Foreign Ministry,” Chung Chan Yong, chief presidential secretary for personnel affairs, was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.

News reports in South Korea said “unseen battle lines” were drawn between an “alliance faction” advocating close ties with the United States and an “independence faction” favoring speaking their minds in dealing with the United States on a variety of policies, including the dispatch of troops to Iraq.

LIBYA

Treaty ratified on nuclear weapons

VIENNA, Austria — Libya has ratified the nuclear test ban treaty, a U.N. agency said yesterday, less than three weeks after the North African country publicly renounced its plans to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Libya’s nuclear program was nowhere near producing a weapon. Still, the announcement by the U.N. agency overseeing the agreement appeared to be a further sign of commitment by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to give up nuclear weapons activities.

ISRAEL

Hamas bomber kills 4 Israelis

EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip — A Palestinian mother of two blew herself up yesterday at the Israel-Gaza Strip border, killing three Israeli soldiers and a private security guard and signaling a new tactic by Hamas militants, who never before had dispatched a female suicide bomber.

The woman identified as Reem Raiyshi, 22, told soldiers that she would set off a metal detector because she had an implant to repair a broken leg. She was taken for a security search to a special room, where she set off the bomb.

PANAMA

Suspected drug lord extradited to U.S.

PANAMA CITY — Suspected Colombian drug lord Arcangel de Jesus Henao Montoya, who was captured in southern Panama on Saturday, was extradited to the United States yesterday, said a Panamanian official close to the case.

Mr. Henao, who is on the Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers, is believed to be a top leader of the Norte de Valle drug cartel, which operates out of the city of Cali in southwestern Colombia.

CUBA

Castro reported in bad health

BOGOTA, Colombia — Weeks after meeting with Fidel Castro during a vacation in Cuba, Bogota’s mayor said yesterday the 77-year-old Cuban leader’s health appeared to be deteriorating.

“He seemed very sick to me,” Luis Eduardo Garzon told Caracol Radio. “You could tell he had physical limitations, especially in his speech.”

Mr. Castro has not had any known serious illnesses and remains energetic for a man his age, recently speaking for eight hours at a meeting of Cuba’s parliament.