World Scene

IRAN

Hungarian plane forced to land

TEHRAN | Iran forced an aircraft carrying Hungarian military officials to land after it entered its airspace, Hungary’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday. The plane was allowed to continue to Afghanistan after it was determined the entry was accidental.

The ministry said the airplane, carrying a four-member Hungarian military delegation, had permission to fly over Iran, but that because of an “administrative error,” characters in the craft’s call signal were changed around and Iranian authorities did not recognize it. It said the incident occurred on Sept. 30.

The military personnel were part of a Hungarian team that took over direction of Kabul’s international airport this month.

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency had initially reported that the plane was American and was carrying five military officials and three civilians from Turkey to Afghanistan when it was forced by the Iranian air force to land at an airport for questioning.

The report prompted a denial from the U.S. military’s Central Command, which said in a statement from its headquarters in Doha, Qatar, that no American plane was involved.

GUATEMALA

Mexico extradites ex-leader Portillo

GUATEMALA CITY | Mexico extradited former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo on Tuesday to face corruption charges, and the ex-leader told a judge there is no evidence to support the allegations against him.

Mr. Portillo, Guatemala’s leader from 2000 to 2004 before fleeing to Mexico, arrived in Guatemala early Tuesday on a Mexican government plane. He is accused of authorizing $15 million in transfers to Guatemala’s Defense Department, where officials close to him purportedly pocketed most of the cash.

SOMALIA

Pirates cut ransom to $8 million

MOGADISHU | A man on a hijacked ship carrying tanks and heavy weapons said Tuesday that the ransom had been reduced to $8 million. It was not clear whether he was officially speaking for the pirates holding the vessel.

The man identified himself as Jama Aden and answered the satellite telephone of the pirates’ normal spokesman, Sugule Ali. He said in Somali that Ali was not immediately available because he was resting.

The pirates originally demanded $20 million.

GERMANY

Cabinet extends Afghan mission

BERLIN | Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet voted Tuesday to extend Germany’s military mission in Afghanistan for 14 months, a German official said.

The decision keeps the German military in Afghanistan until after next year’s national elections in Germany.

With the new mandate, the ceiling for the number of German troops serving with the NATO-led international force is expected to increase this year by 1,000 to 4,500.

SPAIN

Court acquits 14 of terrorism

MADRID | Spain’s Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted on appeal 14 of the 20 men who were sentenced jail in February for belonging to an Islamic terrorist group suspected of planning to blow up a courthouse.

The National Audience, Spain’s top anti-terrorism court, had sentenced the 14 to prison terms from seven to 11 years for membership in an al Qaeda-inspired cell.

The Supreme Court also reduced the sentence of another man from nine to two years. It acquitted him of belonging to a terrorist cell but upheld a conviction for document forgery.

The men were arrested in 2004, several months after the Madrid train bombings of March 11 that killed 191 people.

KENYA

Anti-Obama book author deported

NAIROBI | The American author of a controversial book accusing Sen. Barack Obama of seething with “black rage” and of being unfit for the U.S. presidency was expelled from Kenya on Tuesday.

The deportation of Jerome Corsi came just hours before he was to launch his book in a country where the U.S. Democratic candidate for president is wildly popular.

Mr. Corsi, who wrote “The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality,” was detained at immigration headquarters in Nairobi for not having a work permit before being ordered to leave Kenya, said Joseph Mumira, head of criminal investigations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

UNITED NATIONS

Calls to review biofuel subsidies

ROME | A U.N. agency on Tuesday called for an urgent review of agriculture and biofuel subsidies and trade barriers, saying their removal would increase opportunities for developing countries to take advantage of rising biofuel demand.

Imposing price controls and export bans prevents markets from adjusting and may prolong and deepen the food crisis, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said in a newly released report.

Growing demand for biofuels, which are made from crops such as sugar cane and corn, will contribute to food price increases, but can also promote rural development in poor countries - provided that small farmers gain access to markets and receive support to boost their production.

From wire dispatches and staff reports