World Scene

Colombo has been hit by a string of bombings against both civilian and security targets in recent months, with authorities pointing the finger at Tamil Tiger rebels.

IRELAND

Cluster bomb talks target the U.S.

DUBLIN - American activists and global victims of cluster bombs united yesterday in a demand that governments - particularly the United States - ban the weapons because they kill and maim too many civilians.

They made their appeal four days before negotiators from 110 governments are expected to unveil a treaty restricting the development, sale and use of cluster munitions. The pact would be formally signed in December in Norway.

The U.S. says it is willing to accept some limits on the use of cluster bombs but wants an agreement negotiated under existing arms-control treaties.

ETHIOPIA

Mengistu sentenced to death in absentia

ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopia’s Supreme Court sentenced an exiled former president - dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam - and 18 officials to death Monday, a prosecutor said.

Yoseph Kiros said the judgment delivered justice for the thousands of people murdered during Mengistu’s 17-year rule.

Mengistu, a Marxist leader who was driven from power in 1991 by the current regime, is living in comfortable exile in Zimbabwe and is not expected to be extradited while strongman Robert Mugabe remains Zimbabwean president.

IRAN

U.S. pessimistic on nuclear intent

VIENNA, Austria - Iran has delivered scant evidence to suggest that its atomic drive has no military dimension, a top U.S. official said yesterday.

Reacting to a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that said Iran still had to convincingly disprove allegations of military ambitions behind its nuclear activities, Gregory Schulte, the U.S. envoy to the IAEA, complained that Tehran was continuing to stonewall the agency’s investigations.

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