World Scene

TURKEY

Man with gun heldnear prime minister

ISTANBUL — A man carrying a gun hidden inside a loaf of bread was arrested yesterday as he approached a bus that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was boarding, and a prosecutor said the suspect may have intended to shoot the prime minister.

Mr. Erdogan was leaving after a speech opening the school year in Kutahya, in western Turkey.

Private CNN-Turk television said the man approached Mr. Erdogan yelling, “Have you heard the news? Yesterday, we gave up five martyrs.” Five Turkish soldiers were killed Sunday in clashes with separatist Kurdish rebels.

AFGHANISTAN

Ex-Taliban envoyfreed from Gitmo

KABUL — The former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan has been released from a U.S. military prison in Cuba under an Afghan government reconciliation program, Afghan state television said yesterday.

Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef became the Taliban’s spokesman after the September 11 attacks and held regular press conferences at his embassy in Islamabad at which he tried to convince the world that Taliban guest Osama bin Laden was not responsible.

COLOMBIA

Passengers freedafter hijack attempt

BOGOTA — A father in a wheelchair and his son used two grenades to hijack an airliner yesterday, but surrendered five hours later after allowing the crew and passengers, including one American, to leave the plane.

The freed hostages told reporters the elder hijacker said he was partially paralyzed by a police bullet during a drug raid about 14 years ago and had sought compensation unsuccessfully.

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